Building a UI

SadOldGoth

Hi All,

I'm still developing my app (which while going slowly is definitely getting there - hurrah!). However, I'm running into issues with the UI, and was wondering what frameworks people are using? I've tried SwiftUI and really don't like it, and am currently looking at building my own with SpriteKit but, again, really don't like it I'm guessing that leaves me with UIKit but I'm concerned about longevity of support.

Can anyone shed any light on what they use, what they've found the most accessible, scalable, etc?

Thanks in advance,

Jes

dendy

Why you don’t like SwiftUI ? It’s fantastic :-)

echoopera

Is JUCE still a thing? I believe AudioDamage uses this framework for their apps as do a ton of others.

https://juce.com/

dendy

@echoopera said:
Is JUCE still a thing? I believe AudioDamage uses this framework for their apps as do a ton of others.

https://juce.com/

JUCE means you have to use C++ even for UI not just for DSP code .. considering @SadOldGoth is talking about SwitftUI, SpriteKit and UIKit, he probably wants to use Swift (or Objective C) for UI part of code ..

As soon as you want to stay for UI part in Swift, then SwiftUI is best choice imho, especially for multi-device/multi platform developemet .. It has great tools for UI auto-adjustmentd to all kinds of different viewports, screen sizes and devices … saves lot of developing time and lot of headache solving future problemd when Apple decides to change something in deep in core API.

I would say SwiftUI for basic views structure and CoreGraphics for custom elements like knobs, buttons, etc is best choice..

echoopera

Well there ya go 👊🏼™️

Luxthor

@SadOldGoth said:
Hi All,

I'm still developing my app (which while going slowly is definitely getting there - hurrah!). However, I'm running into issues with the UI, and was wondering what frameworks people are using? I've tried SwiftUI and really don't like it, and am currently looking at building my own with SpriteKit but, again, really don't like it I'm guessing that leaves me with UIKit but I'm concerned about longevity of support.

Can anyone shed any light on what they use, what they've found the most accessible, scalable, etc?

Thanks in advance,

Jes

Did you check Oly Larken’s ‘IGraphics’, it’s simple and you can use bitmap or vector graphics.

Also guys from Audulus having great vector lib ‘vger’.

If you want more simple one written in C than check ‘raygui’

Also check this page at github: Open-Source Audio Plugins & Apps

I intentionally omitted big players.

wahnfrieden

SwiftUI is best for dev and user experience. Use something janky and it will feel alien to users

brambos

Objective-C and UIKit for the win!

Luxthor

@brambos said:
Objective-C and UIKit for the win!

He asked for other solutions out there. But if his plugin is going to be AU only then of course nothing better than stay at UIKit. He should listen to the King.

sveinbjorn

I don't think it's useful for something as complex as a music app - yet - but I have some hopes for Play, in this space*:

https://www.createwithplay.com

*as a designer. Since it's offering code export soon, and is constantly growing.

Or as they describe it:

"Can I export code from Play?
You can currently grab Swift snippets from Play Web. More advanced functionality will be rolling out soon. This is a very big feature and one we are putting a lot of thought behind. We want this feature to be useful for both designers and engineers. "

wahnfrieden

@brambos said:
Objective-C and UIKit for the win!

I use UIKit all the time from within SwiftUI, it's a great wrapper. I even do some (risky) introspection on UIKit-backed SwiftUI views

I do recommend taking a 2nd look at SwiftUI starting from iOS 17 SDK though! It's much simpler now

SadOldGoth

Hi All,

Thanks for the many replies.

I think where I'm having the most difficulty is the styling of the app, perhaps more than the implementation (and certainly more than the functionality).

The app is a (currently) standalone midi processing 'thing' I'm not looking at any DSP at the moment, so from a processing perspective it's not that intense (I would like to add in hosting AUv3 at some point but currently happy with Soundfonts - any suggestions on that would also be appreciated ). As such I'm looking to stay within the Swift framework.

The above is not to say that it's not a complicated app with associated complicated interface, and I guess that's why I'm looking for something that, if not simplifying the interface, will look more attractive that standard SwiftUI controls.

Again, thanks for the responses - I'll check out the suggestions given. x

dendy

@wahnfrieden said:

@brambos said:
Objective-C and UIKit for the win!

I use UIKit all the time from within SwiftUI, it's a great wrapper. I even do some (risky) introspection on UIKit-backed SwiftUI views

I do recommend taking a 2nd look at SwiftUI starting from iOS 17 SDK though! It's much simpler now

yeah iOS17 improvements are major !

wim

@SadOldGoth said:
The app is a (currently) standalone midi processing 'thing' I'm not looking at any DSP at the moment, so from a processing perspective it's not that intense (I would like to add in hosting AUv3 at some point but currently happy with Soundfonts - any suggestions on that would also be appreciated ). As such I'm looking to stay within the Swift framework.

I assume you're prepared for the inevitable crowd of people here who will say it's of no use to them if it can't run as an AUv3 in a host, or that the app is something uniquely unsuited to do so.

Unless it really doesn't make any sense to run as an AUv3 in a host and it's easy to explain why then it's going to be a really tough sell around here. Of course, maybe "around here" isn't your target market.