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The law of diminishing apps?
I think I have discovered a new scientific principle.
That is- the length of time you have been creating music using ios is inversely proportionate to the amount of new apps becoming available to you to use.
When I first migrated from the luddite world of hardware about a year ago I was filled with exitement ..... It seemed that I could not turn my head for new apps appearing every week- 'the market is getting crowded' .. people would echo. I was buying one app after the other and it felt that I could hardly keep up. I bought Gadget thinking- this is one of many such like apps.... very soon I will have many of them....... but no.... there seems to be no serious rival for Gadget- with the same sort of remit-..... waiting for the new Caustic is..... well.. it's taking a while isn't it?
Don't get me wrong here- I am totally thrilled at what is available and realistically it will keep me amused and experimenting for the rest of my life.
It's just that for example as was mentioned in an earlier thread- there for some reason is no serious TB 303 emulator??? There also seems to be a lack of rich sounding multi timbral synths with sequencer apps- where are they?
But my main point is.. for some reason it feels to me that the more time that passes the less apps that seem to get released that I might be interested in on a weekly basis. It seems like an age now (probably about three weeks) since an app came out that has taken my interest.
Is it slowing down- speeding up or maintaining a steady pace? or what?
Comments
There are rumors that some folks are becoming more discerning, but it seems to me that they come in spurts Nurse.
I think we overthink the whole thing because of certain tendencies inculcated by capitalist society.
I occasionally worry that iOS audio is just too much of a niche market for most devs to bother with. Korg got in relatively early, and Gadget seems to be their focus because it's a simple solution that opens up synthesis & sequencing to the masses. And they can sell hardware tailored for it...
Sadly, this means they have neglected their (imho) much better, but harder to market apps, such as iPolysix, iMS20 & iM1.....why, for example, have they apparently abandoned porting all of their Legacy plugins? Wavestation would be so suited to iOS, and the Mono/Poly is - arguably - a better synth than the Polysix.
Has iOS plateaued as a serious music platform? Perhaps due to ongoing difficulties with MIDI, file management and general connection with the hardware/software world outside of idevices? The all-too-rare appearance of something like Model 15 suggests there's still hope but the lack of interest from Roland, D16, TAL, Waves, NI (to name but a few) after all these years is a real shame.
In the beginning, each app was like a book that taught me a new approach. Now that i have my workflow down i use less apps, but i couldn't have gotten there without all i learned along the way.
you have not been / paying attention / paying attention
I've bought loads of new releases over the last few months - Aum, Moog 15, Blocs, Moebius etc. etc. etc., more than in similar periods over the last couple of years.
No slowdown here Captain.
My guess is it has more to do with app store economics than anything else. There are only so many people out there who can or are able to pour in substantial amounts of work for a relatively small return. That pool of people only have so many ideas and so much time. Plus, the more apps they release, the more time they have to spend maintaining those apps. And if they don't keep adding features people label them "abandonware". There has to be some kind of return for developers, and it seems to me to be challenging at best. I can tell you I sure wouldn't try to make a living at it.
I'm a sucker for cutting edge/early adopter stuff. I currently beta test gear for narrative and television productions, mobile phones with two separate companies , and even iOS music software.
I can't tell you how many music apps I've purchased since I jumped on the iPad Pro band wagon last November (thanks to you suckers on here peer pressuring a brotha to purchase these apps!
) and to date I have probably only played with one.. Maybe two (animoog, Auria pro).
For you cats who mostly exclusively use iOS for music production, times are good for you...
It's worse when you're stuck with an iPhone to do this - there are a good number of apps available only to iPad users.
I'm still amazed at all the useful music apps available on iOS. There's more I could buy, but only 24 hrs in a day, and I like sleeping. Why is more needed?
I don't understand how developers make a living with such low prices and free updates. And the weird system of the App Store over which they have little control. Of course Korg, Yamaha, Roland, Moog, and the major software companies have very limited or non-existent involvement. It's not sad, it's what makes sense. Enjoy what can be done. Make music.
I find I've just got so many options I'm not getting the best out of them. For the immediate future, I'm allowing myself only Gadget, Animoog, WaveMapper and Auria Pro for a project.
Thinking about it, the above gives me more options than I could probably use in my lifetime.
Lack of new apps? Mmmmm not sure about that, but I do know I probably have too many to keep focus on making music.
I'm an iOS user from the early days. In the beginning there was excitement over all the new ways of making music with touchscreen apps. And there was also a lot of experimental stuff soundythingie, orbita or airvox to name but a few. But business went more serious with apps Nanostudio and other DAWs and even more serious when Audiobus, IAA and midi-intergration came along and the sparks that unleashed all kind of exciting experimental stuff dimmed. It went from soundtoys the serious business. Of course there are exceptions like Sector or Fugue but that have a a steeper learning curve than those earlier apps. But most "serious" apps nowadays look to much at softsynths on MACOS or Windows, what I personally don't like is those round knobs on iOS, although some work properly a lot of them are not so easy to turn.
Anyway my opinion is that since music apps on iOS went more serious there's less room for experimentation and although I'm still curious the curisity is less than it was. Also I think this tendency to build apps that do the same thing as you can do with MACOS or Windows is just not the way to go. The workflow is just so much faster on a PC if you want to do complex compositions. I rather see devs workin on workable GUI for touch than mime keyboars with knobs.
...because of this I declare I'm giving up music altogether.
@mannix my perspective is that there are many apps I enjoy experimenting and playing around with. While many music apps are focused on reproducing the analog or PC DAW experience, there are also a lot of MIDI controller, effect, and modular apps available that you can combine with more convential apps. Even relatively simple apps can be incorporated into more interesting sound chains. Rather than seeking to lament the quality of apps or judge their level of professional application, I enjoy the luxury of being able to explore any number of avenues of sonic creation and often see the limits being my imagination and willingness to put in the effort to follow through on mastering apps rather than inherent limitations of apps. While I often wish apps had more connectivity or other features, I can also appreciate that people with much fewer options created some great music.
Many people have expressed an interest in sticking to all in one solutions or reigning in their purchases or want apps and a work flow that's similar to their PC DAW workflows, so I can see how they find the current state of iOS less than satisfactory. For me, rather than sticking to the main road, I enjoy the opportunity to explore the many side streets and alley ways available to me on iOS which I can not explore elsewhere.
The many smaller independent developers who are primarily motivated by the desire to share their musical perspective through their apps rather than sustainable economics, are greatly appreciated by me. I hope that more people can experience the benefits of iOS music making and will be able to connect with apps that meet their needs so that developers will receive more support and recognition for their efforts.
The longer I'm involved with iOS music the more apps I resist.
I think iOS music marketing to be close to a plateau is a very likely thing (hints: prices slightly raising, sales more frequent, etc).
For me (and I mean myself), iOS is appealing for these reasons:
1. Portability. Fieldscaper is an example, you can do with it more than you'd do with a digi recorder, and "just" with an iPhone.
2. Interaction. Some apps have wonderful UI, like Touchable, Geoshred, Gestrument, Borderlands, just to name the first ones that occur to me, and this cannot be done on OS X
3. Innovation. Take FugueMachine. It could have been done as desktop sw hands down. Fact is, it was born for iOS, and Al is dedicated to IOS (again, just one example among many possible). Patterning is another good example
4. Cheaper prices. Many synths, like Thor and Z3TA+ (and countless others) work more or less as their counterparts on desktop, but cost 1/10. Animoog and Model 15 are a case apart (as are iSEM and iMini, IMHO), for they even may substitute pricey hw
5. Comfort. I use Auria for a first mix, especially when I am outdoor
6. Last but surely not least: FUN. Gadget is fun to me, Figure is fun to me, Blocs is fun to me, etc etc etc...
All that said, I'm an advocate and I practice a mixed approach iOS + OS X. The best of two worlds and no fideism towards any platform.
Whenever anyone of the points above is missing, my interest in an app fall down. Sadly, I'm inclined to take Modstep as an example: it's a lovely idea, but by and large no more than a complicated MIDI oriented DAW with a clumsy interface (men, you made Touchable! what happened?), and barren for its use as a coordinator for IAA apps (where it has not yet completely succeeded) it takes no advantage of the iOS environment.
There's going to be a quite massive influx of new technologies and apps this fall. Mainly of new versions of established major apps. Also the upcoming copy/paste feature between iOS and macOS is pretty huge.
Apple are already marketing the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement.
Microsoft are doing the same with their Surface.
It hasn't happened yet, but it wont be long before tablets become the de facto workstation. When this happens I'd imagine the big companies (Ableton, NI, etc..) will follow suit.
I think the future looks bright for iOS musicians.
If tablets become pro workstations, and the big companies get involved, then I think the pricing has to change. You’ll have the same apps and plugs that cost hundreds on desktops costing pretty much the same on tablets. How else could it work? File management must change to take it seriously, and they need to make editing as smooth and easy as with a mouse and keyboard. That’ll be great for those wanting tablets to be pro workstations. Me, I like inexpensive apps I can play with to create music on the pad, and then finer editing in Logic on desktop. I won’t be buying expensive apps for iOS.
Increasingly, I do find myself overwhelmed with choice, and forgetting about an app I bought 'cause I thought it was great, and then over time forgot about. I recently had a massive cull of apps, and was able to reacquaint myself with some old favourites. Plus, weed out those that were not necessarily poor, just beyond my meager abilities. Example, iFretless Bass, which is a superb app, with great sounds, but really needs a guitar player's skills to get the most out of it. Now, I use Madrid in Gadget for the same job, and get so much more out of it. Horses for courses.
All the same, I'm keen as the next fellow to see what's over the horizon, and finances permitting fully intend to add to my IOS music making collection. I think I'm becoming more discerning, the more I learn about what works for me, and the marker for what I thought was expensive when I began, has shifted up by a factor of 10, approximately. So in real terms, something under a fiver that takes my fancy is very likely to be bought, and something under a tenner quite likely. Apps up around the fifteen quid mark are, I know, still cheap when compared to the desktop market. But, and vitally, we are not in that market, we're under IOS. So while I'm still giving serious consideration to apps at that price point, they're never impulse buys. Apps above that may well be the best thing since slice bread, but I rarely buy them. Mostly, because for those tasks, I already have far superior stuff on my Mac.
Well, in some case, this is already happening. Take Auria Pro, that, with the IAP of FabFilter plugins, is close or even higher in price than Logic. Without those plugins it is close on the lower side to the cost of several essential versions of desktop DAWs, which IMO it outclasses.
I completely agree with your final considerations, and personally follow that same workflow.
Actually they say that tablet are a replacement, but apart-from-market-reality is a bit far from this yet (e.g. no more than 4g RAM, touch definition lower than mouse's).
According to what @Sebastian says above, the future looks brighter for an interaction between different OS's, which makes good sense.
I think more processing power is also a factor in this, apps are capable of far more, meaning they take a lot longer to produce, and then all the interfaces needed for todays apps, AB/AUx/IAA all take time to implement.
The releases are less frequent, but I wouldn't mind betting that the pipeline of ideas and updates is longer than it was before
Auria Pro with the FabFilter plug-ins is still much cheaper than Logic and those plug-ins on a Mac. As it should be. I think for the iPad to become attractive to the big companies, there will need to be a large enough iOS market that is willing to pay desktop prices.
I’ve got Auria Pro, and it’s an example of what’s possible on a tablet right now. I thought I was going to use it more, but when it comes down to it, it can’t compete with a desktop DAW for me. I don’t have the big iPad, which might help, but a more reliable Logic on a 27” screen, with a mouse, any keyboard shortcut I want, superior editing features and environment, with a normal file system, TB's of storage, plug-ins with interfaces that aren’t postage stamp size, etc., etc. is what I go to. Apparently, though, at least some iOS producers are either doing, or hoping to do, all their work on a tablet.
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The usual (IMHO flawed) reasoning. You are not compelled to buy FabFilter plugins for Logic. Actually you have very good plugins from factory, w/o considering the gigantic mass of really good plugins you can get for free (sadly, nothing similar for iPad). Moreover, you have Alchemy and a huge host of MIDI instruments (EXS24 and Ultrabeat among others), gigabytes of loops acidified free of royalties (2 hrs to download!), and... the drum system like GarageBand, but fully configurable. I go pretty well with Logic since years ago, w/o even coming near to FabFilter's (that are really good stuff, at that).
When you put in Auria Pro base some really good instruments and some really good efxs with visual feedback (like Final Touch, say). Put into it a bunch of good and free loops, like even GarageBand has, then you can compare to Logic and say to be cheaper. And do not forget the possibility to insert a plugin more than once... With the IAPs Auria comes near to Logic, w/o definitely not.
That said, of course you (and me) prefer to use Logic on desktop for any job minimally challenging. Tho I suppose that you (like me) are happy to use Animoog and FugueMachine or Gestrument on any occasion.
Totally agree with the points. I tried to put out iOS development in a more or less historical perspective. In the beginnig I bought a lot of experimental apps, enjoyed them for a short while and left them. Quite a few of them are already withdrawn for the appstore, it's nice that I still can download them from the appstore because I once bought them. But most of them are abandoned... Anyway I tried to get into the whole Cubasis more complex midi thing, but I discovered that I rather do that kind of work on a computer (not a tablet), workflow is so much faster for me. Besides that I'm a Korg gadget user. I think that the environment Korg created with gadget is quite tablet friendly. Recently I started to experment with Ableton Link of different iOS device, which gives me the possibilty to "play with" the different apps at the same time, nstead of continuously switching apps on one screen. For me to Ableton link is one of the most important developments in the last years, especially now we see that more and more developers implement it.
You are correct -- there new far fewer new apps being released by both established and fledging developers. In my estimation the real salad days for music app development sales may be over with. Developers may no longer be receiving the expected sales and may be stepping back from committing to major new projects.
Take for example a relatively new app like DM2. It seemed to do well after its initial release but this morning shows a #175 sales position on the US store even though it is featured on the App Store home page. That you usually indicates one or two sales took place during the last 24 hours.
This will eventually develop into an Apple problem as fewer developers take on major new projects once they perceive less opportunity for sustained iOS sales. A sad but true reality of late.
aside from the fact that some thematical saturation is unavoidable with time, prices are spoilt, lurking for sales spoil the party even more and refund bullshit eventually kills it.
Honestly, imho ALL price discussions about stuff for less than (say) $20 are rubbish.
Everybody should know that it's a niche market as niche as can be.
It doesn't compare with Angry Birds or Pokemon or some lifestyle stuff that you write in a couple of days (read: animated pictures + sound).
Developement in the pro audio domain is demanding as hell, let alone build a smart interface (more or less) from scratch - you can't really copy from desktop solutions.
(that's why I consider Cubasis or the 1st release of Auria non-apps...)
cheers, Tom
took the words right out of my mouth...
LOL Truth!