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 StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Don’t be that guy - Bashing Devs, Apps & Ideas - Be better than that!
Devs blindly bashing any and all competition in their realm isn’t a good look.
Constructive criticizism is one thing, but just being negative without understanding makes you look bad.
I think devs are geniuses, and deserve much more than they get from apps they develop, I truly do. But, I am starting to see more devs bash other apps development, just because it competes.
I saw a prominent developer blindly bashing the wording used to describe an app in beta development without understanding truly what he meant by it, most of which was a misunderstanding due to generational and cultural differentiation with how they use the English language.
I saw them making other negative comments about Drambo because so much support seems to be going towards it when they have no end in site because they keep adding and adding to its feature list.
Another bashing a midi solution just because it doesn’t look a certain way, when it’s clearly only because it was free and in competition with their app.
It’s a bad look for those doing it
You developers are under paid for the work and time you put into your craft - developing. Hopefully this will get better with time. I don’t get paid for doing what I enjoy at all. I am a hobbyist in this music production realm. I wish I was more, but I have to feed my family.
However, I promise, you aren’t under-appreciated, because we wouldn’t be where we are without you, and we know that.
An app that is competition is a good thing for everyone. It pushes everyone regardless of price. If a dev sees something that they can incorporate to improve their app, it’s a win for them, if it pushes them to do it better it’s a win for everyone because they will continue to develop and improve the platform. If the platform becomes the flagship platform for music development the money will come in due time. This is really just basic evolution in its simplest form.
Live - Change - Grow - Learn - Adapt - Evolve
Alot can be learned from history. Individuals learned to band together to benefit themselves and their communities. They in turn got protection, guidance, social support, etc.
It would be great if more devs worked together to provide a paid solution to the missing pieces in the ecosystem, or used each other’s strengths and weaknesses to collaborate and solve the problems that the community needs solved, to push the development platform forward in a unified front. This already happens some, but I want to post this to keep this notion of teamwork and togetherness at the forefront of this community so people stay positive, supportive and on the same page.
Comments
Who said what?
Developers: don't be that guy. It's OK to have strong opinions.
I personally will avoid your products if I think you're trying to manipulate me or hurt a competitor. Unless of course your product is so good I can't live without it. After all I buy Apple and Microsoft products when I absolutely have to.
I think you meant my comment about the "Spaceship" look and feel of the free MIDI sequencer app talked about recently here.
Yes I admit the comment was maybe a bit nasty, but not at all meant to devalue that developer's work, especially as it's free. However, the UI design really DOES look like a spaceship and a mid-90s website. It's an objective fact. The developer should take it as a kind hint at maybe modernizing it. I didn't say the app was plain awful.
Ethically it does present a conflict of interest. If I was you I'd edit the comment and maybe post an apology. Somebody labored over an app and is giving it away. Then someone with a successful app in the same area of use case drops some shade on the announcement thread. We all have opinions and we can share them but when there's a conflict of interest its best to let the audience judge the product.
Stay classy @Sevensystems. I love your product. The love you put into it speaks for itself. The upcoming audio recording capability is weeks overdue. Anything that gets announced MUST be delivered in days. Get to work!
In general I agree with the sentiment. Positivity is a virtue. That said, when I saw IKmultimedia advertising their thing in this forum by starting a thread with the words "high end" and "best in class" to describe their thing, I could not resist going negative. This is the same company, after all, that makes the iRig, which epitomizes "low end" and "worst in class".
@SevenSystems
Doubling down on your opinion of a free app (“It really DOES”) and calling that opinion an “objective fact”. Hmm. The GUI and workflow won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s free and it does a couple things yours doesn’t.
I don’t know...
I took @SevenSystems criticism as coming from an app user, not an app developer.
He kicks out the jams too, not just great apps.
He also has a sense of humor in regard to his comments and criticisms, based on his past posts.
Add to that, he has developed a kick ass sequencer app, so any ‘advice’ should be considered helpful.
But straight up bashing of developers or their apps by anyone is pretty lame, in my opinion.
So I agree with the OP’s sentiments.
Yes, there might be a conflict of interest, but as @CracklePot pointed out, I really was talking out of my ass from a user's point of view, I didn't draw any comparisons to my own app and never intended to. Yes, talking out of one's ass is not great, but everybody should do it sometimes. It just makes life fun! (for the one who's talking!
) I know fun is almost illegal nowadays, but... I just can't resist... I'm ooooooold!
That said, I applaud the other app's developer for giving it away for free. I haven't tried it so I can't fully judge it, but @Littlewoodg, even if you consider it offensive -- it is an objective fact. The UI looks very 90s with its huge skeuomorphic faux 3D buttons. I think mostly everyone would agree. That doesn't mean that it's bad. It just looks like a spaceship
did @SevenSystems comment seriously warrant a whole new thread? how bored are you for fuck sakes this forum is turning into PC hell.
My initial reaction to the new free app was negative and I shared that opinion last night. I’m not a developer, but I reread my post this morning and it just came across as mean. I didn’t feel like it deserved a mean assessment just because I didn’t much care for the UI design choices and that I have several other apps that can do the same thing, only with an interface that I get on with better. So, I edited my post. Not because of this thread, as I did it before this thread was started.
There’s enough negativity flying around to be inadvertently and unnecessarily adding to it.
Besides that, design choices are a matter of personal taste. There are minimalist app designs that I personally love, that others here absolutely hate. Likewise, there are interfaces that are popular on this board, that I think look like clumsy windows throwbacks from the early 90’s.
+1
sorry but this whingeing business is getting way out of hand.
What are you whingering on about, now?
Since when can’t you have an opinion about someone’s work because they are in the same field of work as you? I don’t care if it’s free, the design is not aestically pleasing. He needs to keep working and improving as an app maker like we musicians have to and he’ll get it sooner or later. As a developer @SevenSystems has an inside track better than most of us on how to improve an app’s appearance for the free app developer. If I was the developer of the free app I would appreciate and welcome @SevenSystems critique, even if it was sharp or painful to receive. He probably has great insight for an up and coming developer in iOS music. The fact that he stopped to comment at all should be thanked, and the concept that he should apologize is crazy to me. Nothing malicious was said. Us musicians are underpaid and under appreciated. Music is FREE-er than ever and it still isn’t exempt from ‘bashing’ if it isn’t appealing to the listener, even if the listener is a fello musician. Steel sharpens steel, so I welcome any other musician to criticize my work accordingly. How else will you improve or develop the chip on your shoulder to overcome nay sayers?
Agreed.
What app are we talking about here? Call me out dated but I love skeuomorphic when well done.
If all you were able to get out of this was one concern related to one person then, you might need to re-read the OP again. The point is not directed to one person for one comment, it’s something I have noticed from time to time as of late from multiple devs and I am voicing my concerns from my perspective. Feel free to disagree, I welcome anyone’s perspective.
Bringing up a concern hardly makes me “so bored”, as you put it. But, I apologize for you somehow being forcefully pulled away from the plethora of productive activities you were engaged in; then, getting on the forum in search of answers, assistance, in search of a specific solution, and then you were forced to and burdened with reading a thread, derailing your continued productivity.
Healthy competition is good, obviously. As stated, constructive criticism is absolutely needed. Without it nothing would change or evolve.
Devs are the lifeblood of all of this and deserve much much more support, be it monitarily and/or verbally, so, in my humble voice, I brought up my concern, keeping the big picture of the community and the evolution of the platform at the forefront of the discussion.
I got your point (as you even started with another case than the one mentioned), but you may consider 'developers' more as what they really are.
It doesn't require a genius to release an app or write software in XCode or Visual Studio environments.
It's very similiar to the learning of a foreign language - no more, no less.
Some developers are indeed way ahead of the pack for specific skills, be it in design (often called software architecture) or coding skills, but that's the same as in music or any art or craftmanship.
personally id love to see more praise and cooperation between devs. they make the ecosystem of iOS and everything we're able to do now is because of their hard work. They all provide different unique skills and contributions. Rather than competition, constructive criticism and collaboration would be wonderful to make music making on iOS even better.
It’s been my experience that iOS music developers help each other out quite a lot in significant ways that we’re not even aware of. I think the quality of the apps we have and their ability to work together wouldn’t be nearly as good without that cooperation and support from each other.
While I’ve read some critiques from a few developers, they tend to be more circumspect than many of our user critiques of apps.
Since they are developers, I think they’re frequently in a better position to evaluate an app.
Being an app developer seems like you certainly need to develop a thick skin as some people have no problem bashing apps here, on YouTube, or in the App Store.
Overall, I appreciate the efforts of developers and try to focus my criticisms to specific issues so they can identify what my issues with their app are. I like to acknowledge bug fixes or features which improve their apps too.
I think of a thread as a conversation. But like any conversation it can quickly degenerate into a brawl. I'll make my speech and then retire for a cool one.
There's a point to be made about being a Forum Member and being a Vendor of Products.
As a vendor you cannot and should not expect to drop shit on another vendor (even a $0 product because many products start out as free and charge after getting the bugs out).
That's not being PC. That's just business ethics. Businesses can behave unethically and many do. I use that behavior to inform my purchasing. I won't buy anything from a few tech companies because their CEO's are outright thieves. No reason to mention names here. Not ethical to do so since I have ties to vendors.
OK. So, that's my feedback to a vendor that decides to comment on another somewhat similar product (i.e. competitor).
OK. So, a developer is also an App user. I should hope so.
And as a User of Apps hr has the right to his opinions and to share them with others and I accept that.
So, I have taken some Karma from vendors that bash competitors.
A vendor with enough goodwill with me can survive a lapse in ethics.
Goodwill by the way is given monetary value when a companies assets are put on the Financial Reports. Even a small vendor has a financial interest in maintaining Goodwill. I'm just saying. Don't piss off customers without expecting some loss in value.
This is not PC talk. This is business. Developers can learn from this. @Michael sets a standard for these ethics that a developer should aspire to achieve in their writings on this forum.
I hear ya on this one
I don’t read most threads here, so I missed all the devs bashing other devs. Surprises me, really. What I have read is always devs supporting other devs, and I’ve seen and heard examples of knowledge sharing and collaboration. It sounds like kind of a knock on devs to imply they’re not working together enough to push the platform forward. I’m sure some are trying to actually make money, and competition does exist for the scraps you can earn on iOS.
The defense for these people who gratuitously bash other’s hard work that’s getting tiresome is the PC banality. This is aimed at no one, but calling an asshole an asshole is simply Correct.
I've never noticed devs bashing other devs.. the vibe on this forum is very relaxed..
At first I tought the opening post was meant as a parody of that stupid Gilette video that came out last week...
"not cool bro, not cool"