Pleading my case for a "Hide Apple Audio Units" option.
I'm currently testing/studying Drambo thoroughly. The goal is to become comfortable with the app and to make my workflow as seamless as possible in preparation for actually making music. It is fundamental to my process to have the capacity to manage/eliminate distractions and technical annoyances, as it will ultimately allow me to focus on music, not tools and technicalities.
A year ago a Drambo update was released which resulted in about 17 Apple Audio Unit processors becoming accessible within Drambo, at the request of other Drambo users. Because these Audio Units are alphabetically attached to the letter "A", the consequence is that whenever I want to add an AUV3 processor, I end up having to access a list of AUV3 that I have installed in which I'm systematically flooded with about 17 consecutive Apple logos in relation to software that I have no appreciation for whatsoever and do not want to see.
Apparently because these are part of "Apple Core audio" (part of iPadOS/iOS) they CANNOT BE DELETED from my iPad. This implies that if there is no option in Drambo to hide them, I and many others who share my opinion end up having to systematically endure the Apple logo 17 times in a row before being able to select the tools we've actually chosen to install on our iOS/iPadOS devices.
I noticed there were other people at the time of the release of this update back in December 2022 that also voiced their annoyance with this situation in the forum (not sure if it was Audiobus or here), for the exact same reasons I'm writing this post now. Someone even went as far as to consider avoiding updating their OS just to not see these Apple Audio Units.
I also saw that someone else pointed out there was a search engine accessible to run a keywords search instead, but to me systematically having to interact with Drambo in such a way is similar to hostile architecture and goes against the spontaneity/creativity of selecting tools in a pre-filtered beautiful list tailored to my preferences.
I believe my request is fair and relatively simple to implement. It also echoes the sentiment of many others who value being sovereign over what comes into their field of view.
This situation has been a "thing" for 1 year at this point. I will beg if necessary! In fact I'm begging right now:
Please give us a "Hide Apple Audio Units" option!
Comments
Since the wish to hide audio units isn't always restricted to the default IOS audio units but other plugins too, I would suggest a tagging system that allows you to tag your favorite plugins and only show these by default.
Apart from a "Favorites" tag, more tags like Compressors, EQs, Distortion, Delays, Reverbs, Modulation etc. could be even more useful I think.
That would also allow me to include a few of Apple's audio units that work really well, even though they're available for free 😉
Awesome suggestion. To be honest I was thinking the same but I'm desperately trying to put chances on our side by keeping my "wish" as basic as possible to convey that this is an easy fix :D!
I mostly use the search function when loading plug-ins as I most often have an idea which one to use.
A favorite function would definitely be handy as would a filter by developer.
For those with a gazillion of plug-ins installed AUBE might be an option?
@samu In general I also do use the search function often, whether it's in AUM or Drambo. My main example for this is that I don't have many compressors or reverbs (yet LOL), so when I intend on adding a compressor or a reverb, for now I will systematically pick the Fabfilter stuff so I type "pro" in the search field and have relatively fast access to what I need.
With that said as I expressed earlier, the idea of looking at my list of available processors by scrolling through my list which contains no more than 20 entries or so (excluding the Apple AU stuff) can spark an idea for adding a combination of processors in a more experimental approach for example.
I also find that seeing the artwork of each processor's little icons is pleasant and inviting to look at, which is also why I have such a strong aversion to the Apple stuff being forced onto my eyes.
Oh also I forgot to ask, what is AUBE?
AUBE is an app that keeps track of all your installed AUv3 and lets you favorite them and there's a subscription option to keep the database up-to-date. (I don't use it since I know what I've got installed on my devices).
It also includes a 'keyboard extension' for quick loading plug-ins in hosts that have a search function (the aube-keyboard will just replace the entry with the plug-in you select in it's UI).
Some like it, some don't...
Why not just have an option to show the Apple AUs at the end/bottom of the list instead of alphabetically at the top? If they’re at the bottom you don’t have to scroll through them unless you actually want to access one of them.
Or leave them neatly at the top but inside an ‘Apple AUs’ folder so that they’re only initially visible as one item in the list.
@rs2000 ’s tagging idea is ideal but if that were too much work to implement there are surely plenty of easier options which could keep everyone happy?