Kemper new iOS/iPad app, do you think fractal will be next?

Kinda a bummer this does not exist. iPad FM3-edit would rule. plug right in usb-c, no stupid camera adapter crap
I got the last iPad pro with headphone out from 2017 and I buyed it in 2018 as wanted to have that headphone out to play software instruments without having latency because of bluetooth connection to headphones or speakers and therefore it has a lightning port instead of USB C. So I definitely want to have camera adapter port compatibility, too ;-) It works absolutely fine with my RME Babyface Pro FS in class compliant mode, too ;-)
 
In my experience no. I had a ton of difficulty getting Fracpad Lite (the free, limited iOS/Android version) to connect to my FM3 + CME WIDI Master wireless BT-MIDI dongle. Very flaky with Fracpad often not recognizing the dongle despite showing the device in the logs and the app was very prone to eventually crashing after trying to find the dongle for a while. Over USB it should work no problem but for that you need a MIDI to USB interface since the FM3 does not work as a USB host.

When my iPad Pro did connect Fracpad to my FM3 it worked just fine. I think it has a lot of smart ideas and good execution but if you look at the screenshots above vs Axe-Edit you can see that it lacks a big layer of UI polish:
  • The controls are too close together. I guess it is just iterating a list of controls to the UI whereas FM3-Edit has custom on screen arrangements for them. Tablets are of course more difficult for scaling since you have anything from 7-13" models whereas on desktop you just increase the scaling factor of the window while keeping everything in the same place.
  • There's text that gets cropped. I don't know if it's my 12.9" iPad Pro but things like Save button texts would be cropped. Nothing but long texts like say preset or scene names should ever be cropped on a UI like this. Use icons instead of text if fitting the text to a button is difficult. What gets cropped and what does not can be defined in configurations for each button.
  • The font sizes are all over the place and many of the relevant texts are downright tiny like the control labels.
  • A better font would do wonders here for making it look more classy. That Impact (or similar) font just is not very good looking.
  • Some of the touch targets are way too small. See those little question marks under the controls? Clicking those is very difficult.
  • Overall there's a lot of alignment and spacing issues. Like that little triangle icon and fw version under the Axe-Fx 3 text looks like it's going to escape the header area and the same goes for that CPU indicator. Leaving more space around elements everywhere would relax its overall look a lot.
I am not trying to throw @AlGrenadine under the train here as he has done a really great job at getting Fracpad where it is, especially without Fractal providing official documentation on how to do a lot of it. Al has made the right choice here where instead of painstakingly replicating FM3-Edit he has adapted that UI to work well on a touchscreen with controls suited for fingers rather than a mouse. I am still totally on board with Fractal just hiring him and working together to make a mobile editor for Fractal products because he has already done most of the job.

Getting Fracpad to connect seamlessly to the FM3 and making it look as good as Axe-Edit/FM3-Edit does are comparatively simpler tasks to do vs building the whole thing from scratch.

If you want to try Fracpad without the necessary dongles for a tablet, you can download the free PC or Mac version of it and try it for yourself with your FM3 connected to the computer. While it's not the same user experience as using it with a tablet, it operates the same.
Wow Laxu, excellent analogy /summary, Thank you so much for an objective review and getting everyone up to date on the problems with the app. I vaguely remember seeing some of the negative feedback back in 2016 about it so never bothered since I have an abundance of spare laptops for my Ax-Edit and never bothered with it. I own a Digitech iPB-10 and love the the interface, while the modeling is light-years away from Fractal It'd be awesome to have a iOS version of Ax-Edit that was similar in ease of use and functionality that would be on a a stand while performing.
Cheers,
 
Another option is using a 2 in 1 PC. I have the Lenovo flex 5, and comparing fracpad PC to FM3 edit, FM3 edit seems easier to use, plus its fully capable, fully supported, and you likely know where everything is.
I use a cheap 2 in 1 from Walmart for my various editors
 
I think Fract pad is great. The blue tooth stuff with dongles was iffy but using a cable always rocked.

To this point FAS and L6 have seemed to have had no interest in iOS editores. Kemper has started something interesting by doing an IOS editor. I believe the QC is supposed to have an iOS editor coming too. If it does I think FAS and L6 will at least have to consider responding with one as well.
 
I think Fract pad is great. The blue tooth stuff with dongles was iffy but using a cable always rocked.

To this point FAS and L6 have seemed to have had no interest in iOS editores. Kemper has started something interesting by doing an IOS editor. I believe the QC is supposed to have an iOS editor coming too. If it does I think FAS and L6 will at least have to consider responding with one as well.

The BOSS GT-1000 has an IOS editor as well, but Roland hasn’t been terribly enthusiastic about updating the firmware to keep their flagship modeler somewhat competitive with the competition.
 
The BOSS GT-1000 has an IOS editor as well, but Roland hasn’t been terribly enthusiastic about updating the firmware to keep their flagship modeler somewhat competitive with the competition.
I feel like Fas, Kemper, L6 and QC are not worried about boss (though I have heard it is a cool unit)
 
The paid version of FracPad works great with the cable attached. No experience with using it with Bluetooth so I can’t comment on that. I’ve been very happy.
 
My 2 cents: I don't like IOS or Android driven software given the frequent changes and bugs.
What I found brilliant at the time is what Soundcraft did with the UI series digital mixers and wish this could be applied to future FAS gear.
Their system was set up in HTML5 which made it available to just about any smartphone, tablet or computer by means of a web browser.

I would connect to the unit's IP address (it acted as a router) and the mixer settings were all done by web pages. You had 2 choices when connecting: smartphone or tablet/PC pages to adjust for screen size. I tested it using Windows, IOS, and even a Raspberry Pi3. It would certainly make things a lot easier and flexible. Updates should be simpler as everything is written in a universal language and would not require the crap needed for IOS/Android version and app store review and acceptance.

At the moment, FM3-Edit is available for Windows and Mac but if the same interface could be written in HTML5. Perhaps, by means of the USB port, a dongle could be used to connect wirelessly?

Just thinking out of the box.
 
So the reason everyone want this is so they can use a 6" device (smartphone) instead of a 8" to 10" inch device (Tablet\ipad)?
Then again I am from a different time and my smartphone is used , well, as a phone-a very expensive phone I might add.
 
I feel like Fas, Kemper, L6 and QC are not worried about boss (though I have heard it is a cool unit)

I don't think the Roland Corporation is very interested in putting the effort into competing in the modeling market, either. The GT-1000 is a very tiny slice of their pie.
 
So the reason everyone want this is so they can use a 6" device (smartphone) instead of a 8" to 10" inch device (Tablet\ipad)?
Then again I am from a different time and my smartphone is used , well, as a phone-a very expensive phone I might add.
I’ve got an 11”

iPad Pro that I’d be using.
 
My 2 cents: I don't like IOS or Android driven software given the frequent changes and bugs.
What I found brilliant at the time is what Soundcraft did with the UI series digital mixers and wish this could be applied to future FAS gear.
Their system was set up in HTML5 which made it available to just about any smartphone, tablet or computer by means of a web browser.

I would connect to the unit's IP address (it acted as a router) and the mixer settings were all done by web pages. You had 2 choices when connecting: smartphone or tablet/PC pages to adjust for screen size. I tested it using Windows, IOS, and even a Raspberry Pi3. It would certainly make things a lot easier and flexible. Updates should be simpler as everything is written in a universal language and would not require the crap needed for IOS/Android version and app store review and acceptance.

At the moment, FM3-Edit is available for Windows and Mac but if the same interface could be written in HTML5. Perhaps, by means of the USB port, a dongle could be used to connect wirelessly?

Just thinking out of the box.
Web MIDI is only supported in Chrome and Chromium based browsers so iOS devices, using Apple's Webkit for any browser, would not support it.

The modern way for cross platform development using web technologies is using something like React Native which can compile for Android and iOS with mostly the same code and use their native platform features as well.
 
Web MIDI is only supported in Chrome and Chromium based browsers so iOS devices, using Apple's Webkit for any browser, would not support it.

The modern way for cross platform development using web technologies is using something like React Native which can compile for Android and iOS with mostly the same code and use their native platform features as well.
Or something like Qt/Juce
 
Just saw on Facebook Kemper announcing it's mobile app that "gives touch control over its profilers"

It's something like this viable with fractal with an official iPad/iOS app?
Viable? Without bluetooth, probably not. Look at the difference between the bluetooth-equipped Kemper Stage where it works quite well, and the bluetoothless Kemper lunchbox, where it's a convoluted mess. Cliff has hinted the FM3 USB-A port could be used to add bluetooth.
 
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