Open Planet News

You’ll soon be able to use MIDI plug-ins in Sessions!

We’re looking for more beta testers to help test this and although it’s not 100% complete (and there may be bugs) we feel development is far enough along to give you an early peek at this exciting new feature.

If you’re interested, follow the link below and sign up to the TestFlight!

https://www.openplanetsoftware.com/sessions/testflight.html

Sessions 8.0 adds Backing Tracks - one of the top requested features.

You can now use pre-recorded backing tracks, stems and loops in your live performances.

With Backing Tracks you can play an individual audio file or a set of stem files, each with its own volume control. Tracks can be independently set to play once or loop indefinitely and can be routed into the Scene Mixer for further processing.

We’ve also refreshed the Toolbar in Sessions 8.0. The central display now shows the current position in either bars & beats or elapsed time. Toolbar buttons include Play / Stop, Rewind, Metronome Mute / Unmute and a new Panic button that mutes the output and kills any hanging MIDI notes.

Sessions is available on the App Store as a Universal Purchase that includes both the Mac and iPad apps for $19.99. No ads, no in-app-purchases, no subscriptions - just a one-off purchase at a fair price. The update is free of charge for existing users.

Just Press Record has been updated with a refreshed user interface using Apples new Liquid Glass. The update, version 51.0, is available today on all supported platforms - iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.

We are delighted to announce that Sessions 5.0 is now available!

The update introduces two new features - Session Mix and Pinned Scenes - that work together to unlock a whole new way to perform live with Sessions.

Session Mix is a new view that provides a bird’s eye view of your entire session. Your 12 Scenes are arranged in a grid with colourful, easy-to-see and easy-to-reach buttons. Designed to be simple and intuitive to use while playing live, Session Mix lets you control all 12 Scene output levels and seamlessly switch Scenes without any other distractions.

Session Mix also includes Pinned Scenes that enables you to activate and deactivate additional Scenes alongside the currently selected Scene. This opens the door to new possibilities such as always-on Scenes and delivers the flexibility to treat Scenes as layers that can be seamlessly blended in and out during a live performance.

We’ve also added new external MIDI mappings so you can pin / unpin Scenes and adjust individual Scene output levels from your MIDI controller.

Sessions is available on the App Store as a Universal Purchase that includes both the Mac and iPad apps for $19.99. No ads, no in-app-purchases, no subscriptions - just a one-off purchase at a fair price. The update is free of charge for existing users.

We're excited to announce that Sessions 4.0 is now available on the Mac and iPad App Stores.

The headline feature is a new multi-threaded audio engine that harnesses the power of modern Apple chips for real-time audio.

By intelligently subdividing the audio processing workload so it runs in parallel on multiple CPU cores, Sessions 4.0 unlocks new levels of performance so you can add even more Channel Strips and Plug-ins to your projects!

Sessions is available on the App Store as a Universal Purchase that includes both the Mac and iPad apps for $19.99. No ads, no in-app-purchases, no subscriptions - just a one-off purchase at a fair price. The update is free of charge for existing users.

Since the launch of Sessions for Mac last year, one of the most popular requests has been to develop an iPad version of the app. The wait is over! 

Today, we’re delighted to announce Sessions 3.0 and the introduction of Sessions for iPad.

Sessions for iPad delivers the same innovative feature set and ease-of-use as Sessions for Mac in a gorgeous interface optimised for iPad.

As well as the introduction of Sessions for iPad, there are many other enhancements in Sessions 3.0. Both apps share a common project file format and Widgets have been updated with a new header that includes dedicated buttons for common actions.

Sessions 3.0 is available on the App Store as a Universal Purchase that includes both the Mac and iPad apps for $19.99.  No ads, no in-app-purchases, no subscriptions - just a one-off purchase at a fair price. The update, including Sessions for iPad, is free of charge for existing users of Sessions for Mac.

We are delighted to announce that version 2.0 of our popular plug-in host, Sessions, is now available!

Version 2.0 integrates plug-ins deeply into the app experience, blurring the boundary between host and plug-in.

The elegant single-window design displays a plug-in’s own UI in the main Sessions window alongside the Mixer and Library. Having everything in one place clears up clutter, reduces friction and puts those gorgeous and inspiring plug-in interfaces front-and-centre where they belong.

Sessions is available on the Mac App Store and costs $29.99.

Version 2.0 is a free update for existing users.

Just Press Record has always been about making recording as quick and frictionless as possible, putting the big record button in the most convenient places.  This year, with the release of iOS 18, we’re bringing it to three new places on your iPhone - Control Centre, the Lock Screen and the Action Button! 

And on Apple Watch, we’re bringing an interactive widget to the Smart Stack and adding support for the double tap gesture while you’re running Just Press Record.

Open Planet Software are delighted to announce our latest app, ‘Sessions’, is now available.

Sessions is a plugin host for musicians, made for the fun of playing live.

With features like Plugin Widgets, Scenes and the Always-on recorder, Sessions is a musical hub that’s equally at home in the practice room, the studio or on the stage.

Learn more on the Sessions website, where you can also download a free trial.

We’re delighted to announce that our next app, ‘Sessions’, is now in public beta, with the final release planned for later this year!  

Sessions is a new Audio Unit plugin host designed for musicians of every kind, from keyboard players and guitarists, to composers, songwriters and sound designers.  It’s refreshingly straightforward - nothing gets in the way when you just want to play.  However, under the hood you’ll find an incredibly flexible app that scales from simple plugin chains to multi-layered keyboard patches all the way to mixing an entire live band complete with pre/post-fader sends, auxiliary channels and multiple outputs.

We’ll be announcing more details, including the release date a little later.  For now, you can try the Sessions beta using this TestFlight link:

https://testflight.apple.com/join/JjkkVxGN.

We’d love to hear what you think!

Here’s a brief summary of the features planned for Sessions 1.0:

Plugins:

Support for Audio Unit v2 and v3 plugins

Instrument and Effect Libraries with search and favourites filter

Mixer:

Support for multi-channel audio interfaces and multiple MIDI keyboards and controllers

Unlimited number of Instrument, Audio and Auxiliary Channels

Instrument channel MIDI filters to support the creation of layers and splits

8 sends per channel (switchable pre / post fader)

Plugin Widgets:

Simple drag-and-drop interface

Collection of beautiful widget themes, many inspired by the classic hardware of yesteryear

Control up to 12 parameters per plugin

Scenes:

12 Scenes, each with its own independent Mixer

Seamless switching between scenes

Macro Controls:

16 Macros and 1 Big Knob per Scene

Each Macro can control multiple parameters, each with its own scaling and range

Always-on recorder:

Continuously record the last 5, 10 or 15 minutes of what you’ve been playing

Looping payback of recorded region

Export recorded region as M4A or WAV

Beat Clock:

Start / Stop, temp and time signature control

Internal, Ableton Link and external MIDI clock sync sources

Metronome with selectable tick sound

Misc:

Record to file for unlimited recording duration

MIDI controller support for switching scenes, controlling macros and more

We initially developed Perfect Tempo with musicians in mind, as a practice tool to help them play along to songs at their preferred speed.  As time went on we found that it was popular with dance and fitness instructors too. It became clear that they found the app incredibly useful and almost universally they clamoured for just one more thing to make it perfect - Setlists!!

With Perfect Tempo v35 we’ve put a lot of thought into creating Setlists that really work. Now you can create unlimited Setlists by combining songs from many different sources, you can set and remember different tempos for different songs, enjoy continuous play… and even control playback from your Apple Watch for ultimate convenience! Brilliant for music, dance and fitness instructors who want to be able to concentrate on their class instead of their device!

Version 35 also has numerous improvements across the entire app including a more vibrant colour scheme and app icon.  We hope you love the changes!

Today we’re delighted to announce the availability of Just Press Record v45.0.  We’ve added a live activity in iOS 16.1 along with support for the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island.

v45.0 also brings the full Just Press Record app to macOS for the first time.  You’ll find all the amazing features from the iOS app, optimised for macOS, localised in 13 languages and with great VoiceOver support. 

Just Press Record is now a single, universal app purchase that will run on iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and macOS.  Buy it once and you can use Just Press Record on all your devices.

If you’ve previously purchased the iOS app, you’ll get the new Mac app for free as part of the universal purchase.

The old macOS app has been removed from the Mac App Store and will no longer be maintained.  We recommend Mac users switch to the new universal app with its improved features and unified experience across all devices.

Today, to coincide with the release of iOS 16, we’re delighted to announce the availability of Just Press Record version 44.

We’ve added a Lock Screen Widget for iOS 16.  This is the fastest way to start recording - just tap the widget and you’re off!

Also new for iOS 16 is the the ability to automatically add punctuation to transcripts.

We’ve also added some other features that are available to all users on iOS 14, 15 and 16:

Just Press Record now appears in the share menu so you can send audio files to Just Press Record from other apps.

You can now print transcripts to compatible AirPrint printers.

You can now use fixed sample rates, such as 44.1 kHz, as well as allowing Just Press Record to determine the best available sample rate.

Later this year, we’re bringing the full Just Press Record experience to macOS. You’ll find all the amazing features from the iOS app, optimised for macOS, localised in 13 languages and with great VoiceOver support. And for the first time, Just Press Record will be available as a single, universal purchase that will run on iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and macOS.

The current macOS app will be removed from the Mac App Store to make way for the universal purchase which includes the existing iOS app and the new macOS app.

What will this mean for existing customers?

Customers who own only the iOS app

Good news! You will get the new macOS version for free as part of your existing iOS purchase.

Customers who own only the macOS app

You can continue to use the existing app but no more updates will be released.  The new universal app will be available to purchase for customers who want the latest features.

Customers who own both the iOS and macOS apps

We recommend switching to the new universal app on macOS with its unified experience across all devices.

Apple have reinstated the ability for apps to adjust the playback speed of songs from the Apple Music catalogue in iOS 15.5.  

Today, we are delighted to announce Perfect Tempo version 34 that restores full support for Apple Music when running on iOS 15.5 or later.

Version 34 is a free update for existing customers.  For new customers, Perfect Tempo is available on the App Store and costs $4.99.  No ads, no in-app-purchases, no subscriptions - just a one-off purchase at a fair price.

As of iOS 15.4, Apple Music content is only allowed to be played at normal speed. It is no longer technically possible for apps to adjust the playback speed of songs from the Apple Music catalog. As a result, Perfect Tempo will not display or play Apple Music content when running on iOS 15.4 or later.

Songs downloaded from the iTunes Store, ripped from CDs or imported directly into Perfect Tempo remain unaffected and can still be played at any speed.

Apple Music content is still available in Perfect Tempo when the app is run on iOS versions up to iOS 15.3.1.

Today, we’re delighted to announce the availability of Just Press Record version 43. This update features an entirely new user interface for iPadOS. The new design, based around a three-pane layout, brings a real boost in productivity for iPad users.