Captivate (2019 release) on macOS Big Sur (macOS 11)

[Saurav_Ghosh]

Update: We've released an early build for Big Sur that fixes the issues that Captivate users are facing. For more details, read this post. 

Does Captivate work on Big Sur?

Adobe Captivate (2019 release) is NOT COMPATIBLE with Big Sur.

If you launch Captivate (2019 release) on macOS Big Sur (macOS 11), the project editor becomes unusable.

We are working on making Captivate (2019 release) to be compatible with Big Sur. 

Meanwhile, you can review the current system requirements for Captivate.

[reneillustrate]

Berating an organization for blindly rushing into unpdates isn't helpful. Most IT organizations' number one consideration is security. They could not possibly test every peice of software that their employees use. Adobe should reach out to their customers to let them know about compatibility issues that make the software completely unusable. 

[ahmed.abdelsalam]

Thanks for your comment, but this's not convincing, we're talking about Adobe!
Also i always wonder why Adobe usually put Captivate behind and not upgrading it to be more user friendly like Articulate storyline, if Adobe not interested in captivate its better to discontinue it, cause this's shame to Adobe, i really hope Articulate supports Macs and i'll blindly switch to it.

[I-Am-So-Professional]

It's worth noting that Apple's WWDC 2020 (Worldwide Developers Conference), while scheduled for June 11, 2020, was actually held virtually on June 22nd. So any developer that intended for their software to be compatible with the new MacOS should be cut 11 days slack (even Adobe) that their software hasn't been updated to run on Big Sur. With that being said, Adobe has the position of a flagship software developer and should be the exemplar for the rest of the industry, instead of playing catch-up. I mean, what good is a piece of software that doesn't run on the latest operating system? On the other hand, Apple is in the unique position of being both the hardware manufacturer and a software developer for that hardware. They have products that compete with Adobe's. One would be naïve to assume that there would be such perfect harmony in this ecosphere that a competitor would be given the same advantages as their internal developers. Consider it the price that we consumers pay for companies that engage in anti-competitive behavior. And they're all guilty, as expressed in the multitude of lawsuits filed on a daily basis suing over these practices. Until we get the psychopaths out of the CEO positions, this will never end.

If any of this is revelatory to you, please take note:

I've been using software long enough to know that if you want to keep your software usable, YOU DON'T UPGRADE THE OPERATING SYSTEM THAT IT RUNS ON BEFORE THE xx.3 VERSION OF THAT OS.

Thank you, and please pay it forward.

[RodWard]

I keep forgetting that in the alternative reality known as Appleland anything untoward that happens to a user is never Apple's fault.  Must be terribly convenient to live there.

[I-Am-So-Professional]

The Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field still in effect, from beyond the grave!

[genoMarb]

Look... if you sell a product, and you have a knowledge that an issue will or may arise, no matter who's fault, you have a moral duty to inform your customers. I am paying Adobe, not Apple, for this product. Now if you tell me that the same issue occurs with any other Adobe product Photoshop, Illustrator, XD [a newer one], Audition, Rush, Bridge. Well then you might have a point. You charge money to people, and if you can't supply this service, well then just tell them before they get into trouble. Email them. So they wait to upgrade before this happens. People only look at these forums when the damage has already been done. C'mon guys, years ago well yes, but you live in the cloud world now.

[RodWard]

I take it that you must have missed the debacle when Apple released Catalina and all 32bit apps (not just Adobe's) stopped working?  That was REALLY an interesting time for any Mac OS user still using older apps because they still did everything they wanted.

Adobe developers don't have crystal balls that enable them to predict all of the issues that might possibly occur when an OS developer like Mac OS or Windows.

We might live in the 'cloud world', but I think anyone who thinks it inconceivable that there should occasionally be incompatibility problems with their software probably has their head stuck in that cloud somewhere.

[ahmed.abdelsalam]

I don't like your attitude man, then what's the use of betas at least developers should've tested the beta version of BigSur like i'm sure they done this on all their other products but as usual leave captivate aside!
Also any compatability problems any professional developers should keep their client updated daily and realistic timelines, not ignorance and unknown timelines,

[RodWard]

Ahmed,.

Apologies if you don't like my attitude but I am just another user like yourself and that means I have just as much right to an opinion on this topic as anyone else.  My view is that Adobe is NOT the one at fault if they have informed end users on which specific operating systems Captivate is supported.

You mention how 'professional developers' of software are supposed to handle updates.  One of the most common pages you will see when you look up details of a software application is called the System Requirements page.

This is the page for Captivate 2019.  https://helpx.adobe.com/au/captivate/system-requirements.html

Take a look at which Mac OS versions are suppported.  At time of writing this post, Big Sur is not listed.

What the System Requirements page does is tell the software end user exactly what OS they are allowed to use if they want your app to work.  Deliberately changing your operating system to one that is not supported by the system requirements for an app means you are pulling the rug out from under Captivate and thereby accepting full responsibility for the consequences. 

I say again, if you update your Mac OS without checking whether or not this will land you in trouble, then you are bound be caught out sooner or later.  And when it comes to Apple OS updates, it's likely to be sooner RATHER than later.

Next time, please look before you leap.  That's my advice based on many years of watching anguished Apple users on this forum. 

[hyaena84]

Ahmed - you are SO right... Mr Ward is a hot mess.  For what it's worth, Adobe did this last year as well, it was a while before it was fixed.  So we pay subscription fees for a product we cannot use.  Also ridiculous.  Their solutions are a bit moronic as well.  You know.... just roll back your OS and all will be fine (never mind that everything else has moved on to work in Big Sur).   IAF! 

[KriTa]

Why are you Captivate guys always so damn defensive? 

To me, it seems like Captivate is kept at distance from the rest of the Adobe familiy. All other Adobe programs ran smoothly on Catalina, so don't use that as an argument.

My worry is that if Captivate keeps lagging more and more behind the general digital development, it will be obsolete in five years. Come on, Captivate still has a lot of flash widgets. Who uses flash these days?
What I would like to see, is a roadmap for where Captivate is going the coming years. But that's nowhere to be found.

[RodWard]

Why are we so defensive?  Because we're often being attacked!  (And more often than not, by Apple Mac OS users.)

Yes there are still Flash components in the current version of Captivate, but that's because this version is now over two years old and when it was originally created Flash still had years to run before being finally pronounced dead for good.  Adobe would have come in for a lot of criticism had it pre-empted ditching support for the ability to publish to SWF back then.

Yes there IS a roadmap document for Captivate but nobody in the Adobe Dev team is going to show you that document. Even those of us that have been active on this Captivate User forum over thousands of threads for more than a decade don't get to see that document.  So, if not finding it on Google bothers you then, as the Dread Pirate Roberts told Innigo Montoya: "Get used to disappointment."  It's not going to happen.

Does that mean Captivate is lagging behind the rest of the market?  Absolutely not!  Now that Flash can be laid to rest, just wait till the next version. What do you think the Captivate team have been working on for the last 2-3 years?

[andrewg38962025]

I'm not sure if you work for Adobe, or if the Adobe Community Professional title is just given on this forum. but if the former, then you are really not displaying great customer service. Becoming defensive over complaints is not really a great response as a community professional.

For me, I wasn't using Adobe Captivate with the previous issues you mentioned about 32-bit, and therefore have not seen a history of this stuff happening. Should I have checked the system requirements - in reflection yes. But as others have pointed out, this is Adobe, and MacOS Big Sur was announced in June, then released in November. There have been months of betas for software developers to ensure their products work with the latest OS, and Adobe being such a big company - I would have expected they were on top of this. Or if not, at least emailed Captivate users to advise not to upgrade.

I agree that people should check - but surely if Adobe knew it would not work they could have simply let people know. That's good customer service

[RodWard]

Let's be clear:

• I DO NOT work for Adobe.  I'm just an e-learning designer who works under contract for various companies in my patch of the world.
• The label "Adobe Community Professional" tag beside my name relates only to the fact that for many years now I have answered tens of thousands of user questions on this forum for free.
• Yes you should have checked the System Requirements page before upgrading.  I'm pleased to see you accept that.
• Adobe never emails all Windows users to inform them that an upcoming update to Windows might break Captivate.  So I do not see why Mac users feel left out here. It's an even playing field and all users are being treated much the same.
• Would it be great if Adobe DID provide this kind of early warning support?  Absolutely!  And if you do a little searching on this forum you will see that I was actually the first one to suggest they think about doing this in future.
• For the record, I do not believe that Adobe knew that Big Sur would break Captivate for Mac users and simply chose NOT to tell them.  I think they were caught napping on this issue.  It happens in software companies regardless of size.  Your expectations that they MUST have know, are based on supposition here, not fact.  You can bet they're working hard on the problem right now.

[ksymons-wardlaw]

Has anybody had any feedback as to when this issue might be resolved?  I've been desperately looking for a fix, update, hack anything. 

[ahmed.abdelsalam]

Unforunately Adobe developers themselves don't know.... May be next month may be next year may be never..

The only option now to roll back to Catalina or Cheetah OS will be better for captivate never do any OS updates and make sure you reinstall the flash LOL.

[thiagom28641701]

I had to downgrade IOS to continue working with captivate ... unfortunately ... and I had a lot of headaches ...

[estherau]

I have a new computer. I cannot downgrade.  I hope it is fixed soon.

[Zbigniews]

Every month I get from Adobe an invoice for using Captivate. I would be sooo easy to add to one of the latest something like: "Apple's going to update their OS. Don't install the update or your Captivate will stop working. We'll update you when we're ready with a fix".

[CJ Rys]

I committed this same mistake twice! My second production bug due to an optional OS update. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on me:). Why not just switch to a PC? I can't delay the projects, compliance issues. My license has three seats. Won't the Captivate files created on Mac OS play for the PC Captivate editor? Can't we download the files onto a flash drive and upload them to a PC?

[RodWard]

Cptx project files created on a Mac should be openable and editable on a PC as long as the Captivate versions are compatible.  So if you last edited the CPTX on your Mac using the very latest version of Captivate 2019 then you would need to have the same version of Captivate installed on your PC as well.  If the files are not opening on the PC, check major AND minor versions match.  Early versions of Cp 2019 cannot open files edited in much later versions of Cp 2019...just to complicate things.

[CJ Rys]

Very helpful, thank you.

[CJ Rys]

UPDATE:

I installed 11.0.1 (Update 4) on a PC to match the last version of the project.  I just ran the initial test. The PC appears to run the editor just fine. Using a thumb drive for a quick transfer of the CPTX and attendant files to the PC.

Unzip the published file, locate the project.txt file.  The first line or so provides the Captivate version used on the project. Older downloads here

https://helpx.adobe.com/captivate/kb/captivate-downloads.html

For those that have time-sensitive projects, this may make for a viable Big Sur solution. 

[mphermes]

Another option is to run Parallels for the Mac with a copy of Windows.  I've successfully tested a bootcamp partition running parallels in Big Sur and Captivate works reasonably well.  I know this isn't the most ideal way of dealing with the issue but it's a decent stopgap until they release a compatible version.

[seanh27970640]

My beef with Adobe is that Apple has a Developer Program and this bug should have been fixed long before GA release, or at least have a decent idea of timeline by now. I'm on the Apple Beta program and reported the issue then, so Adobe has had plenty of time to work on it. They just don't put in the effort. Always been my issue with Adobe. Not with any indivdual in particular. An ETA and discount on subscription fees are reasonable requests.