SquareBeat v1.0 Out Now

Gavinski

Can read a bit about the app here, in the pinned comment:

SQUAREBEAT: An Intuitive Tracker for iPhone/iPad with a great UX (Review in Pinned Comment!)
https://youtube.com/shorts/szLu6G50cvY?feature=share

jaijai

@samplefox said:

@jaijai said:
@samplefox the app crashes a lot when using au3v synths and fx.
There are also a few bugs in the gui, I would like to report. How can I reach out?

Hey jai jai, just send me a message at sonickitten.com/about and I'll be able to dig in and fix it. Strange it works fine with all my plugins, but I don't have a huge amount. I really appreciate it when users will like reach out and help me reproduce these things.

I have sent you a message using your site.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

FordTimeLord

@Danny_Mammy said:
@samplefox

Hey there, sorry for sounding a little paranoid but what data are you collecting from users, and do you sell this data to other companies?

What’s making you suspect it’s collecting data? The App Store is saying it doesn’t on my end.

illo

Hi, I really like the app! AUv3 issues aside, it's great as it is but I have a few suggestions:

• It would be nice to get an expanded bottom section in the pattern view, to get more than one octave in the note view (personally I prefer a grid but two rows of piano keys would be fine), or to see all of the effects without having to scroll right. If that isn't feasible, maybe a way to "pinch" the keyboard to see more keys, especially in landscape mode where the keys are pretty wide. Or a lock button for the keyboard, so that I can scroll it when unlocked. I dunno, there are a lot of possibilities here. But having such a limited keyboard makes it difficult for me to experiment with melodies.
• When browsing for a sample, I think tapping a directory should automatically enter it, and tapping [up] should automatically go up a directory; the "Open" button should only be used to Select the file. As it currently is, directory navigation is a bit cumbersome.
• When I press the lock button in a pattern, I would like to audition notes without advancing the playhead.
• Also, the Instrument edit screen leaves the bottom section open with whatever view it had, which is mostly useless unless you wanted to blindly edit the pattern. I think it would be more useful to have a keyboard open, in audition/lock mode, so that you can audition the instrument that you're currently editing.
• There should be a way to clear out a selection. Either the clipboard menu could have a "Clear" or "Delete" or "Cut" option, or hitting the '-' while in a selection could clear it.
• The clipboard functionality overall could be more fluid. For example, maybe long pressing an entry (i.e. cell) and then dragging could start drawing the outline to select the range (as long as it didn't interfere with scrolling the pattern up/down), or maybe sliding left/right on an entry could start the selection; maybe tapping a selection automatically copies it; maybe long pressing an entry pops up a "Paste" button if there's anything in the clipboard.
• Stretch goal, but a synth engine would be tons of fun, even if it's just basic square/triangle/noise for now
• There ought to be a way to revisit or reset the tutorial(s)

These next ones aren't a big deal now that I'm more familiar with the UI, but initially it took some effort to figure out:

• I think the button to get to the Instruments screen should be the same icon as the instrument column header (guitar or whatever), or something more intuitive than the menu/list icon.
• A bit of inconsistency with navigation: to exit the pattern view to see the whole song, either pinch or double tap; to exit the Instrument list, either tap the menu icon or tap outside of the list; to exit the instrument edit screen, slide it left/right.
• It's weird that hitting the "ins" down arrow in the keyboard/note view increments the instrument number, and hitting up decrements it. I realize that it's more like list navigation than number inc/dec, but it feels inconsistent with the octave buttons right next to it.

Thanks for reading!

Gavinski

@illo said:
Hi, I really like the app! AUv3 issues aside, it's great as it is but I have a few suggestions:

• It would be nice to get an expanded bottom section in the pattern view, to get more than one octave in the note view (personally I prefer a grid but two rows of piano keys would be fine), or to see all of the effects without having to scroll right. If that isn't feasible, maybe a way to "pinch" the keyboard to see more keys, especially in landscape mode where the keys are pretty wide. Or a lock button for the keyboard, so that I can scroll it when unlocked. I dunno, there are a lot of possibilities here. But having such a limited keyboard makes it difficult for me to experiment with melodies.
• When browsing for a sample, I think tapping a directory should automatically enter it, and tapping [up] should automatically go up a directory; the "Open" button should only be used to Select the file. As it currently is, directory navigation is a bit cumbersome.
• When I press the lock button in a pattern, I would like to audition notes without advancing the playhead.
• Also, the Instrument edit screen leaves the bottom section open with whatever view it had, which is mostly useless unless you wanted to blindly edit the pattern. I think it would be more useful to have a keyboard open, in audition/lock mode, so that you can audition the instrument that you're currently editing.
• There should be a way to clear out a selection. Either the clipboard menu could have a "Clear" or "Delete" or "Cut" option, or hitting the '-' while in a selection could clear it.
• The clipboard functionality overall could be more fluid. For example, maybe long pressing an entry (i.e. cell) and then dragging could start drawing the outline to select the range (as long as it didn't interfere with scrolling the pattern up/down), or maybe sliding left/right on an entry could start the selection; maybe tapping a selection automatically copies it; maybe long pressing an entry pops up a "Paste" button if there's anything in the clipboard.
• Stretch goal, but a synth engine would be tons of fun, even if it's just basic square/triangle/noise for now
• There ought to be a way to revisit or reset the tutorial(s)

These next ones aren't a big deal now that I'm more familiar with the UI, but initially it took some effort to figure out:

• I think the button to get to the Instruments screen should be the same icon as the instrument column header (guitar or whatever), or something more intuitive than the menu/list icon.
• A bit of inconsistency with navigation: to exit the pattern view to see the whole song, either pinch or double tap; to exit the Instrument list, either tap the menu icon or tap outside of the list; to exit the instrument edit screen, slide it left/right.
• It's weird that hitting the "ins" down arrow in the keyboard/note view increments the instrument number, and hitting up decrements it. I realize that it's more like list navigation than number inc/dec, but it feels inconsistent with the octave buttons right next to it.

Thanks for reading!

Great detailed feedback! More devs should put you on their betas

samplefox

@Danny_Mammy said:
@samplefox

Hey there, sorry for sounding a little paranoid but what data are you collecting from users, and do you sell this data to other companies?

I don't collect any data in the app. If you use audiobus, it will need permissions for network access, but that's an audiobus thing. I don't transmit anything back. As far as I'm aware, audiobus doesn't either. I'm adding a send-log-file feature, but that's just if the user decides to send some data about crashes and stuff.

samplefox

@illo said:

• It would be nice to get an expanded bottom section in the pattern view, to get more than one octave in the note view (personally I prefer a grid but two rows of piano keys would be fine), or to see all of the effects without having to scroll right. If that isn't feasible, maybe a way to "pinch" the keyboard to see more keys, especially in landscape mode where the keys are pretty wide. Or a lock button for the keyboard, so that I can scroll it when unlocked. I dunno, there are a lot of possibilities here. But having such a limited keyboard makes it difficult for me to experiment with melodies.

Yeah I think a scrolling keyboard is feasible. And maybe I could make it a bit bigger.

• When browsing for a sample, I think tapping a directory should automatically enter it, and tapping [up] should automatically go up a directory; the "Open" button should only be used to Select the file. As it currently is, directory navigation is a bit cumbersome.

Ok, so I've been using this thing so long, I forget that people wouldn't know you can double tap to enter a directory or select a file. This is a reasonable solution you have.

• When I press the lock button in a pattern, I would like to audition notes without advancing the playhead.

Yeah that's totally something I want to change.

• Also, the Instrument edit screen leaves the bottom section open with whatever view it had, which is mostly useless unless you wanted to blindly edit the pattern. I think it would be more useful to have a keyboard open, in audition/lock mode, so that you can audition the instrument that you're currently editing.

Again, good suggestion.

• There should be a way to clear out a selection. Either the clipboard menu could have a "Clear" or "Delete" or "Cut" option, or hitting the '-' while in a selection could clear it.

• The clipboard functionality overall could be more fluid. For example, maybe long pressing an entry (i.e. cell) and then dragging could start drawing the outline to select the range (as long as it didn't interfere with scrolling the pattern up/down), or maybe sliding left/right on an entry could start the selection; maybe tapping a selection automatically copies it; maybe long pressing an entry pops up a "Paste" button if there's anything in the clipboard.

• Stretch goal, but a synth engine would be tons of fun, even if it's just basic square/triangle/noise for now

I'm adding a wavetable right now. Kind of like an amiga tracker, or milky tracker.

• There ought to be a way to revisit or reset the tutorial(s)

These next ones aren't a big deal now that I'm more familiar with the UI, but initially it took some effort to figure out:

• I think the button to get to the Instruments screen should be the same icon as the instrument column header (guitar or whatever), or something more intuitive than the menu/list icon.
• A bit of inconsistency with navigation: to exit the pattern view to see the whole song, either pinch or double tap; to exit the Instrument list, either tap the menu icon or tap outside of the list; to exit the instrument edit screen, slide it left/right.
• It's weird that hitting the "ins" down arrow in the keyboard/note view increments the instrument number, and hitting up decrements it. I realize that it's more like list navigation than number inc/dec, but it feels inconsistent with the octave buttons right next to it.

Thanks for reading!

Some great points/suggestions here.

johnfromberkeley

@samplefox said:

@drewinnit said:
very interesting to read your website, you've certainly been nurturing this creation for many years!

Congrats on releasing it and good luck, it seems like a great tool. Trackers aren't my thing but I know that many users here will love a tracker AUv3 host

Thanks drew! It's been a long haul. Didn't think I would finish it at some points.

@johnfromberkeley said:
Looks great. What is the difference between the free and full version?

(It would be great if you would include this information in the App Store description.)

Yeah good point. Free version lets you do anything except save, export, and channel adding. I'll put it in there for the next update.

Thanks for all the positivity guys. Love this community.

Based on the quality of the app, I think that’s a great approach. If trackers are your thing, purchase is no-brainer, based on these two factors alone:

1. The ability to use a use AUs so seamlessly. Consider the various chip tune-ish / electronic / 80’s synth apps that have come out in the last 12 months… e.g. King of FM, SNESynth, Square Synth 2, SAGA 16 BIT (we see you, @AnalogMatthew!)
2. The elegant, efficient, and thoughtful interface. Holy cow. You obviously worked very hard on this.

My final pitch: I am actually not a tracker enthusiast. That said, I’ve purchased every iOS tracker, and I’ve toyed with them from time to time. At the end of the day, tracking has always felt a little tedious to me. But SquareBeat changed the game for me, opening up a symphony of sounds, and bringing efficiency to the tedium through the thoughtful GUI. It feels like the imagined ideal of what iOS trackers should be.

I’d love to hear what other AUs people are using with this.

HotStrange

@johnfromberkeley said:

@samplefox said:

@drewinnit said:
very interesting to read your website, you've certainly been nurturing this creation for many years!

Congrats on releasing it and good luck, it seems like a great tool. Trackers aren't my thing but I know that many users here will love a tracker AUv3 host

Thanks drew! It's been a long haul. Didn't think I would finish it at some points.

@johnfromberkeley said:
Looks great. What is the difference between the free and full version?

(It would be great if you would include this information in the App Store description.)

Yeah good point. Free version lets you do anything except save, export, and channel adding. I'll put it in there for the next update.

Thanks for all the positivity guys. Love this community.

Based on the quality of the app, I think that’s a great approach. If trackers are your thing, purchase is no-brainer, based on these two factors alone:

1. The ability to use a use AUs so seamlessly. Consider the various chip tune-ish / electronic / 80’s synth apps that have come out in the last 12 months… e.g. King of FM, SNESynth, Square Synth 2, SAGA 16 BIT (we see you, @AnalogMatthew!)
2. The elegant, efficient, and thoughtful interface. Holy cow. You obviously worked very hard on this.

My final pitch: I am actually not a tracker enthusiast. That said, I’ve purchased every iOS tracker, and I’ve toyed with them from time to time. At the end of the day, tracking has always felt a little tedious to me. But SquareBeat changed the game for me, opening up a symphony of sounds, and bringing efficiency to the tedium through the thoughtful GUI. It feels like the imagined ideal of what iOS trackers should be.

I’d love to hear what other AUs people are using with this.

Agreed. Tons of potential with this app and a lot of promise already. It’s clearly a labor of love and I think the app is so much better because of that. I think it fits in well with the likes of SunVox and Sinusoid. All 3 great apps doing their own things.

Blipsford_Baubie

Oh. I notice the app has been updated. Maybe I’ll get some sound out of it this time.
This app is my first tracker. I usually run from them, but since the marketing says you don’t need experience, I will be volunteering to be the crash-test-dummy.

samplefox

@Blipsford_Baubie said:
Oh. I notice the app has been updated. Maybe I’ll get some sound out of it this time.
This app is my first tracker. I usually run from them, but since the marketing says you don’t need experience, I will be volunteering to be the crash-test-dummy.

Hey Blipsford_Baubie, what device, os are you on? And which plugins have you tried?

frosttrance_7

@Gavinski said:

@dendy said:
looks nice.. native iPad version would be great though just to have more real estate to see mire mixer tracks at screen, bigger part of pattern, etc.. would love to have this on ipad

Native iPad version would be great, yes!

I agree too. I am getting a bit sick of using the piano roll in Nanostudio, and it's a damn snappy one!

Blipsford_Baubie

@samplefox said:

@Blipsford_Baubie said:
Oh. I notice the app has been updated. Maybe I’ll get some sound out of it this time.
This app is my first tracker. I usually run from them, but since the marketing says you don’t need experience, I will be volunteering to be the crash-test-dummy.

Hey Blipsford_Baubie, what device, os are you on? And which plugins have you tried?

iPhone se2. But I think for me it’s more of a what to do thing, but I just discovered the manual!👍

Blipsford_Baubie

Yaye, I made my first sound with an AU while eating lunch at work (king of bass).
I can’t say whether or not the update fixed anything for me, since I only figured out how to load any instrument today. To be fair I only opened the manual today too 👍

samplefox

I will likely make an iPad version, it's just the layout doesn't really work on an iPad as it is now. Needs some reconsideration.

frosttrance_7

@samplefox said:
I will likely make an iPad version, it's just the layout doesn't really work on an iPad as it is now. Needs some reconsideration.

Thanks. I will still buy it when I can.

cokomairena

@samplefox said:
I will likely make an iPad version, it's just the layout doesn't really work on an iPad as it is now. Needs some reconsideration.

The current layout would work great on split screen or slide over

HotStrange

@cokomairena said:

@samplefox said:
I will likely make an iPad version, it's just the layout doesn't really work on an iPad as it is now. Needs some reconsideration.

The current layout would work great on split screen or slide over

Would also work well that way if drag n drop for sample import is implemented.

bibenu

I have a whole nested folder structure of samples I'd like to add, but so far as I can tell, I can only add samples one-by-one, outside the app.

Is there any chance of a feature that would allow me to add my folder to the 'user' samples section ?

Littlewoodg

@samplefox
thank you for bringing your cool tracker to iOS
Trackers Forever

for some reason when I open a new track or an init project i’m getting this

might be user error…

iOS current 17.0.3

samplefox

@Littlewoodg said:
@samplefox
thank you for bringing your cool tracker to iOS
Trackers Forever

for some reason when I open a new track or an init project i’m getting this

might be user error…

iOS current 17.0.3

Ok so this happens when you hit the New button on the menu screen? Get in touch at sonickitten.com/about if you get a chance.

jaijai

@bibenu said:
I have a whole nested folder structure of samples I'd like to add, but so far as I can tell, I can only add samples one-by-one, outside the app.

Is there any chance of a feature that would allow me to add my folder to the 'user' samples section ?

You can copy your sample folders using the files app to the app folder of squarebeat, paste it in the samples folder and they should be visible.

samplefox

@jaijai said:

@bibenu said:
I have a whole nested folder structure of samples I'd like to add, but so far as I can tell, I can only add samples one-by-one, outside the app.

Is there any chance of a feature that would allow me to add my folder to the 'user' samples section ?

You can copy your sample folders using the files app to the app folder of squarebeat, paste it in the samples folder and they should be visible.

Yes, spot on. That’s where it keeps them. I’m thinking about a way to add whole folders through Finder/Devices, not sure yet.

bibenu

Awesome, thank you.

samplefox

What do you guys think about this layout? Just keep the pattern editor on the side, all the time. Any opinions? Bad? The alternative in the short term is to just use the same layout and stretch it over the iPad screen, so things are pretty spaced out.

Gavinski

@samplefox said:
What do you guys think about this layout? Just keep the pattern editor on the side, all the time. Any opinions? Bad? The alternative in the short term is to just use the same layout and stretch it over the iPad screen, so things are pretty spaced out.

I haven't thought through whether there would be any better options but that seems pretty good!

HotStrange

@samplefox said:
What do you guys think about this layout? Just keep the pattern editor on the side, all the time. Any opinions? Bad? The alternative in the short term is to just use the same layout and stretch it over the iPad screen, so things are pretty spaced out.

Is this for the iPad version? M
Looks pretty solid to me and seems like it would be quick to get something going.

Gavinski

@HotStrange said:

@samplefox said:
What do you guys think about this layout? Just keep the pattern editor on the side, all the time. Any opinions? Bad? The alternative in the short term is to just use the same layout and stretch it over the iPad screen, so things are pretty spaced out.

Is this for the iPad version? M
Looks pretty solid to me and seems like it would be quick to get something going.

Or what about keeping it as a 2 window view but letting the user select the exact content of both windows rather than only being able to do that for the one on the right?

HotStrange

@Gavinski said:

@HotStrange said:

@samplefox said:
What do you guys think about this layout? Just keep the pattern editor on the side, all the time. Any opinions? Bad? The alternative in the short term is to just use the same layout and stretch it over the iPad screen, so things are pretty spaced out.

Is this for the iPad version? M
Looks pretty solid to me and seems like it would be quick to get something going.

Or what about keeping it as a 2 window view but letting the user select the exact content of both windows rather than only being able to do that for the one on the right?

Oh so you can select exactly what you view in both windows? If that’s possible that would be awesome.