Highest iOS version for Spire Studio use?

[Brushwood]

Anyone still using the discontinued Izotope Spire Studio? If so, do you know what’s the most recent iOS version that’s still compatible using the Spire Studio app? I’m going to dedicate an older iPad and iPhone to only use with my Spire and don’t want to upgrade the iOS in them beyond the Spire’s ability. I want to keep that easy to use recording option available for as long as possible.
Thanks for any updated info on this.

[Headless Folkie]

Greetings,

I haven't used it for a while, but coincidentally did some basic spoken word recording with it a weekend or so ago - on my iPad mini 6 using iOS 17.3.1

This is a first generation Spire so I can't speak to whether the 2nd generation extras are still available online (I'm guessing not - see below), but for 'basic' features and functions, it's still operational with the current iOS.

But there is an anomaly that I've noticed that may have to do with the iOS, or my incomplete memory of how to operate the recorder, or neither, but I do have a theory...

If I try to export a file while the Spire recorder is still connected as a Wi-Fi base to my iPad, the transfer fails along with a message something like "Whoops it seems there's an error on OUR END (emphasis mine). Try again later." My guess is that there used to be some intermediate phase on a server somewhere at Spire Inc. that no longer exists. As soon as I turn off the recording unit, and my iPad reconnects to my regular Wi-Fi, I can then export the file through options like email or cloud accounts. One of the downsides of this, though, is that if you use the Enhance feature before exporting (which requires that the Spire recorder be connected to Wi-Fi), as soon as you then turn off the Spire to reconnect to your regular Wi-Fi the enhanced file disappears from the iPad.

So, it is still possible to use the app and the recorder, and it is still possible to export the files, but you have to turn the recorder off and reconnect to your regular. Wi-Fi before exporting.

And if my theory is correct, and Izotope, and/or the company that bought it, has deliberately turned off this feature somewhere on their corporate servers (while it effectively would've cost them nothing to just keep it operating), and I think we all deserve full refund.

So there.

[Brushwood]

Originally Posted by Headless Folkie

Greetings,

I haven't used it for a while, but coincidentally did some basic spoken word recording with it a weekend or so ago - on my iPad mini 6 using iOS 17.3.1

This is a first generation Spire so I can't speak to whether the 2nd generation extras are still available online (I'm guessing not - see below), but for 'basic' features and functions, it's still operational with the current iOS.

But there is an anomaly that I've noticed that may have to do with the iOS, or my incomplete memory of how to operate the recorder, or neither, but I do have a theory...

If I try to export a file while the Spire recorder is still connected as a Wi-Fi base to my iPad, the transfer fails along with a message something like "Whoops it seems there's an error on OUR END (emphasis mine). Try again later." My guess is that there used to be some intermediate phase on a server somewhere at Spire Inc. that no longer exists. As soon as I turn off the recording unit, and my iPad reconnects to my regular Wi-Fi, I can then export the file through options like email or cloud accounts. One of the downsides of this, though, is that if you use the Enhance feature before exporting (which requires that the Spire recorder be connected to Wi-Fi), as soon as you then turn off the Spire to reconnect to your regular Wi-Fi the enhanced file disappears from the iPad.

So, it is still possible to use the app and the recorder, and it is still possible to export the files, but you have to turn the recorder off and reconnect to your regular. Wi-Fi before exporting.

And if my theory is correct, and Izotope, and/or the company that bought it, has deliberately turned off this feature somewhere on their corporate servers (while it effectively would've cost them nothing to just keep it operating), and I think we all deserve full refund.

So there.

This info is great to know! Thanks for taking the time to write your very recent experience using the Spire and iOS 17.3.1 and the heads-up about what you ran into with exporting. Guess it’s time for me to dive in and see what happens with various iOS levels on different old iPads and iPhones.

[raysachs]

I’ve always had trouble exporting when the Spire is in wi-fi “host” mode. The workaround I’ve been using since my earliest days with the Spire (2018 I believe) is to export a song to a “note” (you know, in the “Notes” app on the iPad / iPhone) on the iPad I’m recording on, so it’s not having to send the file over the air on a WiFi network that’s not on. It just saves it to that device, and then once it’s done and I quit the Spire Studio app, that device re-engages with my normal home WiFi network and propagates to the notes app in all of my other devices through the iCloud system. And then I can do whatever with it - send it to SoundCloud, sent the file directly through email or text or whatever, further edit with Garage Band, etc. I’ve been doing this since pretty much day 1.

Because the Spire Studio is now obsolete, but I still absolutely love its ease of use and use it for any multi-track recording I do, I’ve dedicated an older iPad to running the software and froze the system updates so whenever a new system stops working with the app / device, that older iPad will still work with it. BUT, I still have the app on my primary up-to-date iPad and I record using that device from time to time, and it still works perfectly up through IOS 17.2, which I think is the most current IOS. So I have this older iPad running some older IOS as a fail-safe for when the Spire Studio just won’t work with the current IOS, which seems inevitable at some point, but it hasn’t actually happened yet - it works fine with every IOS right up to the most recent one.

-Ray

[Headless Folkie]

Originally Posted by raysachs

I’ve always had trouble exporting when the Spire is in wi-fi “host” mode. The workaround I’ve been using since my earliest days with the Spire (2018 I believe) is to export a song to a “note” (you know, in the “Notes” app on the iPad / iPhone) on the iPad I’m recording on, so it’s not having to send the file over the air on a WiFi network that’s not on. It just saves it to that device, and then once it’s done and I quit the Spire Studio app, that device re-engages with my normal home WiFi network and propagates to the notes app in all of my other devices through the iCloud system. And then I can do whatever with it - send it to SoundCloud, sent the file directly through email or text or whatever, further edit with Garage Band, etc. I’ve been doing this since pretty much day 1.

Interesting - I never thought of exporting first it to the device itself rather than to something on the web. I know I used to be able to directly export enhanced files (and was baffled when it wasn't working that week or so back), but I'm still only guessing as to the reason - with "..on our end" being my biggest clue.

That said, if there's anyone who uses the Spire with Android, do you know if there's an equivalent to "Notes" in that system, to which a file can be saved until the normal wifi network is reconnected? I'm in the process of donating my unit to my brother, and although I was all ready to tell him about my previous workaround, if there's something like Notes to which he can save enhanced files as well, so much the better.

[Headless Folkie]

Originally Posted by Brushwood

Guess it’s time for me to dive in and see what happens with various iOS levels on different old iPads and iPhones.

It'll be interesting to see if, on some older iOS, you CAN export over wifi while still connected to the Spire. I suppose that could be another possible reason for the trouble I encountered - that that theoretical Spire online middleman is still active, but incompatible with newer operating sytems...

[KevinH]

I use my Spire a fair amount with iOS 17.3.1 on my iPhone. When I'm done recording I turn the Spire off and Airdrop the audio files from my phone to my mac. No problems doing it that way.

[ghostnote]

I’ve had a Spire for years, and like most people I love how simple it is to use and how great it sounds. I have an old iPad that is running iOS 15.8 (I think) that I use only for music stuff, and that’s what I use with the Spire. I don’t update it. So far so good, but I’ve been offloading all my Spire projects to a 24-track Tascam machine that I’ve been recording with since the Spire was killed off. I just use a cable from the headphone out directly to one of the Tascam’s inputs, which have built in preamps. Most of the songs are originals and I don’t want to lose them if the Spire dies completely someday. Once they’re in the Tascam, I can keep them as is, add to them, or re-record them completely if I want. The Tascam has full mixing and mastering capabilities built in, or, as with any project, it all can go into a computer later for further refinement. It’s not elegant, but it’s a simple way to save my Spire tracks.