Disable Update message

[ChristoITech]

Hi guys ! :)

 

I am a IT tech from a State compagny in Quebec city,Canada.

Some of our customers recetly bought Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo and we have to check it with some approval rules that our Ministery set.

 

One of these rules are that we have to hide any updates messages that the software pop. We dont want our custumers to update any software when they want it, because they have some restrict permissions on the computer.

 

Is there a way to hide the pop up message that I put in attach files ?

 

Thanks alot and sorry for my bad english  ;)

[DWright]

In the current 1.5 build there is no option to hide the update available messages, in the future 1.6 build will have a network install tool that will allow you to turn this off.

[mc-ar]

Hi everyone,

For windows the solution was found - one need to set registry key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Serif\Affinity\Photo\1]
"No Update Check"=dword:00000001

Can also be set via MSI property "NO_UPDATE_CHECK_PROPERTY" by assigning the value of "#1".

But there is no obvious solution for osx...

In the previous message there was an info about "network install tool" but I can't find any information about it...

Is there is any universal solution for Win and Mac to disable update notification availabe in 1.6.x now?

Thanks in advance.

 

[christianstrang]

Thank you so much for this fix, what an annoying "feature".

[JRD_2]

On 12/14/2018 at 12:26 AM, christianstrang said:

Thank you so much for this fix, what an annoying "feature".

I'm an IT guy and a photog, its called "Nagware" when you get programs that love to "nag" you to update.  They know eventually most of the people will get sick of seeing it and update it.

The bigger reason behind it is:  Support always follows the newest version. Why? if you have 15 different flavors (versions) you have to support every version which takes a lot more man-hours and people. 

Not that Serif reads these {posts} but they could just make it a policy that you can't get support unless you are fully updated.  Leaving an option inside the software that gives you a popup notification that if you turn off auto updates you may not get support... {until you update}

[fgimian]

+1 to this, it's excessive to see these messages every single time you open Affinity Photo on Windows.

[Mr_Flamey]

I've got to agree that the update notifications are a little bit annoying, since there is no auto-update (click button to automatically download and install) and I have to go and download the new version and manually update if I want the latest version. It would be lovely if there was an "ok, don't remind me again" button, as well as an option in the preferences to disable the notifications completely.

[thomaso]

34 minutes ago, Mr_Flamey said:

I've got to agree that the update notifications are a little bit annoying,

Doesn't the "Never" setting suppress any update check + notification for you?

[Move Along People]

-

[h_d]

30 minutes ago, thomaso said:

the "Never" setting

Only in Publisher as far as I can see (MacOS release version), but it has been implemented in the current betas of Photo and Designer as well.

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, h_d said:

Only in Publisher as far as I can see (MacOS release version), but it has been implemented in the current betas of Photo and Designer as well.

That is how I see things too, it is because I purchased Designer and Photo from the Mac App Store and Publisher from the Affinity/Serif website, and the Betas are from Affinity/Serif. 

Aside: Seems odd to me (a Mac user) that Windows doesn't have the "Check for Updates" feature.

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, haakoo said:

The search for updates option isn't present in the windows versions

Then isn't it "simply" a bug? – Also because of this old announcement...:

On 5/18/2017 at 5:36 PM, DWright said:

in the future 1.6 build will have a network install tool that will allow you to turn this off.

 

[walt.farrell]

17 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Then isn't it "simply" a bug? – Also because of this old announcement...:

As I understand it, the "network install tool" (if it exists) is for companies with a volume license, who centrally manage software installations and install the software remotely for their users.

And no, I believe it's not a bug that the Windows versions don't have the options about checking for updates; it's just that updating is handled differently on Mac and Windows.

[Move Along People]

-

[walt.farrell]

2 minutes ago, haakoo said:

Maybe it's just an "win/mac store" option and not in the serif store option

The Microsoft and Mac stores certainly have their own options to control this.

The Mac version from the Affinity Store also has an option for this. The Windows version from the Affinity Store doesn't.

[Move Along People]

-

[thomaso]

21 minutes ago, haakoo said:

Maybe it's just an "win/mac store" option and not in the serif store option

Quite unlikely. The notifications of non-Serif stores are created by the OS's & their stores – not by a Serif app (see the screenshot in the OP). So a notification for those is not controlled by an Affinity app and thus the notification preferences need to be set in the OS (or mac/win store app), not in Affinity.

15 minutes ago, haakoo said:

It could be a link to latest version on the forum (...)
And then there could be a don't remind me button (...)

Why not simply the same UI for both platforms? Since the feature got implemented already for mac it "simply" should occur for Windows, too. That's why I think a Serif Store user on Windows should create a report in the Windows bugs forum (rather than this current sort of "feature request").

It reminds me to the missing UI menu entries (Edit in...) in the shortcut preferences for mac. After reporting this they got fixed with the next app version.

[h_d]

2 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

I purchased Designer and Photo from the Mac App Store and Publisher from the Affinity/Serif website

Snap.

[Jivix]

Throwing in my 2 cents:

- The update notification blocks all UI interaction until it's dismissed. This could easily have been made into a Windows notification instead, and politely stayed out of the way of my work. You can't even close the application until you've dismissed the popup!!! Totally wrong.

- The update process is super janky if you bought from Affinity store. How is there no check for updates option in the Windows version? This CAN'T be difficult.

- I start Publisher about 10-20 times a day when I'm working, clicking that stupid popup every single time when there's an update available is unbelievably annoying. It's extremely bad user experience design to force your users to update software right after they opened your application to start getting work done.

- This is the 21st century and there is no way to disable automatic update checking? We must be in a dystopian timeline. Why does every app contact the mothership each time I start it?

This is easily my least favorite aspect of Affinity, because it's totally in your face about it.

[MeetMeAtAnchorPoint]

Temporary solution to disable update message is to add an outbound rule in Windows Firewall settings to block the Photo/Designer.exe

1. Right-click the program, choose Open File Location
2. Copy the file location, for example C:\Program Files\Affinity\Affinity Designer
3. In Start Menu, type 'Firewall' and open Firewall with Adv. Security
4. Go to Outbound Rules (left side of the window) and create a New Rule (located on the right)
5. Paste the path you copied, keep hitting Next and give the rule a name.
   Done :)

To enable update again, repeat step 3 and go to Outbound Rules to disable or delete it.

[walt.farrell]

7 minutes ago, MeetMeAtAnchorPoint said:

Temporary solution to disable update message is to add an outbound rule in Windows Firewall settings to block the Photo/Designer.exe

But that also throws out the functions of the Welcome Screen, and the new (in 1.9) My Account function.

[Pšenda]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

But that also throws out the functions of the Welcome Screen.

Yes, but if Serif has not been able to solve this easy thing in 4 years, unfortunately it is not possible otherwise. The welcome screen is currently useless (Recent files is required for several years), so it's long off.

[MeetMeAtAnchorPoint]

On 6/14/2021 at 10:39 PM, walt.farrell said:

But that also throws out the functions of the Welcome Screen, and the new (in 1.9) My Account function.

There's no mention of updates behavior in Settings so this is for those who don't mind the trade-off.
Is takes around 5 seconds to undo- hit the Start key, type 'fire' and hit Enter, disable the topmost outbound rule.

Edited June 17, 2021 by MeetMeAtAnchorPoint
grammar

[ellycolor]

I've found a thing by accident: these kind of notifications appear only when I am connected to the Internet. If I am offline and open one of the Affinity Programs, I don't get the update notifications (I'm using 1.9.1 versions).

[emmrecs01]

@ellycolor

Quote

(I'm using 1.9.1 versions).

Given that the latest release is 1.10.5 (and hence you are some builds behind) is surely a reason to NOT ALWAYS disconnect from the internet to use the Affinity apps! 

Or, is there a reason why you have not updated to the latest release, assuming you were aware one exists?