Too scared to update

[Cinz]

Hello,
I have been using both Affinity Designer and Photo purchased from the Apple Store since 2019 and love it but in October last year my Hard Drive crashed and I lost a significant of data as well as my installed software. This is an older Mac so the IOS updates stopped at macOS High Sierra. Luckily I had made a Time Machine backup and I got my software re-installed but when I updated my Affinity software it stopped working. At that time there was also an IOS update to Big Sur. I mailed support about my software not working asking if I could download the software directly but I was told to reinstall from the App store which I did repeatedly and it never worked. I kept having to reformat my drive and reinstall the backup I had with the working software. I would also like to to take advantage of the 50% off discount to purchase the Publisher software but will it work...... I have not updated my Design or Photo either in case it does not work. I work on them everyday so I cannot afford to take the chance .... what should I do?

[loukash]

10 hours ago, Cinz said:

reinstall from the App store which I did repeatedly and it never worked.

The Mac App Store repeatedly had some problems on its own by the end of last year. Many apps failed to update or install, including Apple's own like GarageBand or Logic Pro X. (My own experience as well.)

One trick to a successful upgrade when there were problems is to actually delete the old installed app version first, reboot, and then redownload anew from the app store.

10 hours ago, Cinz said:

to purchase the Publisher software but will it work

Definitely. I'm mostly using El Capitan, but I also maintain bootable partitions up to Catalina. All Affinity apps incl. the latest betas work on my MacBook (mid-2012) on all MacOS versions. High Sierra should work just fine.

10 hours ago, Cinz said:

I work on them everyday so I cannot afford to take the chance .... what should I do?

Back up, back up, back up! Time Machine is your friend!
(Just earlier this week I accidentally deleted a two years worth of iMessage chats. I simply retrieved the whole ~/Library/Messages folder from the morning backup, and lost only about 5 of the last messages and SMS on the Mac; none on the iPhone, of course.)

[jmwellborn]

@Cinz  My heartfelt advice is to take advantage of the 50% off purchase price until June 30 for apps purchased directly from the Affinity Store.  I would upgrade your computer and then buy all three -- Photo, Designer, and Publisher from the Affinity Store.  If you are going to go to Big Sur, then I have more information.   

Yesterday I copied everything from my iMac with High Sierra to a new iMac with Big Sur and the M1 chip.  I used Migration Assistant, which should have moved everything effortlessly (as it did last December with my MacBook Pro with M1 chip).   When I tried to open each of the three Affinity apps (v. 1.8.4), they refused.  I was informed by my computer that I needed to download Rosetta.  I did.  Then both Photo and Designer refused to open but sent a report to Apple.  Because I had purchased all three apps from the Affinity Store, it was a simple process to log in, go to my account, and download fresh copies of each app (v. 1.9.3) directly to my new iMac.  They installed flawlessly, and included all of my brushes, styles, macros, palettes and assets that I had used before with v. 1.8.4!

The only thing that did not install as before was the setup for both Tools and the Context Toolbar for each app.  I had to reset those for my personal taste, and Designer -- the first time around -- refused to keep my preferred tool settings for the Design persona.  I restarted Designer, using CTRL plus clicking on the Designer icon, and when the panel opened, I unchecked all boxes and hit Reset.  When I opened Designer again, my preferred tool settings were restored.

The only other issue I had was that three of my Jixipix plugins would not work as the .dmg files could not be found.  I downloaded those three apps again from the company, and they now work perfectly too.

Two years ago, although I had previously purchased Photo from the MAS, I decided to rebuy it at the full purchase price from the Affinity Store, so that all of my stuff would be in one place.  I have never been sorry.  🤗   I hope this helps.

[mikerofoto]

1 hour ago, jmwellborn said:

take advantage of the 50% off purchase price until June 30 for apps purchased directly from the Affinity Store.

Yep, best way to get the software, don’t get it from the app store.

[Cinz]

Thanks for the responses 😉   My question is can I get copies of the software I did buy from the App store with keys or no?

[loukash]

1 hour ago, Cinz said:

can I get copies of the software I did buy from the App store with keys or no?

If you bought the apps from the Mac App Store, simply continue to upgrade and use them as is. Unless you want to specifically support Serif and pay again which would be certainly noble but not necessary at all.
The apps versions from each store are identical in functionality.
I'm using Photo and Designer from the Mac App Store, Publisher from the Serif store. It doesn't make a difference, they play together seamlessly, including the "Studio Link" feature.
(There are a few differences in terms of advanced troubleshooting procedures, but that's negligible for the "average user".)

Keep also in mind that an upcoming v2.0 will be a full-price paid upgrade that we will have to – technically – "buy again". At that time you can still decide whether you want to buy it from the Mac App Store again and give part of the money to Apple, or from the Serif Store and give all your money directly to the vendor. (I, for one, will buy all of them from the Serif Store for sure.)

[walt.farrell]

6 hours ago, Cinz said:

My question is can I get copies of the software I did buy from the App store with keys or no?

No, you would have to buy them again directly from Serif.

 

[R C-R]

10 hours ago, loukash said:

I'm using Photo and Designer from the Mac App Store, Publisher from the Serif store. It doesn't make a difference, they play together seamlessly, including the "Studio Link" feature.

Same for me. I run Catalina, but I do not think that would make a difference.

[Cinz]

Great news everybody! I have updated my Designer & Photo software and everything is working like charm 😅 . Super excited and the features that were not working are working again too. Thanks for all the responses appreciate your efforts.

[jmwellborn]

2 hours ago, Cinz said:

Great news everybody! I have updated my Designer & Photo software and everything is working like charm 😅 . Super excited and the features that were not working are working again too. Thanks for all the responses appreciate your efforts.

Hooray!  😊