MattT

Does "preferred" mean "required"? Because my preferred install method is one that lets me put applications where I want them and makes them easy to use with other applications as part of my workflow.
 

Or maybe you can go back to using proper installers that put proper .exe files in "Program Files" so this isn't an issue. Why should all these other developers have to accommodate something you broke?
Very disappointed in Serif right now.

Does "preferred" mean "required"? Because my preferred install method is one that lets me put applications where I want them and makes them easy to use with other applications as part of my workflow.
 

With the roll out of Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher for Windows version 2.0.4, Serif are making available Unsandboxed installers (also known here as MSI/EXE installers). These installers will be made for all future V2 release builds going forward and will autoupdate from within the application (checking for updates on each run, like the sandboxed version does)
Serif do not recommend or support mixtures of MSIX and MSI on the same computer. You should only use either all sandboxed or all unsandboxed,  particularly if you have more than one Affinity V2 application installed.
You can now download (and install) Windows unsandboxed MSI/EXE installer files (as well as Windows sandboxed MSIX installer files) from these store pages.
1. From the  V2 Universal Download page
 

Click on the words "Looking for Windows MSI installers?"
 

2. Individual V2 application Download pages, found here
Affinity Designer 2
Affinity Photo 2
Affinity Publisher 2
Click on "Also available EXE (size MB)" 

3. LICENCES AND DOWNLOADS pages in your account
 

Click on the words "Looking for Windows MSI installers?"

Does "preferred" mean "required"? Because my preferred install method is one that lets me put applications where I want them and makes them easy to use with other applications as part of my workflow.
 

Or maybe you can go back to using proper installers that put proper .exe files in "Program Files" so this isn't an issue. Why should all these other developers have to accommodate something you broke?
Very disappointed in Serif right now.

Does "preferred" mean "required"? Because my preferred install method is one that lets me put applications where I want them and makes them easy to use with other applications as part of my workflow.
 

Does "preferred" mean "required"? Because my preferred install method is one that lets me put applications where I want them and makes them easy to use with other applications as part of my workflow.
 

Or maybe you can go back to using proper installers that put proper .exe files in "Program Files" so this isn't an issue. Why should all these other developers have to accommodate something you broke?
Very disappointed in Serif right now.

Hi all. Thanks for your patience over the weekend when our offices were closed.
We've had a meeting this morning and decided to ALSO offer MSI installers to those people who would like them. I can't tell you when this will happen, as there is engineering work that will be required to allow this to happen, but we hope it won't be long.
Thanks for your feedback!

I'm down for smaller delta updates but not when it's automatic, that's a huge no for production software. My understanding of how this works is that you can disable updates but it's a single toggle for all Windows apps, so for users that are already integrated into the MS Store ecosystem this means all or nothing for everything they have installed.
As a programmer who's constantly trying to work customer requests into a product I understand the push to get it in and a lot of times there's a long list of prerequisites needed before you can implement something, but falling back on pre-made solutions is not always the best solution. With Serif being a smaller company I can see why setting up your own solution for this would be a challenge, but when the solution is to change the programs OS integration and cause more issues then you're solving then you have to question whether it's actually worth it.

I don't mind downloading the installer again for each update, a lot of software still does it this way, and I'm sure the majority of users can understand why delta patching wasn't implemented in v1. Honestly, with how other software in the industry rolls it's not something that I've even thought about as being a requirement.

Mark, The majority of the benefits you cite appear to lie in reducing Serif's support burden as it pertains to the installation of the software, which I can appreciate as being an important business level metric you need to keep on top of - unnecessary support costs nail business profitability. 
The very few user benefits apparent in that document (clean uninstall, signed updates) are minor enough that they're well outweighed by the inconveniences users are experiencing. Said inconveniences are already visibly causing Serif a support burden that I suspect outweighs the support burden associated with Affinity V1 installs, if the length of this thread and the numerous other related threads are anything to go by. 

they said regular updates not upgrades. Bye

I am also very annoyed by the fact that Affinity has decided to go the Windows App route, so I want to add my comment here.
Please consider that many of your users like Affinity because it is not an Adobe/Microsoft/[Insert other big software company names here].
We want to retain some control over the software we own and we install in our machines and do not like the route computing is taking.
I am very happy to see that I am not the only one concerned.
Annoy your customers, and you might find you lose them.

I agree that the price is very cheap compared to other software on the market. 
I have now bought a universal licence before it becomes more expensive, because unfortunately I can't afford it then. I also agree that after years of use it is fair that you have to pay again. Other software I own charge every year for updates. 

Does "preferred" mean "required"? Because my preferred install method is one that lets me put applications where I want them and makes them easy to use with other applications as part of my workflow.
 

Or maybe you can go back to using proper installers that put proper .exe files in "Program Files" so this isn't an issue. Why should all these other developers have to accommodate something you broke?
Very disappointed in Serif right now.

Does "preferred" mean "required"? Because my preferred install method is one that lets me put applications where I want them and makes them easy to use with other applications as part of my workflow.
 

Does "preferred" mean "required"? Because my preferred install method is one that lets me put applications where I want them and makes them easy to use with other applications as part of my workflow.
 

I'm afraid that if Serif doesn't fix this very quickly and delivers a conventional installer with a freely selectable path, they will lose a good part of professional users.

Hello,
so it is not possible to install Affinity Photo 2 into a directory of my choice? What if i dont want it to be installed on C:?

What's the reason for installing the app like this instead of in the Program Files folder like normal? Is it just meant to be pseudo-DRM?
If so, putting the onus on other apps to support execution alias files is kinda frustrating.

Hi. Have experienced Photo crashing, and appears to be doing it more frequently with recent versions. I can't say I notice a consistent pattern with what causes the crash, beyond it will happen usually soon after first launching the program, typically with the first edit of the image. No error messages or anything--just working on an image then suddenly looking at the desktop.
System is Ryzen 5 3600, RX 580 8GB GPU, 32 GB RAM.
Attaching a folder listing of crash reports. Will post as many .dmp files as you want or need. Thanks.
 

Thanks @GarryP and @walt.farrell. I'll just reset the brushes.