@volpeon gradual enshitification of the last hope for design software

@volpeon So... Affinity stuff is now "free" (you need to register an account) to use?

How they gonna make money? They really bank on getting bigger and get more professionals to sign up?

Sounds kinda risky

@volpeon@icy.wyvern.rip I haven’t tried the new version yet, but for the time being, I think they could have done much worse. I was totally expecting a forced subscription model and not just one that adds AI features (which I wouldn’t want in the first place).

I’m also glad that they haven’t forced an always online policy.

I just hope it stays that way for a while and that they don’t start enshittifying it immediately.

So the aspect I'm worried about, and which is stopping me from giving it a try, is the long-term development. What's going to happen once the AI bubble bursts? What if they want to increase their profits further? Would they move previously available core features over into the subscription? With the application being free, they could easily argue that users never purchased a proper lifetime license making the same promises as with V1 and V2, so it's only fair they're at Canva's mercy.

@volpeon It is so sad to see them go that way. Like the purchase model was quite good. Even if they stop suppport for stuff you could use it (like you can with V1 and V2 atm although they are not supported anymore)

I do wonder though how long they will keep that license server going though.

@stefan When they stop running the activation servers for V2, I think it's morally perfectly fine to use alternative means to keep using the software. ​​