R C-R

FWIW, this is where it is shown in the first post by @Ash after the "Variation settings on iPad." text.

Did you try Settings > Fonts in one of the iPad Affinity apps? EDIT: Annoyingly, I cannot figure out how to install any of the iPad 2.5 betas on my iPad. It keeps asking for a Redeem code which I do not have & have forgotten where to request one.

I think it is because those snapping options apply to entire objects, not the individual nodes of shape objects, but that is just a guess.

FWIW, I just tried it with AD 2.4.2 & the Roboto Flex font & the PDF exported without any apparent issues.

Hmmm. I downloaded the Roboto Flex file from Google Fonts & double-clicked on it. That opened a small Font Book window with an "Install Font" button. I clicked that & the font was installed without complaint & immediately showed up in Font Book. I selected it & used File > Validate Font & it reported no errors. I just checked in the AD 2.5 beta & it is available & works as expected. EDIT: I doubt it makes any difference but like @MikeTO mentioned, my default installation location in Font Book is set to "User," not "Computer."

Thanks, but my only concern was using the style in the Affinity apps, as I have no reason to export it to PDF.

I'm not sure what you mean by properly, but I can use any of the named variable font styles in 2.4.2, either from the Font Family or Font Style dropdown on the Context toolbar & get those named styles to set the style of the selected text to the named one. Of course, there are no variable options if that is what you mean. On Windows does selecting one of the misnamed styles work to set or change the style blindly or not work at all?

This may be off topic but I thought I'd mention it here since it is related to variable fonts & maybe someone can help me understand what I am seeing in the current V2.4.2 retail apps. Anyway, after installing the Shantell Sans-Variable Font to test it with the beta, I was curious to see how the retail apps handled it. I was surprised that unlike the typical multiple instances of "Regular" or whatever that users have been reporting when they have installed variable fonts, I got a list of its (preset?) styles & each of them works as expected: Same with the 6 PlayFair Display (preset?) styles. EDIT: I think what happened is even though I used Font Book to open just the PlayfairDisplay-VariableFont_wght.ttf & ShantellSans-VariableFont_BNCE,INFM,SPAC,wght.ttf files I downloaded from Google Fonts, when I clicked the "Install Font" button in Font Book, for some reason it installed the static fonts as well, but I can't be sure about that.

Off topic but if for whatever reason you want not to add spaces between paragraphs in replies in these forums, you can use Shift + Return instead of Return. i mostly use it only when I want to quote a post to insert a {...} marker indicating I have omitted part of the quote, like below:

Exactly! We are there, in the here & now. And in the here & now you got a reply explaining in plain language that things have not changed in this respect, that they still will not comment on if ideas or suggestions are accepted or rejected, & why that is.

It can be done in exactly the same way it is now, via the feedback & suggestions forums, & the beta program. But the point is Serif has already been acquired by Canva so we are already in this "new age" you keep talking about, & the policy has not changed. Please just accept it & move on.

Then you can use File > Reveal in Finder to open a window in Finder showing the folder the file is in. You can then drag & drop that folder's title into the export window in Affinity to automatically change the save location to that folder. This works with any app on Macs when you want to save a file to a location you can show in a Finder window.

Yes, Serif has been bought by Canva & as @Patrick Connor has told you the policy has not been changed.

Does turning off "Wet Edges" in the Context Toolbar get you what you want?

In your screenshot, did you overlook the red text telling you that you need to update both Affinity Designer & Affinity Photo for StudioLink to work?