Audiobus: Use your music apps together.

What is Audiobus?Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.

Download on the App Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Audiobus2 sidebar fast switch a la AudioBus Remote

As title, if AB would have a long tap on the graphic icon of the app you would like to open instead of having a dedicated icon in the drop down menu would take the app switching one tap and one menu away and generally the sidebar menus would be less crowded.

Is it a silly thought?

Comments

  • Agreed :)

  • edited May 2016

    Long taps are just not obvious because they're hard to do and require a user to wait until a certain thing happens. That's why we don't use them for critical functionality.

  • @Sebastian said:
    Long taps are just not obvious because they're hard to do and require a user to wait until a certain thing happens. That's why we don't use them for critical functionality.

    Might we request "double or triple -taps" then as an alternative?

    I have to agree. By this point in the development of the iOS music app infrastructure, AB's strongest unique feature is the common-control which enables interacting with all programs from all programs.

  • I like this idea a lot. Expanding and contracting the sidebar menu each time you want to switch is distracting. When all you want to do is switch apps and apps have a long sub menu one spends a lot of time managing sidebar space.

    I'm not sure app switching is "critical functionality", at least not like stop and record. What's the worst that would happen if you got the long press wrong? The menu would expand. How bad is that?

  • I think -1 tap and a less crowded interface are two serious benefits worth considering in this request...

    As for comprehension of the UI, I don't think it's going to ruin the day for newcomers that much. What you loose in terms of obviousness (dedicated buttons), you may also gain in terms of fewer buttons and an easier grasp of the interface?

    (The risk of confusion could perhaps be countered e.g. by an on-screen prompt on first time use?)

  • I understand the frustration, but I vote no on the long press. Not a fan. Everything in the menu needs a single press for speed. Sad but true.

  • Long presses lack affordance as they say.

  • @gburks said:
    Long presses lack affordance as they say.

    Yup

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