Bryan Rieger

Yes, sorry, its a work in progress and that's just accidental exposure.

We have released a beta build to try and address a number of critical issues found in 2.6.0/2.6.1
We think a few of these fixes require some time to test them with our affected customers but we would like to release 2.6.2 to customers very soon, but it may require a number of weeks of testing.
Here are the release notes for the 2.6.2 beta
If you are suffering from any of the 21 issues mentioned in that 2.6.2.3178 beta post, then please (sign up for and) install the latest beta build. If you have reported a bug and it is not yet fixed, please do not report it again. Nor can we correspond in this thread on when other bugs will be fixed (or why they are not yet fixed).
This beta is open to ALL Version 2 customers 

The issue "Painting into a grouped Pixel Layer on an Artboard will fail to redraw new strokes" (REF: AF-489) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.2.3187). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

@Lamoen FYI Cartoon Saloon makes extensive use of Moho. There’s even a number of blurbs from Cartoon Saloon directly on the Moho site (scroll down on the home page).
Good luck with whatever you choose!

What type of animation are you looking to create?
For 2D character animation I'd recommend Moho, or Spine (that latter specifically if you're creating animations for games). Both of these allow you to import a .psd file (exported from the Affinity apps) into your projects. Both of these use bone rigs to create puppet animations. There's also an app called Rive that's worth looking into if you're creating UI/app animations - you can import svg, png, etc exported from the Affinity apps.
If you're using an iPad and looking for a more traditional, hand-draw approach combined with limited motion graphics techniques Procreate Dreams is a decent option, and you can import various assets that you create from the Affinity apps (again, as png, jpg, etc).
For motion graphics After Effects is the industry standard workhorse, but Cavalry (there is a free version available) is a good option for folks looking to remain outside of the Adobe ecosystem. Cavalry can import a variety of file formats (.psd, .pdf, etc) but also .svg files exported from the Affinity apps. If you're on macOS and want something simpler I'd suggest having a look at both Keyshape (svg) and Hype (html, can import jpg, png, svg, etc) which are simple, yet quite capable little apps.
If you're looking to create 3D animation Blender is a great option.

What type of animation are you looking to create?
For 2D character animation I'd recommend Moho, or Spine (that latter specifically if you're creating animations for games). Both of these allow you to import a .psd file (exported from the Affinity apps) into your projects. Both of these use bone rigs to create puppet animations. There's also an app called Rive that's worth looking into if you're creating UI/app animations - you can import svg, png, etc exported from the Affinity apps.
If you're using an iPad and looking for a more traditional, hand-draw approach combined with limited motion graphics techniques Procreate Dreams is a decent option, and you can import various assets that you create from the Affinity apps (again, as png, jpg, etc).
For motion graphics After Effects is the industry standard workhorse, but Cavalry (there is a free version available) is a good option for folks looking to remain outside of the Adobe ecosystem. Cavalry can import a variety of file formats (.psd, .pdf, etc) but also .svg files exported from the Affinity apps. If you're on macOS and want something simpler I'd suggest having a look at both Keyshape (svg) and Hype (html, can import jpg, png, svg, etc) which are simple, yet quite capable little apps.
If you're looking to create 3D animation Blender is a great option.

As @Bryan Rieger pointed out, there are a variety of options out there and a big piece of this answer will depend heavily on the style of animation you are trying to create, where you plan to deploy it (video, web, UI feature, etc.), and how you want to work with it.
Other programs you might look at are Apple's Motion (video work) if you are on a Mac, or as a second option for hand-drawn cell-based animation on an iPad, there is also Callipeg, which has been around longer than Procreate Dreams.
For more cartoon-like 2D rigged animations there is also the free open-source Synfig Studio which may be applicable in some cases (and that one is cross-platform).
 
Note that this has been discussed before in many other threads, so searching the feature request forum for "animation" will net you many past discussions on this, and other recommendations were likely offered in those past threads as well.

I fully agree that there are too many bugs in Affinity software, and there are too many long standing ones that never seem to get fixed. But, if you look at many of the "bug" reports in this forum, they are actually things that people don't understand, or don't know how to do, things that are different to other software or just something that someone doesn't happen to like! There's certainly nothing wrong with asking for new features, or for changes to be made, but that is not the same as actual bugs, which prevent software working as it is supposed to, or cause crashes and loss of work. 
It's really much more helpful if people report bugs that they are experiencing, along with details of exactly what they are and what appears to be triggering them, rather than simply making endless vague comments about "too many bugs" and denigrating Affinity and Serif generally!

Not everyone is designing for print.  When working on elements targeting video, cinema, user interfaces, etc., it is more essential to work with a calibrated display and make judgements against that.
For typical video color grading work the "most correct" setup is a separate display showing only the content, without any user interface at all, and to manipulate controls on the user interface and make judgements on the separate display, but it is still necessary even when working that way to sometimes view things on the user interface display, meaning it must also be calibrated as much as possible, and anything that might throw off perception of color within the image minimized.
When using applications like the Affinity apps, that method of working is less of an option, as you directly manipulate the image within the user interface itself, so color judgements on the user interface display become even more critical.  You spend a lot of time looking at the design on that display, and if you spend enough time looking at something while working with it, you lose the ability to make accurate judgements about what you are seeing, as your eyes adjust to it and it "looks" right even when it is not.
Keeping the "first impression" as accurate as possible is very important.

I just started using 2.6 the other day and I'm shocked that after all these months of development, 2.6 is as terrible as it is. The new cropping behaviour takes something that worked as expected (the object would be sized to the crop), and made it absolutely useless (the object is sized to the original object before crop). I simply can no no longer use that feature in any workflow. Who on earth thought that was an improvement on the existing behaviour?!
Other than a slightly improved pencil tool (thanks for the 'smoothness' setting, although 'smoothing' would be a better label), version 2.6 brings absolutely no benefits to my workflows. ePub export? Proper vector brushes? Clean-up/simplify geometry? An expand stroke feature that works reliably? A contour tool that isn't a 'minimum viable product'. Improved variable font support (ahem, Playpen and alternates). The list goes on and on… and I haven't even mentioned the now routinely excruciatingly slow file loading.
I had hoped that with the botched 2.5 release Serif would take its time to ensure that the 2.6 release was solid. Unfortunately, with this release my already waning confidence in Serif continues its downward trend, and the Canva acquisition appears to have only made things worse.

For me, the only interesting thing about the current ML functionality is that it's the first time that external modules (plugins) are used. This means that Serif has already made progress in implementing them, and that they will hopefully be released for wider use soon. I would guess that Blend Tool could use them as well.

I do believe that Serif acts with the best of intentions towards its software and users, and I’ve seen many examples over the past 10+ years of Serif employees listening to and helping their users with the software to the best of their ability (management could have a big impact here with regards to following through, not just reporting issues).
What does need be addressed is better communication between Serif/Canva and their user base, as well as solid commitments and follow through to address the ever growing list of issues users are having with the software that are simply not being addressed.

As a business, I’d expect their primary intention be to sell, and advertising is, well, advertising. As H. G. Wells put it “advertising is legalized lying”.
 
I don’t disagree with you about the chronic QA problems, but I don’t believe there is any malicious intent there. Just not enough resources and investment to follow through. It’s a management issue.

I do believe that Serif acts with the best of intentions towards its software and users, and I’ve seen many examples over the past 10+ years of Serif employees listening to and helping their users with the software to the best of their ability (management could have a big impact here with regards to following through, not just reporting issues).
What does need be addressed is better communication between Serif/Canva and their user base, as well as solid commitments and follow through to address the ever growing list of issues users are having with the software that are simply not being addressed.

As a business, I’d expect their primary intention be to sell, and advertising is, well, advertising. As H. G. Wells put it “advertising is legalized lying”.
 
I don’t disagree with you about the chronic QA problems, but I don’t believe there is any malicious intent there. Just not enough resources and investment to follow through. It’s a management issue.

I do believe that Serif acts with the best of intentions towards its software and users, and I’ve seen many examples over the past 10+ years of Serif employees listening to and helping their users with the software to the best of their ability (management could have a big impact here with regards to following through, not just reporting issues).
What does need be addressed is better communication between Serif/Canva and their user base, as well as solid commitments and follow through to address the ever growing list of issues users are having with the software that are simply not being addressed.

I do believe that Serif acts with the best of intentions towards its software and users, and I’ve seen many examples over the past 10+ years of Serif employees listening to and helping their users with the software to the best of their ability (management could have a big impact here with regards to following through, not just reporting issues).
What does need be addressed is better communication between Serif/Canva and their user base, as well as solid commitments and follow through to address the ever growing list of issues users are having with the software that are simply not being addressed.

As a business, I’d expect their primary intention be to sell, and advertising is, well, advertising. As H. G. Wells put it “advertising is legalized lying”.
 
I don’t disagree with you about the chronic QA problems, but I don’t believe there is any malicious intent there. Just not enough resources and investment to follow through. It’s a management issue.

I just started using 2.6 the other day and I'm shocked that after all these months of development, 2.6 is as terrible as it is. The new cropping behaviour takes something that worked as expected (the object would be sized to the crop), and made it absolutely useless (the object is sized to the original object before crop). I simply can no no longer use that feature in any workflow. Who on earth thought that was an improvement on the existing behaviour?!
Other than a slightly improved pencil tool (thanks for the 'smoothness' setting, although 'smoothing' would be a better label), version 2.6 brings absolutely no benefits to my workflows. ePub export? Proper vector brushes? Clean-up/simplify geometry? An expand stroke feature that works reliably? A contour tool that isn't a 'minimum viable product'. Improved variable font support (ahem, Playpen and alternates). The list goes on and on… and I haven't even mentioned the now routinely excruciatingly slow file loading.
I had hoped that with the botched 2.5 release Serif would take its time to ensure that the 2.6 release was solid. Unfortunately, with this release my already waning confidence in Serif continues its downward trend, and the Canva acquisition appears to have only made things worse.

I just started using 2.6 the other day and I'm shocked that after all these months of development, 2.6 is as terrible as it is. The new cropping behaviour takes something that worked as expected (the object would be sized to the crop), and made it absolutely useless (the object is sized to the original object before crop). I simply can no no longer use that feature in any workflow. Who on earth thought that was an improvement on the existing behaviour?!
Other than a slightly improved pencil tool (thanks for the 'smoothness' setting, although 'smoothing' would be a better label), version 2.6 brings absolutely no benefits to my workflows. ePub export? Proper vector brushes? Clean-up/simplify geometry? An expand stroke feature that works reliably? A contour tool that isn't a 'minimum viable product'. Improved variable font support (ahem, Playpen and alternates). The list goes on and on… and I haven't even mentioned the now routinely excruciatingly slow file loading.
I had hoped that with the botched 2.5 release Serif would take its time to ensure that the 2.6 release was solid. Unfortunately, with this release my already waning confidence in Serif continues its downward trend, and the Canva acquisition appears to have only made things worse.

I just started using 2.6 the other day and I'm shocked that after all these months of development, 2.6 is as terrible as it is. The new cropping behaviour takes something that worked as expected (the object would be sized to the crop), and made it absolutely useless (the object is sized to the original object before crop). I simply can no no longer use that feature in any workflow. Who on earth thought that was an improvement on the existing behaviour?!
Other than a slightly improved pencil tool (thanks for the 'smoothness' setting, although 'smoothing' would be a better label), version 2.6 brings absolutely no benefits to my workflows. ePub export? Proper vector brushes? Clean-up/simplify geometry? An expand stroke feature that works reliably? A contour tool that isn't a 'minimum viable product'. Improved variable font support (ahem, Playpen and alternates). The list goes on and on… and I haven't even mentioned the now routinely excruciatingly slow file loading.
I had hoped that with the botched 2.5 release Serif would take its time to ensure that the 2.6 release was solid. Unfortunately, with this release my already waning confidence in Serif continues its downward trend, and the Canva acquisition appears to have only made things worse.

I just started using 2.6 the other day and I'm shocked that after all these months of development, 2.6 is as terrible as it is. The new cropping behaviour takes something that worked as expected (the object would be sized to the crop), and made it absolutely useless (the object is sized to the original object before crop). I simply can no no longer use that feature in any workflow. Who on earth thought that was an improvement on the existing behaviour?!
Other than a slightly improved pencil tool (thanks for the 'smoothness' setting, although 'smoothing' would be a better label), version 2.6 brings absolutely no benefits to my workflows. ePub export? Proper vector brushes? Clean-up/simplify geometry? An expand stroke feature that works reliably? A contour tool that isn't a 'minimum viable product'. Improved variable font support (ahem, Playpen and alternates). The list goes on and on… and I haven't even mentioned the now routinely excruciatingly slow file loading.
I had hoped that with the botched 2.5 release Serif would take its time to ensure that the 2.6 release was solid. Unfortunately, with this release my already waning confidence in Serif continues its downward trend, and the Canva acquisition appears to have only made things worse.

starts at 4:00 or so

^ Strike that, it affects simple vector masking as well.
However, I think now I understand the idea behind the change:
Previously it was not possible to select e.g. the full image when it was masked by a vector object. In 2.4.2 I have to release the mask first to select the full image layer being masked/cropped.
That is now possible, and you can toggle the bounding box via Cycle selection. So it's not necessarily a bad thing. It should just likely be the other way around, i.e. the default box should be the vector mask, and then you can toggle to select the cropped/masked content instead.
In other words, if you need the old behavior/appearance, nest your objects inside other objects, and on double click you'll still get the full content bounding box as a bonus.
(Have I already mentioned that  I've never understood the point of the Vector Crop tool in the first place…? )

I just started using 2.6 the other day and I'm shocked that after all these months of development, 2.6 is as terrible as it is. The new cropping behaviour takes something that worked as expected (the object would be sized to the crop), and made it absolutely useless (the object is sized to the original object before crop). I simply can no no longer use that feature in any workflow. Who on earth thought that was an improvement on the existing behaviour?!
Other than a slightly improved pencil tool (thanks for the 'smoothness' setting, although 'smoothing' would be a better label), version 2.6 brings absolutely no benefits to my workflows. ePub export? Proper vector brushes? Clean-up/simplify geometry? An expand stroke feature that works reliably? A contour tool that isn't a 'minimum viable product'. Improved variable font support (ahem, Playpen and alternates). The list goes on and on… and I haven't even mentioned the now routinely excruciatingly slow file loading.
I had hoped that with the botched 2.5 release Serif would take its time to ensure that the 2.6 release was solid. Unfortunately, with this release my already waning confidence in Serif continues its downward trend, and the Canva acquisition appears to have only made things worse.