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Affinity Studio now free

(www.affinity.studio)
1200 points dagmx | 7 comments | 30 Oct 25 15:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.006s | source | bottom
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nocoiner ◴[30 Oct 25 16:03 UTC] No.45761528[source]▶
This seems … way better than what I expected following the acquisition? What am I missing?

And I assume this is a supplement to (and not a replacement of) the existing Affinity applications?

replies(2): >>45761628 #>>45761638 #
1. pavlov ◴[30 Oct 25 16:12 UTC] No.45761638[source]▶
It is a replacement, the old Affinity apps are discontinued:

"Your Affinity V2 license (via Serif) remains valid and Serif will continue to keep activation servers online. But please note that these apps won’t receive future updates.

"For the best experience, we recommend using the new Affinity by Canva app."

replies(3): >>45761689 #>>45762194 #>>45762936 #
2. tym0 ◴[30 Oct 25 16:15 UTC] No.45761689[source]▶
As someone who just bought V2 I am worried that V2 uses an activation server at all unlike V1 with its license key.

When this free/premium with AI thing crash and burn in a few years I can kiss that license goodbye.

replies(2): >>45761726 #>>45762113 #
3. northrup ◴[30 Oct 25 16:18 UTC] No.45761726[source]▶
You should log in and download the offline copy of your license key and store it in order to safeguard such things.
replies(1): >>45761857 #
4. tym0 ◴[30 Oct 25 16:28 UTC] No.45761857{3}[source]▶
Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be a thing for V2
5. binaryturtle ◴[30 Oct 25 16:48 UTC] No.45762113[source]▶
I bought V2 a while ago too when it was offered extra cheap. The problem it doesn't run on my rusty machine. I bought it to have it as reserve once I upgrade my machine someday (who knows if my V1 stuff still runs then?). I learned about this weird activation server stuff afterwards, so ultimately I had to ask for my money back. There was no way to "activate" the software and store the key/keyfile in a backup. In no way this is future proof in my view.

I want to use my software w/o depending on the availability of some random 3rd party server. I guess it just got worse with this new app here. I'm not enthusiastic about it at all. This has nothing to do with a price point at all (I was happy to pay for all my 3 V1 apps separately).

6. nocoiner ◴[30 Oct 25 16:55 UTC] No.45762194[source]▶
Oh, that’s a shame. I liked those programs.
7. underlipton ◴[30 Oct 25 17:53 UTC] No.45762936[source]▶
New corollary to the maxim, "If it's free, you're the product":

"If the paid version can no longer be purchased, the 'free' version WILL be neutered."

They have to remove the option to compare the free, paid, and subscription versions.