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.

iOS Apps on M1 Apple Silicon Macs: What works?

This has popped up in a few threads now, so I thought I'd start one just to discuss how well iOS apps work on M1 Macs.

I've just managed to sample into BM3 from Ableton on the Mac, using Ableton Link to perfectly sync the sample. Pretty rad. Audio routing is via iConnectAudio4+.

I've also managed to get Drambo to work inside Logic as an AU. Also. Model 15 inside Logic, as well as using the iOS Eventide AU apps for FX.

Most of these are not available in the Mac App Store, but if you've bought them, you can manually add the IPA files for those apps, and they install fine. Instructions here:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/18/21574207/how-to-install-run-any-iphone-ipad-app-m1-mac

Comments

  • AU automation in Logic works?

  • @realdawei said:
    AU automation in Logic works?

    I shall check!

  • Tried to load AUV3 and IAA iOS Apps in macOS GarageBand ( Apple Silicon version ) with no success. Is Logic different ? How did you get Logic to see the iOS App?

  • Depends on the apps. Some don't show up at all. Some show but won't load. Some load and don't work very well. Logic and GB seem mostly the same from what I've seen.

  • Did you have to drag the .ipa file to a specific folder for the DAW to see it?

  • Great thread !!!!! Could you give us a quick list ? I'm on the verge of buying a Mac mini just for that purpose !!!

  • I've been doing some testing and things look good and bad. Every AUv3 I've tested so far works in GarageBand and MainStage and this little example host Apple has for dev purposes. By work, I mean you can load them and the audio works and the GUI mostly works.

    But, so far, every AU I've tested will blowup and take the host with it if I touch the scroll wheel on the mouse or a pinch gesture on the trackpad.

    I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else is seeing this. I'm debugging my AU's now, and it looks like the crash is caused deep in the OS system library when trying to convert the gesture to send to the AU's UI.

  • @jazzmess said:
    Great thread !!!!! Could you give us a quick list ? I'm on the verge of buying a Mac mini just for that purpose !!!

    I'll start a list and then add to it as I go. Pretty much none of these are officially available in the App Store, and rightly so. They can't really be trusted yet. Still, it's impressive that some can actually work inside AU hosts.

    I can't imagine the devs are happy about this though. Perhaps some could comment. I mean, who's going to buy the desktop version of, say, Drum Computer for $99 when you can just use the iOS version (not sure of the IAP price on that one, but I imagine it's not $99).

    I'll name the app, then add S for standalone and H for works in host. R=resizeable window

    • Drambo works S H R
    • Eventide plugins S H
    • BM3 SH (and Ableton link!)
    • Model 15 S
    • Model D S
    • TBC
  • I wasn’t using any workarounds, but found it wasn’t working well when I tried it. I only downloaded apps from the App Store. I found using the touch part of my Magic Mouse caused the iOS AUv3 apps to crash. I turned that off and it was working better.

    I have some Eventide plugins just a couple none were available.
    I have both those Moog apps and neither were available to download.

    BM3 was not available to download for me either.

    I have a few things working in standalone. Ableton Link works

    Zeeon and Volt were working okay.

    SunVox was working after the update, but you can’t connect modules as far as I can find, due to gestures needed.

    Some of the others I have not tried fully after disabling the Magic Mouse surface scrolling that seemed to be crashing things.

    I’ve been testing some other things, so need to get back to some more Music testing.

  • edited November 2020

    I did start another thread previously about compatible plugins, but I expect we're going to get lots of splintered threads about this which is why I think we need a place in the wiki for this perhaps. Or at least officially compatible apps anyway. :)

    Yeah it does place those developers who make desktop versions already in a strange position. But then if you load unsupported plugins in one your devices, and why not? You paid for them. Then you just can't expect any support from the developers about that use if there are weird bugs etc.

    For example if you're a pro then the Fabfilters are more valuable as the official supported desktop versions even though the iOS versions might run on M1 Macs ok.

    These new M1s basically more like hybrid devices than the old Macs, even though they're running MacOs not iOS, so it's blurring the line between the platforms.

    @mistercharlie said:

    I can't imagine the devs are happy about this though. Perhaps some could comment. I mean, who's going to buy the desktop version of, say, Drum Computer for $99 when you can just use the iOS version (not sure of the IAP price on that one, but I imagine it's not $99).

  • @mistercharlie said:

    @jazzmess said:
    Great thread !!!!! Could you give us a quick list ? I'm on the verge of buying a Mac mini just for that purpose !!!

    I'll start a list and then add to it as I go. Pretty much none of these are officially available in the App Store, and rightly so. They can't really be trusted yet. Still, it's impressive that some can actually work inside AU hosts.

    I can't imagine the devs are happy about this though. Perhaps some could comment. I mean, who's going to buy the desktop version of, say, Drum Computer for $99 when you can just use the iOS version (not sure of the IAP price on that one, but I imagine it's not $99).

    I'll name the app, then add S for standalone and H for works in host. R=resizeable window

    • Drambo works S H R
    • Eventide plugins S H
    • BM3 SH (and Ableton link!)
    • Model 15 S
    • Model D S
    • TBC

    @mistercharlie Still not clear on how you were able to get .ipa's to show up in a host? I've pulled the .ipa's off with iMazing, and they load fine in Standalone. Just confused on how one gets an .ipa to show as an available plugin in GB or Logic ....

  • @heybail They just showed up. I have them in the applications folder, nothing special.

  • @mistercharlie said:
    @heybail They just showed up. I have them in the applications folder, nothing special.

    Oh, OK thanks. I see now after installing a few more .ipa’s , the AU’s get run through Apple’s AU validation tool .. some don’t pass it and some do ...

Sign In or Register to comment.