Pro Tools is broken, and here is why

[markkittus]

Two days ago, I restarted my computer. It was being a little unresponsive and slow.
When the screen turned on, a weird screensaver appeared in it. "I hope it didn't happen", I thought myself.
And yes, without me wanting it, my mac forced update to MacOS Sonoma.

The first thing I did was to search if my audio interface and Pro Tools were compatible with it. And the interface was, but Pro Tools wasn't.

I worked a little bit with my clients, and noticed a "small" bug. EVERY SINGLE TIME I click on an insert and write to find a plugin, the letters appear out of order, and I have to delete what I've written, and re-write it again. A small silly thing, that's costing me 3 seconds every time I have to open a plug-in.

And here is the reason of my post. The biggest complain I have is that I can bet that until March or April this will not be fixed. Why? Because of the updates policy of Pro Tools.

A simple hotfix should fix this tiny -but not minor, as I can reproduce it every single time- bug. But instead, I will have to wait for 3-4 months until Pro Tools releases a version with bug fixes and some features that nobody asked for.

The other option I have is to format my computer and reinstall Ventura, all my programs, and all my plugins again, which I won't do. So I guess I'm gonna be 3-4 months eating this bug that may be even already fixed, but won't be released until they found some feature to add.


This updating system should change. We pay monthly for updates, but they do not happen.
I never upgrade my OS. In fact I was not even thinking about ever upgrading from Ventura, which worked ok for me. But things happen. And now I'm facing an issue that's as silly as evidencing a big flaw with Pro Tools.
I'm tired of seeing that the slowness of update releases of Pro Tools is holding the software back, over and over. It happens all the time. We receive an update, that if it has something broken, forces you to go back to the older version for 4 months because they need to release new features with the bug fix updates.


I hope Pro Tools could change that. The only thing holding me for changing from Pro Tools is that is still the DAW that makes me go fastest, due to its design. But man, there are some things that are crazily upsetting (specially when paying a subscription).

[peapodpost]

would b cool if one could easily opt into a faster development build/beta update cycle like windows insider

[cvicente22]

Hi markkittus - First we sincerely apologize about the delay. Can you share a screen recording of the issue that you're having?

We are working on making sure that the version that we are going to release is fully supported on Mac OS Sonoma.

[K Roche]

Apparently this has happened to a few people

https://www.techradar.com/computing/...acOS%20Ventura.

But I am confused how does an Apple system bug make "Pro Tools broken" seems to me you are blaming the horse for being slow because the cart wheel fell off ..

I get that if this happened it would be frustrating if you are getting a glitch in an unsupported OS you did not intend to be on,,, but STILL the blame for that problem clearly lies with APPLE

SO why not just revert your OS back to Ventura ?

Now your issue with the rate at which Avid releases support I understand, but that is a separate issue from what was precipitated by a Mac OS bug and while it may make Avid slow to update it still does not make it "broken" --- Subscription or Annual perpetual plan

BTW just so ya know even Adobe (king of subscription only ) as of late December had not qualified all of it programs with Sonoma and is also having glitches ... juss sayin'

[_JJ_]

Here is the spot to check on a Mac to be sure the computer will not update automatically:
System Settings >> General >> Software Update >> click on the "i" next to "Automatic Updates", turn off "Install..."

I understand why these companies try to make it easy for consumers to keep their machines updated - and secure - but it can sure cause havoc for those of us relying on a stable system.

[moogboy100]

Originally Posted by markkittus

I worked a little bit with my clients, and noticed a "small" bug. EVERY SINGLE TIME I click on an insert and write to find a plugin, the letters appear out of order, and I have to delete what I've written, and re-write it again. A small silly thing, that's costing me 3 seconds every time I have to open a plug-in.

This is a known issue. I think it only happens if you type too fast.
"Plugin search scrambles characters when pressing quickly"

https://avidtech.my.salesforce-sites...a-Known-Issues

[smurfyou]

Originally Posted by _JJ_

Here is the spot to check on a Mac to be sure the computer will not update automatically:
System Settings >> General >> Software Update >> click on the "i" next to "Automatic Updates", turn off "Install..."

I understand why these companies try to make it easy for consumers to keep their machines updated - and secure - but it can sure cause havoc for those of us relying on a stable system.

But it sounds like the current problem is the computers updated even with that turned off. That's why people are pissed.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by smurfyou

But it sounds like the current problem is the computers updated even with that turned off. That's why people are pissed.

Indeed. It happened to quite a few people. Apple says, "oops, my bad."

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

Indeed. It happened to quite a few people. Apple says, "oops, my bad."

Yes, and because Apple dropped the ball PT is broken

Seriously guys, are you so young that you have never heard of this: "NEVER EVER PUT PRODUCTION MACHINE TO PUBLIC INTERNET"

[markkittus]

I'm going to reply to a few things:

First of all, Pro Tools is not broken due to this small bug. Pro Tools is broken because a small tiny bug won't get fixed until Pro Tools has some new feature to release with it. There are basically no bug fix updates, just huge updates every 4 months. How many of us have had to go back to an older PT version because the new one introduces some bugs that are not fixed for months? This is not cool.

Secondly, I can revert to Ventura, at the cost of one entire day installing/making sure everything is okay. I'm not gonna do that because the bug is just bothering and slowing my workflow, not breaking it.

Thirdly, yes, this is by no means Avid's fault. As some user has pointed out, it happened to more people. It is entirely Apple's fault. But the fact that I know that I will not get a fix for this tiny thing in months, led me to think that. I feel that the competition is playing hard and the only users that keep using Pro Tools are old school people that are comfortable with its workflow. When Pro Tools works it's just the best for me, but I'm afraid they are getting too comfortable.

Lastly, yes, having the computer offline is pretty much a good solution. Specially since pretty much nobody needs the latest bells and whistles (I've seen studios that still rule PT7, which maybe it's too much haha). The problem is that not everybody can afford to have a computer just for music production, and another one for everything else. But yeah, that's good advice in case you can do it.



I attach the picture of the bug. EVERY TIME I write "pro-q", I get "p-qor" or "p-qro". Every single time.