Release notes

What changed in each version of StudioTools for Mac and StudioTools Connect for iPhone and iPad. The newest release is at the top.

Updates come through the Mac App Store and the App Store. To see which version you have, choose About StudioTools in the StudioTools menu.

StudioTools 2.4.0 Beta

Coming soon to the Mac App Store · in beta now · Mac app

StudioTools 2.4.0 turns the video recorder into Video Studio: film your session with several cameras at once, in sync, and watch every take with all cameras together. StudioTools Connect has no changes in this release.

New

• Video Studio: the Video Recorder is now Video Studio. Open it from the StudioTools menu.
  • Several cameras at once: each camera records to its own file, all files start on the same frame, and every file has the sound of your audio interface. Recording still starts and stops with your DAW.
  • Setup: choose, name and arrange your cameras with live previews, and pick which input of your audio interface to record — a mono input such as a talkback mic, or a stereo pair — while level meters show every input.
  • Recording: watch your cameras in a grid, one camera large, or one at a time. The REC frame and banner scale with the window, so you can read them from behind the drum kit. If a camera drops out, the others keep recording, and StudioTools warns you before the disk fills up.
  • Takes and the player: every take is saved as one item. Double-click it to watch all cameras in sync, or use Open Video Take… and Play Last Take. Show Camera Files gets you to the movies for your video editor.
  • Take names: with a Pro Tools session open, takes are named after it — "My Song – Take 3" — so takes from different songs are easy to tell apart. You can turn it off in Setup.
  • Upgrading: your Video Recorder settings (audio device, output folder, auto-record) are brought over the first time you open Video Studio, and Setup opens once with your camera selected. Takes are now saved as one item per take instead of a single movie file.

Improved

• Media Manager: lists your Video Studio takes next to your audio files, with duration, size and tags. Double-click a take to watch it in the Takes player, or use Show Camera Files to get to the movies for your video editor.
• Release notes: the What's New and About windows link to these release notes, opened at your version.

Fixed

• Local network warning: the "Local network access is off" warning no longer appears while your lights and hubs are reachable. It used to show up after the Mac had been asleep or the network briefly dropped.
• Media Manager: recent folders on network shares or external drives that aren't connected no longer make the Media Manager hang. They show as not reachable, with Connect and Connect and Open, and you can remove them from the list.

StudioTools 2.3.0

Released October 28, 2026 · Mac app

StudioTools 2.3.0 adds the Media Manager, a new window for working with folders of audio files, and makes smart-home setups easier to keep running. StudioTools Connect has no changes in this release.

New

• Media Manager: a new window for working with folders of audio files. Open it from the StudioTools menu.
  • Formats and file list: WAV/BWF, RF64, AIFF and CAF are read natively; MP3, AAC and FLAC are listed with their format info. Sort the file list, see Finder tags, and export the list as CSV or TSV.
  • Dual mono: find stereo files whose left and right channels are identical and convert them to mono. The conversion is bit-exact and keeps Broadcast Wave timestamps, markers and other metadata, with backups.
  • Metadata: view and edit WAV (RIFF INFO and Broadcast Wave), AIFF and CAF metadata, for one file or a whole batch.
  • Loudness: measure integrated loudness, loudness range and true peak (EBU R128), and store the values in Broadcast Wave files.
  • Preview: a waveform with markers, live level and loudness meters, and listening modes including an L−R null test.
• Local network warning: if macOS blocks StudioTools from your local network, StudioTools now tells you, in the menu, in Settings and in the hub status, and opens the right page in System Settings. Before, lights and hubs just stopped responding.

Improved

• Smart home hub status: Philips Hue, IKEA Trådfri and IKEA Dirigera settings show whether your hub is actually reachable. If the hub has moved to a new address, StudioTools finds it, and you update the address in one click, without pairing again.
• Video recorder: a short explanation before macOS asks for the camera and microphone. If camera access is off, the window says so instead of waiting forever; if microphone access is off, a banner warns that recordings will have no sound. Both have a button that opens Privacy Settings.
• Lyrics demo song: explains why macOS may ask for the microphone when the demo song plays (some audio interfaces are input and output devices at the same time).
• Quitting: StudioTools now waits for Media Manager file writes to finish and asks about unsaved metadata and lyrics before it quits.

StudioTools 2.2.0

Released June 2026 · Mac app

StudioTools 2.2.0 connects to Pro Tools, makes StudioTools ready for Macs shared by several people, and fixes local network and camera access on macOS 15.

New

• Pro Tools integration: StudioTools sees which Pro Tools session is open. The lyrics editor shows the session name and offers the lyrics file with the same name, from the session folder, from Documents/StudioTools/Lyrics, or from your recent files. It's on by default; turn it off in Settings with Enable Pro Tools Advanced Integration.
• Managed configuration for shared Macs: an administrator can deploy one configuration for every user account on the Mac, either enforced (settings are read-only) or as a starting point that each user can change.

Improved

• Lyrics editor: a clearer start screen and empty-document view, with Import Lyrics and Add Section right where you start.

Fixed

• Local network, camera and microphone access: StudioTools asks for these permissions as macOS expects again. In 2.1, smart-home devices, MQTT and webhooks could fail to connect on macOS 15 and later, the video recorder couldn't use the camera or microphone, and IKEA hubs weren't found automatically.

StudioTools 2.1.1 and StudioTools Connect 1.0.1

Released December 2025 · StudioTools Connect (the Mac app has no visible changes)

New

• Demo Mode in StudioTools Connect: try the app without a Mac. Tap Try Demo Mode on the connection screen, or pick 🎭 Demo Mode in the list of Macs. A demo song plays with synchronized lyrics, timecode and working transport controls.

Improved

• StudioTools Connect settings show the app's version and build number.

StudioTools 2.1 and StudioTools Connect 1.0

Released December 2025 · Mac app and the first version of StudioTools Connect

StudioTools 2.1 adds a lyrics editor and a companion app for iPhone and iPad that turns them into a lyrics teleprompter and remote for your DAW.

New

• Lyrics editor: create and edit timestamped lyrics with sections (verse, chorus, bridge, …). The active stanza follows DAW playback, with bars/beats timecode for Logic Pro and minutes/seconds for Pro Tools. Import lyrics from plain text with automatic section detection, open recent files, and you're asked before unsaved changes are lost. A demo song lets you try it without a DAW.
• StudioTools Connect for iPhone and iPad: a lyrics teleprompter with three display modes (Scroll, Split and Focus), transport control (play, stop, record, rewind, fast forward), and live timecode and recording state from your Mac. It finds your Mac automatically on the local network, remembers several Macs, and only shows what the Mac allows it to do.
• Matter (experimental): add Matter lights and outlets directly in StudioTools, over Thread or Wi-Fi, and control them from the recording state. Works alongside Apple Home, Google Home and other systems.

StudioTools 2.0

Released November 20, 2025 · Mac app

A redesigned configuration window and direct control of Philips Hue and IKEA smart lighting.

New

• Redesigned configuration: every automation is a card that shows what it does. Add handlers from a visual picker, follow guided setup, and test each recording state with one click. No JSON editing needed; the JSON editor is still under Advanced….
• Philips Hue: finds your Hue Bridge automatically, pairs with the bridge's link button, and sets color and brightness for recording, armed, playing and idle, with a live preview.
• IKEA Trådfri and Dirigera: control IKEA lights and devices directly from StudioTools.
• What's New on the first launch of a new version.

Improved

• MQTT, webhooks and scripts: better validation and error reporting.
• Keychain: passwords and keys are stored in the macOS Keychain.
• MIDI setup: a simpler port name, "StudioTools". If you set up StudioTools before 2.0, select the StudioTools port again in your DAW's control surface setup.

Changed

• Requires macOS 14 or later.

StudioTools 1.1

Released April 23, 2025 · Mac app

New

• MQTT: publish the recording state to an MQTT broker, or let other systems set it through a topic StudioTools listens to.
• Scripts: run your own AppleScript or shell script when the recording state changes, with an example script and a sample Shortcut to start from.
• Sound in video recordings: choose an audio input next to the camera.
• Start at Login, and the recording state in the menu bar icon.

Improved

• A handler editor to add, edit and remove handlers.
• More reliable armed and recording detection in Logic Pro and Pro Tools.
• The log shows timestamps and scrolls automatically.

Changed

• Requires macOS 12.4 or later.

StudioTools 1.0

Released April 15, 2025 · Mac app

The first release.

• Recording state from your DAW: Logic Pro through the Recording Light control surface and Pro Tools through HUI, or set by other systems through a built-in webhook listener.
• Webhooks: send the recording state to any number of URLs, for example Home Assistant.
• Video recorder: records video from a chosen camera, starting and stopping with your DAW.

Found a problem in a release? Report it on GitHub Issues — see Troubleshooting for what to include.