PdParty hasn’t been around that long, but in that time it’s got some good upgrades. Especially this one. But before we dig in to what’s in the latest update let’s have a reminder about what PdParty is.

PdParty is an open-source iOS application for running Pure Data patches on Apple mobile devices using libpd. Directly inspired by Chris McCormick’s PdDroidParty and the original RjDj by Reality Jockey, PdParty takes a step further by supporting OSC (Open Sound Control), MIDI, & MiFi game controller input as well as implementing the native Pd GUI objects for a WYSIWYG patch to mobile device experience.

Various scene types are supported including compatibility modes for PdDroidParty & RjDj and both patches and abstraction libraries can be managed via a built-in web server. Unlike the rise of the single-purpose audio application, PdParty is meant to provide a platform for general purpose digital signal processing via Pure Data patches.

As you can see, if you wanted to run some old RJDJ patches, PdParty is the app to use.

In the latest update PdParty now includes:

  • a pdparty:// URL scheme so other apps can open PdParty and patches/scenes (suggested by Josef Novotny). This could be very interesting for anyone who’s using URL schemes elsewhere. It’s a powerful technology and one that I’d like to see included in more music apps
  • #pdparty openurl message now passes non-local URLS to the system so PdParty can open other apps (suggested by Josef Novotny)
  • Of course any iOS update isn’t complete without the obligatory raft of fixes. In this particular release PdParty fixed an iOS 6 crash by making GameController linking optional as it’s only available in iOS 7+ (reported by Marc Lingk)
    Also fixed crash when receiving string OSC argument
    And fixed wrong IEM color message handling (reported by toniarnold)

Note: To update the included PdParty patch folders (lib, samples, tests) after an update, use the buttons at the bottom of the Settings page.

PdParty is free on the app store now: