carl123

@Jason M
Welcome to the madhouse
In the hamburger menu for the Layers panel select...
Show Group Thumbnails

@Jason M
Welcome to the madhouse
In the hamburger menu for the Layers panel select...
Show Group Thumbnails

This is the full list
 

This is the full list
 

Can you upload a screenshot showing some layers on and some off, so we can see what you see?

Possibly this, but I dont have a Mac to test it on.
 
"Only Serif Labs RAW Engine can be used for non-destructive operation. To swap to it, go to Edit>Preferences, then Assistant>Develop Assistant and select Serif Labs from the RAW Engine pop-up menu."

Those are for imported files, not for the newly created/modified document content.  In the case of RAW files you have the option of linking to the existing RAW file, for example, instead of copying (embedding) the RAW data into the Affinity Photo file.  This helps to reduce consumed disk space by not storing an extra copy of the data, but also means that there is a dependency on the existing, external file to be present in order to make use of the document (afphoto file).
 
That is going to happen anyway; even if Affinity Photo did save your RAW development steps in an XMP it would not be usable in anything else anyway since nothing else would reproduce the same processing that Photo would have done on the original RAW data.  About the only thing you could really trust to be usable would be metadata (author/copyright info, etc.).
 
This is already possible as long as you use a RAW layer instead of a pixel layer when developing.  The crop tool in the Develop persona can be reselected to regain access to the previously cropped data.  If you use the crop tool in the Photo persona after developing, you need to check the Reveal checkbox on the context toolbar to see the hidden parts of the image which were previously cropped out.
 
There is a split view available from the main toolbar in the Develop persona which compares the current image with the image as it was when you entered the persona.
 
An Affinity Photo document is not a RAW file.  It is more like a Photoshop document.
When you open a RAW file it lands you in the Develop persona to develop the RAW data, and the "Output" setting on the context toolbar defaults to a pixel layer.  If you leave it that way, when you develop the image and return to the Photo persona, the RAW data is thrown away at that point and you are left with a non-RAW image ready to be further modified.  If you change it to a RAW Layer instead, then the RAW data is retained and the layer containing the RAW image is a RAW layer, which is indicated if you hover the mouse over the left edge of that layer in the Layers panel (where most other layer types have an icon to indicate what type they are, for some reason the RAW layers seem to have a blank icon right now, at least on mine).  As long as you leave it as a RAW layer, you can go back to the Develop persona to further adjust it, but most of the editing tools in the Photo persona will not work on that layer without first converting it to a pixel layer, at which point it loses the RAW data and the edits become destructive.  (You can place other types of layers over top of it, however, including adjustment layers and live filters, and any of those layers can have masks to adjust selected areas, so in the end the available functionality when working non-destructively with RAW data - which is what the RAW layers offer - is similar to that of the tools you mentioned, but without the benefit of catalogs or an image browser of any kind to assist with culling or with working between multiple images).

If you select your object, apply an Outer Shadow effect to it
Then

Edit > Copy
Edit > Paste Special > Portable Document Format
You will get 2 new layers, one of the object without the shadow and another which is just the shadow of the object
You can then manipulate/distort the shadow layer however you want.
I believe this Edit > Paste Special > Portable Document Format option is available only on Windows versions of AP and AD
 

I think they overestimated the intelligence of (some of) their customers
 

I think they overestimated the intelligence of (some of) their customers
 

I think they overestimated the intelligence of (some of) their customers
 

I think they overestimated the intelligence of (some of) their customers
 

In the email you received you have the option to opt-out of future emails (at the bottom)
Just don't come back and complain when you miss out on something you wanted, like Version 2.0 at 50% off

Someone in your marketing department needs a promotion
 
Please keep sending me emails like this. 50% off everything in the Affinity store is a great way to reward your customers. Especially so, during the pandemic.

Who's going to bed early tonight?

First make sure no Layer is selected in the Layers panel, then.... 
Layer > Show All
All hidden layers will be unhidden but they will all be selected so just hit the delete key/icon

Who's going to bed early tonight?

First make sure no Layer is selected in the Layers panel, then.... 
Layer > Show All
All hidden layers will be unhidden but they will all be selected so just hit the delete key/icon

Who's going to bed early tonight?

First make sure no Layer is selected in the Layers panel, then.... 
Layer > Show All
All hidden layers will be unhidden but they will all be selected so just hit the delete key/icon

Who's going to bed early tonight?

First make sure no Layer is selected in the Layers panel, then.... 
Layer > Show All
All hidden layers will be unhidden but they will all be selected so just hit the delete key/icon

First make sure no Layer is selected in the Layers panel, then.... 
Layer > Show All
All hidden layers will be unhidden but they will all be selected so just hit the delete key/icon

In the Keyboard Shortcuts screen, where it normally says "File" (top left), change that drop-down to the "Miscellaneous" option

@Altruist Comics 
Don't forget to run the procedure to stop that update being automatically installed
Or just pause all updates for a few weeks until this gets fixed