How license checks work
You activate each Mac once, online. After that, a check asks Dodo Payments, which issues Flick's license keys, whether your key is still active on this Mac. In between, Flick needs no connection.
| Since the last successful check | What happens |
|---|---|
| Under 14 days | Nothing. No check is due, though Check Now works any time. |
| 14 days | A check is due. Flick runs it about 10 seconds after it opens or your Mac wakes, or within the hour while it's running. If it fails, Flick tries again after 5 minutes, then after 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 hours, then once a day. |
| 53 days | The warning appears, with 7 days left. |
| 60 days | Flick works as the free version until a check succeeds. |
Retries vary by up to a fifth either way. Checks run only while Flick is running, and Last checked in Settings › License shows when one last succeeded. A check sends your key, this Mac's activation ID and Flick's version, never anything about your windows or tabs. What license requests send
The warning
In the last 7 days before the two months are up, Flick warns you in two places:
- The menu bar menu gets a line near the top, Couldn't check your license, with a warning sign. Choose it to open Settings › License.
- Settings › License still says Flick license, with a note under the heading: “Flick hasn't been able to check your license for a while. It'll check automatically when this Mac is online. If it can't check in the next 7 days, Flick switches to the free version until it can.” The count goes down day by day, and Check Now sits beside it.
Nothing changes while the warning shows: every window and your browser tabs keep working. It usually means the Mac has been offline for weeks, or that a firewall app or network filter on it is blocking Flick's connections.
Check now
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Get online
Connect this Mac to the internet. A check works on any network this Mac can browse the web from, even an office network that inspects secure connections and blocks activation. If you use a firewall app, let Flick connect.
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Open Settings › License
Choose Couldn't check your license from Flick's menu bar menu. Or choose Settings from the menu and click License in the sidebar.
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Click Check Now
It's beside the warning, under the heading once Flick has switched to the free version, and next to Last checked otherwise. When the check succeeds, the warning goes away and Last checked says Today.
While the warning shows, or after Flick has switched to the free version, a failed check says “Couldn't reach Dodo Payments. Flick will try again when this Mac is online.” Flick keeps retrying on the schedule above, so you can leave it. Before the warning appears, it says “Couldn't reach Dodo Payments. Connect to the internet, then click Check Now.” instead: there's no rush, and once a check is due, Flick tries on its own too.
After about two months offline
If 60 days pass without a successful check, Flick switches to the free version on that Mac:
- Settings › License says Your license needs a check: “Flick couldn't check your license for about two months, so it switched to the free version. Connect to the internet and click Check Now. One successful check brings every window back.” Settings › About shows Needs a check, and the menu bar line stays.
- Flick works as the free version: it switches between your 5 most recent windows, and browser tabs stop. What the free version includes
- Nothing is lost. Your license stays on this Mac, and so does its seat. Your settings, including the browsers you turned on, stay as they were.
Flick keeps trying on its own. As soon as one check succeeds, every window and your browser tabs come back, with no key to paste.
Going offline for a long time?Click Check Now while you still have a connection. One successful check gives you the full two months from that day.
A key turned off after a refund
After a refund, Dodo Payments turns the license key off. Each Mac finds out at its next check and goes back to the free version. Settings › License then says License turned off, and your settings stay just as you left them.
Flick checks a turned-off key again each time it opens, until 30 days after the last check that found it active, so a key turned off by mistake comes back on its own. Then it stops. Remove Key… in Settings › License stops it sooner. Think it's a mistake? Click Check Again, or email [email protected] from the address you bought with.
Seeing This Mac isn't activated instead? This Mac's seat was freed, from another Mac or by support. Activate This Mac uses the same key again and takes one seat. If activation fails
Questions
Does Flick need the internet to work?
No. A licensed Mac needs it to activate, then for a check about every two weeks, and it keeps working for about two months without one. The free version never needs a connection.
Does a check use another seat?
No. It confirms the seat this Mac already has, and doesn't need your key again.
What does “Can't read your license right now” mean?
That one isn't about the internet. Flick couldn't read the license saved on this Mac, so it works as the free version for the moment. It tries again after 30 seconds, after 5 minutes, then every hour, and Try Again reads it straight away. If the message stays, email [email protected].
Still stuck?Email [email protected] with your macOS version, your Mac and what you've tried, or visit the Support page.
