License Activation

Online Activation

1. Open MZAP and navigate to Settings > License
2. Enter your license key
3. Click Activate
4. The license is validated against the activation server and bound to your hardware

The license is stored locally and refreshes automatically every 24 hours.

Online license tokens — from activation, validation, and trials — are cryptographically signed and verified by the desktop app, so a tampered or forged token is rejected. Existing licenses migrate automatically: on the first launch after updating, the app refreshes the license from the server to obtain a signed token, with no user action required.

If the app holds a pre-update (legacy) license and cannot reach the server, it keeps working for a 14-day grace window and shows a "Revalidation Needed" state in the About dialog, prompting you to connect to the internet so the license can be re-fetched as a signed token.

Trial Mode

MZAP offers a trial period for evaluation. During the trial, all features are available. After the trial expires, a valid license is required to continue using the application.

When a trial ends, the activation screen says the trial has ended rather than reverting to the first-run prompt. One trial is available per machine.

Playback and license state

Audio does not play while the license is not valid.

• Your configuration is preserved. Zones, players, and routing are still restored — players simply do not start.
• This applies however playback is started, including the scheduler, a workspace restore, resuming from sleep, and AI clients.
• Activating a license lets playback start again without restarting the app.
• Valid, trial, grace-period, and support-expired licenses all play normally — a paid key whose support window has lapsed is unaffected.

When a license lapses, the activation overlay reads "Playback has been stopped. Activate a license to resume." rather than the generic first-run wording.

Hardware Binding

Each license is bound to the machine it's activated on, using a hardware fingerprint derived from the motherboard and CPU identifiers. To move your license to a different machine, see Transferring to Another PC.