# authentication required for program use



## kzaremba (Jul 28, 2016)

I just returned from a 4 week, 5 country, 7 safari camp trip to Eastern and South Africa. I was without both phone and internet connectivity for most of the 4 weeks I was gone. Here is an issue for the not so bright product managers of LR. Photographers travel the entire world in pursuit of their craft, not just the connected world. At the end of each days shoot I backup my daily shots onto LR CC on my MacBook Air and then add metadata and minimal processing. The ( not such a great idea) magnetic electrical connector for my MacBook Air became disconnected unbeknownst to me. I went off to dinner and when I came back several hours later, the MacBook had shut down. Upon reconnecting the MacBook to power and restarting it, I then tried to restart LR CC which I have been religiously changed for at the end of every month. LR CC presented a message that said I had to be authenticated before I could use it and that authentication required an internet connection. If I had any questions I could contact customer support, again via an internet connection. At this point I am totally locked out of LR CC and at this point I am totally pissed at the product and product marketing managers for their shortsightedness on how people use LR CC. If I could have gotten my hands on them I would have beaten some sense into their ignorant heads. I was now totally locked out of LR CC until my next access to the internet which was 5 days. A fully paid up user is locked out of the program because some stupid product manager has no clue on how photographers use their products and potential problems caused by their money grubbing decisions. So, why the hell can't a users validity be stored internal to the program or in a catalogue. It doesn't take a software genius to figure out how to do this.

You folks caused me a lot of extra work to back up my daily shots plus I was unable to do any photo processing of any type for 5 days. I took over 10,000 pictures on this trip.

I am still mad as hell about what happened!!!!!


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## Jim Wilde (Jul 28, 2016)

kzaremba said:


> You folks caused me a lot of extra work to back up my daily shots plus I was unable to do any photo processing of any type for 5 days. I took over 10,000 pictures on this trip.



I'm sorry to hear of your problems, but please understand that we are not Adobe employees here and this forum it totally unconnected to Adobe. So, if you want to vent at Adobe, I suggest you do it where they are more likely to hear you, perhaps using their feedback site which you can access using the Bug Report link at the top of each page.


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## DGStinner (Jul 28, 2016)

kzaremba said:


> So, why the hell can't a users validity be stored internal to the program or in a catalogue. It doesn't take a software genius to figure out how to do this.


When you pay month-to-month, it needs to validate that you've paid for the upcoming month.  If traveling for weeks at a time without internet is common for you, you may want to consider switching to a perpetual license.


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## Johan Elzenga (Jul 28, 2016)

DGStinner said:


> When you pay month-to-month, it needs to validate that you've paid for the upcoming month.  If traveling for weeks at a time without internet is common for you, you may want to consider switching to a perpetual license.



Just pay per year. That is cheaper and it only requires an internet check after one month + 99 days.


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## PhilBurton (Jul 29, 2016)

kzaremba said:


> I just returned from a 4 week, 5 country, 7 safari camp trip to Eastern and South Africa. I was without both phone and internet connectivity for most of the 4 weeks I was gone. Here is an issue for the not so bright product managers of LR. Photographers travel the entire world in pursuit of their craft, not just the connected world. At the end of each days shoot I backup my daily shots onto LR CC on my MacBook Air and then add metadata and minimal processing. The ( not such a great idea) magnetic electrical connector for my MacBook Air became disconnected unbeknownst to me. I went off to dinner and when I came back several hours later, the MacBook had shut down. Upon reconnecting the MacBook to power and restarting it, I then tried to restart LR CC which I have been religiously changed for at the end of every month. LR CC presented a message that said I had to be authenticated before I could use it and that authentication required an internet connection. If I had any questions I could contact customer support, again via an internet connection. At this point I am totally locked out of LR CC and at this point I am totally pissed at the product and product marketing managers for their shortsightedness on how people use LR CC. If I could have gotten my hands on them I would have beaten some sense into their ignorant heads. I was now totally locked out of LR CC until my next access to the internet which was 5 days. A fully paid up user is locked out of the program because some stupid product manager has no clue on how photographers use their products and potential problems caused by their money grubbing decisions. So, why the hell can't a users validity be stored internal to the program or in a catalogue. It doesn't take a software genius to figure out how to do this.
> 
> You folks caused me a lot of extra work to back up my daily shots plus I was unable to do any photo processing of any type for 5 days. I took over 10,000 pictures on this trip.
> 
> I am still mad as hell about what happened!!!!!


Speaking as a product manager myself (for enterprise software), I think you may be misplacing your anger.  The monthly authentication requirement probably comes from someone very senior at Abobe, not some poor zhlub in the Lightroom group. Also, product marketing managers would never be involved in this soft of issue.

Not to defend Adobe (yikes, I'm actually saying this?  ) but doesn't Apple bear some responsibility for this situation because of the poorly designed power connector to your MacBook?

Phil


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## clee01l (Jul 29, 2016)

Something that you could suggest to Adobe is that LRCC tell you when it next needs to 'call home' to verify your subscription.  Also perhaps allow you to invoke the "call home" if you know that you are going to be away from a reliable internet connection for nearly a month.  

It is clearly stated in the subscription that LR will check in every 30 days to verify a current subscription. So there is no reason that you should have been surprised. The reason that you get 30 days' is because Adobe recognizes that it is not possible to have a continuously up internet connection all the time.  If your trip was only 28 days, the you should have had plenty of time if LR checked in just before you left and again when you returned.


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## Gnits (Jul 29, 2016)

I despair at the lack of user perspective by Adobe in relation to real world use of their products.  Fortunately, I have not been caught in this situation. Using a perpetual licence is just a clumsy workaround as you then do not have the latest features which you may have got used to. Maybe installing a trial version of the perpetual version might guarantee you 30 days.

The call home function is a good idea, because at least on a long trip you may have the opportunity to get an internet connection (however slow) during your trip and could ensure that the clock starts. The Lr app should definitely show you how many days left before Adobe pulls the plug.  Just normal human etiquette and good manners.


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## Johan Elzenga (Jul 29, 2016)

Gnits said:


> I despair at the lack of user perspective by Adobe in relation to real world use of their products.  Fortunately, I have not been caught in this situation. Using a perpetual licence is just a clumsy workaround as you then do not have the latest features which you may have got used to. Maybe installing a trial version of the perpetual version might guarantee you 30 days.
> 
> The call home function is a good idea, because at least on a long trip you may have the opportunity to get an internet connection (however slow) during your trip and could ensure that the clock starts. The Lr app should definitely show you how many days left before Adobe pulls the plug.  Just normal human etiquette and good manners.



That is what normally happens. We should not jump to conclusions. I believe that the problems that the OP encountered have something to do with the fact that his computer ran out of power and shut down. Perhaps the date was reset and he started Lightroom before noticing that? Lightroom does not just stop working without any prior notice.


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## Gnits (Jul 29, 2016)

Ok ... I stand corrected.  

Your link to offline grace period is useful and was not aware of that information.  I am not sure if there is a distinction between subscribers who pay monthly or annually.

It would still be useful if I could check what date the validation is due to expire and to invoke a validation event  prior to travel.  I sail offshore and sometimes in remote regions so I am sensitive to this issue.


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## Johan Elzenga (Jul 29, 2016)

Gnits said:


> Ok ... I stand corrected.
> 
> Your link to offline grace period is useful and was not aware of that information.  I am not sure if there is a distinction between subscribers who pay monthly or annually.
> 
> It would still be useful if I could check what date the validation is due to expire and to invoke a validation event  prior to travel.  I sail offshore and sometimes in remote regions so I am sensitive to this issue.



The linked page says: "In offline mode, annual Creative Cloud members get 99 days of grace period; *month-to-month members get 30 days of grace period*."


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## Gnits (Jul 29, 2016)

99 days / 30 days grace seems reasonable to me. Permanent licence if you need more than that.  More transparency to the user on this issue would be useful and so easily achieved. 


I still meet people who assume Lightroom CC means they are working from the cloud.


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## clee01l (Jul 29, 2016)

Gnits said:


> 99 days / 30 days grace seems reasonable to me. Permanent licence if you need more than that.  More transparency to the user on this issue would be useful and so easily achieved.
> I still meet people who assume Lightroom CC means they are working from the cloud.


I've had an annual renewal for 2-3 years now.  Until Johan posted, I did not know that I got more than a 30 day grace.  Good to know but so far, I've never been away from the internet for even 30 days.   If you cancel your LR subscription, LR still functions with the existing LR inventory.  You can't use the Develop module or add new images.

I agree with Gnits, more transparency is needed on when your clock might run out.


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## PhilBurton (Jul 29, 2016)

Gnits said:


> 99 days / 30 days grace seems reasonable to me. Permanent licence if you need more than that.  More transparency to the user on this issue would be useful and so easily achieved.
> 
> 
> I still meet people who assume Lightroom CC means they are working from the cloud.


And that confusion is completely understandable.  They are attempting to call _everything _they offer a cloud product.  In addition to Creative Cloud, there is Document Cloud and Marketing Cloud.  The Document Cloud includes Adobe Acrobat, which is a desktop application that I use regularly.  Personally I liked the name Creative Suite better.

Phil


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## Jim Wilde (Jul 29, 2016)

clee01l said:


> If you cancel your LR subscription, LR still functions with the existing LR inventory.  You can't use the Develop module or add new images.



Cletus, I'm pretty sure that Import will still function in the reduced functionality mode....the only things that won't be available are the Develop module (though Quick Develop in the Library module will still work), the Map module, and LR mobile sync.


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## rhynetc (Jul 29, 2016)

Is there a lower price for annual payments vs monthly payments to the Photography Plan?
If so, how does one make the switch?


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## Johan Elzenga (Jul 29, 2016)

rhynetc said:


> Is there a lower price for annual payments vs monthly payments to the Photography Plan?
> If so, how does one make the switch?



I believe so, although the difference is not that great. Go to https://accounts.adobe.com/plans


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## clee01l (Jul 29, 2016)

JohanElzenga said:


> I believe so, although the difference is not that great. Go to https://accounts.adobe.com/plans


I've been paying annually for a couple of years for the Photographers Bundle  In the US this is normally $9.99/mo +tax.  This amounts to $10+ per month.  For the last two years I have paid Adobe $129.77 ( no price break).


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## Goughy (Jul 30, 2016)

Retailers (e.g. B&H) occasionally have sales. In May I bought a year's subscription for the Photography Plan for $94.95 (before tax) which I used to extend my subscription for an additional 12 months. Worth watching out for.


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## Cerianthus (Jul 30, 2016)

I still think it is a step from 10 dollars (about 9 euros at the current exchange rate) to the 12,09 euros. That's 35 % more, so vat tax (21%) is not the only thing. 

Also I did pick up somewhere that the perpetual licence phones home every now and then as well. Can't find the reference now sorry. 


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## Jeffrey Tranberry (Aug 1, 2016)

kzaremba said:


> The ( not such a great idea) magnetic electrical connector for my MacBook Air became disconnected unbeknownst to me. I went off to dinner and when I came back several hours later, the MacBook had shut down. Upon reconnecting the MacBook to power and restarting it, I then tried to restart LR CC which I have been religiously changed for at the end of every month. LR CC presented a message that said I had to be authenticated before I could use it and that authentication required an internet connection.





JohanElzenga said:


> That is what normally happens. We should not jump to conclusions. I believe that the problems that the OP encountered have something to do with the fact that his computer ran out of power and shut down. Perhaps the date was reset and he started Lightroom before noticing that? Lightroom does not just stop working without any prior notice.



Hi kzaremba,

I'm sorry to hear about this unfortunate scenario. Typically this caused by the date/time being set incorrectly as JohanElzenga points out. This should not happen if the hardware is functioning correctly. It can be caused by either the motherboard/cmos battery needing to be replaced (Windows/earlier Macs), or the capacitor or the battery on newer Macs misbehaving. Macbook Air loses time when battery runs flat ⋆ Scoopz.com

I'd swing by the Apple store and have them run a battery/hardware test.


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