This week we control our HomeKit homes form our wrists, control our iPad music with Audiobus 3.4, get help talking to foreigners with Day Interpreting, and more.
Audiobus 3.4
Photo: Cult of Mac
Audiobus just got yet another fantastic update. This musicians’ app is still one of the best ways to route audio and MIDI from app to app, but it is now a MIDI control powerhouse. with v3.4 you can sync your entire iPad to external gear. If you have a drum machine, for example, you can use its MIDI clock as a master for all the apps on the iPad, even if those apps can’t usually sync by themselves — Audiobus can sync this clock with Ableton Link, too.
Also great is the new “append” feature. You could always save your routing setups in Audiobus, but now you can append one of those saved routings to your current setup. For instance, you might have a saved routing for adding effects to a guitar. You can now quickly add this to any recording setup you like, instead of building it from scratch each time.
Price: $9.99
Download: Audiobus 3 from the App Store (iOS)
ChannelStrip
Photo: Audio Damage
Another great audio app, this time from Audio Damage. ChannelStrip. This is an Audio Unit, designed to be used as a sound-processing plugin inside other apps. Add it to an audio channel, and ChannelStrip lets you tweak EQ, and add a noise gate, and/or a compressor. It’s not as full-featured as some AU compressors, or EQ plugins, but that’s the point — it’s simple, easy, and direct. And because it’s from Audio Damage, it probably sounds great, too.
Price: $4.99
Download: ChannelStrip from the App Store (iOS)
HomeRun for HomeKit
Photo: HomeRun
HomeRun now offers something called Daily Routines. These are kind of like timed shortcuts for your preferred HomeKit actions. For instance, the HomeRun watch complication can change throughout the day, offering a different function at different times.
Or you can have different suggestions appear on the Siri watch face at different times of day. These suggestions will also appear on the iPhone.
Price: $2.99
Download: HomeRun for HomeKit from the App Store (iOS)
Day Interpreting
If you’re venturing in a foreign country, or just speaking to people with whom you don’t share a common language, Day Interpreting looks like an interesting app. It hooks you up with a live interpreter, so you can speak to them via a video link. The service is paid, although I can’t find a price list on the app’s website, nor on the App Store page. You can also sign up to be an interpreter, at a ridiculously low standard rate of $8 per hour.
Still, I guess it’s better than becoming an Uber driver.
Price: Free
Download: Day Interpreting from the App Store (iOS)
