[Locked] Working completely offline possible? Alternatives?

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

Hello everybody!

First of all, I am sorry, if this is posted in the wrong section.

I am interested in buying some Adobe products, mainly the "Animate" software for working with flash animations.

However there does not seem to be any possibillity to work completely offline (once the product is registered of course). It would seem like I have to be connected to the internet every few months for the software to work.

But I don't like to be depending on a working internet connection. Or on the "existance" of the servers that validate the registration every month ...

Just imagine that something happens to this company or their infrastructure ...

That is something that is outside of my control and I don't like to depend on things that are not under my control. (I know, I have some trust-issues ... )

If the complete offline usage isn't possible (clearly it is, it has been for the last few years, someone just got greedy / wanted to be able to control everybody) are there any alternate ways?

Specifically I am looking for a way to create / edit flash animations.

If anybody knows about a "offline" solution of an alternative, let me know here.

Thank your for taking the time to read this, I appreciate it.

[Guest]

Hi

Have you tried doing a Google search for alternatives to Animate

https://fixthephoto.com/adobe-animate-alternative.html

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Is there any program that can open / edit / create .fla & .swf files?

If it can't to that, it will be of no use to me ...

[Test Screen Name]

You really don't want to work with Flash animations, I suspect. Did you know that Flash is closing down forever at the end of this year, that it will stop working in all major browsers, and that it is already getting difficult and annoying to use (by design)?

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I plan to make some modifications for a game (just for personal use) and for that I need to be able to edit and create flash animation files (.swf / .fla). That's pretty much the only thing that I will need it for ...

[Test Screen Name]

1. You realise your "personal use" will stop at the end of the year?

2. You can't edit SWF files, they are the final result, not the thing you edit. 

3. So far as I know, Adobe Animate is what you need. Since it will be useless in 9 months, subscribing monthly ($30/month) is cheaper than it was to buy. Don't forget to cancel in December!

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

What?

Why would it stop?

If I would buy the subscription, I would have it until I stop paying (or the company stops existing), right?

Also, the game that I am talking about is not a "web based" game. Its a offline singleplayer game that uses flash for some of the User Interface.

Why would the software be useless in 9 months?

I am a bit confused ...

[John T Smith]

>Why would the software be useless in 9 months?

If the game is run from a web browser it will stop working when web browsers stop running Flash

If it is a completely separate EXE game it should keep working

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

Ah, ok, I get it!

Yes, the game works completely offline, without any web browser stuff, regular EXE and stuff ...

I thought that they would make Animate stop working in december...

See?

That's why I want "completely offline" software. Then I don't have to worry about software beeing "discontinued" and beeing "forced" to "upgrade" (read "all this cloud BS, end users not beeing in control anymore, subscriptions, micro-transactions, software-as-a-service, ...").

For me, software is like any other tool, you buy it, you use it as long as you / it lives. If it isn't able to do what you need / if there are interesting new features, you upgrade / buy the newest version.

Not beeing forced into anything ...

(Sorry for the rant ...)

So is there any (legal) way to have this "Animate" programm working completely offline (with the exception of registration / installing at the beginning, of course)?

[Test Screen Name]

Oh, Animate should run offline - except for regular checks that you are still paying. If it can't check your subscription it will stop working.

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

Yeah, that's what I mean.

I need a "completely offline version" of Animate, if such a thing exists. (No monthly connection requirement).

OR

I need software that can do the same as Animate but will run completely offline.

As far as I am aware, only Animate can work properly with flash animations.

I mean, I can't be the only one who has a completely internet-isolated system and wants to use their products.

How do other people do this?

Micro$oft or anybody else can't remove anything from my computer! I make regualar complete backups for all of my PCs, so unless they come here and search my place they can't do anything! (But even if they did, they wouldn't find all of my backup drives ... )

(Yes, I have issues, I know ... )

So even if the built-in flash player of my PC suddenly "self destructed", I would just use a backup and change the calendar date of my computer to "before the expiration date" of the flash player 😉

[Nancy OShea]

Animate CC and other Creative Clouds apps must be able to "call home" for 20 seconds every month or so otherwise you cannot open them.   However, the rest of the time, you're free to use them offline.   I don't understand what the big issue is.  It's not like you have to be online 24/7 to use the software.  And that's how all subscription-based software works.  So this is nothing extraordinary or unusual.

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

Yes, I am familliar with the concept of subscription based software.

I see that it has many benefits for everybody:

The company gets regular monthly income, that's good.

The customers have to pay less (but regularly), that's good.

You can discontinue the subscription if you don't use it anymore, that's good.

But that concept does not work for everybody.

So how do people who want to use these tools use them?

Or is everybody in the whole world "forced" to be connected?

I personally do not like to be "forced to be connected".

Because it creates dependency, and I don't like that.

It feels like buying a tool from a hardware store that has a chain attatched to it.

You never really own the tool, at any time someone can pull on that chain to take the tool back.

I know that this is maybe an outdated way of looking at software, and I guess that the concept of "the end user is in control of his/her stuff" is quickly going away ...

But just because something is happening doesn't mean that it should happen!

And I don't like any of the software I purchased to be "chained" to the internet, because what if someone decides that this rather free and unrestricted internet should go away?

The reason for my "anti-connection-dependency" is the following:

I just don't want anybody to be able to take anything away from me.

Simple as that.

No, it's not about money (money in itself has no "real value" it's just pieces of metal / colorful pieces of paper), it's about avoiding to depend on things that are not within my control.

Because creating dependance is the first step in controling somebody.

If you depend on someone, they have power over you.

Most people are fine with that and just trust others.

But I have had some bad experiences with trusting others, so I trust nobody anymore ...

And certainly not any company (the bigger the company, the bigger my mistrust ... )

Sorry for ranting on about this, but I think I just had to explain my view.

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

What just happened?

I posted a reply to this but it was "deleted because it was spam"?

What?!

[Nancy OShea]

I don't see anything posted by you in Spam or Abuse reports.

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

I just posted a reply and a few moments later got a little message on the top of the page saying " This post was removed because it was reported as spam".

Maybe because it was way too long ...

Anyway ...

Basically what I said was that the concept of subscription based software can be good, but it does not work for everybody.

I personally don't agree with this concept because it creates dependencies. And if you depend on a company, that means that that company has power over you.

Most people will accept that and trust in that company.

But I had some bad experiences with trusting people, so I don't trust anything that I can't control myself and certainly not any company or person ...

I just don't want anybody to be able to take things away from me.

And with this "forced monthly connection" I depend on the "good will" of others and I don't like that.

It's not because of money (in my view, money itself is worthless, just metal pieces / colorful paper ), it's about control. And I don't want to give anybody the possibillity to control me.

That's basically my reason for this whole "completely offline" requirement.

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

I just posted a reply and a few moments later got a little message on the top of the page saying " This post was removed because it was reported as spam".

Maybe because it was way too long ...

Basically what I said was that the concept of subscription based software can be good, but it does not work for everybody.

I personally don't agree with this concept because it creates dependencies. And if you depend on a company, that means that that company has power over you.

Most people will accept that and trust in that company.

But I had some bad experiences with trusting people, so I don't trust anything that I can't control myself and certainly not any company or person ...

I jsut don't want anybody to be able to take things away from me.

It's not because of money (in my view, money itself is worthless, just metal pieces / colorful paper ), it's about control. And I don't want to give anybody the possibillity to control me.

That's basically my reason for this whole "completely offline" requirement.

I mean I have nothing against beeing connected to the internet if it is technically necessary (like access to Cloud storage or something like that), but if you have to be connected despite the software technically beeing able to work offline, that's just wrong and prevents people from beeing more self reliant and independent.

And in my view, those things are very important (but nearly every organization tries to take them away from us because they think they know what's best for us ...)

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

I just posted a reply and a few moments later got a little message on the top of the page saying " This post was removed because it was reported as spam".

Maybe because it was way too long ...

Basically what I said was that the concept of subscription based software can be good, but it does not work for everybody.

I personally don't agree with this concept because it creates dependencies. And if you depend on a company, that means that that company has power over you.

Most people will accept that and trust in that company.

But I had some bad experiences with trusting people, so I don't trust anything that I can't control myself and certainly not any company or person ...

I just don't want anybody to be able to take things away from me.

It's not because of money (in my view, money itself is worthless, just metal pieces / colorful paper ), it's about control. And I don't want to give anybody the possibillity to control me.

That's basically my reason for this whole "completely offline" requirement.

I mean I have nothing against beeing connected to the internet if it is technically necessary (like access to Cloud storage or something like that), but if you have to be connected despite the software technically beeing able to work offline, that's just wrong and prevents people from beeing more self reliant and independent.

And in my view, those things are very important (but nearly every organization tries to take them away from us because they think they know what's best for us ...)

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

I just posted a reply and a few moments later got a little message on the top of the page saying " This post was removed because it was reported as spam".

Maybe because it was way too long ...

Basically what I said was that the concept of subscription based software can be good, but it does not work for everybody.

I personally don't agree with this concept because it creates dependencies. And if you depend on a company, that means that that company has power over you.

Most people will accept that and trust in that company.

But I had some bad experiences with trusting people, so I don't trust anything that I can't control myself and certainly not any company or person ...

I just don't want anybody to be able to take things away from me.

It's not because of money (in my view, money itself is worthless, just metal pieces / colorful paper ), it's about control. And I don't want to give anybody the possibility to control me.

That's basically my reason for this whole "completely offline" requirement.

I mean I have nothing against being connected to the Internet if it is technically necessary (like access to Cloud storage or something like that), but if you have to be connected despite the software technically being able to work offline, that's just wrong and prevents people from being more self reliant and independent.

And in my view, those things are very important (but nearly every organization tries to take them away from us because they think they know what's best for us ...)

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

I just posted a reply and a few moments later got a little message on the top of the page saying " This post was removed because it was reported as spam".

Maybe because it was way too long ...

Basically what I said was that the concept of subscription based software can be good, but it does not work for everybody.

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

Strange ...

I just wanted to say that this subscription licence system can good, but it doesn't work for everybody.

I personally don't agree with this concept because it creates dependencies. And if you depend on a company, that means that that company has power over you.

Most people will accept that and trust in that company.

But I had some bad experiences with trusting people, so I don't trust anything that I can't control myself and certainly not any company or person ...

I just don't want anybody to be able to take things away from me.

It's not because of money (in my view, money itself is worthless, just metal pieces / colorful paper ), it's about control. And I don't want to give anybody the possibility to control me.

That's basically my reason for this whole "completely offline" requirement.

I mean I have nothing against being connected to the Internet if it is technically necessary (like access to Cloud storage or something like that), but if you have to be connected despite the software technically being able to work offline, that's just wrong and prevents people from being more self reliant and independent.

And in my view, those things are very important (but nearly every organization tries to take them away from us because they think they know what's best for us ... )

[JustWantToBuySomeStuff]

Ok, somehow my posted stuff doesn't show up here, but the "replies" counter goes up 1 when I click "post".

[Test Screen Name]

I don't think just making an EXE would guarantee its longevity. 

(1) playable EXEs usually rely on a system-level Flash Player

(2) Microsoft have made this part of Windows and may remove it after the death date

(3) It is within the power of Microsoft to have it self destruct, no inside info on that.

Really, there are better technologies for a long life. Indeed Adobe Animate (yes, indeed, subscription only) will write them.

[Nancy OShea]

If you look at your Profile Page (click on your forum Avatar), you have 15 posts and most of them are duplicates.

I'm locking this discussion because your posts are automatically being blocked now.  And there's nothing anybody can do about it because the forum's AI thinks you're spamming.