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SFZ File Conflict Zenbeats versus AudioLayer
🤬 @MatthewAtZenbeats @VirSyn When Zenbeats is installed on the iPad, it changes all sfz files to have an audio file association which then prevents AudioLayer from being able to import the sfz files. I have contacted the developer of Zenbeats and AudioLayer as well as Apple (who shouldn’t have allowed this to happen) numerous times and nobody has resolved the problem. I can successfully import sfz files into AudioLayer so long as Zenbeats isn’t installed. I downloaded Zenbeats 2.0.1 onto an iPad Air 3 running iPadOS 13.7 and it still has the problem. You do not even have to open Zenbeats, just download it. The exact same situation occurs on iPadOS 14 and even the iPadOS 14.2 beta so clearly Apple continues to do nothing about it.
This is a very frustrating ongoing situation dating back to early March of 2020 when both developers were provided with detailed information about it so that Zenbeats could have stopped assigning the incorrect buggy audio file association for sfz files globally or the VirSyn developer could have worked around the Zenbeats bug. Will anybody step up and take care of this?
Pre Zenbeats:
Post Zenbeats:
Comments
It's such a simple fix. I'm only a beginner at iOS programming and I know how to do it. I too reported it to Zenbeats through their tech support. Nothin'.
Reinstalling AudioLayer might take care of it. Maybe the last one installed wins.
And yes, Apple should never allow this. The option should not even be there in Xcode/Swift, and even if it is, their so-called "reviewers" should know better than to allow an app to take exclusive control of a file type.
An interesting but not effective suggestion as AudioLayer doesn’t modify the sfz file association and they remain associated as audio files and consequently AudioLayer can’t import them.
@VirSyn can easily fix this as well.
Actually, I don't think this is Zenbeat's fault. I think it's an iOS thing. I was assuming Zenbeats co-opted the sfz file type, but if sfz is classified as an audio file type, then that's not of their doing. Virsyn just needs to properly register (I forget the term, if it's register or something else like subscribe) for the file type. I could be wrong of course, so I'll shut up. The point is, it's an easy fix for one or the other of the developers. I don't see why they haven't done it.
iOS 13 messed with some audio file type associations. I remember there being problems with other apps as well. But there are easy ways to deal with that. Whoever it is that can fix it just doesn't seem to want to bother?
What options are available from the Share sheet when the file is selected?
Just about everything ... except AudioLayer.
Other apps use sfz files but do not change the icon, Zenbeats is the only app I have discovered that changes the sfz file to an audio icon. Clearly there is something in the Zenbeats code that changes the status of sfz files globallly. Download Zenbeats it changes sfz files to have an audio icon, delete Zenbeats and it reverts to a generic blank page icon every time across multiple versions of iOS and iPadOS. Zenbeats @MatthewAtZenbeats is aware of the problem and hoped it would be fixed automatically in iPadOS 14 and it wasn’t. I emailed him and the @VirSyn developer about the ongoing problem even in iPadOS 14 but received no reply.
I hope you are not letting a fondness for Zenbeats interfere with your ability to recognize the Zenbeats development team has dropped the ball on this one.
I am pretty sure @wim would never do that..... too cool of a cat for that!
Not at all. I'm simply admitting that I'm not confident in my analysis of the cause of the issue and how to / who needs to fix it.
Everyone has their conscious or unconscious biases no matter how cool they are. I am sure that he wouldn’t let an issue like this remain unresolved for so long if he were one of the developers.
Ultimately I blame Apple for even allowing it to happen as @wim so rightly pointed out. Unfortunately Apple is like a black hole that only takes in feedback but never seems to respond to it, so if you’re waiting for Apple to resolve the issue for you, you might be waiting a long time or perhaps they’ll never address it.
This makes life for app developers more complicated as they’re frequently having to develop work arounds or fill in the gaps where Apple didn’t do a great job. If the developers are not on the same page, their various work arounds may complicate the situation further as different developers may handle things differently which results in conflicts and inconsistencies.
Given how many apps I’ve used in various combinations, I’m really surprised this is the only time where I’ve been in a situation where the existence of one app on my device prevents another app from being able to implement its core functionality.