Do Licensed Affinity titles check-in with a validation server?

[dean shultz]

What it says on the tin.  

Do we have a perpetual license; in the sense that if Affinity 'goes away', can we continue to use the software we paid for as long as it remains compatible with the OS?

Considering Canva also bought Pixaby and Pexels, and those properties are functioning, afaik, with even more offerings than prior, I am not as concerned.  I just want to know.

[walt.farrell]

They certainly "check-in" when you first run them on a new machine.

And on an existing machine, if you ever tell the applications to deactivate the license, they'll need to check-in again. Also, the first time you run the application with a new user account, if you have multiple user accounts on the machine.

And there may be additional times; I'm not sure Serif have documented all of the things that can cause it.

Note: This is for Personal accounts; Business and Education have different considerations that I don't have information for. And I've only tested the information I've provided on Windows.

[PaulEC]

This is my biggest concern. If Affinity goes down the Swannee and Canva decides not to keep the validation servers going for the old versions (v1 and v2), what good is a "perpetual" licence to existing users, if there is no way to reinstall it and keep it working?

[walt.farrell]

20 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

This is my biggest concern. If Affinity goes down the Swannee and Canva decides not to keep the validation servers going for the old versions (v1 and v2), what good is a "perpetual" licence to existing users, if there is no way to reinstall it and keep it working?

Of course, V1 doesn't need an activation server, which is why people have been upset about Personal licenses for V2 needing one since V2 was released.

A Serif staff member mentioned to me once that if they were ever going away as a business, they could consider releasing a final update that didn't require online activation for V2. They haven't made any promises, though, and I haven't seen any further discussion of that, but technically it could be done. No idea if it ever will be needed, or if they will accomodate our desires if it does become needed.

I've lived through the loss of the activation servers once myself, with an old Photoshop license (CS2 or 3, perhaps) that became unusable when I updated my Windows OS and the Photoshop software insisted on re-activation, and Adobe had decomissioined the activation servers for those particular licenses.

[dean shultz]

On 3/26/2024 at 2:26 PM, walt.farrell said:

They certainly "check-in" when you first run them on a new machine.

And on an existing machine, if you ever tell the applications to deactivate the license, they'll need to check-in again. Also, the first time you run the application with a new user account, if you have multiple user accounts on the machine.

And there may be additional times; I'm not sure Serif have documented all of the things that can cause it.

Note: This is for Personal accounts; Business and Education have different considerations that I don't have information for. And I've only tested the information I've provided on Windows.

Thanks Walt.  Good info.

Recent comms from Canva/Affinity have also been more concrete and in a positive direction.

I do recall the infamous Adobe server issue.  A good example of how to fix a problem and maintain good relations with customers.

 

I had a hot minute where i was trying to arrange backup tools for the suite.  My favorite, Publisher, has no practical counterpart in the budget price field.

for anyone reading this 'later', scribus 1.6 offers many updates but the UI is very slow on a 2017 Xeon/64GB dell 5810 workstation.  its drawing capabilities were not where i needed them (lines with pressure sensitivity) and years between major updates is a bit of a bummer.  for DTP, scribus represents the other side of the fine line between Affinity and free.

 

[R C-R]

Regarding the title question, every time I launch one of the AD V2 apps after I have quit it, I get a brief 'checking license configuration' message at the bottom of the splash screen. I do not know if this checks in with a server or not -- the delay is usually so brief that I can't see any evidence of that on the router I use to connect to the web. 

However, today AD V2 crashed & when I restarted it, it asked me to register the app or to supply my account ID & password if I already had registered it. I did that & all was well, but it was more than a bit upsetting that I had to do so. I must point out that this has happened at least one other time in the past, long before the Canva buyout, & I've also at least once or twice gotten the 'can't connect with the other apps' error when starting one or the other of the V2 apps.

Just food for thought....

[walt.farrell]

11 minutes ago, R C-R said:

& I've also at least once or twice gotten the 'can't connect with the other apps' error when starting one or the other of the V2 apps.

That's not related to any external network activity. That's all local, on your machine.

[monzo]

6 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Regarding the title question, every time I launch one of the AD V2 apps after I have quit it, I get a brief 'checking license configuration' message at the bottom of the splash screen. I do not know if this checks in with a server or not -- the delay is usually so brief that I can't see any evidence of that on the router I use to connect to the web. 

However, today AD V2 crashed & when I restarted it, it asked me to register the app or to supply my account ID & password if I already had registered it. I did that & all was well, but it was more than a bit upsetting that I had to do so. I must point out that this has happened at least one other time in the past, long before the Canva buyout, & I've also at least once or twice gotten the 'can't connect with the other apps' error when starting one or the other of the V2 apps.

Just food for thought....

We need to have these callbacks and online registration removed ASAP. Serif have had our money, twice, and a seriously large wad from Canva. It’s the least they can do to show appreciation to their loyal customers, and give us some peace of mind for the future (as if we haven’t got enough to worry about already).

I didn’t buy V1 and V2 from Canva, and I don’t appreciate relying on them for future access to my purchases.

[dean shultz]

11 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

That's not related to any external network activity. That's all local, on your machine.

hth, i just launched AD, no errors. 

[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, dean shultz said:

hth, i just launched AD, no errors. 

That is what happens for me as well almost all the time. The 'register or log in' thing has happened only once, the 'can't connect' thing once or twice. I can't see any pattern to it.

[dean shultz]

18 minutes ago, monzo said:

We need to have these callbacks and online registration removed ASAP. Serif have had our money, twice, and a seriously large wad from Canva. It’s the least they can do to show appreciation to their loyal customers, and give us some peace of mind for the future (as if we haven’t got enough to worry about already).

I didn’t buy V1 and V2 from Canva, and I don’t appreciate relying on them for future access to my purchases.

i think a lot of folks might agree with you here, in principle.  I haven't read it but am guessing the EULA covers Affinity regarding server verifications.  it is their IP, we just bought a license to use it, not own it.

 

that said, given that even Adobe made good on a credentialing faux pas, should Canva go the sub route, i would be surprised and disappointed if they closed the doors on current users of V1 and V2.  Migration to a sub model is also not acceptable for me.  I would even consider buying them again if it meant no server check-in, no sub, just to keep what I have, which has been more than enough for a few years.

 

it's good to note that Canva came out a few days back with a more solid statement of intent.  And, at this point, is our best bet (see my post above on scribus).

[monzo]

1 minute ago, dean shultz said:

i think a lot of folks might agree with you here, in principle.  I haven't read it but am guessing the EULA covers Affinity regarding server verifications.  it is their UP, we just bought a license to use it, not own it.

True, but they also promised perpetual, lifetime usage at their point of sale. Serif no longer own the servers used to authenticate our licenses, so any promises to honour that pledge are unenforceable.

It’s not as if they haven’t received adequate compensation for their work. Make V2 authenticate offline as per V1 to prove they really do appreciate our years of support, and they can do what they like with V3 as that’s likely to be a completely different beast.

 I had to buy the V2 Suite as they never fixed the slow boot-up and other issues I had with V1 on my Mac Mini. I’ve had it 3 months, and now we’re doing this already.

[walt.farrell]

21 minutes ago, R C-R said:

the 'can't connect' thing once or twice. I can't see any pattern to it.

The 'can't connect" usually means that one of the applications is (momentarily?) hung, and not talking.

[walt.farrell]

6 minutes ago, monzo said:

Serif no longer own the servers used to authenticate our licenses, so any promises to honour that pledge are unenforceable.

So far, their promise for perpetual is still holding. It will only fail if (a) Canva decides not to honor it or (b) the entire company fails. 

There is still plenty of time to resolve the issue.

[dean shultz]

Just now, walt.farrell said:

So far, their promise for perpetual is still holding. It will only fail if (a) Canva decides not to honor it or (b) the entire company fails. 

There is still plenty of time to resolve the issue.

that's a good point. 

it could be said forever ended when Affinity did.

 

i agree, time will tell.  noted above Canva maintaining sub-free Affinity products seems the best bet.

i got way (way way) more than $99 value from the suite.  i would greatly miss it were the situation to change but, for me, this is not-at-all hill i choose to fight any harder to keep. 

mergers happen.  i got much value.  

[monzo]

6 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

So far, their promise for perpetual is still holding. It will only fail if (a) Canva decides not to honor it or (b) the entire company fails. 

There is still plenty of time to resolve the issue.

There was an update on the day we heard about the sell-out, really they should have removed the online activation requirement then. As it is, it’s now down to Canva as to whether or not this is applied - and there’s no mention of it happening anytime soon.

 

 

[monzo]

2 minutes ago, dean shultz said:

that's a good point. 

it could be said forever ended when Affinity did.

 

i agree, time will tell.  noted above Canva maintaining sub-free Affinity products seems the best bet.

i got way (way way) more than $99 value from the suite.  i would greatly miss it were the situation to change but, for me, this is not-at-all hill i choose to fight any harder to keep. 

mergers happen.  i got much value.  

You got good value, some of us have only had V2 for a few months.

 If ‘forever’ finished 3 months after my purchase it should either have been refunded, or the tie-in removed from a company I would never have given my money to.

[R C-R]

21 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

The 'can't connect" usually means that one of the applications is (momentarily?) hung, and not talking.

On the 2 (?) occasions I got that message AFAIK both of the other 2 apps were open & hidden but no files were open in either of them -- no evidence of anything hanging.

[dean shultz]

17 minutes ago, monzo said:

You got good value, some of us have only had V2 for a few months.

 If ‘forever’ finished 3 months after my purchase it should either have been refunded, or the tie-in removed from a company I would never have given my money to.

that was a bit insensitive on my part.

i never meant to suggest that 'i got mine'.  it is an attitude i do not believe in.  i am sorry for my suggestion.

[monzo]

5 minutes ago, dean shultz said:

that was a bit insensitive on my part.

i never meant to suggest that 'i got mine'.  it is an attitude i do not believe in.  i am sorry for my suggestion.

No, that’s fine Dean I didn’t take it personally, just pointing out not everyone buys on release.

I shouldn’t have all this uncertainty a few months after I’ve purchased something I was promised lifetime usage of, or be at the mercy of a totally different company and their support.

This could, and should have been fixed before the sell-off.