Horribly annoyed by this limitation [Unable to install apps on external drive]

[LuckCharm]

The push to use the cloud is frustrating. Companies like Apple are selling smaller drives so you'll use the cloud and companies such as Adobe are forcing us to use either the internet hard disk or the cloud to install their apps. Well, with the smaller drive and smaller RAM footprint on the M1 Mac Mini I had to buy due to lack fo funds, I am stuck with 8 gigs of RAM and a whopping 256 MB of disk space--neither of which I can upgrade.

I use an external for my data, but as of late I've been running out of space on the internal drive probably because of the apps I need. I'd like to put those apps on the external but no, Adobe doesn't allow this. They only allow me to add the apps on the internal or the cloud (on apple's cloud I know works and probably Adobe's as well.) Why did they push us to the cloud? I don't know. There are days I work without the cloud. Our ISP doesn't like that in my house we are gamers, creators, and stream movies and I'm sure our cable neighbors don't like it either.

I'd like to work from my external just in case the power goes out and I can't get to my apps. Sometimes that does happen, especially with rolling blackouts, fires, and earthquakes or if I lived elsewhere thunderstorms and floods.

Isn't there any way to get these installed on an external drive so I can do it how I want to?

The world is changing but the internet isn't like Star Trek yet. You're forcing us into a world that doesn't yet exist.

Thanks

[John T Smith]

I do NOT work for Adobe, but I do read a lot of messages

My understanding is that the Adobe program and license manager MUST be installed to the system drive, but programs may be installed to a 2nd internal drive... not to an external drive where the licensing link is broken when the external is disconnected

In other words, you can't install on computer A with an external and then move the external to computer B where the program and license manager has not been installed

[LuckCharm]

If that was the case then I shouldn't be able to install it on the cloud because I have 3 or 4 computers accessing it from the cloud. I haven't tried opening it with a different computer on iCloud because I don't have one connected, but if I did then I think the Adobe system files wouldn't be there either way so I couldn't open it on either computer because they're stored at /Macintosh HD/Application Support/Adobe/Photoshop/AMTblablabla I think. Either way anything connected to the cloud or the external that is not the main system wouldn't be able to use these files. It doesn't make sense why they allow one and not the other.

[Test Screen Name · Accepted solution]

"Adobe are forcing us to use either the internet hard disk or the cloud to install their apps."

No.  I don't know where you have this idea. Installing to the cloud is NOT a choice. Creative Cloud is just a name. You need to get a PC or Mac with sufficient hard disk/SSD - Apple still produce these but they certainly cost plenty. But Adobe apps need a high end system anyway.