What does "offline grace period" mean?

[tehabe]

In the feature list it says "30-day offline grace period, no internet needed day to day". What does this mean? Do I lose the paid features just because I'm 31 days offline? Does this mean, the software phones home everytime it launches?

[darrylmorley]

Good question.

Two checks, that is it: once when you activate the key, and once when the menu bar app launches. Nothing in between, no background beacon, no check when you open a Pro feature. The CLI does not check at all unless you run whatcable --activate. What gets sent is the licence key and your Mac's hardware UUID, nothing else. The UUID is what enforces the two-Mac limit.

The grace period works off a single date: the last time a check succeeded. Pro stays unlocked while that date is less than 30 days old, and every launch with internet refreshes it. A check that fails because you are offline or my server is down changes nothing, it just does not refresh the date, so a spell offline is harmless. The only reply that actually locks Pro is the server explicitly saying "this key is not valid", which is what happens to a refunded or revoked key.

So the honest answer to your question is yes: 31 days with no successful check and Pro features lock at the next launch. But the key stays stored on your Mac. You lose nothing, you do not re-enter anything, and one successful check when you are back online unlocks it again. The check also only runs at launch, so an app you leave running stays unlocked regardless.

It is written up in a few places if you want the formal version: the FAQ on the Pro page, what gets sent in privacy, and section 8 of the terms.

One more thing worth knowing, from section 13 of the terms: if I ever retire the licence server, existing licence holders get an app update that removes the online check. Your licence does not depend on me running a server forever.

[tehabe]

Thanks for the honest answer, this is sadly a deal breaker for me. Even though I think it is useful tool.

[darrylmorley]

Fair enough, and thanks for saying so plainly rather than just walking away.

Worth being clear on one thing: the free app never contacts the licence server at all. That call only exists for Pro. Cable reading, charging diagnostics, trust signals and the CLI all work with no network involved, so none of this affects you unless you buy Pro.

I would genuinely like to understand your reasoning, if you do not mind sharing. As far as I can tell WhatCable sits at the lenient end of how paid Mac apps handle licensing: no subscription, no account, no login, a launch-only check that fails open, and a month of slack if you are offline. So if it still fails your bar, there is something in the calculation I have not thought about, and I would rather hear it than guess.

Is it the check existing at all, the 30-day limit, or the hardware UUID being sent?

[tehabe]

Recently I needed to reinstall an application and I couldn't use it because the license server was down, which made realize how annoying these server are. I mean, I bought a license to the software and just because a server is not available I couldn't use the license I paid for.

The same with this 30 days grace period. WhatCable is an application I wouldn't have running in the background. It would be part of my diagnostic applications, if something doesn't work right or I got a new USB cable, I would use it and close it when I have my done my testing and got answers I needed. And sometimes when I'm with a friend, where I might not be connected to the network and I need to check a cable I can't do it completely because the 30 days are up and I didn't notice that.

[darrylmorley]

That's a fair account, and both cases are real. If the last successful check has aged past 30 days, opening WhatCable offline at a friend's house will find Pro locked, and you would have had no warning because the app wasn't running to give you one.

The check earns its place for one reason: refunds. I offer them, and a refund I can't enforce is just a free licence with extra steps. Revocation is the only thing that makes a no-questions refund policy safe to offer, and revocation needs the app to ask the server something occasionally. Lenient as I can make it (launch only, fails open, a month of slack) but not absent. So the licensing stays as it is.

Worth repeating though: the free version has no network code in it at all. Cable reading, charging diagnostics, trust signals, the CLI, all of it works with no connection and no licence. For "I have a new cable, what is it actually capable of", the free app answers that on its own. Pro adds the deeper diagnostics on top.

And if you ever change your mind, Pro isn't going anywhere. Buy it whenever suits.