Our charmingly simple audio recording tool Piezo has just received an update that’s both small and monumental. There are a handful of bug fixes, but existing users may not notice much different in the update. Under the hood, however, there are massive changes. Now, anyone getting started with Piezo can do so without needing to install additional components, nor even enter an admin password. That’s a big deal!

Get Started in Seconds

As previewed in our recent status report, we’re working hard to simplify the first-run experience for all of our apps. That easier setup process has now launched with Piezo, making it possible to get started nearly instantly.

This video shows that you can now start recording audio in less than 30 seconds:

As you can see, you no longer need to restart your Mac to get started recording audio with Piezo. And since no password is required either, it’s now possible for Standard user accounts to use Piezo on their Mac without requiring assistance from an Administrator.

A Seamless Experience for All Users

Piezo’s audio capture technology has been overhauled to make this seamless setup possible. When it comes to recording, however, this new technology works as it always has. Piezo still makes it a snap to record audio from any app on your Mac.

Piezo’s new installer-free experience is available on MacOS 14.4 and higher, so we’ve split the app into two variants: Piezo 1.9.0 runs on MacOS 14.4 and higher, while Piezo 1.8.2 is available for MacOS 11 through 14.3.1.¹ To keep things simple for all users, Piezo always ensures that you’re running the right variant of the app for your system. There’s just one download from our website, and when you launch Piezo, everything is handled for you automatically.

Try the Latest Piezo Now

If you’re already a Piezo user, just choose Check for Updates… from the Piezo menu to get the latest version for your system.²

If you’re new to Piezo, or haven’t used the app in a while, it’s never been easier to get started. Visit Piezo’s product page to learn more about it, and download the free trial to test it out. You’re going to love it.

More to Come

This update to Piezo is just the beginning. We’re hard at work on updates which will provide this same easy setup to Airfoil, Audio Hijack, Loopback, and SoundSource. Stay tuned for more updates!³

Footnotes:

1. Piezo is still supported on MacOS 11 and later, through these two actively updated variants. Further, we always provide Legacy downloads of all our products for even older releases of MacOS that are no longer supported. If you bought a product from us, you’ll always be able to get it from us. ↩︎

2. Our in-app software update system is smart enough to detect whether you’ve got Apple’s latest updates to MacOS 14 (Sonoma). If you’re not prompted for Piezo 1.9, you may need to update your Mac by checking for updates in System Settings. ↩︎

3. To preview the latest and greatest changes before their official release, check out our test release system. ↩︎

Last year, we hit another employee milestone here at Rogue Amoeba and today, we’re finally getting around to properly celebrating it. This time, we’re honoring Nathan Tiddy for five years (and more!) with the company.

A Look at Some of Nathan’s Work

Nathan’s done a lot of work in his time at Rogue Amoeba. Here are just some of the major projects he’s brought to life.

SoundSource 4 and SoundSource 5

Prior to joining on here, Nathan had developed an audio adjuster called “menuBUS”. That work made him a great fit to helm the overhaul to SoundSource we had in the works. With Nathan’s help, our small little audio utility graduated into a robust sound control application. We shipped SoundSource 4 less than a year after Nathan was hired. With it, Mac users gained powerful new control over all their audio, including per-application adjustments and the ability to adjust any audio with effects. Nathan fought hard for those audio adjustments to include Audio Unit effects, and countless users are glad he did.

SoundSource 4 was such a hit that it brought a deluge of feedback full of feature requests and suggestions. We generally space out our major product versions, but neither the people nor Nathan could be denied. Just 17 months after SoundSource 4 had shipped, we were ready to release SoundSource 5. This version improved audio effects substantially, and made SoundSource easier to use by automatically tracking what apps were producing audio. It also formed the foundation for several years’ worth of further updates and improvements, and Nathan’s led the way on all of those.

SoundSource has a large and growing user base, and it’s thanks to Nathan’s hard work.

Farrago 2

While SoundSource is the product over which Nathan has had the most influence, his work on Farrago has been key as well. His first shipping code after joining us in 2018 was found in our soundboard app, where he was responsible for the app’s MIDI support.

A few years later, Nathan took over lead development of the app as we worked to level up to version 2. That update shipped last year, and it included more external controls, including Stream Deck and OSC, as well as Shortcuts support, and much more. Nathan built on top of the app’s solid version 1 (created by veteran dev Grant Farr), and took the app to new heights.

Audio Hijack’s “Transcribe” Block

Nathan has also done a fair amount of R&D for us here at Rogue Amoeba, but that work hasn’t always seen the light of day. Late last year, however, we were thrilled to be able to wrap some of his work into a shippable package: Audio Hijack’s Whisper-powered “Transcribe” block. That block is still in public beta, but it’s already helping countless users transcribe audio to text, and we’ve got plans for further improvements in the future as well.

Thank You, Nathan

Nathan has led the way on major enhancements across multiple products. If you’re a Rogue Amoeba customer, it’s a good bet you’re benefitting from some of his work. What you don’t know is what a pleasure Nathan is to work with, nor how quickly he can crank out new code, or prototype ideas we’re considering. He’s a great asset to the company, and we’re thrilled to have him.

I look forward to many more great years ahead, as we continue working together to develop the Mac’s very best audio tools. Thank you, Nathan! We’re honored to have you on our team.