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I would like to hear the Serif speak up about the reasoning behind having to buy 2 separate licenses, one for Mac and one for Windows. Even though I believe it has to do with the original Mac Version was/is sold in the Apple store-and obviously you can't transfer the app to a Windows pc as you could if you had multiple Macs.

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Hi Evtonic3,

 

You can see a post from Ash explaining the reasons behind purchasing 2 licences in this thread  he mentions it in the 4th post and then he explains further in the 8th post  :)

 

C

Please tag me using @ in your reply so I can be sure to respond ASAP.

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His reply is total nonsense of course, you could easily cross reference Apples sales details and supply a Windows licence to those users, truth is you want double the money, so just be honest about it and say you want double the money, there is no shame in that, you are a business and have to pay your employees.

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Just to set straight what was said above: Nobody has access to the sales information apart from Apple themselves - they will never pass the information to any developer, no matter who they are. We have absolutely no way to verify that you have bought a copy of Affinity Designer/Photo apart from looking at the embedded receipt in your application on your Mac. If we do that, we could theoretically unlock a Windows license... but if we did that, it only works one way - if you buy the Windows version we can't give people a free download from the App Store - there is no facility for this.

 

[Edited to clarify: The receipt in your Mac App Store application simply validates that you have indeed purchased it, but it will not reveal any details that could be used to identify you]

 

You can argue as much as you like about whether the product is worth $50 or not (we think it's worth more than that, that's why we set it at a very reasonable $50 as we thought we were being really fair and people would be happy). Other programs may offer less, more or just generally different things, some are single-platform, some are multi-platform, but none of them offers the same level of software for the money in my opinion.

 

I think we've been pretty clear about the fact that it's not technically possible to offer anything apart from a one-way licensing scheme that would require everyone to always buy it on the Mac App Store first and then we give them a free Windows-download. That's not particularly realistic or fair, so we're just saying 'Buy it on each OS you want to use it on'. Not too much underhanded or deceptive behaviour going on in my opinion? :S

 

If the future brings a Mac version that isn't sold solely through the App Store then it's valid to revisit this discussion, but that isn't on our roadmap right now, at least not that I'm aware of...

 

Thanks,

Matt

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Your response is reasonable and logical. The hate needs to be on Apple for the way they do business and cripple their products. I have sold all my Apple gear because they don't make a computer fast enough to run Adobe's CC suite. Not even their $12,000 Mac Pro can beat a $1500 PC build.

I was elated to find out Affinity had a windows build for Designer. I had my first vector project in ages and tried for two days to use AI, and it just sucks. I'm an expert at it, but I hate everything about AI, especially the lag on a very light design project when I have 4,000 cuda cores and an 8 core processor. Work completed today, and I actually enjoyed myself. 

 

As for licensing, if there is a way to trade platforms, I would love to do that. As far as I know from development for iOS, I don't think it is possible. The app store is terrible for everyone, but apple. I will happily pay the $50 to reward good development anyway. I think most professionals are moving away from apple these days, except for video editors who like FCPX, and musicians who like Logic. There are almost no reason to run OSX now besides a few edge cases.

 

Just to set straight what was said above: Nobody has access to the sales information apart from Apple themselves - they will never pass the information to any developer, no matter who they are. We have absolutely no way to verify that you have bought a copy of Affinity Designer/Photo apart from looking at the embedded receipt in your application on your Mac. If we do that, we could theoretically unlock a Windows license... but if we did that, it only works one way - if you buy the Windows version we can't give people a free download from the App Store - there is no facility for this.

 

[Edited to clarify: The receipt in your Mac App Store application simply validates that you have indeed purchased it, but it will not reveal any details that could be used to identify you]

 

You can argue as much as you like about whether the product is worth $50 or not (we think it's worth more than that, that's why we set it at a very reasonable $50 as we thought we were being really fair and people would be happy). Other programs may offer less, more or just generally different things, some are single-platform, some are multi-platform, but none of them offers the same level of software for the money in my opinion.

 

I think we've been pretty clear about the fact that it's not technically possible to offer anything apart from a one-way licensing scheme that would require everyone to always buy it on the Mac App Store first and then we give them a free Windows-download. That's not particularly realistic or fair, so we're just saying 'Buy it on each OS you want to use it on'. Not too much underhanded or deceptive behaviour going on in my opinion? :S

 

If the future brings a Mac version that isn't sold solely through the App Store then it's valid to revisit this discussion, but that isn't on our roadmap right now, at least not that I'm aware of...

 

Thanks,

Matt

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Matt, some of those “edge cases” purchasers have noticed that you like(d) those statements. Raising fears … Will Serif Labs leave the App Store and concentrate on Windows?

 

[…] The app store is terrible for everyone, but apple. […] There are almost no reason to run OSX now besides a few edge cases.

 

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It's not possible to 'like' just parts of a response - you end up liking all of it or none of it. I liked the bit where the user said my rebuttal was 'reasonable and logical' - because it was based from a reasoned, logical standpoint.

 

Will Serif Labs leave the App Store and concentrate on Windows?

No. Not at all.

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You can argue as much as you like about whether the product is worth $50 or not (we think it's worth more than that, that's why we set it at a very reasonable $50 as we thought we were being really fair and people would be happy). Other programs may offer less, more or just generally different things, some are single-platform, some are multi-platform, but none of them offers the same level of software for the money in my opinion.

 

Thanks,

Matt

 

I've always thought the software was too cheap for what it offers. Would've gone for the £79/$99 price range myself. If I were to look at it another way, for me to buy either Windows or Mac version I would obviously have a machine to run it on, so I pay $50 or whatever for the app and let's say I create a few logo's for "friends" as i'm a beginner (oh yeah, and free tutorials as well, what would they cost privately £30 pph?) or edit a few pics for "friends" and charge £20/30 that's the app paid for.

 

As a trainer for Apple, I had the opportunity to get both apps for free, I chose to buy both as I personally think the dev's have done an amazing job and shock up the design and photo world (and way to many reasons to list here). If I ever got a Windows machine, i'd happily pay again. :)

 

What will someone earn using either app professionally? Certainly more than they paid for it even on both platforms...

 

Anyway, after talking to and meeting some of the team personally, I'm pretty confident they are not in to make money, naturally that will come from sales based on their vision to create amazing design and photo editing software.

 

 

Allan

About me: Trainer at Apple, Freelance Video Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Website Designer, Photographer. Yes I like creating things!!!

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mystrawberrymonkey/

Twitter: @StrawberryMnky  @imAllanThompson

Web: mystrawberrymonkey.com  Portfolio: behance.net/allanthompson

YouTube: Affinity Designer & Photo Tutorials

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Yes, specworkfan, on with the show! Carry the Apple rants into this forum, if you feel better with it.

What you are writing, is that absurd, it doesn't deserve an answer. But, as I said, keep on bashing! Perhaps you'll succeed in killing the forum behavior, and pull it down to the way, other communities are already working!

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The app store is terrible for everyone, but apple.

Not to start yet another silly 1990's style Mac vs. PC debate, but as an end user the Mac App Store is anything but "terrible" for me. Some of the reasons I like it:

 

Very liberal licensing terms for all MAS apps. For non-commercial purposes, one license covers installing an app on an unlimited number of Macs the buyer owns or controls. For commercial uses, the license covers either one seat (one Mac) or all the Macs used exclusively by a commercial user.

• No license keys or registration procedures to go through to use the apps.

• Bargain prices! Most MAS apps cost substantially less than they would if they were distributed by a developer. (See below)

• Simple, no hassle updates (optionally automatically installed as they are released).

• Easy searches for hundreds of thousands of apps, by category or popularity.

• No hassle, secure payment method -- no need to give what may be a dodgy developer or scammer my credit card info or worry about how good a legitimate developer's security is.

• Very little chance of malware or spyware included as a "bonus" feature, unlike several independent sites that distribute apps with "extras" nobody in their right mind would want.

 

On the developer/distributor side, there are no costs associated with billing end users, keeping track of license codes, or any of the other administrative/marketing/legal/maintenance stuff that is part of the software business. Sure, Apple takes 30% (but soon less for apps that meet certain criteria) but according to a number of independent developers I have spoken with, that is less than it would cost them to do all that on their own, they often don't know how to do it, or just don't want to deal with anything besides developing their stuff & offering customer support.

 

Even some major software houses (Autodesk & Adobe to name two) sell some of their products through the MAS. They aren't doing this because it is "terrible" for them. Instead, it is because it improves their bottom line.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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