Why is "Preferences" called "Settings" - or is it ?

[Grow Genius]

Every time I see help re: changing fundamentals the path starts with "go to "Preferences>...." eg: The second way to access the Preference Panel is through the Edit menu. Go to the Edit menu > Preferences." - and yet there doesn't seem to be anything called "Preferences". There's definetly notnig in teh Edit menu. Ctrl comma (said to open prefenences in various YT videos) opens "settings".  Is this a different dialogue? Did they change the name from "prefenences" to "Settings" and all the help is now out of date?

Some advice also says you can get to Preferences panel by opening a doc but that's also not called "preferences" - and isn't the same menu as Settings.

Extremely confusing in software with this many dialogues.

[walt.farrell]

What OS are you using?

• On Windows, it's  Edit > Settings for V2, but it's Preferences on V1.
• On Mac, the menu entry is under the application name on the system menu, e.g., Affinity Photo 2 > Settings but (I think) on macOS releases earlier than Sonoma it might be Preferences instead of Settings and it's still Preferences on V1 (I think).

[thomaso]

For a fully unambiguous answer it will need to know your used platform / operating system version + the Affinity app and its version … and the same for the resources that guided you.

Your question appears to be rather rhetorical since "preference" and "setting" can have quite a few meanings, apart from their use in Affinity or in any software.

By the way, in the "Edit" menu of Affinity you might find a menu entry called "Defaults" … which does settings to certain preferences – or vice versa? – not to forget "Properties" and "Attributes" that may get set as preferences for certain "Styles" for instance. The diversity is a result of flexibility and options…the “confusion” of limited human language.

[MikeTO]

I believe the quotation "The second way to access the Preference Panel is through the Edit menu" is from a third-party website that provide instructions on how to change settings/preferences in v1. Those instructions are outdated now.

[markw]

2 hours ago, Grow Genius said:

Did they change the name from "prefenences" to "Settings"

Yes, Apple changed it, this happened last year with the arrival of macOS Ventura.
The change was made by Apple so that this area of macOS was more in line with Apple’s iOS devices.
The position of Settings in the Menubar is still the same as it was for Preferences in older systems; under the apps Name in the Menubar.

[Bit Disappointed]

Semantically, there is a difference between the two terms, but it's all mixed up when both types of settings are mixed, and the highest instance to be listened to is the guidelines for the current operating system.

Quote

The semantic difference between "settings" and "preferences" in the context of applications is quite distinct, and understanding this difference is important for both application developers and user experience (UX) designers.

Settings: The term "settings" usually refers to configurations that are essential for the application's functioning. These include options that can affect the core behavior, functionality, or security of the application. For instance, settings in a mobile app might include configurations for notifications, privacy controls, account management, or connectivity options. These settings are often necessary for the app to operate correctly or to ensure the user's security and privacy. They are more technical and foundational in nature.

Preferences: On the other hand, "preferences" are more about personalizing the user experience according to individual tastes or desires. Preferences might include choices like themes or color schemes, layout customizations, or other elements that don’t fundamentally change how the app functions, but rather how the user experiences it. Preferences are geared towards enhancing user satisfaction and comfort with the application. They are more about personalization and less critical to the app’s core functionality.

When to Use Each in Applications:

Use Settings When: You are dealing with aspects that are fundamental to the app's operation or security. For example, settings are appropriate for configuring privacy levels, managing accounts, setting up connections with other services, etc. These are options that, if configured incorrectly, could impact the app's performance, security, or user safety.

Use Preferences When: You want to offer users the ability to customize their experience or interface. Preferences are ideal for less critical aspects like choosing a theme, organizing the layout of a dashboard, or setting up default behaviors that can be changed at any time without major implications. These are choices that cater to the user's comfort and enjoyment.

 

Historically, these terms have been thrown into software by different companies and by engineers, so it would be nice if terms for functionality stabilised around true, real-world semantics. But as I said, it's all a mix of this and that in the settings in Affinity and many applications, so it can end up in endless discussions. Good thing Apple has chosen.

[Grow Genius]

Thanks all - Solved! It's option 3) : a change in Affinity nomenclature leading to outdated articles. Judging from the fact people have even made videos on it I'm not the only one having trouble with this having first used Affinity in a V1 trial then bought V2 on Windows. 

Notable latest Affinity help (acessed directly from the updated software) now says "Settings (or Preferences)" - which is  embedding the confusion. RE: Your point below Thomaso, this isn't rhetoric, or pedantry: in software words refer to precise things you need to find in a menu, and we're discussing software that I'm trying to use and spending way to much timeon basics due to wierd UI. As Affinity have (sadly) cloned the legendarily bad Adobe UI, some of us who are not used to pages of tiny menus scattered over multiple locations have a hard enough time finding and remembering where things are as it is.  When I see "preferences" in help I have to look at lines upon lines of tiny grey words in seemingly random menus to find that word. If I was supposed to be looking for "settings"... you get my drift. IMHO the wonderful flexibility and creativity of the English language is for poetry not UI.

Also, kinda fundamentally: Preferences isn't even under "File" or a settings Icon as it is in every piece of software I have ever used: Global program settings is in the Edit menu.

Affinity really should at least have a flag in Help eg "Settings (previously called Preferences)" 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, thomaso said:

For a fully unambiguous answer it will need to know your used platform / operating system version + the Affinity app and its version … and the same for the resources that guided you.

Your question appears to be rather rhetorical since "preference" and "setting" can have quite a few meanings, apart from their use in Affinity or in any software.

By the way, in the "Edit" menu of Affinity you might find a menu entry called "Defaults" … which does settings to certain preferences – or vice versa? – not to forget "Properties" and "Attributes" that may get set as preferences for certain "Styles" for instance. The diversity is a result of flexibility and options…the “confusion” of limited human language.

 

[Pšenda]

4 minutes ago, Grow Genius said:

Also, kinda fundamentally: Preferences isn't even under "File" or a settings Icon as it is in every piece of software I have ever used: Global program settings is in the Edit menu.

In my programs, the application settings/configuration/options are always in the Edit menu🙂 

[thomaso]

20 minutes ago, Grow Genius said:

Thomaso, this isn't rhetoric, or pedantry: in software words refer to precise things you need to find in a menu, and we're discussing software that I'm trying to use and spending way to much timeon basics due to wierd UI.

Indeed menus & help should use identical terms and expressions, ideally each of them unique within the UI. – But this is a general problem in Affinity, it is not a speciality of "Preferences" versus "Settings". And, additionally, it is also a problem in the Help with ambiguous explanations here or there, – apart from the limited Help "search" quality or ability.

You may find menu entries in one platform that don't appear in the other (though the may occur if a modifier key is pressed) and there are menu entries and features that don't exist for both Windows and mac, enabled or limited by different operating system options or their general habits ("design guidelines"), other interface items may even confuse by a goal of Serif to avoid differences between platforms and thus result in an unexpected UI/UX for one or the other platform … – So, we need to get known and familiar with the UI anyway to be able to work without irritation. Then, once I am experienced and aware of what the different menu entries do, cause, influence or trigger, their names or positions in the menus are not really relevant: I have to use them as they are. I may avoid to use a "Persona" for instance because I have another understanding of that term – or I can learn its use and function regardless of its meaning.

1 hour ago, Grow Genius said:

When I see "preferences" in help I have to look at lines upon lines of tiny grey words in seemingly random menus to find that word. If I was supposed to be looking for "settings"... you get my drift.

In case you use macOS: The Help menu auto-guides you to every existing menu entry: Type a wanted term + hover over an offered result to get the according menu auto-opened and the command highlighted + an animated arrow.

45 minutes ago, Grow Genius said:

IMHO the wonderful flexibility and creativity of the English language is for poetry not UI.

The alternative would be to create extra terms for UI that we can not confuse with different meanings from analog life. That's why I meant that "Preferences" and "Settings" already / generally may have different meanings, and we can add "Defaults", "Preset", "Setup", "Properties", "Configuration", ... – Would you prefer they all get replaced by terms that are used for software only, while each of them may be used exclusively once within the interface?

Recently I noticed by a forum users reaction that my understanding of "align" was differing. I did a search for synonyms and was surprised that it got about 100 alternative or related terms listed in English – while to me "align" as in the Layer menu had been quite clear before (while German has far less synonyms for its "ausrichten". … "wonderful flexibility and creativity of the English language"… ;•)

[R C-R]

5 hours ago, Grow Genius said:

Did they change the name from "prefenences" to "Settings" and all the help is now out of date?

Try doing a search in the app's built in help (not via the web) to get the most up-to-date version of the relevant topics. This is because much of what you get from a web search could be totally out of date or refer to a different platform (Mac vs Windows or even iPadOS) or to a specific context that may not be applicable to you.

[R C-R]

30 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Recently I noticed by a forum users reaction that my understanding of "align" was differing. I did a search for synonyms and was surprised that it got about 100 alternative or related terms listed in English...

FWIW, in English the word "set" is a homograph with 430 different definitions but the current record is "run" with 645. "go," "get," & "put" are also among the top ten. (The top ten are listed here.)

All of these words have at least one computer-related meaning so it is not too surprising that even something like "align" (or "preference") may not mean the same thing to everyone in every context.

[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, LondonSquirrel said:

I think of all the things to complain about, the single idiosyncrasy of where to find Preferences/Options/Settings is very low on my list of things which need "fixing". 

More than that, to me It isn't even something that needs fixing. As you say, there is no universal place to find such things in all apps so users just has to resign themselves to the occasional need to do things like opening menus & seeing what they contain or asking in forums like this one for help when they cannot figure it out on their own.

[Pšenda]

14 hours ago, R C-R said:

(not via the web) to get the most up-to-date version of the relevant topics.

My experience is completely different - if Help is up-to-date somewhere (corrected and added), then in the web version. The help in the application is valid on the date of preparation of the release, and it can be corrected/added only after the release of the next version, i.e. approximately once every half/quarter of a year.