You know, it's been a long time since we talked about Mira. Remember Mira? If you need a refresher, Mira is our companion app for iOS. You add a mira.frame object to your patch, any UI objects that you put inside that frame appear inside the Mira app. We first released Mira in 2013, and we've made small changes to it over the years.
What's New?
Mira 1.2.18 fixes a few longstanding issues related stability, text rendering, and button behavior. We also fixed an issue with the mira.multitouch external and swipe gestures that had been around (apparently unnoticed) since launch day. In addition, Mira wasn't working at all with iOS 14, so we took care of that.
With these fixes we're also adding a couple of focused features. First, the live.meter~ object is now supported.
The equivalent Max object meter~ has its advantages, but the live.meter~ object provides finer detail than the standard meter~ and a has lingering clipping indicator. In addition, it's very skinny.
Next, we've added two new Mira options specifically for kiosk and installation displays. You'll find these in your iOS settings under Mira.
The options "Connect to USB Automatically" and "Connect to WiFi Automatically" should be pretty self-explanatory. Enable either of these, and whenever you open Mira, it will connect immediately if it detects an instance of Max over USB or on the same WiFi network. This saves your finger the minor hassle of a couple taps, but it's also great for situations where you want to use Mira as part of a kiosk.
With that in mind, you can guess why we added "Hide Config Menu." This option removes the menu button at the top-right that normally lets you do things like manage your connection to Max. With this option enabled, you essentially run Mira in "read-only" mode. The user can interact with the patch, but they can't disconnect or change display modes. Again, perfect for the kiosk.
Mira in 2020
How are people using Mira in 2020? I'd be curious to know.
I'm continually amazed by some of the Mira projects that I see out in the wild. About a year ago at our Max user conference Expo '74, I got an in-person demo for an app by Andrej Kobal called GranuRise that you can operate entirely from Mira. The depth of this app is out of control, with feature like XY controls for pan/volume and gesture playback.
Inspired by the new version of Mira as well as some new mtr object features, I recently spent some time diving back into Mira myself. The patch shown in the following video records gestures coming out of the mira.multitouch object and immediately loops them.
mira-mtr.maxpat
Max Patch
Download the example patch
So — if you haven't picked up Mira in a while, I recommend you give it a spin (You can find it on the Apple Store). It's snappier and crisper on modern iPads than it's ever been.
I've been trying to use it since the very beginning, but I've had so many problems trying to make Mira work with M4L. It disconnects so frequently. For instance, switching back from editing a M4L device always makes the connection stop, and it reverts the connection when going back to edit mode.
What I'd be interested to see is a version of this (or a new app) wherein one could run specific patches solely on an iPad. Not exactly "Max for iPad", because creation of patches would be done on the computer. Just runtime versions so that I could use Max onstage without needing to have the computer tag along.
Updates always welcome, especially when it comes to Mira which I was beginning to consider to be abandonware! But it would be great to have more objects supported. Things like live.gain, radiobuttons, etc, I have to recreate with Max's more basic objects and patches get cluttered. Mira is more of a headache than a useful Max companion. Mira came out 8 years ago and really should be much further along in terms of supported objects. But great work, long may it continue!
I'm very grateful, that I can test my Max4Live prototype via MIRA! This is really a great and simple to use opportunity!
I have one question and I would be very thankful for an answer: If I move objects on the mira.frame by hand, their new positions are immediately reflected on the iPad. If I do the same thing with scripting via script sendbox, the objects on the iPad don't update their positions. I searched for any "bang", "update" or whatever message, but had no luck, yet. "Focus" doesn't update the positions, either.
Is there a way to tell the mira.frame object, that it should update or a similar approach?
I was just informed that an updated MIRA is not in Max 9.0, because c74 has stopped developing it.
Fine, but have you replaced MIRA’s functionality - to simply and accurately allow us to design the look and feel of our own working navigation systems for Max?
I’m sure you know that in performance, muscle memory is incredibly important to allow a high level of facility in navigation and modification of sound and image. It allowed me to tailor my own embodiment in my work as a visual and musical artist.
There have also been many requests.
All I can say is “please!” and “thanks!” in anticipation.
The fact that I had no difficulty in believe that Mira was being abandoned betrays the fact that I'm concerned about the future of Mira and its lack of development.
I love Mira and have based multiple projects around it over the years. Would love to see more investment in it. The ability to do even tiny jitter matrixes or textures would be incredible.
