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.

Web MIDI and iOS

Web MIDI

The problem is that Apple has been slow to implement Web MIDI standards for iOS. The Web MIDI Browser by Takashi Mizuhiki is the only app on iOS that I’m aware of that attempts to support this and it hasn’t been updated in 3 years. The MIDI Association lists the details and has tutorials. Google has been doing the heavy lifting on this while Apple has dropped the ball or more accurately never taken it up.

Here’s a chart that shows which browsers support Web MIDI and which do not.

In my opinion, Apple has fallen behind on this MIDI protocol whereas Google and Android have surged ahead. According to the MIDI Association, ”the Web-MIDI API for Web browsers is the most significant advancement of MIDI since... MIDI itself!”

Any comments, ideas, or suggestions are welcome.

Comments

  • Looks like a solution waiting for a problem- can’t see me switching to android because of it.

  • Im patiently waiting. If they get it working then Circuit users can use Novation’s excellent web admin program, Components to upload samples/make patches etc.

    I imagine lots of other stuff will be possible too. One day

  • edited July 2019

    Apple has unfortunately also fallen behind significantly in regards to WebAudio. The API available in Safari and WKWebView is totally outdated and missing important features, plus apparently runs on the main thread and is thus unusable as soon as you have more than a single oscillator (crackles galore as soon as you do anything on the DOM).

  • @InfoCheck said:
    The problem is that Apple has been slow to implement Web MIDI standards for iOS.

    Beyond slow. They're not even considering it yet according to the WebKit status: https://webkit.org/status/#feature-web-midi

    The Web MIDI Browser by Takashi Mizuhiki is the only app on iOS that I’m aware of that attempts to support this and it hasn’t been updated in 3 years.

    And, alas, that barely works. Parts of the Web MIDI API have changed and that app still uses older spec version shims for Safari.

  • Also, in case folks don't know, all web browsers on iOS must use Apple's version of webkit (safari). They can add features on top of it but the core rendering engine (include web standards support) is always the same as Safari. So, Chrome or Firefox or Opera (etc) can add support for cross-device bookmarks or clever other UI things but at the end of the day, it's Safari.

    The Web MIDI Browser by Takashi Mizuhiki is just Safari with added Javascript shims to support Web MIDI.

  • edited July 2019

    I put the request in a while ago, but all of you need to put in a feature request and tell your friends. https://www.apple.com/feedback/

    I tried the iOS webmidi browser and it never worked for me.

  • quite a few WebKit/Safari devs hangout on Twitter - feedback might be more immediate there

  • I never had any need for web midi and honestly dont get what all the fuss is about. Sure it might be cool for someone who doesent have anything but web browser and a soft synth to be able to do midi stuff, but i have no desire to use a web browser for composing music or any of thay, i rather have an app or plugin inaide aum or daw for that..

    Only potential use for myself that i see is that if someone makes some hardware, but are too lazy to make an app for the hardware and instead want to just make web midi thing that anyone can use regardless of platform. But i would rather just avoid that hardware if possible..

  • @Richtowns said:
    Im patiently waiting. If they get it working then Circuit users can use Novation’s excellent web admin program, Components to upload samples/make patches etc.

    I imagine lots of other stuff will be possible too. One day

    Circuit is the main reason I want this. The Circuit library on https://circulate.neuma.studio is awesome but uses web midi only.

  • Those of us that use a BopPad would love Web Midi, as that's what the folks at Keith McMillen Instruments now say would be needed to program the BopPad on ios. (Currently we have to edit via desktop. Yuck.) During their Kickstarter campaign KMI apparently did say they'd write an app for it, but now they just say "ask Apple for Web Midi".

  • @ToMess said:
    I never had any need for web midi and honestly dont get what all the fuss is about. Sure it might be cool for someone who doesent have anything but web browser and a soft synth to be able to do midi stuff, but i have no desire to use a web browser for composing music or any of thay, i rather have an app or plugin inaide aum or daw for that..

    Only potential use for myself that i see is that if someone makes some hardware, but are too lazy to make an app for the hardware and instead want to just make web midi thing that anyone can use regardless of platform. But i would rather just avoid that hardware if possible..

    It's not so much for music creation (at this point anyway). Lots and lots of hardware is configurable via web MIDI.

    Also, consider a single website where folks can create a share control surfaces for random hardware, etc. Perfect for the web—how many hardware editors have been created and abandoned for various dead operating systems over the last 20 years.

  • MacBook went down. Need to flash my BopPad. Anyone know a way around this? 2020 we must have a way!

  • @futureaztec said:
    MacBook went down. Need to flash my BopPad. Anyone know a way around this? 2020 we must have a way!

    Can the BopPad only be flashed via WebMidi?
    Don't they offer flashers running under Windows?

  • Web MIDI is still no thing in iOS land in 2020, isnt it?

  • edited November 2020

    Web MIDI* app is working fine here!
    *the app name is Web MIDI!

  • I've had no luck with that thing. Sure would be nice to have Novation Compenents on iOS. :(

  • edited November 2020

    Apple refuses to implement Web MIDI API, and because they have a tight hold on mobile browser implementations via WebKit, I think that means Web MIDI is a non-starter on iOS.

    https://www.infoq.com/news/2020/07/apple-fingerprinting-privacy/

    https://caniuse.com/midi

    @Synthi Web MIDI app hasn't been updated in 4 years and crashes on startup on my iPad Pro w/14.2

  • Apparently it's a security/privacy issue https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23676109
    Unlikely we'll be getting this anytime soon...

  • I want Web MIDI working on iOS , so I can use the web based Korg Volca Drum patch editor at synthmata.com/volca-drum/#
    As of now, not working on the Web MIDI App

  • Another player in town why we NEED webmidi https://teenage.engineering/products/ep-133

  • Web midi and being able to use hardware synths web based apps (like Novation components) to update firmwares really needs to happen. Some things (like the Mc101 and OP-1) can be updated via iPad but the majority still can’t.

Sign In or Register to comment.