Affinity is making their big announcement at 1:00 PM EDT today.

Foe those that don't know Affinity makes 3 apps, Designer, Photo and Publisher. These are competitors to InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. Their big advanatage is that they are a one-time purchase, and don't require an ongoing subnoscription.

At the beginning of the month, Canva (the new owners of Affinity) stopped selling new licenses for Affinity products, and teased a big announcement they're calling "Creative Freedom" on the 30th.

There's been a lot of speculation about what's going to happen. With the date, being the 30th, speculation is that this will be an announcement for a version 3.0. But the thing troubling everyone is if the new version will be a one-time purchase/upgrade, or if the new parent company, Canva, is going to move the suite to a subnoscription model.

I really hope another great one-time purchase option doesn't go away for the Mac community this afternoon.

https://redd.it/1ok2p3a
@macappsbackup

Affinity went free

So the announcement dropped and everyone's relieved it's not another Adobe-style subnoscription nightmare. But from now on it's free to use.

https://www.affinity.studio/get-affinity

\-- Edit:

From the FAQs of their announcement

Is Affinity really free?
Yes, Affinity really is free. That doesn’t mean you’re getting a watered-down version of the app though. You can use every tool in the Pixel, Vector, and Layout studios, plus all of the customization and export features, as much as you want, with no restrictions or payment needed. The app will also receive free updates with new features and improvements added. If you’re on a Canva premium plan (Pro, Business, Enterprise, Education), you’ll also be able to unlock Canva’s powerful AI tools within Affinity via the Canva AI Studio.

Are AI features available?
Yes. With a Canva premium plan you can unlock Canva AI features in Affinity.

Can I access AI tools without a Canva Pro or other premium plan?
No, these are only available to those with Canva premium accounts.

https://redd.it/1ok5n3j
@macappsbackup

New Affinity Announcement
https://youtu.be/UP_TBaKODlw

https://redd.it/1ok61zz
@macappsbackup

Choosing the Right AI Dictation App
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKU9CABtnOw

https://redd.it/1ok56lk
@macappsbackup

Any Mac app that allows for looping the mouse across multiple monitors?

So I have 2 monitors on my laptop (2017 MacBook Air) I’d like for the mouse to loop across screens like in Pac-Man. If my cursor goes to the bottom of one monitor I want it to pop up on the top of the other monitor. Same with right to left. The default behavior doesn’t warp the cursor when it hits an edge of the monitor setup on all four sides

https://redd.it/1ok7nyf
@macappsbackup

Don't delete Affinity Photo Just Yet. Affinity Canva isn't totally free...

https://redd.it/1okb7w0
@macappsbackup

What do we need more of?

-Dock replacements / fixers

-Focus apps / pomodoro timers

-trannoscription apps

-ai chat wrappers

-file organizers

-clipboard managers

-window managers

-launchpad replacements



https://redd.it/1okd86n
@macappsbackup

Bartender 6.1.1

Any feedback on the Bartender 6.1.1 update? I'm hesitant to install it.

https://redd.it/1okciok
@macappsbackup

Free app for viewing and merging duplicate contacts?

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to merge duplicate contacts on my Mac. However, the Look for Duplicates feature in the Contacts app doesn't list the duplicates it detects. I found a third party app called Contactsmate, which shows me the duplicate contacts it finds and lets me view them before merging. But it's a paid app. I'm looking for a free alternative. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thanks.

https://redd.it/1okjfir
@macappsbackup

App that can share a external screen of my iPad?

I was wondering if there’s a way to do something like this on my monitor. I’d like to share my iPad screen on the same display that my Mac is connected to, so I don’t have to keep switching between screens. That way, I can have everything on one screen, which would make it easier to, for example, take a screenshot of a question from my iPad notes or multitask more efficiently?

Thanks a lot (I don't mind if it's a paid app)

https://preview.redd.it/9410j3eu9fyf1.png?width=1745&format=png&auto=webp&s=77b2ccdcdbebe2c38420ada019aea6a7e6fa7395



https://redd.it/1okqoyb
@macappsbackup

Forgot password to a note on apple notes.

Hi, as the Title says, I have forgotten a password I had set to one of my note a couple of years back. That note basically consisted a few passwords to services that I used rarely. Is there any way I can reset it's password or view the note? I do have my apple ID and Password if that can help.

https://redd.it/1okqxjz
@macappsbackup

What’s a reliable PDF ANNOTATOR?

I am looking for a reliable pdf annotator for mac, currently using PDF Expert with temporary emails which expire every 7 days. Is there any free alternative that can match it’s quality and functionality?

https://redd.it/1oktx5w
@macappsbackup

Dory just got featured on the App Store!
https://redd.it/1okv23z
@macappsbackup

Fuse Caption Studio v2.0 now available - Giveaway!

https://redd.it/1okwoge
@macappsbackup

My updated list of MacOS apps, because people love these lists. Super extended director's cut editon v3

Heya, since people enjoyed my "old" lists of Mac apps that I actually use, I wanted to update you on the stuff I've changed, added, removed, or used for a short time, and the noteworthy updates to app. My old list is here on [reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1jea4ua/my_list_of_macos_apps_because_people_love_these/) and also [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1k630zp/my_updated_list_of_macos_apps_because_people_love/) for my first update. My (almost) always up to date list on [Github](https://github.com/WrkX/MacAppsDirectorsCut/tree/main).

# Added

# General

* [AlDente](https://apphousekitchen.com/) (*Paid*): I used [AlBattery](https://github.com/whuan132/AIBattery-Charge-Limiter) (**Free, open source**) before, but I had problems with it completely blocking any charging on my mac (dunno if that was a general problem or i fixed, has been like 4 months since then). So I bought the lifetime AlDente thing for like 24€. Maybe it helps with the battery life, maybe it wont. So far it did not drop further, but its a M1 Mac with 88% capacity and I read a study that capping charging at 80 does not do anything. Meh, already spent the money, so who cares.
* [Instapaper](https://www.instapaper.com/u) (**Free** or *subnoscription*): I love [GoodLinks](https://apps.apple.com/de/app/goodlinks/id1474335294?l=en-GB) (*Paid*) but I am more and more working outside the apple ecosystem. Instapaper works for me. I used [raindrop.io](http://raindrop.io) before, if i find something bothering me in Instapaper I might switch to that again, but for now I use mostly Instapaper.



# Productivity & Utilities

* [Spokenly](https://spokenly.app/) (**Free**): Voice-to-text. My replacement for [VoiceInk](https://github.com/Beingpax/VoiceInk). VoiceInk is great, but Spokenly somehow works better for me. It is not open source... however, you can use local models, so I am fine with this. Also, it’s free and on the App Store, which is great. If you’re looking for something open source, give VoiceInk a try. Love Spokenly tho, and I guess almost everyone here knows it.
* [Thoht](https://www.miniwhisper.app/) (**Free** or *subnoscription*): Formerly known as MiniWhisper. Another voice-to-text app. Really like it, still trying it out. But I think i prefer Spokenly.
* [Updatest](https://updatest.app/) (*Paid*): Was posted here a few days ago. I really like it so far, but I am not sure if I am gonna buy it. I still have [Latest](https://max.codes/latest/) (**Free, open source**), [Applite](https://aerolite.dev/applite) (**Free, open source**) and [MacUpdater](https://www.corecode.io/macupdater/) (*Paid*) installed, so I am not sure. I like that Updatest allowed me to adopt all my apps (that support it) to homebrew. Let's see what will happen to MacUpdater and if Updatest maybe will catch up to that. Will keep you posted about my choice.



# Browsers

* [Helium](https://github.com/imputnet/helium-macos) (**Free, open source**): At first, I thought there weren’t any features that would make me use this over Ungoogled Chromium (which Helium is based on), but it has split view, the password integration works (the system-wide one), more customization options, and bangs. It’s very nice. The only thing I am really, really missing is vertical tabs. Oh, and of course the pinned tabs, which only get unloaded instead of being completely closed. Also, it doesn’t drain my Macbook like crazy. Without this, I would have gone back to [Chrome](https://www.google.com/chrome/) or [Ungoogled Chromium](https://github.com/ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium) (**Free, open source**). BUT... I have been working on a chromium fork myself for a few months. So far I integrated a lot of useful features from Arc and Dia while removing google stuff. It looks as minimal as Dia while being cross platform... but ye, still in development, so only I use it.
* [Dia](http://diabrowser.com) and [Arc](https://arc.net/) (**Free** or *subnoscription*): Only have them