Designer "View Mode" not vector by default - wait what???

[Dr. Dave]

Was drawing a line and some circles, zoomed in to get a tighter fit on the circle, and noticed it was pixelated. Wait, I'm using the equivalent of Illustrator, right?

Then I noticed "View Mode" on the toolbar, but they were Pixel / Retina / Outline

Then I checked the View > View Mode and saw "Vector" as a choice.

I'm confused...

1. Why is Vector not the default view mode?
2. Why is Vector not a button on the toolbar (can't even add it from Customize Toolbar) - I'm in Pixel or Retina, then have to (in my case) accidentally find "Vector" within the View menu?
3. Why would I care about Pixel-anything when I'm using a vector-based program?

[Dazzler]

If I remember correctly, you can just click on the pixel button on the toolbar  to unselect it (it’s a toggle button). 

Pixel based preview is a very useful thing for people who work with web or where the output will eventually be rasterised. It enables you to draw assets that don’t have that fuzzy ‘half a pixel’ thing going on and is one of the great features of Designer, which may be why they have it enabled as default. 

[Dazzler]

Just wondering now whether that setting is initially dependant on the document type you choose? That would make a lot of sense.

[Dr. Dave]

After a couple attempts, I likely had Retina enabled. Maybe when I was learning the UI and just clicking everything.

I didn't realize any of these choices until I zoomed in as mentioned earlier, but now I can appreciate them.

[Pšenda]

https://affinity.help/designer/English.lproj/pages/GetStarted/view.html