Read-only, and why
When the account no longer licenses the app, Vixlo does not close anything or hide anything: it goes read-only. This page explains the notice, what you can still do, why it happened, and how to get back to culling.
What read-only looks like
A lock notice sits under the title bar, on the launch screen and on the cull page alike: Vixlo is read-only until you subscribe, with the detail Your trial or subscription has ended. Every library still opens, and Export and Hand off still write real files; culling and developing are paused until you subscribe on your account page. On the launch screen a small chip at the right of the title bar reads Read-only. On the cull page the pass line's decision buttons dim, and the account popover — the circled person at the foot of the side panel's rail — says Read-only too.
Press a decision key and a message says Vixlo is read-only until you subscribe — Subscribe on your account page to keep culling and developing. The frame is unchanged. The develop panel beside the photograph carries the same notice above its tools, which stay on screen, dimmed, and cannot be moved. On the edit page the notice sits under the top panel, above the photograph; a change made there is refused with the same message, and nothing is stored.
For an invited account whose complimentary access has ended, the notice's first sentence reads Your complimentary access has ended. instead; the rest is the same.
What still works
Every library opens, and browsing, search, Export, Hand off and Share review all work. Deciding, rating, labelling, notes, accepting a proposal, restoring from the bin and every develop adjustment are paused, and each one, tried, answers with the same message. Nothing is deleted and nothing is locked away. What read-only means has the full list.
Why — the Settings line
Account in Settings says which it is:
- The trial has ended. Subscribe on the account page to keep culling and developing.
- The subscription is canceled. Subscribe again on the account page to keep culling and developing. — for instance after you cancelled and the paid period ended, or when Stripe ended the subscription because a payment kept failing.
- Complimentary access ended 12 Jan 2027. Subscribe on the account page to keep culling and developing. — or Your complimentary access has ended. with the same second sentence.
- The licence could not be renewed. Sign in again, or check the subscription on the account page. — one of three things. A payment failed and was still not made by the date the Payment failed notice named, with the subscription still standing. Or a subscription or complimentary access ran more than thirty days past its end without a successful check. Or the licence kept on this Mac could not be read.
Dates in these lines follow your Mac's region settings: the date written here as 12 Jan 2027 reads Jan 12, 2027 on a Mac set to the United States.
Lifting it
- In Settings, press Subscribe (or Account page). The website's account page opens in your browser. Subscribe there; payment is taken on Stripe's own checkout page.
- Back on the account page, read the line at the top. You're subscribed. Your Mac picks this up at its next check, or straight away with Settings → Refresh. means you are done there. Payment received. Stripe is confirming your subscription — refresh in a few seconds and your plan appears here. means wait a few seconds and reload the page.
- In Vixlo, press Refresh in Settings. The notice goes and the keys decide again.
If the Settings line reads The licence could not be renewed…, press Refresh first; if it stays, Sign out and sign in again.
Paid, but the app still says Trial
The app learns about the account only at a licence check. It checks at launch, on waking from sleep and once a day while it runs, but only when a day has passed since the last check, so quitting and reopening Vixlo does not hurry it. Press Refresh in Settings: it asks the portal at once, and the trial countdown goes.
Payment failed — not read-only yet
When a renewal payment fails, a red notice under the title bar reads Payment failed — Update your card on your account page. Vixlo keeps working until 12 Jan 2027. The date is written the way your Mac's region writes dates. Everything works until that date, as long as the subscription still stands. Update the card on the account page, then press Refresh. Past that date, with the payment still not made, the app goes read-only and Settings reads The licence could not be renewed. Sign in again, or check the subscription on the account page. If Stripe stops retrying and ends the subscription first, the Mac goes read-only at its next check, which can be before that date, and Settings reads The subscription is canceled. Subscribe again on the account page to keep culling and developing. When a payment fails has the steps.
Working offline
If the portal cannot be reached, nothing changes: the licence the Mac holds stands, and Settings ends its line with Last check: Could not reach the portal: and the reason. A subscription keeps the app working thirty days past the end of its paid period without a successful check; a trial ends on its date either way. Working offline covers complimentary access and the sign-in itself.
A cancelled subscription on the Mac
If you cancel on the account page, the Mac is not told in advance: Settings still reads Subscribed, renews … until the paid period ends, and the first check after that finds the subscription ended and goes read-only. See Cancelling your subscription.
The Mac's clock
If this Mac's clock is more than five minutes earlier than the last time the portal was heard from, dates are judged against the portal's time instead, and Settings adds This Mac's clock is earlier than the portal's; dates are judged against the portal's time. Setting the clock back extends nothing. A clock that runs ahead is taken as it is, so it can pass the end of a trial, or the end of the thirty days after a paid period or complimentary access, before the real date and turn the app read-only early. Set the Mac's clock right in System Settings and press Refresh.