A Tasty Pixel » Update

Major Loopy update: Our iOS live looper just got MIDI!

I’m excited to announce the release of Loopy 2.2, and Loopy HD 1.1, which introduce features that the professional and semi-professional musicians are going to love: Trainable MIDI control, and MIDI clock sync!

Loopy can now be entirely controlled via external MIDI devices, via the Camera Connection Kit for iPad, or any one of a number of third party adapters for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

With Loopy, musicians can now accomplish the kind of setup that would otherwise cost hundreds of dollars in expensive, bulky specialised equipment to achieve.

Controllable actions include record toggle, mute toggle, record then automatically select next track, record then overdub, toggle record with no count-in/out, clear, re-record, solo, volume, pan, tempo adjust or tempo tap, pause, double or halve clock length…

The update also introduces MIDI clock sync: The clock can be synchronised, in either direction, with external devices, other software (such as Ableton Live) over WiFi, software running on other iOS devices via WiFi or Bluetooth, and even other compatible apps running on the same iOS device, via virtual MIDI!

Oh, yeah – one more thing: Loopy on the iPhone or iPod Touch can now run up to 12 channels. Yep. Layer it up, baby.

Update: Loopy 2.1.1 and Loopy HD 1.0.1

Updates to Loopy and Loopy HD have just hit the App Store!

Loopy 2.1.1 and Loopy HD 1.0.1 feature a number of bug fixes and iOS 5 compatibility fixes, as well as a few new features:

Configurable fade-in and fade-out

With this switched on, and with mute count-in/count-out enabled, the second tap on a playing or muted track will begin a fade in or out. A third tap will immediately play or mute the track. Without mute count-in/out, the first tap begins fade, the second plays or mutes immediately.

“Re-record” function

When clearing a track, this new function will cause the track to clear and begin recording again at the start of the next loop (or straight away, with count-in off)

“Chained mute” feature

If you mute a track (or tracks) while another track is counting in to record, then the muted track(s) will only mute after the recording ends, instead of at the next loop.

I hope you like the changes! Stay tuned for more.

On Loopy, and the iPad

Update: Loopy HD is released!

If you’ve been aware of the goings-on at camp A Tasty Pixel lately, you’ll be aware that Loopy HD is on its way.

This is the iPad-friendly version of Loopy, and it’ll be available on October 6.

In advance of the happy occasion, I thought I’d outline our Master Plan.

Once Loopy HD is out, there’ll be two versions of Loopy:

Loopy will remain at its low $2.99 price point, and will remain iPhone only.
Loopy HD will be available at a more iPad-esque price point, $7.99, and is targeted specifically at iPad users. However, Loopy HD will actually be a Universal app, so that iPad users can also use the app on their iPhone without having to purchase the app again.

Loopy HD will take advantage of that nice big screen, and will have a configurable number of tracks — 6, 9 or 12.

To cater for existing iPad owners who have already bought a copy of Loopy, Loopy HD will be available at a dramatically reduced price for launch, so you won’t have to pay full price — we’ll let you know via an in-app message from Loopy (and the usual channels) when it’s available.

Until then, I’m getting back to work!

More Loopy HD news
Watch the Loopy HD preview video
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Loopy 2.0.1 coming soon, with noise gate/expander, more

We just submitted Loopy 2.0.1 to the App Store!

Update: It’s now available!

The new version includes:

Full-featured noise gate/expander, with auto-calibration
Bigger panel and clock controls
Document support: Import loops from Mail and other apps
Play/pause button on main screen (great for breaks)
Option to add track to Loopy’s SoundCloud group when publishing
Many more improvements and bug-fixes

Expect it to land in a week or so. Now, off to work on the next version..

Improvements coming to Loopy 2.0.1

I’m hard at work on Loopy 2.0.1, which will include a few improvements:

A much bigger bottom display, with paged clock manipulation controls for easier access to the most-used functions
A play/restart button on the main loops screen
Clearer distinction between muted and unmuted tracks
The option to automatically begin overdubbing after first record
Import loops from Mail and other applications straight into a Loopy 2 session
Single sign-on for SoundCloud, including Facebook link support

Look out for it soon.

The Cartographer 1.4, Now With Routes and Shapes

I’m very happy to announce The Cartographer version 1.4!

This version brings new features from Google Maps to the iPhone: Routes and shapes. Now you can plot hiking routes, cycle paths or road trips on your computer using Google Maps, then sync them to your iPhone and take them with you.

Combined with The Cartographer’s existing offline mapping features, we think this is a really exciting feature for outdoorsy types and travellers.

So, we hope you enjoy 1.4! It’s available right now from the App Store.

The Cartographer 1.2 is here, with awesome navigation features

We’ve recently released version 1.2 of our vintage-styled Google My Maps app The Cartographer!

The new version introduces Navigon support, so you can get turn-by-turn navigation to any placemark on your map — this is great for researching then running errands, home or abroad. For example, need a new iPad? Search for “Apple Store” on Google Maps, click “Save To…” and choose a My Map (or use the new Clipper on any webpage with an address), then open it in The Cartographer, select the new placemark, and navigate there. Totally seamless.

The other new feature is an in-app compass which provides bearing and distance information to the selected placemark. A needle points to your destination, while the dial shows which way’s north. Particularly useful for hiking — we used this just the other week in Exmoor National Park, and it was indispensable.

Grab The Cartographer 1.2 on the App Store, or find out more.

Announcing The Cartographer 1.1, with Offline Map Downloading, Map Search, and Bulk Publishing

We’ve just released The Cartographer version 1.1!

New features include:

Bulk-download offline maps
View placemarks in a list, mass-publish placemarks, and search placemarks
Search the map for street names, towns, landmarks and more

Our biggest and most-requested new feature is offline map downloading — now, you can select a whole map region to download, and a level of detail, and The Cartographer will download the entire street map to your iPhone, for viewing offline. This video shows how it works.

The second main new feature is map searching, so you can search for places by name. A tap converts search results to placemarks you can add to your map.

Bulk placemark publishing lets you make lots of placemarks while you’re away from Internet access, and then when you have Internet access, publish them to your map all at once.

And finally, a new list view shows you all placemarks on your map, ordered by how far away they are. You can also search your placemarks by their name or description.

We hope you like The Cartographer 1.1! We sure do.

Grab it on the iPhone App Store for $3.99.