JAX MIDI : Control Pad (super universal release)

Some of our discontinued items from the legacy MIDI SWEET Series will get an upgrade for supporting super universal releases in our JAX MIDI Series now. MIDI SWEET series is completely discontinued.

JAX MIDI Control Pad, a super universal release (iOS, iPadOS macOS, visionOS), is available as ‘aumu’ AudioUnit (AUv3) app extension and loadable by host apps, which support instrument audio units and routing MIDI events.

JAX MIDI Control Pad is a visual XY control pad, specifically designed for touch screens and allows to configure and generate up to 2 MIDI controller values (at ones) based on finger movement. It can be connected to all MIDI controller receiving mechanisms, that support it, including external MIDI devices.

This video demonstrates a more or less complex MIDI routing setup, where a MIDI Monitor and a synthesizer is connected for touch input of realtime MIDI controllers from JAX MIDI Control Pad. (The MIDI monitor is merely for demonstration purposes to visualize the stream.) The MIDI stream for controller movement is generated by JAX MIDI Control Pad and forwarded to the MIDI monitor. The monitor passes then thru everything, also note events from the keyboard and the generated MIDI controllers from the JAX to the synth. Controllers can be assigned and also particularly switched off. The setup and the values are saved with a preset, if the host supports saving user presets.

Reacting to Apple’s AppStore Review Terror !

Recently ALL of my releases and updates are REJECTED by the AppStore Review categorically and with questionable (copy&paste reasons). It is a total war and takes over 50 percent of our daily working time, time that is missing for new developments and updates and it is actually quite demotivating.

Here are published some of my responses to the review teams and appeals, as this must be published now because reaching an unacceptable extreme extent already :

( This isn’t just a rant, it’s a desperate attempt at remedial action. )

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I now finally want an answer to my questions.

All of my new apps in the AppStore (including updates), of whatever kind, are categorically rejected for fictitious and untrue reasons.

The requested information material was already attached to the initial transmission. I have been developing Apple software for over 6 years now…

How can that be?

I want an answer to my questions, that this is existential for me and my precious time. Do I pay around 100 euros a year to finance sadistic rejection orgies here?

I am now forced to submit complaints directly to Apple because my appeals are apparently not being heard here and the rejections of the apps are obviously for reasons other than those stated. 

To the concrete subject now. The material on the objectionable points is already in the original transmission:

  • A complete operation manual was attached.
  • A video was attached to demonstrate the software on a real device.
  • (The software does not create connections to any hardware but is an app extension (Apple AudiuoUnit AUv3) So there is nothing to demonstrate in this specific regard.)
  • The workflow has been demonstrated with the transmitted video and corresponds to the descriptions in the manual and the app descriptions.

The reviewer apparently didn’t even bother to review this material.

Since this has now happened several times repeatedly, I will file complaints and pass them on to the Developer Relations Center and possibly all other instances too.

Furthermore I will publish tall those informations now to my customers, as they want an answer why my releases are continuously delayed or rejected.

Jens Güll,
Developer

Ladies and Gentlemen,

One more question: Did you prefer to use anyhow mentally retarded people for the Review processing? ( Excuse me for phrasing it like that, but obviously that’s exactly how I’m being treated by you. ) It is inexplicable to me how such overly stupid questions like this can arise:

  • Who is the target audience? Please be specific
  • How is your app works ?
  • What is the purpose of the app?
  • Is the app for internal use?
  • If users create an account to use your app, are there fees involved?
  • Is this app meant for use in one company or for many client companies?

The material on the objectionable points is already in the original transmission to an excessive extent:

  • A complete operation manual was attached.
  • A video was attached to demonstrate the software on a real device.
  • The kind of app and usage  (app extension Apple AudioUnit AUv3) has been explained to excessive extent.
  • The workflow has been demonstrated with the transmitted video and corresponds to the descriptions in the manual and the product description
  • Our customers (we have over 50 apps of exactly this kind already in the AppStore) do actually KNOW, how to use these app extensions.

The reviewer apparently didn’t even bother to review all this material!

We are apparently being branded here with (hidden?) notices in our account because we always defend ourselves, as this kind of unspecific rejections is happening continuously in the AppStore Review. Otherwise we cannot explain to ourself, how such massive boycott is even possible. And we are obviously being actively prevented from doing our work and releasing new apps in the AppStore. To this to an extent, that can be seen as actively damaging our business and promoting demotivation.

Jens Güll,
Developer

JAX Selective Range (SR) : Reductor (super universal release)

We want to announce the successor of our (discontinued) JAX Decimator : the JAX Selective Range [SR] Reductor. Super universal releases are available on iOS, iPadOS, visionOS and macOS (Apple Silicon).

Our selective range series audio processors apply effects to a selected frequency range, which gives much greater and more professional possibilities for creative sound manipulation.

JAX [SR] Reductor delivers parametric rate and bit reduction and a bi-directional resonance filter, which can excite the sound and add some decent character to all kind of audio and even entire mixes. It also can invert, boost and pan the selected frequency range.

The SR effects are like an entire new philosophy and a new way to extend classic effects for modern sound productions without the necessity for creating complicated multi-band mixing bus setups. All parameters feature assignable MIDI control.

Existing customers of our legacy JAX Decimator (purchased version) are entitled for getting a free promo code for the purchased app of the new JAX [SR] Reductor. Please contact us.

Welcome!

This is the new landing page for our AudioUnit (AUv3) releases for Apple platforms. Our new releases are available as super universal apps for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and (recently) visionOS!

You are welcome.

  • JAX Triple Series [TS]: 3Stereo released!
  • JAX MIDI Control Pad released & updated!
  • 3 new super universal public TestFlight betas uploaded!
  • JAX Selective Range [SR] : Reductor released !

JAX Spectro : Isolate (super universal release)

JAX SPECTRO : Isolate is released on the Apple AppStore and available (as super universal with one price) on iOS, iPadOS, visionOS and macOS.

JAX SPECTRO SERIES AudioUnits (AUv3) are special spectral processors, which divide the audio stream in 128 frequency bands. These bands are chromatically mapped and visualized consequently in the scale of musical semitones across the entire MIDI notes range. These tools are useful for musical analysis and processing.

JAX Isolate is able to filter the audio stream in realtime based on specialized FFT algorithms with ultra sharp slope up to a single isolated semitone. Tonal ranges can be filtered out of the audio stream (bandstop) or isolated (bandpass) this way. The tools come with a graphical 128 sliders frequency control and a tonal range selector.

JAX Dynamics : Gate (super universal release and update)

We released JAX Gate, the third item in our Dynamics Series and the first update (version 3.6) is already integrated. The update fixes preset naming and integrates a new preset management dialog.

Super universal releases are available on iOS, iPadOS, visionOS and macOS (Apple Silicon).

A note to our new JAX preset management: 

A host app cannot surely assume, where the presets of a plugin / app extension (AudioUnit AUv3) are stored. Each audio unit can define and manage its own private space for handling and storing user presets. The host does not know and also has no possibility to call up the correct location of the user presets from the audio unit, as these presets are handled as pure data inside the AudioUnit framework, with no path information at all.

Some hosts do a guessing game here or assume the user presets are saved in a certain (predefined) directory on disk, inside a local private space of the audio unit. However, this assumption is wrong. 

Our audio units have to ensure correct preset handling on all supported platforms (macOS, visionOS, iOS, iPadOS and tvOS) and therefore this storage location is private and only known and accessible by our audio units. In our opinion this is a critical savety concern. So we will not allow any host application wildly accessing and modifying our audio units private storage spaces (i.e. for saving user presets).

( For instance the app AUM on iOS obviously tries to save user presets of any 3rd party audio unit by accessing it’s private storage space directly. This is not supported by our audio units and ( besides being a private storage space access violation ) will result in having no effect. )

We implemented a preset sharing option inside the new preset management dialogs, which makes it possible to share user presets manually across all supported platforms with explicit import and export functions.