Affinity v2 separate mode

[HombiE]

Hi, affinity. Is my favorite separation mode missing in v2? Is this temporary? Or are you not going to add it back? I have customised my most convenient position. After I bought the universal license, I opened the affinity designer and found the window option, but I didn't find the separation mode. If I didn't find it, please correct me.

[thomasp]

Yeah it's gone according to the FAQ:

 

[HombiE]

thank you for reply me!👍🏼

[velarde]

Is this temporary...? Can somebody form Serif please confirm this...?

Will separate mode not longer be an option for the Affinity apps... or will it be added on a future update..?

Thanks,

fjv

[Pro in HartfordCT]

I'd definitely like true Separated Mode back as an option along with a movable toolbar (with two-stack option). I never liked the integrated, full-background interface when it came to Adobe Photoshop, and I don't like it in Affinity.

[gricko]

On 11/9/2022 at 5:45 PM, thomasp said:

Yeah it's gone according to the FAQ:

 

"If for some reason you need this specific functionality, please continue to use Affinity V1 apps."
that is a bulls#@t answer

"separated mode" is a basic apple mac functionality since the beginning. after 30 years of using all my apps without background covering my view of desktop, folders and other windows/apps, please do not tell me you are that vain to call it "specific functionality" and instructing buying customers to downgrade.

[BartonFink]

It's true. 
""separated mode" is a basic apple mac functionality"

I bought Version 1 from the beginning and only use separate mode as a professional grafic designer since 25 years. In the beginning the Affinity programs were mac-like and extremly comfortabel and fast to work. But in version 2 I think Affinity looking only to Windows Users (which I don't mean in a bad way) but under Windows people seem to be used to always working with one window. This has never been the case in the professional Mac environment. That was a decisive advantage for using the screen optimally with several programmes. Unfortunately, this has now been switched off. For whatever reason. This is - in my opinion - one of the biggest mistakes Affinity could have made. I hope they will reconsider and bring back the separate mode. Please, please please ...

I bought the suite version 2 and will not apply for a refund, as Affinty Serif is in my opinion the only company that can finally break the Adobe monopoly. But to simply remove a fundamental Mac functionality with all its advantages I can't understand.

[StigHeisenburg]

I agree that not having this feature makes the Affinity products a complete non-starter. Even my mom who is a complete novice is ready to uninstall Pixelmator after recently getting a new computer which has the same misguided setup. In my search for a Photoshop and now Pixelmator replacement for my mom Affinity Photo was at the top of my list but after discovering this limitation I'll need to look elsewhere, maybe just settle for the built in Preview app.

 

I've also been using Adobe apps professionally for many years and need the ability to work on multiple documents at once on screen. If I wanted to pretend I was using a Windows PC or iPad, I would just use... a Windows PC or iPad. The way native mac apps work with multiple document windows separated from the app gives it a productivity advantage that other platforms can never match unless they eventually switch to the mac model of the window/app relationship.

[johnrpenner]

Affinity Photo 2 ditching Separated mode is a downgrade for me. 🙄 

2cents

jp

[johnrpenner]

On 11/9/2022 at 11:45 AM, thomasp said:

Yeah it's gone according to the FAQ:

 

this is a horrible response to what is otherwise a superior product — ditching Separated mode makes affinity photo less usable than v1 in every way. it removes the ability to see and work on documents side-by-side. it forces macOS users into a more limited windows way of working, and you're going to get push-back for the macOS community. windows users, who never knew any different, will be like, 'whats the problem?' — macOS users will be annoyed — and to tell users that they should downgrade to v1 is just an awful response. ugh. why affinity — when everything else you do is so good?

spend your developor time getting basic functionality (i.e. Separated mode) back instead of on new features we dont actually need. 🤷🏼‍♂️ 
(or why did i upgrade to v2 to gain less a less functional system). 

jp

 

[walt.farrell]

9 minutes ago, johnrpenner said:

it removes the ability to see and work on documents side-by-side

No, that's still possible. But as you noted it's being done in a Windows way, which you're free to disagree with as a Mac user.

[bluearch]

I am a music theory instructor using Affinity Designer to mark up assignments for students on a shared screen on Zoom. Separated Mode allowed me to only share the document window, not the entire workspace. My students don’t need to see my pens colours and layers, and with some of them on iPad screens it uses up valuable screen space for no added value to them.

It is a great product that many people use in many different ways. Design changes as significant as this should be optional rather than enforced.

Please return this feature, I will be only able to use V1 until separated mode returns.