When I open file from Archives, save works as save as

[Bit Disappointed]

Hi Serif Software staff

Sonoma - iPad Pro 2022 - Affinity Designer 2.2.0

If i choose to open an .afdesign file directly from Archives from an iCloud folder to continue working on a design, this annoying problem occurs:

1. I make changes and select SAVE.
2. Affinity Designer goes into SAVE AS mode and I have to browse to the folder the file is opened from.
3. At this point I have to pause and breathe. Browsing for the folder you are already working in occurs needlessly in many scenarios in Affnity for iPad and it drives me insane. 
4. I have to choose to OVERWRITE.

This is not what I experience in other similar apps and not what should happen. Here Affinity should save exactly like it would if I had opened the file directly from inside the app itself.

[stokerg]

Hi @Bitarts,

Which version iPadOS are you running?

I've just opened an afdesign file from a folder on iCloud, made a change and used the Save option and didn't get shown a Save As window, it just saved.

Would you be able to provide a screen recording showing the issue from start to finish?  To record your screen on iPad see here.

[Bit Disappointed]

1 hour ago, stokerg said:

Hi @Bitarts,

Which version iPadOS are you running?

I've just opened an afdesign file from a folder on iCloud, made a change and used the Save option and didn't get shown a Save As window, it just saved.

Would you be able to provide a screen recording showing the issue from start to finish?  To record your screen on iPad see here.

IPadOS 17.0.3

Attached:

First I open an example document directly from Archives folder on iPadOS, Designer then opens, save triggers a save as like procedure.

Then I open a file directly from inside Designer, saving triggers a true save procedure with no requests.

[stokerg]

Hi @Bitarts,

Thanks for the recording. 

I've been playing with this some more and I've replicated it

From speaking with QA, there were a number of changes made to the Save command and this is currently working as designed.  When Affinity is closed and you open a file from the Files app, Affinity uses the Import method (explained here), which breaks the link back to the original file and forces you to do a Save As, despite selecting Save.  

I've logged an Improvement and also a bug report, as it turns out if you have Affinity running in the background and open a file from Files, Affinity uses the Open method (also explained on the link above), which doesn't break the link and allows you to save.

 

 

[Bit Disappointed]

On 10/10/2023 at 12:28 PM, stokerg said:

Hi @Bitarts,

Thanks for the recording. 

I've been playing with this some more and I've replicated it

From speaking with QA, there were a number of changes made to the Save command and this is currently working as designed.  When Affinity is closed and you open a file from the Files app, Affinity uses the Import method (explained here), which breaks the link back to the original file and forces you to do a Save As, despite selecting Save.  

I've logged an Improvement and also a bug report, as it turns out if you have Affinity running in the background and open a file from Files, Affinity uses the Open method (also explained on the link above), which doesn't break the link and allows you to save.

Thank you for logging an improvement and a bug. You can note this in it, if possible:

Um, the starting point for what your developers have implemented goes against everything I know from desktop software, including Affinity under macOS and Windows, and I don't see why it should be different under iPadOS. The workflow and usage scenario is completely the same, regardless of platform.

The usage scenario - which from the desktop is decades old - is that you start your workflow in a file folder, be it Finder, Windows Explorer, Archives or something else. Here you find a file you want to open and edit and save directly.

Whether or not the Designer app is already running doesn't mean anything to the workflow. 

In the case of Affinity, you may end up opening either Designer, Photo or Publisher, depending on which file type you open. But you know you're going to open it in Affinity regardless.

It's not an import you're doing - it's a regular file open when the file is opened in the program in which it was created.

The really annoying thing is that you then have to navigate to the folder from which the file was opened - if it's a deep level in a folder structure it's laborious - and even decide whether you want to overwrite, which creates some uncertainty as to whether you have done something wrong?

Someone has made a really bad and unqualified design choice here - whether it's Serif or Apple.

If it's Serif, I would kindly ask you to change it at the earliest opportunity, and then a guilty colleague will have to give the others a round of drinks at the Friday bar.

If it's Apple, I'll hang my head and when I raise it again, I'll start thinking about using a laptop instead. So many compromises overall using it.