R C-R

I can't imagine what that would be.

If I understand what your screenshot shows correctly, it would not be a matter of figuring out how to do this automatically, just force the user to tediously choose from a huge list of what to export or import, & I'm still not clear how that could work unless each computer was set up with its own list of items to include in exports & ignore on imports. Otherwise, how would any of the computers know what I wanted to use or discard on each machine. It just seems like a lot of work & overly complicated to bother with.

It would be challenging, to say the least. Some things are obvious like the differences for shortcuts in Macs vs. Windows but beyond that, consider that I might have one set of shortcuts for my Apple Extended keyboard but if I had a MacBook as well, some of my extended keyboard shortcuts use keys that do not exist on the MB so I can't just export one to the other & expect it to get sorted out automatically, particularly if I want to use some different ones on the smaller vs. larger keyboard. Then there are things like Studio Presets -- obviously, what works well for a 27" iMac probably won't for a 13" laptop, & again there is the problem of exporting/importing back & forth between them & trying to decide which ones to use each time. I can also see potential problems for favorite fonts since there is no guarantee all the computers will have the same ones installed. Yet another possible problem is the Assets, because the different computers might have significantly different amounts of free space to store them.

It isn't how the settings could be synced I am asking about, but how they could be applied if the settings are not all compatible with different computers.

I wonder how well that would work for settings that can't be the same on different computers, like various Mac vs. PC differences or anything related to screen sizes if they are not the same on each one?

So I guess this is something to do with our different OS versions ... but it still does not explain all the differences like you not being able to open the HEIF version from the File > Open menu. That should work!

Maybe so, but it is weird that it is so different for them. FWIW, with the .HIF extension what does 'Get Info' on your Mac show for the file kind? For me it just says "Canon HDR document." Good to know. So it will open for you with at least one method but not via the expected File menu choices. It still is unclear why it will not open for @Malcolm Tinn even if renamed with the .HEIF extension.

It isn't even a proper text label, just an icon that differs from the icon for the button only in that the "a" is underlined. For the paragraph button & icon 'label' it is even worse since the two have identical icons. All things considered, I think the two icon 'labels' could just be removed with little or no loss of clarity about what their respective fields are for.

Weird! I get very different results, like a right-click on the HIF version not showing AP V2 as an 'open with' option but available (not greyed out) from File > Open.

Same question I asked Malcolm: how specifically are you trying to open the file when it has the .HIF extension? For example did you try dragging it into an empty workspace window? If so, what happens?

How specifically are you trying to open them? Are you sure you are using Affinity Photo version 2 to do that?

It is not at all normal behavior for files marked Read Only! Maybe you are thinking about overwriting files that are not so restricted, where you do get a prompt asking if you really want to do that?

A bit more about this for example in the AD V2 Snapping help topic where far down the page it describes this highlight as a "purple halo":

Out of curiosity, what apps do have that allow you to customize how to group tools on their tool panels?

So it would seem that the Sonoma version of Help Viewer app & Affinity's built in help books do not play well together, at least for searches.

??? Nothing to be sorry about.

I think you are talking about the same thing I mentioned above where I linked to your post in the other topic, right?

Maybe but that does not explain why @emmrecs01 said above that your samples opened OK presumably in Windows 11 from the sig in that post. What version of Windows are you using?

I have no idea what you mean by that but if you are referring to the price of Macs, a lot of people think they are neither overpriced for what they offer nor have anywhere as many OS software problems as Windows. Of course, YMMV.

It may be possible for Sonoma users to open the locally stored help book files in a browser from the file path I mentioned above (basically the same path @walt.farrell mentioned here). It would be interesting to know if searching works any better if done that way....

The problem for @Peter Breis is that the search function for the locally stored help topics on Macs running the Sonoma version of the macOS do not work correctly.

Actually, that is exactly what Serif used for finding menu items -- since it is built into the macOS, there is no way of avoiding it. So what I think you mean instead is the HTML-based help book support built into the macOS & the locally stored help topics displayed by the Help Viewer app. While Apple does provide a lot of info about how to construct the help books, authoring help books is not as simple as it might seem, as this archived developer doc explains. In particular, if Apple changes something fundamental like how Help Viewer app works in a new version of the macOS, then help books may need to be revised, particularly if there is some bug introduced in how the indexes are searched or whatever. Note that I'm not saying it is Apple's bug that prevents it from working, only that it is a possibility that Serif will have to look into before getting it to work in Sonoma. Meanwhile, if you have an internet connection, you can use the online help. I think you should also be able to open help book topics in a browser directly from the help bundle stored in /Applications/Affinity Publisher 2.app/Contents/Resources/AffinityPublisher.help/Contents/Resources/ in the appropriate language sub folder found there, but I have no way of testing that on Sonoma, or if the search function would work if you did that.

By "Sonoma bug," I just meant a bug in the Affinity apps that affects Macs running Sonoma. Just to be clear about it, it isn't Apple's help library; it is the HTML-based help pages Serif created & put online to support the Affinity apps. You can access the web portal from within the apps from the Help menu: choose the "Affinity Publisher 2 Learning Portal" item & in the web page that opens, scroll down to where it says "Online help (V2)" & click the Online Help button. You might also want to create a browser bookmark for it as I have, for quick access. That portal page also has links to the YouTube videos & QuickStart guide, which may be useful for learning more about how the apps work.

FWIW, a button for toggling Preview mode can be added to the toolbar if it is not already there. It looks kind of like a windshield wiper or fuel gauge symbol:

FWIW, I run Catalina on my iMac & none of the nine Affinity apps installed on it (V1, V2, nor V2 betas) crash on launch.