I have been a long time user and fan of Storyline, but when I switched jobs, my new boss would not pay for an additional Windows and VMware license to run on my Mac. Look at the length of this thread! The lack of vision and commitment to their customers is disheartening. Now it sounds with the new Macs the situation is even worse. Has anyone found even a close alternative to Storyline? I have not, so instead my audiences have to settle for less interactive content.
Lack of 64 bit support causes many of us 'out of memory' and crashing issues.
Well, that would probably explain why Storyline was so much of a poop show lately with Oracle Virtualbox. I was getting severe freezing and crashing from simple things like going into the player menu / attachments section. Parallels seems to handle it better, but that ended up entailing a $150 / year license just for this bloody application. đŸ˜¡
I have put a ticket into tech support for a 64 bit version. They have tried multiple times to cure the crashing and out of memory problem for me and my team. All work arounds have failed, this is pure and simple a 64 bit issue. SL is a 32 bit application, therefore it can only address 4 GB of memory, anything extra you have is of no real benefit. A 64 bit system can address all of your ram and more, this massively helps the stability and functionality of the application.
Like others on here I know many who are actively looking at other solutions. We are ourselves doing the same, one of which doesn't use a standard off the shelf eLearning application, which provides unlimited flexibility.
1. Matthew NAILED IT! When I was out in San Diego a few of years ago, Articulate told me then, that they are not pursuing creating a Mac version of SL. "It costs too much money." (Said the company making lots of money and could afford appealing to every user)
2. Articulate makes a load of money making a product that is easy for the masses to enter this elearning design market (Powerpoint).
3. Captivate, even Lectora, is more robust than SL and the learning curve is a bit more steep. Having to put VMW and a copy of WIndows on a Mac just to use to use a "handcuffed" app seems counter intuitive but that's the way Articulate made it and appears they like it.
4. All of what we have input here has fallen on deaf ears at Articulate. They have their niche and have made it quite clear they are not going to create a Mac based version. I think it's about time we look at other authoring tools. It's interesting that Adobe has invested the money into making their software usable on MS and Mac, yet they haven't gone bankrupt. I would even argue that they increased their customer base too.
Anyway, to all those who are Mac users, good luck with finding a solution and moving forward. I applaud you and respect you.
Parallels and a Windows License for that environment also costs a not
insignificant amount of money. This prevents individuals with only Mac
computers from being able to take advantage of the only software that
provides the ability to make deeply interactive courses now that Flash is
no longer an option.
Hi, Reading all these comments above, there is not much to add. The Articulate license is very expensive.... but additionally i have to use a PC for the sole purpose of using articulate software. The institute I work for (2500+ employees) recently decided NOT to continue with Articulate. Looking forward to a MAC alternative.
This is an enlightening thread! I am new to the field of instructional design. I just tested Rise with the free trial and was going to test Storyline before buying a subscription only to discover that Storyline doesn't work on Macs . . . Articulate, add me to the long list of customers you've lost because there is no Mac version.
The company I work for has a Mac-only IT infrastructure. Now that they are transitioning to M1 Chip Macs they won't even allow me to install a Windows partition. I am forced to work with Captivate and every time I open it, I would like to pop my eyes out of my head with a spoon. It's just...terrible.
Joining my comment to the already long list. I too would really like to see a Mac version of Articulate Storyline developed. I primarily work on my iMac computer, and have kept a PC computer for the sole purpose of operating Articulate Storyline. That, however is about to change. I work at a non-profit organization, and all of our staff are using Mac computers (I'm the only one that has a PC to run Storyline). Now that we have more eLearning developers, we have had to find an alternative because (as much as I LOVE Storyline) no one else can access it. And, yes, I'm aware that it can run on a Mac using Parallels - but, we are a non-profit and can't justify the added expense of several licences for not only Parallels but also the Windows operating system. If that is going to be your response to users, Articulate, perhaps you should start including a free licence for parallels and Windows for Mac users if you don't want to develop a Mac version.
In the meantime, we are switching to Adobe Captivate. Thanks Keith for posting about the upcoming version (hopefully Spring 2022) - Captivate is a great alternative to Storyline, and now with this much more user friendly looking version coming, Articulate may be about to lose a lot of customers to Adobe.
I work in pro audio, as well as being an ID. Every software company that makes digital audio workstations or plugins that run in them, indeed any of the literally thousands of applications for pro audio make both Mac and Win versions of their software. This software is far, far more complex than Storyline, and these companies are much smaller than Articulate. I have to think that some Mac user kicked sand in Mr. Articulate's face at the beach or something and they hold a grudge. I've known people like that. There's no way that it's too expensive (it's not), or complicated (it's not, of course).
Thanks Keith. We often help our clients choose platforms and LMS (we have just under 6k employees). I have both personal and an institutional licenses for both Storyline and Captivate. We've been following this new version of Captivate.
Thanks to everyone, and most recently, Keith and Hugh. I agree with Hugh that there is far more complicated software created by companies far less successful than Articulate. I've complained on multiple threads about this very issue, never to any avail. Articulate has dug its heels into the sand, right about where its neck is.
I can't wait for the newest version of a Mac-friendly Captivate or any company that proves it can challenge Articulate with a Mac-friendly product. I'm a little surprised that no one has accomplished it at this late date. So many of us have raised our voices before. They simply don't care.
I'm very tired of doling out money to not only Articulate, but also Parallels and Microsoft, just to run their (admittedly effective but ultra frustrating) software. After my subscription is up I hope to be firmly established at a competitor.
I think we all need to start spamming Articulate with feature requests asking them to build a native Mac version. I submit one every time I have to wait more than 5 minutes for Parallels and Windows to start up (which is frequently).
FYI, this thread is a bit old, but I wanted to add a note that I've been having only mixed success with running Articulate 360 on a 2021 M1 Mac under Parallels/Windows 11 ARM version. It seems very unstable, loses line spacing settings, and crashes frequently.
Just to reiterate all that has been said in this thread. There has been a complete lack of real development and innovation by the dev team here. I understand that its a complicated mess trying to re-engineer the program from scratch, yet every other major professional grade program has a Mac OS native version. Even powerpoint's export times to HEVC have been drastically reduced because of the M1 Pro's media engine built into the SOC. On my Ryzen 3950x it still can take projects 30-40 minutes to render into h264 while on my M1 Pro laptop--which consumes way less power--it only takes 5. There has been a consistent lack of developing the program. Most eLearning professionals utilize the adobe suite to supplement their courses, and the media engine of the M1 is built to make these processes faster. Why can't the dev team at least look into making the product faster and utilize the different engines available. Heck, in premier on my windows PC I can at least dictate to utilize the GPU to help the rendering process.
Hello, Still following this thread, and totally share the disappointment in Articulate’s narrow-minded business strategy for Storyline. But I think there is another piece to the puzzle
It would seem that Articulate is banking on Rise becoming the solution for mult-platform use. However their licensing structure poses a serious problem for many organizations who want to own their content and be able to update it in the future. There is still no way to archive your Rise course off-line, in such a way that you could return to it in the future, without maintaining an unbroken continuous license subscription for the whole time. For many nonprofit organizations this is a rather large hurdle at the $1000+ a year price point for the entire Articulate package.
And for freelance consultants like myself, the requirement of maintaining a continuous subscription makes it a really difficult sell to clients, even though the Rise product itself would be suitable for many if not most of their training situations. This subscription policy would appear to be driven purely by short term greed, rather than long-term wisdom and building up respect for their product.
126 Replies
I have been a long time user and fan of Storyline, but when I switched jobs, my new boss would not pay for an additional Windows and VMware license to run on my Mac. Look at the length of this thread! The lack of vision and commitment to their customers is disheartening. Now it sounds with the new Macs the situation is even worse. Has anyone found even a close alternative to Storyline? I have not, so instead my audiences have to settle for less interactive content.
Well, that would probably explain why Storyline was so much of a poop show lately with Oracle Virtualbox. I was getting severe freezing and crashing from simple things like going into the player menu / attachments section. Parallels seems to handle it better, but that ended up entailing a $150 / year license just for this bloody application. đŸ˜¡
I have put a ticket into tech support for a 64 bit version. They have tried multiple times to cure the crashing and out of memory problem for me and my team. All work arounds have failed, this is pure and simple a 64 bit issue. SL is a 32 bit application, therefore it can only address 4 GB of memory, anything extra you have is of no real benefit. A 64 bit system can address all of your ram and more, this massively helps the stability and functionality of the application.
Like others on here I know many who are actively looking at other solutions. We are ourselves doing the same, one of which doesn't use a standard off the shelf eLearning application, which provides unlimited flexibility.
Good luck and stay safe
Hi everyone,
A couple of things to point out:
1. Matthew NAILED IT! When I was out in San Diego a few of years ago, Articulate told me then, that they are not pursuing creating a Mac version of SL. "It costs too much money." (Said the company making lots of money and could afford appealing to every user)
2. Articulate makes a load of money making a product that is easy for the masses to enter this elearning design market (Powerpoint).
3. Captivate, even Lectora, is more robust than SL and the learning curve is a bit more steep. Having to put VMW and a copy of WIndows on a Mac just to use to use a "handcuffed" app seems counter intuitive but that's the way Articulate made it and appears they like it.
4. All of what we have input here has fallen on deaf ears at Articulate. They have their niche and have made it quite clear they are not going to create a Mac based version. I think it's about time we look at other authoring tools. It's interesting that Adobe has invested the money into making their software usable on MS and Mac, yet they haven't gone bankrupt. I would even argue that they increased their customer base too.
Anyway, to all those who are Mac users, good luck with finding a solution and moving forward. I applaud you and respect you.
Parallels and a Windows License for that environment also costs a not
insignificant amount of money. This prevents individuals with only Mac
computers from being able to take advantage of the only software that
provides the ability to make deeply interactive courses now that Flash is
no longer an option.
Hi, Reading all these comments above, there is not much to add. The Articulate license is very expensive.... but additionally i have to use a PC for the sole purpose of using articulate software. The institute I work for (2500+ employees) recently decided NOT to continue with Articulate. Looking forward to a MAC alternative.
This is an enlightening thread! I am new to the field of instructional design. I just tested Rise with the free trial and was going to test Storyline before buying a subscription only to discover that Storyline doesn't work on Macs . . . Articulate, add me to the long list of customers you've lost because there is no Mac version.
The company I work for has a Mac-only IT infrastructure. Now that they are transitioning to M1 Chip Macs they won't even allow me to install a Windows partition. I am forced to work with Captivate and every time I open it, I would like to pop my eyes out of my head with a spoon. It's just...terrible.
My company doesn't allow me to use this solution because it's considered not InfoSec compliant. :(
I'm actually horrified to see that Storyline is STILL not available for Mac.
Just going to leave this here:
https://elearning.adobe.com/2021/10/announcing-project-charm-the-upcoming-version-of-adobe-captivate/
Joining my comment to the already long list. I too would really like to see a Mac version of Articulate Storyline developed. I primarily work on my iMac computer, and have kept a PC computer for the sole purpose of operating Articulate Storyline. That, however is about to change. I work at a non-profit organization, and all of our staff are using Mac computers (I'm the only one that has a PC to run Storyline). Now that we have more eLearning developers, we have had to find an alternative because (as much as I LOVE Storyline) no one else can access it. And, yes, I'm aware that it can run on a Mac using Parallels - but, we are a non-profit and can't justify the added expense of several licences for not only Parallels but also the Windows operating system. If that is going to be your response to users, Articulate, perhaps you should start including a free licence for parallels and Windows for Mac users if you don't want to develop a Mac version.
In the meantime, we are switching to Adobe Captivate. Thanks Keith for posting about the upcoming version (hopefully Spring 2022) - Captivate is a great alternative to Storyline, and now with this much more user friendly looking version coming, Articulate may be about to lose a lot of customers to Adobe.
Please please please please make a version of Storyline compatible with Mac! VMWare Fusion drives me bonkers
Thanks, Keith. I signed up for the beta. Hope this is better than Storyline.
I work in pro audio, as well as being an ID. Every software company that makes digital audio workstations or plugins that run in them, indeed any of the literally thousands of applications for pro audio make both Mac and Win versions of their software. This software is far, far more complex than Storyline, and these companies are much smaller than Articulate. I have to think that some Mac user kicked sand in Mr. Articulate's face at the beach or something and they hold a grudge. I've known people like that. There's no way that it's too expensive (it's not), or complicated (it's not, of course).
Thanks Keith. We often help our clients choose platforms and LMS (we have just under 6k employees). I have both personal and an institutional licenses for both Storyline and Captivate. We've been following this new version of Captivate.
Thanks to everyone, and most recently, Keith and Hugh. I agree with Hugh that there is far more complicated software created by companies far less successful than Articulate. I've complained on multiple threads about this very issue, never to any avail. Articulate has dug its heels into the sand, right about where its neck is.
I can't wait for the newest version of a Mac-friendly Captivate or any company that proves it can challenge Articulate with a Mac-friendly product. I'm a little surprised that no one has accomplished it at this late date. So many of us have raised our voices before. They simply don't care.
I'm very tired of doling out money to not only Articulate, but also Parallels and Microsoft, just to run their (admittedly effective but ultra frustrating) software. After my subscription is up I hope to be firmly established at a competitor.
I think we all need to start spamming Articulate with feature requests asking them to build a native Mac version. I submit one every time I have to wait more than 5 minutes for Parallels and Windows to start up (which is frequently).
https://articulate.com/support/contact/feature-request
FYI, this thread is a bit old, but I wanted to add a note that I've been having only mixed success with running Articulate 360 on a 2021 M1 Mac under Parallels/Windows 11 ARM version. It seems very unstable, loses line spacing settings, and crashes frequently.
Posted about it here: Storyline 360 instability on M1 Mac with Parallels/Windows 11 ARM version - Articulate Storyline Discussions - E-Learning Heroes
Curious to hear the experience of people working on M1 Macs who have been working extensively, not just doing a few tryouts.
Thanks,
Lon
This post was removed by the author
done! Thanks, good idea!
Just to reiterate all that has been said in this thread. There has been a complete lack of real development and innovation by the dev team here. I understand that its a complicated mess trying to re-engineer the program from scratch, yet every other major professional grade program has a Mac OS native version. Even powerpoint's export times to HEVC have been drastically reduced because of the M1 Pro's media engine built into the SOC. On my Ryzen 3950x it still can take projects 30-40 minutes to render into h264 while on my M1 Pro laptop--which consumes way less power--it only takes 5. There has been a consistent lack of developing the program. Most eLearning professionals utilize the adobe suite to supplement their courses, and the media engine of the M1 is built to make these processes faster.
Why can't the dev team at least look into making the product faster and utilize the different engines available. Heck, in premier on my windows PC I can at least dictate to utilize the GPU to help the rendering process.
Hello, Still following this thread, and totally share the disappointment in Articulate’s narrow-minded business strategy for Storyline. But I think there is another piece to the puzzle
It would seem that Articulate is banking on Rise becoming the solution for mult-platform use. However their licensing structure poses a serious problem for many organizations who want to own their content and be able to update it in the future. There is still no way to archive your Rise course off-line, in such a way that you could return to it in the future, without maintaining an unbroken continuous license subscription for the whole time. For many nonprofit organizations this is a rather large hurdle at the $1000+ a year price point for the entire Articulate package.
And for freelance consultants like myself, the requirement of maintaining a continuous subscription makes it a really difficult sell to clients, even though the Rise product itself would be suitable for many if not most of their training situations. This subscription policy would appear to be driven purely by short term greed, rather than long-term wisdom and building up respect for their product.
Please create a Mac Native program. Using this on Parallel is difficult and if Im able to I opt out of using SL, because of the extra steps.
Keith you are awesome! I will definitely try Adobe Captivate. It beats paying for parallel and articulate.