Every once in a while I will lose my browser cookies and browser website related passwords.
When this happens I need to go through the “forgotten password” system to get back onto “my account” and the “community forum” here
The thing that annoys and troubles me is the Topaz authentication method is that is tied/ linked exactly to the password used to access the “My Account” ~ thus when I need to renew the password I need to re-enter the password the next time I open Sharpen, DeNoise and Gigapixel.
Now in & of itself that is a minor annoyance…but as it seems that the Topaz AI programs need to ‘phone home’ regularly to check for updates are they also checking the authentication each time as welll???
I can perceive of a possible problem as follows, compared to other programs that also ‘phone home’ to check for updates but AFAIK do not do so for repeat authentication because the authenticated license key is held locally on the PC:-
What happens if the PC being used is disconnected from the internet and the cookies are deleted? Based on my experience the programs will cease to authenticate but will they cease to function?
If at some point in the future there are issues with the Topaz authentication server how will paid up users be able to continue to use the last version that they paid for?
Now, thankfully unlike Adobe, Topaz and other software suppliers have not followed the subscription route but it concerns me that the way Topaz run their authentication process is oh so similar to a subscription model
I wonder do others have such concerns and as such what is Topaz position on this matter?
Most modern applications use account based verification of ownership. You are resetting your account password which means your licence on your pc is invalid.
All programs I have that use account based authentication do the same if I alter any account details.
I don’t know of any apps that use this type of authentication that don’t check and require an update when your account details change … note that this type of authentication is NOT a license key.
Yes, I take your point…including that account based authentication is what ‘we’ are talking about. Topaz was the first such that I have come across and use
(NB I have LR6, PS6, PL3, Affinity Photo 1.8 and some other non photo related software that all have license key based purchases and in the likes of AP and PL they both phone home to advise of updates but do not get reset based on the losses of cookies that mean I have to create a new password that also impacts the authentication of the program!)
As for it having nothing to do with cookies on the PC, as mentioned it does in an indirect way. As now I am currently logged in to My Account page and the Topaz Community forum as ‘stayed logged in’. Therefore, in the scenario i outlined above if I lose all the browser cookies I also lose my “logged in status”.
Hence as I don’t use a Password Manager and the password is not one I recall I have do a forgotten password (Note ~ I do realise that without that the Topaz AI programs will keep their authenticated status) because I do not keep, other than for say an hour, a written copy of the new password so Topaz gets a new password each time this happens…equals the programs lose authentication.
So to say it has nothing to with the cookies is too sweeping a statement.
Lastly, what about my item #2 above about anything affecting the authentication server? Hmmmm? plus what about loss of access to the registered email address…is there a simple & straightforward process to register another one even in a situation where someone might not remember the one used when initially registered?
