Stock photo do not show up in V2.0.3.

[Zambody]

I have v 1.10 and v 2.03 installed on the same PC with win 10. In v2.03 (and in v2,0 ) no stock photo is shown. The dotted ring normaly shovn before images is only partial visable and only for a second. Then function aborts without any message. In previous version all works as expected.

[SrPx]

It's working on my side... I can access the "Stock" panel images (just made two searches) of both Pexels and Pixabay.

I never use stock images, so, I don't know if it is that you have to be logged in in your account in the Affinity software (you have to be, to use Affinity Apps, don't you? I am a bit ignorant yet about how  the account stuff works).
Might be a network configuration issue in your side (any change of the router, or accessing from a different laptop that has some antivirus or firewall software etc)? (doesn't have to, just throwing some ideas, as it is working well here).

[SrPx]

The dotted ring shows here for the fraction of an instant, but immediately the images that I am searching as well.

[SrPx]

Oh, btw, I am using the beta. 2.0.3 1670.

[Granddaddy]

I can search and find images on both Pixabay and Pexels as stated by SrPx. I'm running APhoto 2.0.0 on Windows 10 Home.

Which brings me to the comment by SrPx:

15 hours ago, SrPx said:

I don't know if it is that you have to be logged in in your account in the Affinity software (you have to be, to use Affinity Apps, don't you?

No, you do not have to be logged in to your Affinity account to run Affinity programs or to use the Stock photos feature. The only time you need to log in is to activate the Affinity 2 apps the first time you launch them. With the Universal license, activating one of the apps takes care of activating the others.

I wish I could help Zambody with his problem, but I have no suggestions to offer there. I did not find any other reports of this in a quick Internet search. You can always access free images from Pexels or Pixabay by going to their websites. I don't really understand the rationale for including this feature within Affinity products. 

There were some threads about Stock problems in 2019-2021 and people seemed at a loss to explain it. See
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/91092-stock-panel-connection-failed/
and
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/88295-stocks-tab-unsplash-not-working/

Edited December 17, 2022 by Granddaddy
Added links to older discussions

[SrPx]

Thank you! I never remember well the matters related to the account.

I kind of suspected it could be a firewall be it Windows default one, a firewall software, or antivirus shield. Or just some network configuration (local network, router configuration...Sometimes it's even ISP providers being super restricting. 

I did  not need to add Windows firewall exceptions for Affinity apps (with any version). So, I believe it can be something very specific.

Looking at those threads, I might be wrong with my suspicion (still it's possible, though).

Apparently , Windows 7 users have had problems before, connecting to those sites from inside Affinity apps.
If having Windows 10, apparently several users updating  to the latest Windows update got it fixed.

One thing to mention, though....In what I have been able to see through the years, Pixabay has from time to time images that are not completely fully free, or at least, that is difficult to be sure about if they are. Pexels might have some issues, while Unsplash IMO is the site with better images quality, and IMO, kind of safer. 

But these sites and companies change often the way people would connect to them (network protocols, often its versions), so, if willling to use the feature, IMO one should be ready to have connection failed from time to time (probably very rarely). And if it needs a fix from the Affinity team, you might have to wait until that can happen. So, to me the feature is practical for its readiness specially when in brain storm stage, but I agree, I rather prefer got to the sites , examine carefully each file license, try and check on google if it's really Creative Commons CC0, or Public DOmain and there's proof, etc. As it is too frequent that in many free sites, images end up being someone else's copyright. I hope after a Windows 10 update you might  get it solved.

 

[Chris B]

On 12/17/2022 at 12:52 AM, SrPx said:

accessing from a different laptop that has some antivirus or firewall software

Would be my guess. In V1 you may have given it permissions? 

[SrPx]

I guess the question is for @Zambody , but just in case, I never have to set permissions with Affinity v1 or v2 (but yes, he might be having a certain permissions/software blocking the network in a laptop or different PC. This is common with other software apps). When in a local network and the person administrating it is being strict, or secure, each application going out or in might need to have added the entry on Windows Firewall or a specific firewall software.

[Zambody]

Thanx for your comments, firewall settings is the same for AP 1.x and AP 2.03 and even if I leave FW open, stock images do not show up in AP 2.03 but works without any problem in AP 1.x and I think that indicates that the problem is inside AP 2.03.