It's really, really time to move away from Aperture.

Apple's WWDC has come and gone for 2016. Another year, another set of announcements. And some good ones for the photography community, especially RAW editing in iOS. And that's all cool. OS X and iOS will march on, bringing new features and (inevitably) necessitating hardware upgrades to keep pace with the new features.

I'm an Aperture refugee. I loved Aperture, I miss it's features and module-less UI. Alas, Apple clearly put the writing on the wall a couple of years ago. I know there are many that are sticking with Aperture. I think that's a bad choice long term. Every year, with every OS X upgrade, Aperture users will have a burning question:

Is this the year Aperture stops working?

The rumblings are already starting and I can feel Aperture users getting nervous. And, well, you should be. Early reports suggest Aperture is still working with Apple's next release, OS X Sierra. But hey, it's in beta. Anything can happen between now and the final release. OS Sierra will be supported on Macs as old as 2009 and 2010, depending on the model, so there's still wiggle room if you're still clinging to Aperture.

One this is for certain – whether it's OS Sierra that puts the final nail in Aperture's coffin or it's the next major OS release – there will come a day that Aperture flat out stops working. Your hand will be forced. You can't stay on old hardware forever - it will eventually break. Buying a new camera body runs the risk of no RAW support in an older OS. 

Don't scramble. And don't feel woozy and uneasy the time next year when WWDC rolls around again. If you are still using Aperture, you really, really need to plan a migration to something with longevity. Lightroom, Photos, Capture One, ON1 Photo – something that has a future.

I chose Lightroom. And I have a totally free migration guide to help you move to Lightroom. I've also adopted my Aperture workflow to Lightroom and share everything I do in Lightroom Asset Management. Overall, I'm happy with the move. And I have the peace of mind that support won't be unceremoniously yanked away. 

Don't like Lightroom? That's completely fine. Please, please move to another asset manager. Maybe OS X Photos meets your needs... Derrick Story has a new book The Apple Photos Book for Photographers. ON1 announced ON1 Photo RAW coming in the fall, which offers a level of asset management... maybe it's enough for you. I know less about Capture One. I know it's capable and ex-Aperture folks tell me it's the most Aperture-like of the bunch.

Please, please don't get left in the cold. Plan a move from Aperture now.