Mac OS Sonoma Publisher Beta Crash every time I move focus away from publisher (i.e., switch apps)

[SPC]

Currently running OS 14.0 Public Beta (Build 23A5286i) and Affinity Publisher Beta v. 2.2 (build 1903) on a 14" MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip. No updates are available for either software or OS at this point.

Every time I move the focus away from Publisher, it crashes. It does this regardless of whether I do so by mouse (click on another application or on desktop) or by keyboard commands (cmd+tab). It does this regardless of whether hardware acceleration is enabled or not. It is consistently reproducible (happens every time).

Unfortunately, rolling my machine back to OS 13.5 so I can use the stable release is a giant pain in the butt even with a full Time Machine backup done immediately before upgrading, and therefore I just have to be very strategic with organizing

Here's the crash log: Crash-189363.txt

[MikeTO]

Hi @SPC and welcome to the forums. Serif has stated that Affinity is not compatible with the beta of macOS Sonoma so this is a known issue. I imagine they're working on this in time for its public release.

[SPC]

If I had known Affinity's beta software was this unstable and the stable release was incompatible with Sonoma, I wouldn't have updated to the public beta. It's unfortunate that it's this rough, as all the other software I've been using with Sonoma has been working fine. I hope Affinity releases an update tomorrow, because working around not being able to leave the app is really awkward.

[MikeTO]

2 hours ago, SPC said:

If I had known Affinity's beta software was this unstable and the stable release was incompatible with Sonoma, I wouldn't have updated to the public beta. It's unfortunate that it's this rough, as all the other software I've been using with Sonoma has been working fine. I hope Affinity releases an update tomorrow, because working around not being able to leave the app is really awkward.

It's not a good idea to install a macOS beta on a system on which you need to do real work because one of the points of the beta is to let app developers discover conflicts before the operating system is officially released.

[SPC]

I'm aware of the risks in installing beta software and operating systems—this isn't my first time doing either—and I have other options to use stable builds. What I'm attempting to communicate is my surprise that I can't use the stable build with Sonoma, unlike some of my other software (i.e., CaptureOne, Spark, ForScore) and that the beta software is so glitchy. I look forward to seeing what new features are added when the software is more stable.

[Barry Newman]

3 hours ago, SPC said:

If I had known Affinity's beta software was this unstable and the stable release was incompatible with Sonoma, I wouldn't have updated to the public beta. It's unfortunate that it's this rough, as all the other software I've been using with Sonoma has been working fine. I hope Affinity releases an update tomorrow, because working around not being able to leave the app is really awkward.

SPC has a valid point. At this point in time it's a bad sign if the programs have major issues with the beta.

Then Serif is behind, and there is a risk that many other minor issues will go undetected and end up in the release of 2.2. Bugs simply need to be detected and assessed as early as possible, no matter what.

So thanks for the report, @SPC

[SPC]

Thanks, @Barry Newman. I did end up rolling back to OS 13, and the Publisher beta is substantially more stable in Ventura than it was in Sonoma. Since I had backed everything up before going to the beta as well as afterwards, I seem to have just lost some time and patience. I hope the approximately fifty-seven identical crash reports that were automatically sent when it crashed on Tuesday are helpful!

[Barry Newman]

4 minutes ago, SPC said:

Thanks, @Barry Newman. I did end up rolling back to OS 13, and the Publisher beta is substantially more stable in Ventura than it was in Sonoma. Since I had backed everything up before going to the beta as well as afterwards, I seem to have just lost some time and patience. I hope the approximately fifty-seven identical crash reports that were automatically sent when it crashed on Tuesday are helpful!

Semi-helpful I think I read - knowing exactly what happened in what order up to the crash is more helpful, often.

Few use the betas, so I would consider early input from these fewer customers very, very valuable.

And the usual unfortunately necessary reminder:

Well @Westerwälder now you've played until late with putting laughing emojis on my and others posts, that's enough playing for today, time for bed.

[Westerwälder]

Es gibt Mitglieder die können nur ihre Unmut zu Affinity kundtun.

Dass der angebissene Apfel hier im Forum immer wieder für Probleme sorgt dürfte jedem Auffallen, Wer vorschnell ein Betriebsystem mit einer Beta aktualiesiert sollte sich über nichts wundern. Da wartet man nach der Vollversion ein paar Tage (Wochen), dann haben auch die Programm hersteller alles wieder im Griff.

Übrigens, wenn ich sehr früh allso so gegen MEZ 3:00 ins Bett gehe mein Problem. Auf mich wartet keine Arbeit mehr!

There are members who can only express their displeasure with Affinity.

The fact that the bitten apple causes problems again and again here in the forum should be noticeable to everyone, who has too quickly updated an operating system with a beta should not be surprised at anything. You wait a few days (weeks) after the full version, then the program manufacturers have everything under control again.

By the way, if I go to bed very early, around 3:00 CET, my problem. There's no more work waiting for me!

[Barry Newman]

32 minutes ago, Westerwälder said:

There are members who can only express their displeasure with Affinity.

I sense that you are not used to a serious professional, civil, intellectual or academic environment with professional discussions and even passionate discussions. Above some of us have seriously exchanged opinions and experiences in this thread about whether Serif should use input from users who have early experiences. If that's too much for you and you demand positive feedback from positive users, then I can assure you that you would never have been hired where I have worked through the years. I sense that you are not used to a serious professional, civil, intellectual or academic environment with professional discussions and even passionate discussions, because I cannot use such statements. System-loyal, obsessive positive employees are not in demand. Only in a few countries we know all too well.

And if you think that posting drawings of laughing cartoon faces all over the place is serious and mature participation in a democratic debate, then you've fully confirmed my theory.

Quote

The fact that the bitten apple causes problems again and again here in the forum should be noticeable to everyone, who has too quickly updated an operating system with a beta should not be surprised at anything. You wait a few days (weeks) after the full version, then the program manufacturers have everything under control again.

Complete nonsense. This is a BETA group and thread, the whole purpose of the BETA process is that the end product when released is as stable and complete as possible, and that Serif should not fix undiscovered serious and semi-serious bugs TOO LATE - after release 2.2.0. Serif develops software that will hit the market around the same time as Apple's update. Any work to ensure the two products work smoothly and flawlessly together BEFORE v2.2.0 is released is of the utmost importance. Thus, input is important.

You have no idea about product development, quality, customer service and responsibility for customers if you think end users should be given the task of finding serious bugs in release 2.2.0 that Serif then subsequently fixes and "gets everything under control". This doesn't take days. It takes weeks, sometimes months. In all that time, some customers are screwed.

I simply don't see what your contribution is to making Affinity a better product.

[SPC]

2 hours ago, Barry Newman said:

Semi-helpful I think I read - knowing exactly what happened in what order up to the crash is more helpful, often.

Few use the betas, so I would consider early input from these fewer customers very, very valuable.

And the usual unfortunately necessary reminder:

Well @Westerwälder now you've played until late with putting laughing emojis on my and others posts, that's enough playing for today, time for bed.

Well, at least it was very consistent in what caused it to crash. The other issues were less consistent.

The good news is that the beta is much more stable in Ventura (as I said, I rolled back), especially as the files I edited with the beta while I was using Sonoma are not able to be opened with v. 2.1 and require the use of 2.2 beta. Hopefully I'll get more usable data to the devs so that by the time Sonoma is released, the software will be usable, as it should be.

Also, I am pretty sure that the entire point of a beta is to catch this stuff before the full release coughWesterwäldercough

[SPC]

Also, given that other software (Capture One Pro 23, Finale, etc) I was using had not been updated and had no problems running in Sonoma, it seems to be something specific to Affinity Publisher. I really hope they get it sorted out soon. I'm so glad V.2 of publisher added footnotes so that it was a practical alternative to InDesign for me! 

[Sean P]

Hi SPC,

We are aware of this crash, along with a series of other bugs that has been caused by the macOS Sonoma update.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[macOS Sonoma] Unable to change Panel or Persona" (REF: AFB-7965) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.2.0.1925".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Serif Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[macOS Sonoma] App crash when clicking outside Window" (REF: AFB-7966) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.2.0.1925".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Serif Info Bot to notify us.

[daniel-danholt]

Hello! Could someone at Serif please give an estimate when a beta for Mac OS Sonoma will be available?

Currently beside crashes of Publisher Beta v1903 all the tabs in the studio tool area cannot be switched. So no switch between layers, text styles or color etc. is possible.

Thanks for a short reply in advance.

 

 

[Sean P]

Hi daniel-danholt,
The build containing these fixes (1931) has now gone live.

It is worth noting that after fixing the Panel issues it has made an additional problem visible with them - they now leave copies of the frame if you attempt to drag them around the screen after floating them. So please be aware of that

[SPC]

Hello all, 

I updated to the most recent version of the beta (build 1954) and still in Ventura (13.5) and now I have new and bizarre problems. Hitting the tab key now selects everything from my cursor to the end of the text (work around involved creating a shortcut for the insert tab menu command and then mapping that to my TourBox). The end key now goes to the beginning of the line, like home key, and if I try to select an entire word at a jump with command+shift+arrow key, it goes the wrong direction. Command+Shift+Left selects the entire word to the right, and cmd+shift+right selects the word to the left of my cursor.

 

This is maddening, but anything I've opened in a beta won't open in the stable build, so this is just my life now. 

[MikeTO]

4 hours ago, SPC said:

Hello all, 

I updated to the most recent version of the beta (build 1954) and still in Ventura (13.5) and now I have new and bizarre problems. Hitting the tab key now selects everything from my cursor to the end of the text (work around involved creating a shortcut for the insert tab menu command and then mapping that to my TourBox). The end key now goes to the beginning of the line, like home key, and if I try to select an entire word at a jump with command+shift+arrow key, it goes the wrong direction. Command+Shift+Left selects the entire word to the right, and cmd+shift+right selects the word to the left of my cursor.

This is maddening, but anything I've opened in a beta won't open in the stable build, so this is just my life now. 

This thread is for Sonoma compatibility issues so I've started a new topic for the keyboard shortcut issue. I'm having the same problem, build 1954 can't load properly load a shortcuts file created with the previous beta. Please visit this other topic for more information.