VCV and Apple Sidecar

Hi all,

I’ve been experimenting with Apple Sidecar, hoping to use my iPad Pro as a touchscreen interface for patching in VCV Rack. At first, it seemed promising, but I’ve run into some strange behavior.

Unlike other VSTs, when I try to patch cables in VCV, they either disconnect immediately or I end up unintentionally dragging or selecting entire modules instead of connecting ports.

Has anyone managed to get this setup working properly? Would love to hear if you’ve found a workaround or tweak that makes it usable.

Thanks!

I’m a little unclear: Are you using Rack in its plugin form (hosted in a DAW or other software), or Rack standalone?

Hi! I tried both standalone and the plugin form. Both react exactly the same way.

It sounds like the connection is intermittent. I’ll need to investigate Sidecar to be more helpful.

Any reason why you’re using the iPad instead of a trackpad?

I have a trackball in my studio and feels intuitive to use my iPad as a touch screen for this purpose.

Will say that when working with other plugins such as Kontakt libraries or Arturia’s synths, this setup works as expected. Only running into issues with VCV rack :confused:

Not the answer to your question but sort of related to iPad + VCV Rack use: I have made a touch controller app (to leverage iPad as a responsive multi-touch surface) to be used with VCV MIDI to CC modules. I have mentioned here already: Massaging 4 Plaits (VCV + iPad as controller) - #7 by sqsl

It is now released and available in the App Store (sqsl Tactile).

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