iPhone App Directory

BeatMaker 1.3.5 update


I'm hearing that the new version of beatmaker doesn't support audiocopy/paste from sonoma. It is in fact a new system entirely from Intua. This is an odd way to introduce a new copy/paste system, with no other apps to support it.

If anyone has more information on what Intua are doing please get in touch.

BeatMaker at the app store:
BeatMaker

11 comments:

velocipede said...

The product description for 1.3.5 says that they have implement iPhone OS copy/paste functionalities to import/export audio.

The new pitch mode is nice. Hoping there is a way to stretch the range more.

Intua said...

Hello,

There are technical issues that refrain us from supporting Sonoma AudioCopy/Paste at the moment.
We wanted to use a more open and standard solution that any iPhone developer can easily and freely implement. We are simply using the general pasteboard of the iPhone, where audio data copy and paste exist by default, just like for copying text (for which we provided example code to developers on our website).

We are still in talks with other audio application vendors to push through this direction. Please also understand the Apple deadline for removing ioLibrary support was very short (January 31th), making it very difficult to get a consensus between audio app vendors on the solution that should be adopted. More news should come up on the subject soon.

Anonymous said...

Intua has posted the documentation and code example of their copy and paste system. (No NDA or private agreement required.)

http://www.intua.net/community.html
Under iPhone Developers

Anonymous said...

Intua posted this on their forums explaining their copy paste implementation.

"First of all, ioLibrary was not a standard, neither AudioCopy/Paste is.

"We wanted to use a more open and standard solution that any iPhone developer can easily and freely implement. We are simply using the general pasteboard of the iPhone, where audio data copy and paste exist by default, just like for copying text (for which we provided example code to developers on our website).

"There are also other technical issues that refrain us from supporting Sonoma AudioCopy/Paste at the moment.

"We are still in talks with other audio application vendors to push through this direction. Please also understand the Apple deadline for removing ioLibrary support was very short (January 31th), making it very difficult to get a consensus between audio app vendors on the solution that should be adopted. More news should come up on the subject soon."


http://www.intua.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1269

Jamie said...

Information on Intua? Good luck. Great (my favorite even) app, but they do not communicate with their users period. You simply will never get a reply in their forums. It's funny, on their site they say anyone who want's their copy/paste for their app to contact them, but why wouldn't developers just use Sonoma's system?

Raphaƫl said...

That's just awesome Intua, great move ! Finally we have something that is both open, standard, apple friendly and with sample code to start with !

I peeped at your doc, that's clear and simple. The only part that doesn't rely entirely on Apple API is for handling large file (because of the split). That needed external "standardization".

If some cool pasteboard manager app, like pastebot, would manage audio files too, that would be a pretty solid alternative to ioLibrary. Maybe AudioView could be adapted for that too.

Pure speculation now, but as Apple will introduce a shared folder on the iPad, maybe is it a premise of the introduction of this feature to the iPhone ? As a way of cleaning the table before a new dish arrives. I thought that you could have infos about that Intua ^^.

Anyway, as a developer, I'm already very happy with that solution.

Charlescowper said...

Thanks Intua : ) : ) : )

dug from sonoma said...

We were in contact with Intua about our AudioCopy/Paste SDK. They said basically the same thing to us. They didn't have time to implement our UI (compatibility list) in BeatMaker, and they didn't want to sign our license agreement.

Our SDK is free. Everyone that has applied has been accepted. It IS a standard that is better defined than the Apple public pasteboard type for audio. It uses exactly the same technique with Apple's UIPasteboard except to a user defined pasteboard name which is part of the UIPasteboard API. We provide code for both copy AND paste as well as user interface and a compatible apps list. All the code is included and we allow any modifications you want. We only require the license so that we can keep track of the compatible apps list.

We considered implementing AudioCopy/Paste with the public pasteboard originally, and again when Intua told us they would do it this way. But we have eight applications shipped and we would have to remove features like tempo info and app launching from all of them in order to downgrade to the public pasteboard.

Supporting both would be tricky because the copy operation uses memory and copying to both would mean twice the memory. We have filed a bug with apple on this. This memory does not show in object alloc, only if you check the free memory of the phone.

Supporting both types of paste would require the user to choose which pasteboard each time because the pasteboards are persistant. They don't go away. So there would always be data on both and there is no time stamp.

Intua has put us in a very hard place because we want all audio apps to work together, but to support the public pasteboard with their "standard" we have to remove features from our apps.

dug

sonomaguy said...

We were in contact with Intua last week. They basically said the same thing they have posted here. They didn't have time to implement our compatible apps UI (which is not required), and they didn't not want to sign our license agreement.

Our AudioCopy/Paste SDK is free. AudioCopy/Paste IS a standard. It is open to anyone, we have provided it to everyone that has requested it. We include code for both copy and paste, as well as the UI for showing the compatible apps list. We use exactly the same UIPasteboard technique except with a user defined pasteboard which is part of Apple's UIPasteboard API. We clearly define the Audio data type as well as the other meta data. That is all you need to be a standard.

We originally considered using the public audio pasteboard type, but it is not well defined. It leaves it up to the developers to decide what kind of audio data to expect. We wanted to define the audio data, create a way to keep track of which applications work together and be able to include more meta data like tempo with the copied audio. We do not openly publish the pasteboard name because we want to know who is implementing it so that we can add them to the compatible apps list.

Intua has put us in a difficult position because we have 8 applications shipping from 3 publishers and more on the way. We would have to remove features from all of these apps in order to downgrade to using the public pasteboard name. Supporting both would be difficult for a couple of reasons. EIther the user would have to choose which pasteboard everytime, or we would have to copy to both pasteboards which has memory usage problems. Pasting would require the user to choose, because the pasteboard is persistent and there is no timestamp to tell which of the two pasteboards is newer.

Sonoma said...

From Sonoma's website:
http://www.sonomawireworks.com/iphone/partners/

The Sonoma Wire Works AudioCopy/Paste SDK is free and is a standard. Every developer who requests it has been provided with the SDK. We would like to build a community of professionals around this piece of code in order to evolve it together. The SDK includes code for both copy and paste, as well as an optional UI for showing the compatible apps list (this creates a co-marketing opportunity within audio apps on the iPhone). Sonoma's AudioCopy/Paste SDK uses Apple's UIPasteboard technique, with a user defined pasteboard, clearly defining the Audio data type, tempo, and other meta data - all allowed by Apple.

Apple's UIPasteboard gives developers an option of using either a public pasteboard (Intua uses this) or a user defined pasteboard (Sonoma's AudioCopy/Paste). Sonoma carefully considered using the public audio pasteboard type, but it is not well defined. The Sonoma AudioCopy/Paste SDK defines the audio data, includes more meta data, like tempo, creates a way to keep track of which applications work together, and makes it easy for users to launch the app they would like to paste to (compatible apps list). Sonoma chooses not to openly publish the pasteboard name and the SDK because we want to know what apps are implementing it. If the code were publicly available, we would have no way of knowing which apps to include in the Compatible Apps list.

Users benefit from the ease of use and added features that AudioCopy/AudioPaste offers. Intua published example code for copying using the public pasteboard (no tempo info, no file type specification, no compatibility list, no automatic launching of apps that accept copy/paste). Because there are 8 apps shipping from 3 publishers that use AudioCopy/AudioPaste, and more publishers on the way, we would have to remove features from all of these apps in order to downgrade to using only the public pasteboard name. We're investigating the possibility of AudioCopy/AudioPaste supporting the public pasteboard as well so it would work with Inuta's method as well.

AudioCopy/AudioPaste is working well, offers a great experience for the user, and the co-marketing included benefits every developer who adopts it. Please contact marketing at sonomawireworks.com if you have any questions, or have ideas to make sharing audio between iPhone apps easier for the user.

ashley said...

I think I;m going to do a post on who's supporting what standard and where we might end up.