Licensing - how many computers?

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, lilbuddha said:

I have Photo and Designer on my Win 7 machine. I am getting a Win10 machine tomorrow. Are  differentversions of the same platform part of the 5 machine install?

Currently, there is no 5 machine limit. Refer to clause 3 of the Your Rights and Permitted Use section of the Windows license at https://affinity.serif.com/licence/ for the applicable terms for personal, commercial, or educational institution use.

[lilbuddha]

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, it doesn’t answer my question. The language  in the agreement is slightly less than clear. On this thread, representatives of Affinity* mention a 5 computer limit. The verbiage in the agreement might be clear in legalese, but in English as she is spoke, it isn’t. 

So I need to know does it mean 1 copy per computer or one copy on each and every computer?**

If more than 1 computer is allowed, are Win 7 and Win 10 considered the same platform?

Typically, they are, but I wish to be certain.

 

*Moderators

**Under the personal use clause

[MEB]

Hi lilbuddha,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
You can install it on any Windows computer you own/control (no matter the Windows version) - assuming you are the only one using it for commercial purposes.

[R C-R]

21 minutes ago, lilbuddha said:

On this thread, representatives of Affinity* mention a 5 computer limit.

If you mean this reply, note that it was posted in July of 2015. That was well over 3 years ago, long before the licensing terms were last updated in October of this year.

A lot has changed since 2015, including modifying the licensing terms to cover both the Windows & Mac versions now sold through the Affinity Store.

[lilbuddha]

1 hour ago, MEB said:

Hi lilbuddha,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
You can install it on any Windows computer you own/control (no matter the Windows version) - assuming you are the only one using it for commercial purposes.

Thank you for the reply and the welcome!

Apologies for being such a pain, but does this mean I can keep the version on my win 7 machine and install it on my win 10 machine? This is what I think you are saying, but I wish to be clear.

[MEB]

Hi lilbuddha,
No worries, feel free to ask whatever you need to clear up any doubt you may have. Yes, you can install it on both your computers at the same time (again assuming you are the only one using the program for commercial purposes).

[lilbuddha]

31 minutes ago, MEB said:

Hi lilbuddha,
No worries, feel free to ask whatever you need to clear up any doubt you may have. Yes, you can install it on both your computers at the same time (again assuming you are the only one using the program for commercial purposes).

Thank you again for the quick reply. I am happy to support Affinity, but will take any opportunity not spending more money that I can.

Cheers

[Michael C]

Hi - I came across Affinity Photo while traveling and purchased it from an iPad through the apple store.

My intention.was to set it up for use on my PC when I got home. It works on my small iPad but but I cannot set it up on my PC which has a far more suitable monitor. I have set up an account as Michael C. Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

Regards

[IanSG]

7 hours ago, Michael C said:

Hi - I came across Affinity Photo while traveling and purchased it from an iPad through the apple store.

My intention.was to set it up for use on my PC when I got home. It works on my small iPad but but I cannot set it up on my PC which has a far more suitable monitor. I have set up an account as Michael C. Any help you can offer would be appreciated.

Regards

Windows, OSX and iOS all require separate licenses - you've bought an iOS license, so it can't be used on anything other than an iPad.  I don't know what Apple's returns policy is, but the OSX license is more expensive (it's still very reasonable though!).  On the plus side, if you end up with a license for each platform you can start editing on one and continue on the other - the .afphoto files work on all three OS.

[adv-t]

On 12/21/2016 at 7:35 AM, MEB said:

No, you have to purchase one license for each platform.

The Mac version is available to purchase through the Mac App Store while the Windows version is available through our website (Affinity Store).

While I understand the reasoning here, I do tend to think that this is out of line with what users are expecting in this day and age. A computer is, anymore, just a computer - the platform is increasingly less relevant. When people buy a software, they expect it to work across machines if indeed it is available on those platforms - and I tend to agree with them. The idea that you can't do it "because it's on the App Store" is, frankly, a little ridiculous. People who make a great content creation application can't make a basic account login and tracking system? You could just have people sign in, the way Office 365 does. Or you could just have people create an account on your website (as they already do) and simply go copy a license key from your website into their Mac and Windows versions.

I appreciate that the software is cheap, and I will still buy it (for both platforms, even! you guys have really done good work!) but this does seem less like an honest technical hurdle and more an arbitrary way to bilk a few extra bucks out of your customers - and that's why people are understandably frustrated by it. Still, I like what you guys have built - I just respectfully request you reconsider this policy. Lots of us are multiplatform heretics these days!

[R C-R]

7 hours ago, adv-t said:

A computer is, anymore, just a computer - the platform is increasingly less relevant.

It is very relevant for development & support costs, which would necessitate charging considerably more for a cross-platform license for Serif to maintain a reasonable profit margin. And if they did that, in effect users who only need to run the apps on a single platform would be subsidizing those who need both.

[adv-t]

On 3/8/2019 at 1:48 AM, R C-R said:

It is very relevant for development & support costs, which would necessitate charging considerably more for a cross-platform license for Serif to maintain a reasonable profit margin.

Given that they could just... keep track of the platform that installs/licenses are on, they'd know how many Windows machines are out there and how many Macs are out there. This doesn't strike me as a particularly reasonable argument - plenty of other companies manage this just fine. And, again - you're still talking two computers. I could have Macs with two different versions of macOS - would that not introduce the same sort of support headaches? And it's not as if this is a Mac-only software - they have thousands of users who are on Windows, presumably on everything from your HP All-in-Ones to Dell laptops to custom-built desktops. That's a lot of real-world experience running on that platform. Realistically, what kind of problems is someone running on one Windows machine going to run into that they haven't already run into on those thousands of other machines, which is isolated to them just because they happen to use a Windows PC AND a Mac?

Again, it's their software, they get to choose the licensing model - I'm just saying that it does seem arbitrary when most other groups can do this just fine. I pay $10/month for Photoshop and Lightroom, and I can put it on any computer I want. I purchase Civilization V on Steam, and I can run it on my PC or my Mac. Etc, etc.

EDIT: I should add, that the reason given was "we'd have no way to track license use between Windows PCs and Macs since we distribute through the App Store" - that's false. Not only DO they use license keys, they also distribute the software through a standard .dmg file if you so choose - I just bought Affinity Designer and my license key AND the .dmg installer is available on my account profile. ಠ_ಠ

Edited March 9, 2019 by adv-t
Word choice, added to my comment

[R C-R]

11 minutes ago, adv-t said:

I could have Macs with two different versions of macOS - would that not introduce the same sort of support headaches?

It does & has created a few issues that need to be sorted out, but for the most part everything that works on one supported version of the Mac OS works on the others. This is in part because there are relatively few Mac hardware configurations to support. For the Windows versions, there are thousands of different hardware configurations to support -- like you said, the Windows versions could be running on anything from a laptop to a custom build desktop -- so supporting them all is more difficult & costly than for the Mac versions.

In addition to that, the Windows & Mac operating systems themselves are very different from each other, much more so than the version-to-version differences for either of them, & because of that the costs of development & support are also considerably different.

So instead of making everyone pay for that even if they do not run the apps on both systems, Serif opted to build those costs separately into the purchase price of each product. There is nothing particularly unreasonable about that -- after all, this keeps the product costs down & gives users the choice to buy only what they need.

1 hour ago, adv-t said:

I should add, that the reason given was "we'd have no way to track license use between Windows PCs and Macs since we distribute through the App Store" - that's false.

That comment applies to the Mac versions purchased through the Mac App Store ("MAS" for short) -- until recently the only way to buy the Mac versions -- & for them it is completely true & accurate. That is because all MAS apps -- not just the Affinity ones -- are keyed to a user's Apple ID rather than to individual app license keys, & for security & privacy reasons Apple does not share that info with any third party developers selling their apps through the MAS. So Serif literally has no way of knowing who has bought the MAS versions.

I am not sure but I think this is also true for the Windows apps bought through the Windows 10 store run by Microsoft -- another relatively new way to buy the Windows apps -- & like the MAS ones they are are keyed to a user's Windows account ID rather than to individual app license keys.

So now there are actually four versions of each app, two sold directly by Serif that require individual license keys & two others sold through stores run by the OS makers that do not. This also adds a bit to the cost of development & support.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, adv-t said:

I pay $10/month for Photoshop and Lightroom, and I can put it on any computer I want.

Yes, you can. And you're paying for that cross-system licensing capability. $10/month, forever.

In 8 or 10 months (or less, depending on sales) that much money would let you buy both the Mac and Windows licenses for either Photo or Designer, and you wouldn't have to pay any more for several years (unless you wanted to buy the other application, too).

[R C-R]

40 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Yes, you can. And you're paying for that cross-system licensing capability. $10/month, forever.

Unless of course Adobe decides to increase the subscription prices, as they have already done in the past.

[AT.HA]

On 7/9/2015 at 4:54 PM, MEB said:

Hi MBd,

You were close 

For commercial individual use you can install it in two computers.

On a home environment you can install it on up to five computers.

Hi MEB,

this is valid today(2019)?

Two friends, with two Macs working at the same room want to buy Aff. Photo and Designer. Should they order one of each and install in two Macs?

Thanks.

[Old Bruce]

51 minutes ago, AT.HA said:

Two friends, with two Macs working at the same room want to buy Aff. Photo and Designer. Should they order one of each and install in two Macs?

Two friends means two licences for Photo (one for each friend) and two licences for Designer (one for each friend). I hope the two machines have separate user accounts for each of them otherwise chaos and the end of the friendship will ensue. That last was a joke but it doesn't matter if the people are in the same room or not, they can also have a computer at their separate homes and then install their licenses on the home computer as well so as to work at home, unpaid of course, on the weekends and evenings.

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, AT.HA said:

Two friends, with two Macs working at the same room want to buy Aff. Photo and Designer. Should they order one of each and install in two Macs?

 

15 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Two friends means two licences for Photo (one for each friend) and two licences for Designer (one for each friend). I hope the two machines have separate user accounts for each of them otherwise chaos and the end of the friendship will ensue. That last was a joke but it doesn't matter if the people are in the same room or not, they can also have a computer at their separate homes and then install their licenses on the home computer as well so as to work at home, unpaid of course, on the weekends and evenings.

If they’re using the apps for commercial purposes, each of the two friends (regardless of whether they remain friends and regardless of whether they’re working in the same room) will need a separate licence for each of the two apps. For purely personal use, your licence covers usage of the apps by other people, but only on your single machine: you can install the software on multiple machines for your own use, or on a single machine for non-commercial use by multiple users, but not both.

[AT.HA]

Thank a lot for your help.

Two users+two Macs=2x2 programs (2 licenses per app).

Cheers .-)

[carl123]

8 hours ago, Alfred said:

 

For purely personal use, your licence covers usage of the apps by other people, but only on your single machine: you can install the software on multiple machines for your own use, or on a single machine for non-commercial use by multiple users, but not both.

1

Not sure about the Mac EULA but this does not apply to the Windows EULA

For personal use, you can install the app on all PCs you personally "own or control".  It cannot be used by other people just members of your own household

[Alfred]

3 hours ago, carl123 said:

It cannot be used by other people just members of your own household

Such a restriction is not stated in the online version of the Affinity Licence Agreement: it says that if you are a private individual you are permitted “to download, install, use and run for personal use, one (1) copy of the Serif Software directly on each computer running Microsoft Windows (“Windows Computer”) that you personally own or control”. Although it also says, “For example, other members of your household that use your Windows Computers may make personal use of the Serif Software”, it’s worth noting that it only cites the particular scenario as an example, and it doesn’t explicitly preclude use of the installed software by your friends or colleagues.

[R C-R]

I think @Alfred is right about this, & that it applies to both Mac & Windows licenses. For non-commercial use the only restriction is that the licensee must "own or control” the computers the software is installed & run on, which makes that person responsible for making sure whoever uses those computers -- whether a household member or anyone else -- complies with the licensing terms.

For the Mac licenses sold through the Mac App Store, the only additional restriction is that the computer must be an Apple branded one, IOW, not a "Hackintosh."

[AT.HA]

Thank a lot for all your help. It is solved.

:-)

[TilleyTech Ltd]

Hi

I have Affinity Designer and Photo for my Windows 10 64 bit pro laptop. I may, at some point, use Designer for stuff that will end up in commercial use.

My girlfriend is a total novice but I will be helping her bring out her creative side so I thought about getting her Designer.

Do I need to purchase another licence or can I put my copy on her laptop too?

Thanks

 

Leigh Tilley | tilleytech.com

[walt.farrell]

52 minutes ago, TilleyTech Ltd said:

Do I need to purchase another licence or can I put my copy on her laptop too?

If she owns the laptop she needs her own license, as I understand the license terms. They allow you to use it on as many computers (of the same general OS: Mac, Windows, iOS) as you personally own or control.