How can I switch between patches with Next/Back buttons in a standalone app?

Charity Rosario's icon

Hi everyone,

I’m a beginner working on a standalone Max app, and I’m trying to build a simple navigation system. I want users to be able to click a “Next” button to switch from one patch (like page1.maxpat) to another (like page2.maxpat).

I’d also love to include a “Back” button so users can move between pages, kind of like a basic multi-level or menu-style interface.

I’ve tried asking ChatGPT, but it hasn’t been very helpful with this. I haven’t found any tutorials that cover this specific setup either, so if anyone has suggestions, examples, or even a tutorial to point me in, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

Martin Olavarria's icon

Hi Charity!

You can check the [tab] object. The way I have done something similar to this is by hiding the [bpatcher] object from presentation mode with the help of the [tab] object as GUI.

In the example I'm sharing you will find a "script sendbox soundbox1 hidden $1" message inside the [p rooms_control] object. The [bpatcher] objects (not part of the patch im sharing) are named "soundbox1" in their scripting name property so the message activates their presentation mode visibility.

Max Patch
Copy patch and select New From Clipboard in Max.