Wow. Some great suggestions coming in already! I have a big Evernote document full of notes.
Some of my favourites:
- Larry Seyer over on the Loopy forum suggested putting together a bunch of pre-configured templates to match the functionality of existing looper hardware, to make transitioning over to Loopy really easy.
- I’ve heard a number of variations on the theme of loop splicing: Tobias Rauck (a.k.a. obiwahnkentobi) proposed splitting loops into segments and muting/unmuting each segment, and even time-offsetting them. That was echoed by Tickletiger on the AB forum, who proposed a ‘cake cutter’ interface which splits loops into equal pieces, then lets you slide them in and out to adjust amplitude, or even remove them altogether, time-stretching the other slices to fit.
- I’ve also heard a really good suggestion by Oliver Imseng about audio quantisation with transient analysis and warp markers.
- Wally over on the Loopy forum wrote a good summary of the two kinds of track groupings that folks are going to want to use.
Keep it coming!
More for you tomorrow.
Read MoreHelp! iOS 7 broke my microphone input!
We hear a lot about people having problems with their music apps on iOS 7 no longer receiving audio. I thought it was time I posted an article describing why this is happening, and how to fix it.
iOS 7 introduced a bunch of new security and privacy features and restrictions. In particular, when an app wants to record audio, iOS 7 will block the app from doing so until the user gives permission. Usually this happens via an alert dialog in the app:
However, if one taps “Don’t Allow”, the system won’t ask again — ever. That can spell confusion and frustration (and support emails, and 1-star App Store reviews!) for users who tapped the dialog away without reading it, and then discovered they’re unable to record audio.
Alas, there’s not much that can be done about that from our end, except for explaining how to fix the issue once this happens.
The trick is to open Privacy Settings for the device, and enable Microphone access for the app. The controls can be found in the system Settings app:
Once you’ve turned this on, the app should begin receiving audio. Depending on certain factors, you may need to [quit and restart](http://www.macworld.com/article/2048935/get-to-know-ios-7-multitasking.html) the app.
Read MoreWant to be able to downgrade your apps? Save ’em before updating.
Regrettably, the App Store doesn’t really make it easy to downgrade apps if an update goes awry. This can be pretty problematic if you use your apps for critical stuff like live music and it all goes horribly wrong the day before a gig.
That problem’s pretty easy to solve though. Just back up your apps before upgrading. That way you can try out new updates without the risk. Here’s how:
Open iTunes, then select the “Apps” section from the drop-down box on the top right:
Next, find the app you want to back up, right-click on it, and select “Show in Finder” (or whatever the Windows equivalent is!).
Finally, grab the “ipa” file, and copy it somewhere safe.
If you want to be really safe, grab a piece of software like [Macroplant iExplorer](http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/) which lets you access the files on your device. Then hook up your iDevice via USB, and back up the Documents and Library folders from within the app. That’ll save all your files and config just in case the update applies some non-backwards-compatible changes.
Now, you may update your app with impunity.
If you change your mind and want to go back to how it was before, drag that backup you made back into iTunes, and tell iTunes to replace the current version. Sync your device, and if you backed up your Documents/Library folder, drag your backup back into the original app folder within iExplorer.
By the way: If it’s too late to make a manual backup, but you use Time Machine or another backup utility, then you’ll find the older version of the app in your backup, within your iTunes music folder. For me, it’s in ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications.
Searching iOS header files with Xcode
I’m often having to grep through various iOS frameworks in search of error codes that appear (“What the bloody hell does -10867 mean?”). This can be a bit annoying – especially while working with Core Audio – so I put together an Alfred workflow that does it for me.
Here it is – type “hs” (short for “header search”) then the text you want to search for, and it’ll give you matching results. Hit enter to open that file:line combination in Sublime Text, or edit the action script to work with the editor of your choice.
Search Xcode Header Files.alfredworkflow
Encrypting and decrypting text with Alfred 2
Here’s a couple of Alfred 2 workflows that implement encryption and decryption via AES256, useful for doing things like sharing passwords.
Select some text (or copy it to the clipboard), and hit the encryption hotkey, and you’ll be prompted for a password; the encrypted contents will be copied to the clipboard.
Then when the recipient has the encrypted text, select or copy it, hit the decryption hotkey, and the original password will be requested. Then, the original text will be displayed and copied to the clipboard.
