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Comments
The phone won’t show in that Mac dialog when you’re advertising. It's not supposed to show there.
Did you look on the phone’s connect dialog after you turned on advertising on the Mac? That is what you have to do. (Note the screenshots in my post earlier).
According to official Apple documentation this is unchanged on MacOS Sonoma 14.
https://support.apple.com/guide/audio-midi-setup/set-up-bluetooth-midi-devices-ams33f013765/mac
Yes, but note it states "devices" not iphones or iPads!
I did see you are doing this in AUM, I am not using AUM
Trouble is it ALWAYS shows as an incompatible device!
................................................................................................................
cue: forehead thump with hand!!
Ok, finally got it working. I was always trying to "directly link" the two devices. IE iPhone to Macbook...penny dropped when I wrote re you were doing it IN AUM - lightbulb moment!
Went into Surface Builder settings, found the BT section, and then pressed the advertise in Audio/MIDI setup on the Mac, and got the connection.
Now I just need to figure how to setup the controls in SB.
Thank you for your patience wim, appreciate the help!
Ok, got it all working via Surface Builder. So I'll mark this as solved, albeit via a convoluted journey!
Although it must be said that an iPhone/iPad can still NOT be directly connected or manually paired to a Mac. The connection process is pretty much automatic. It is within apps that you make the actual connections you need.
Awesome. I'm glad it finally came together. 👍🏼
Thanks -great tip on Surface Builder
Follow up question - I seem to have to leave that advertising (on the Mac) on screen open all the time otherwise the iPhone loses the connection....also, in SB, I can select the macOS, and it tries to connect but keeps reverting to Not Connected?
Any ideas?
It shouldn't do that. Once connected it should stay connected, and you shouldn't have to keep the advertising screen open. Is the Mac possibly going to sleep (suspending)? Are you closing the lid?
I'm running a test connection from SB to the Mac right now and am not seeing the issues you mention. However, the first time I connected, the iOS device went from "Connected" back to "Not Connected" for about 10 seconds, but then went back to Connected by itself and stayed that way. I could close the advertising window on the Mac with no problem.
Check that there's no residual pairing with the Mac System Bluetooth (not to be confused with the Bluetooth MIDI connection). Maybe there's a pairing at that level, made during the other attempts, that's interfering.
I've had a few occasions in the past where I needed to reboot one or both of the devices to get a stable connection. But it's been a long while since I saw that.
You're not using iDAM (iPhone to MacBook connection over USB cable) are you?
btw, if you're performing live, Bluetooth is a bit of a risk. Bluetooth is just a radio. In a venue filled with devices all with Bluetooth turned on, that's a lot of radios. Lots of radios means lots of interference. Just sayin'...
Thanks wim...no no physical connections at all.
I did figure the issue...seems when you go out of the SB window, to do something else, it drops the BT connection....I then need to go into BT settings on phone and forget MacOS (where for some reason it now shows) then go back to Mac and re-advertise and go through the process again....seems quite stable as long as you leave the SB window open.....bit of a pain really!
re live and BT - so far I've had no issues using BT live, not that I use it for much really. Predominantly the CME Widi stuff which is pretty solid tbh.
So will need to write to the developer to ask if he can look at running in the background.
No need. There's a setting for "Background Mode".
That's not a 100% guarantee. If iOS is running low on memory it has been known to suspend apps that are in the background.
Side question: Do you use an audio interface with the iPhone? If not then you could possibly use a wired iDAM connection between the MacBook and the phone instead.
oh cool! thnx
No, using the Mac, or the USB audio on the attached keyboard.
If the USB audio from the keyboard is attached to the iPhone, then iDAM is out. Otherwise, you can use iDAM connection to send MIDI both to and from the Mac over USB. If Bluetooth is working stably then that's simpler though.
(iDAM can also send audio from the iPhone to the Mac, but not the other direction.)
hmm, must admit to not knowing much about iDAM - will read up on it though
USB Audio from keyboard when used, is attached to the Mac
Here's the starting point I've typically pointed people to.
https://www.cultofmac.com/615742/how-to-record-digital-audio-from-your-iphone-to-your-mac-with-idam/
The title is about audio, but MIDI applies as well.
One nice side effect is the iOS device can usually be powered and sometimes charged over that connection as well.
hahaha, one thing on the Mac is that MIDI Studio has a bug....the Show dialogue does not really work!
🤷🏼♂️ I don't understand what you mean by that. Not important though?
cool! Oh did you find a way to get a MIDI message value of 0 entered? Under the Bulk MIDI (the only way you can enter say, CC32 with a send value) , I enter 0, but the app keeps over-riding that and entering/changing it to a 1? This happens once I press the save button.
The receiving app is correctly based around 0-127 not 1-128. Wonder if the developer could modify that? Could not find any reference to setting it to either 0 or 1
Are we still talking about Program Changes here? I have no problem sending PC 0. And it's impossible to send PC 128 with MIDI.
What kind of control are you sending the message from in Surface Builder? Don't forget, you have to hit Save on the control after you make any changes. I've gotten fooled many times by that one.
Note: Some apps may number patches from 1-128, but the midi messages are 0-127. PC 0 may select patch 1 if that's the convention that the app uses for naming them.
If you check the actual midi with a midi monitor you'll probably see what I mean.
Computers like to count from zero. People from 1.
Yep, was the Save...must have missed doing it after closing the box!
Thanks
no not important at all....but to elucidate...when I press the Show (far right of the screen) and select connected they all disappear (even when the iPhone is connected) and the Show: stays noted as ALL, instead of changing to the value requested. IE All, Connected - Not Connected.
Annoying (mildly) thing is it shows everything even when not connected. Even the previous iPhone BT connection which is no longer used. I need to manually remove them. just a small sand grain irritation
re the iDam - would need a USB-C to Lightning adapter going by the article as it makes no mention of USB-C
Interesting though!
No, a USB-C cable should be fine. The article was written before USB-C iPads were a thing.
I don't have a USB-C device to try with, but I do know it can be done.
Best to start another thread on the subject to attract the eyeballs of some who have done it if you decide to try.
yes good idea!