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.
€conomy of free software update$
It is interesting to me to watch the dust cloud rise as iOS 8 stirs up mayhem on iOS music. It is remarkable how iOS users expect so much from a free update. Apple creates a passionate case for the greatness of the next OS version. And users have this general sense that it will truly be a magical experience, and jump in gleefully on day 1. It happens every September. Then there are weeks or months of sorting out the bugs and problems. Most people have a seamless transition, with small issues ironed out in a x.0.1 update. But iOS music seems to suffer more especially with all the apps depending on each other.
If you compare this process to a paid OS version upgrade on PC, no one who is serious about music will upgrade without careful research and making sure that their essential software will work with the new OS. Somehow, having a price tag seems to make people stop and think "is this going to be worth it?"
With the "FREE!" label on iOS updates, for some reason people don't consider the "cost" of the software update as it effects their ecosystem of apps. I am honestly baffled that there is anyone using iOS for a paid gig that has already migrated to iOS 8. This is so bizarre to me. If you depend on your setup, then keep it stable! If a large performance is at stake, "sandbox" your iDevice with all wireless communication turned off as far ahead of time as possible.
The same is true on a smaller scale for "free" app version updates. I don't auto-update any of my iOS apps. If things are not working as I expect them to, only then I open up App Store and see if there are any updates available. If so, I check the reviews to see if "current version" ratings are better than "all versions" ratings. It involves a bit more time, but my iPad music making generally just works. It has not been plagued with frustration or led me to want to abandon it for a PC or Mac.
Just some thoughts. I would be interested to hear what others think.
Comments
Yes, that's the way to do it if you have gigs or are on a deadline. I think that's what everybody is doing. It's common sense, don't change a running system.
On the other hand I wouldn't have a problem to do a gig with iOS 8 now, but I have access to betas and I do test the shit out of them ...
So if you need beta testing for your apps hire me. Contact via forum chat. I do sound design too ...
This is true for a performing musician but it is also true for someone who simply enjoys making music on their ipad in a seamless way. I'd call all of that's happening a 'sweet shop syndrome'.
Don't update if you have an older device, either. Methinks I'm gonna wait for 8.1 for the iPod.
Free sweets syndrome works much, much better!
Just took the plunge today, just before Doug posted his 'DON'T' video ;-p
Well, even so I had been warned by other posts here and elsewhere, but I don't depend on iOS (or my music) for gigs or serious recordings or money.
I waited for a few key apps to be updated before installing 8.
For most of my favourite apps compatibility updates have been announced so I'm not too worried.
After a bunch of 'false starts' in my early days with the iPad I've become very careful about buying apps. Now I only buy from developers who are well known for actively supporting their apps, and most also make appearances on this forum.
Switching to '8' also was an opportunity to clean out my iPad, going back to factory settings and, in effect, doing a clean install. It was getting clogged with unused apps and other content such as old photos, forgotten books etc. and I needed to clear storage space.
This is the ecosystem as Apple envisoned it and the devs agreed to play by the rules when they signed up for their accounts.
There is a free OS update evey year bringing improvements and security updates.
Usually, due to screw ups by Apple or devs, apps break. That's why there are several betas published, so devs can test their apps and fix their bugs and so that Apple can fix bugs in the OS.
Some apps simply work on the new OS. Congrats to the devs for building those robust apps! Others fail, but an update comes soon, which is fair enough. Thank you for the updates.
Yet other apps fail and there are no updates. Fair enough, but expect poor ratings and loss of trust. Remember, this is how it works on iOS, people expect this minimum level of support across OS versions.
Finally, there are cases where the updates work only on the new OS and fail on the old one, or they fail on both. The Animoogs, DM1s and others of the mobile music world. Now there are tools to make sure that an app won't be downloaded on old OS versions and there are ways to test multiple OS versions including in combination with various AB versions. These guys don't have much of an excuse to be honest...
@raz, you have said several times that there's a free update bringing security updates.
We can discuss if this is true or not, since when you buy an iPad you can't install anything else than iOS software. And, of course, under this perspective, I consider Apple is responsable to keep the security of his iOS, at least under the warranty period.
Keeping in mind that I'm thinking about when you pay a lot of €€€ you're purchasing only the hardware, and the iOS is a gift. This can be discussed, of course.
The fact is that it looks every iOS update seems to promise the Promise Land and every update creates more problems than the previous one. What's happening with iOS8 does last year update Wonderland.
And we're not talking about of people complaining to can't use their idevices for web browsing. We're talking about people that are using their idevices for working.
And yes, nobody is been forced to updating to iOS8, but then, don't make promises your body can't keep (not my sentence, but Scorpions).
I actually think it's because we have hundreds of cheap/free apps, not because of the free OS update. If we only had 5-10 fairly expensive music apps (like most people on the desktop) we would be much more thoughtful about when to update the underlying OS.
Though, the combination of free and 'one button OS update' (just tap 'ok' when it prompts you) certainly helps folks be impulsive.
I agree with most of what has been said, but there is a big difference between iOS and for example Windows updates. On a PC you can chose when to update, and you can roll back to a previous version whenever you want.
I was planning (but also procrastinating...) to do a fresh install, as explained in another thread,on my iPad2 to regain some storage space, but I guess that's out of the question now unless I also want to update.
I like a lot about iOS and Apples products, but I would really like to have the option to install an old OS version.