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Getting a Pro License

waydabber edited this page Nov 25, 2024 · 49 revisions

You can support development by purchasing a BetterDisplay Pro license at betterdisplay.pro/buy

You can also purchase Pro directly in the app - just navigate to Settings (gear icon) > Pro and click on Buy BetterDisplay Pro and follow the checkout instructions:

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Price and payment options

The price of a Pro license is $19 / €19 (Sales Tax and VAT may apply).

You can use the following payment options with in-app purchase:

  • Credit/debit card
  • PayPal

The following additional options are available at betterdisplay.pro/buy:

  • Apple Pay (requires Safari, not available in-app)
  • Google Pay (requires Google Chrome, not available in-app)
  • Alipay (requires browser based checkout, country set to China)

Academic/student discount

A 30% student discount is available for studentappcentre.com premium members. A 7 day free membership trial is available for new subscribers (student/academic verification required) during which one should be able to get the discounted coupon code for the app (keeping the studentappcentre.com subscription after the 7 day trial is not required!).

Specifying currency, tax amount, VAT number and business details

Currency and tax level vary by location. You can customize your location during the checkout process and the displayed price will update accordingly.

Purchasing multiple licenses

If you want to purchase multiple licenses, you can do so by specifying the number of licenses using the web based checkout process at betterdisplay.pro/buy.

After successfully completing the checkout process, Paddle will send you an email with the license codes specified during checkout.

Entering Business details and VAT number

If you are a business user, you should enter your VAT ID (EU businesses) and business details during the checkout to get a proper invoice and for tax reclamation purposes (price may update to a VAT-deduced amount depending on location). This is possible both during the in-app purchase or the web based checkout process.

You can enter your VAT ID once you provided your email address and country of origin during the checkout process:

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Entering a coupon code

If you received a coupon code from the developer (for example as an early backer of the project), you can enter it during checkout. On the web based checkout you can do so by clicking the Add discount or via the in-app purchase by clicking on the Add Coupon link before selecting the payment method.

How to activate BetterDisplay Pro?

Thank you for purchasing BetterDisplay Pro! After the purchase, Paddle (the payment and license provider) sends you an email to the address provided during checkout with the license number(s) which you can use to activate the app under Settings > Pro.

Upon successful activation the app gives a clear feedback and unlocks all Pro functionality:

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Please note that even if you don't buy the app, you can still use many of the features for free (if you are a non-business user). Note: a web-based checkout option will be available soon.

License Terms, Refunds

Please make an informed purchase decision! The app comes with a generous 14 day unlimited trial (starts when the app is first opened) and several truly useful free features (for personal use only - business users are required to purchase a license) even after the trial is over - this gives ample time and opportunity before a purchase to evaluate the app. Because of this, as a general rule, purchases are final, refund is not available.

For more information on licensing, trial, prices and refund, please read the License Terms & Conditions and Refund Policy!

Licenses and BetterDisplay app versions

  • Pro for the app version v2.x is a free upgrade to all who purchased v1.x Pro.
  • Pro for the app version v3.x is a free upgrade to all who purchased v2.x Pro.
  • Those who purchased Pro earlier than the first v2.x preview release date (Jun 14, 2023) must purchase a new license to use v3.x. Note: the app does not currently enforce this requirement (v1.x Pro licenses can technically be used to activate Pro for v3.x in order to simplify the upgrade process and provide some leeway to users who cannot afford to buy a new license and thus support app development right away).
  • Licenses purchased with v2.x and v3.x can be used to activate all older versions (app downgrade for compatibility reasons).
  • If you purchase a license using an older version of the app, the license key can be used to activate newer versions of the app.

Transferring a license to a new computer

When you transfer to a computer, it is best to deactivate the license on the old computer before transfer (especially if Migration Assistant is used) and then activate the license on the new computer after the transfer. You can deactivate the license by clicking on the Deactivate License button under Settings/Pro:

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Note

If the license was not deactivated before using Migration Assistant to transfer user settings, the Paddle license file is carried over from the old Mac to the new one. However, since the hardware identifiers changed, the license will not work. In this scenario simply open the activation dialog, disregard the fact that the license key is pre-filled and the app is seemingly activated (while Pro features are unavailable) - hit the Deactivate button and then enter the activation details again.

License management via command line

Activating and deactivating licenses via command line comes handy in a corporate environment using automated license management solutions. See the following wiki entry for available commands:

License management via command line

Activation Troubleshooting

Activation error after a Migration Assistant transfer

If you did not deactivate the license on the old computer and transfer the app using Migration Assistant, the app will not be activated but the license code will be filled in. Pressing the Activate License button might not work. This is a bug in Paddle's activation SDK - to fix the issue, you need to (in a rather unintuitive way) press Deactivate License button under Manage License and then proceed with activation as usual by re-entering the license key.

Lack of network connectivity

This can be caused by a network configuration issue or possibly some kind of third party security/firewall app preventing the Paddle licensing component from effectively communicate with Paddle's activation servers to verify the license code. If the app is prevented from communicating, the app menu's Tools > Check for Updates feature should not work either - this should give an easy way to confirm whether this is an issue.

The best course of action is to troubleshoot network connectivity issues or allow the app to communicate by configuring the security/firewall app accordingly.

Reaching activation limit

An other issue might be reaching the activation limit associated with the license key which prevents further activations - use the app's license management CLI features to check the number of activations and deactivate unused activations if needed.