Bryan Rieger

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.

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.

Please reconsider providing architecture specific builds for macOS Intel and Apple Silicon directly from Affinity. I know that doesn't help with the App Store Universal builds issue, but at least you could help those customers who have purchased directly from you. Oh, and an added benefit would be showing some respect to users with smaller hard-drives by not shipping GBs of libs they don't need.
Simply saying 'sorry for the inconvenience, but we're not going to bother to at least fix it where we can' just further demonstrates Serif's contempt for its users. 

I toggled the iCloud Drive settings for each of the apps and that seems to have worked. 🤞
Thanks @Hangman!

Maybe just adding it as an option in the Edit menu, just below duplicate. Or maybe it's already somewhere and I missed it, please ignore if that's the case.
I keep forgetting this dialog even exists until it pops up in tutorial videos. Or forget which key I need to press, or even the name of the dialog so I can look it up.
It's also troublesome for the user experience to have features like this prompted by key bindings only, with no visual cue somewhere in the UI that they are available, either as a reminder or as useful information for newcomers. I'm mostly self-taught, so I figure things out by looking through the buttons and menus and trying stuff out. Not seeing an option for a feature somewhere is just the same as not having it sometimes.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I've always found the Astute Graphics tools indispensable when working with Illustrator, especially Vector First Aid (node clean up and optimization) and Phantasm (non-destructive vector colour control and halftones). Serif is sorely lacking any automated means of cleaning up the large number of nodes it's tools create (this is a very manual task in the Affinity suite), as well as vector colour adjustments (the existing adjustment layers render vectors to bitmap). Ideally tools like these would simply be a part of the Affinity toolset, but if that's not possible hopefully Astute Graphics will see the Affinity apps as a worthwhile investment once the SDK becomes available.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

By all means keep this thread visible for others to learn from. 
This  thread illustrates Granddaddy's problem-solving technique called Broadcasting Your Ignorance.
As I first learned some 45 years ago, in the days of IBM mainframe listservs and PC bulletin boards, the quickest way to find a solution to my problem was to broadcast my ignorance. Sure I was sometimes made fun of by others. So what? So long as I had my say they could say anything they pleased. Remember that nothing good ever happens that some don't have their fill of laughter from it. Intelligent people, those who can help you, know what to disregard and will think no worse of you because of foolish criticisms by others. The important thing is that there is always someone who understands your problem and who is willing and able to provide a solution. 
As a professional librarian in research libraries at two large state universities, I always taught students a three step sequence to finding information.
1.)  Ask someone who knows
2.)  Broadcast your ignorance
3.)  As a last resort, go to the library
Today that last step more often involves searching the Web. But beware. The Web is not a library. 
As was written long ago: Search engines, with their half-baked algorithms, are closer to slot machines than to library catalogues --David Rothenberg Chronicle of Higher Education p. A44, August 15, 1997 It's worse today given that search engines are written to serve the purposes and agendas of the search engine companies. Often that means they are designed to mislead you and redirect you away from the best information.  So ask someone who knows and when necessary broadcast your ignorance on these forums. As we see every day, someone who knows will answer your call.
Oh, and one thing more, broadcast your ignorance gently and with humility.