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Posted

When purchasing version 1 of Affinity, we had executable files (.exe) and a license key. However, with the purchase of the universal license for version 2, no activation key is provided. We need to be online to activate the applications.
Nothing at the moment guarantees that I will be able to reinstall and activate the software on new computer hardware in the future if things do not go as initially planned. This kind of situation has already happened in the past and there are many examples.
I no longer expect anything from Affinity and Canva is the opposite of my definition of a graphic tool. My only current concern is the sustainability of my files and those of my customers. I want to be certain that I can open them in version 2 in order to export them in a format that I will find useful after choosing my new tools.
Would it be possible for Affinity to provide an activation key for the ".exe" installations of version 2 to customers who request it?
I understand the economic reasons that led you to make these decisions, but you could leave an elegant way out for your loyal customers who have supported you until today.

Do not see anything emotional in this request. I am simply a person who needs to plan a migration while respecting commitments to my clients. Our choice to use Affinity tools was not only guided by financial considerations, but also for ethical reasons. Canva will never fulfill this criterion!

Posted
2 hours ago, Nowave said:

Would it be possible for Affinity to provide an activation key for the ".exe" installations of version 2 to customers who request it?

It would be needed for both the EXE and MSIX installers from the Affinity Store, as well as the DMG installer for macOS, not just the EXE installer for Windows.

Concerned users have been asking for this since the beginning of V2. I'm sure it would be technically possible, but Serif has shown no sign so far that they plan to do it, so I think we'll have to wait and see what develops.

2 hours ago, Nowave said:

but also for ethical reasons. Canva will never fulfill this criterion!

I'm curious what your ethical concerns are about Canva, but perhaps that would be better in another topic if you want to keep this one focused on your license key question.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
    Laptop 2: Windows 11 Pro 24H2,  16GB memory, Snapdragon(R) X Elite - X1E80100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM) 12 Core CPU 4.01 GHz, Qualcomm(R) Adreno(TM) X1-85 GPU
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 18.3, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1

Posted
2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

It would be needed for both the EXE and MSIX installers from the Affinity Store, as well as the DMG installer for macOS, not just the EXE installer for Windows.

Concerned users have been asking for this since the beginning of V2. I'm sure it would be technically possible, but Serif has shown no sign so far that they plan to do it, so I think we'll have to wait and see what develops.

I'm curious what your ethical concerns are about Canva, but perhaps that would be better in another topic if you want to keep this one focused on your license key question.

Yes, of course. I was talking about my specific case here. I have been on this forum since 2017 and I followed these discussions on this topic when V2 was released. It concerned me, but I had some confidence in Affinity to respect their commitment.

I am not willing to give that same trust to Canva, whose founders own 30% of the capital, with the rest being held by Silicon Valley investment funds such as Sequoia Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Founders Fund, as well as T. Rowe Price and Franklin Templeton Investments. An IPO is not planned in the immediate future, but seems inevitable in the long run given the size reached by the company. Canva's COO stated in early 2023 that an IPO "becomes an inevitability given our size".

If I have to go back to buying specialized tools, Canva is really not my first choice.
So my question is quite simple given that my decision is made. I would just like to have an answer in order to make the best arrangements!
 

Posted

No response is a response. So we will roll up our sleeves and accelerate the export of our "Affinity" files that are not yet secure. We cannot blame this on Affinity, this failure is entirely our fault. We should have systematized this security from the start.

I thank the Affinity teams here on the forum (the visible part) but also the behind-the-scenes workers 👍 We have had a great deal of pleasure working with your tools. Some small concerns as well, but often workarounds to achieve our goals.

And finally, thank you also to the people (customers, users) who have given their time to help others.

Good luck to all!

Posted

What do you want to do with a license key? Any field in the installer where you can enter it? No.

A license key makes only sense, when you completely change the installation procedure and this can not be done from one day to the other, especially when you are serving multiple platforms.

And even with a license key, in most cases kind of a online validation is implemented to avoid piracy. And if this validation fails after some years, due to the servers being shutdown for whatever reason, the key becomes totally useless.

Regards,
Otto

Affinity Suite v2.5.x - Windows 11 Pro

Posted

Ash posted a comment providing additional insight into Serif and Canva’s long-term commitment to the Affinity apps. His comment does not address license keys, but In case it effects your comfort level:

 

Windows 10 22H2, 32GB RAM | Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 (MSI/EXE)

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