Photon 2.6 Released: Multi-Dashboard, Photon+, and dozens of fixes

Announcements
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Photon 2.6 is here! Multi-Dashboard, Photon+, and more.

Hey everyone,

A few weeks ago, I shared our plans for Photon+ and asked for your feedback.

Today, We are happy to announce that Photon 2.6 is officially available on the App Store !

:warning: We need your attention because we upgraded 2 majors iPadOS versions and it could create some regressions. Don’t panic, we will quickly fix it.
So don’t be shy and notice us here.

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Multi-Dashboard

The feature you’ve been asking for. You can now:

  • Create multiple dashboards — organize your widgets by fixture type, zone, song, or however you work

  • Swipe between dashboards during live performance — instant switching, no lag

  • Drag widgets from one dashboard to another

  • Rename dashboards to match your setup

  • No more limits on your control surface

Whether you run a small gig or a full stage, this changes how you use Photon.

Photon+ Subscription

Photon+ is live. Multi-dashboard is the first feature, more are coming based on your feedback right here on the forum. It’s for us a new way to have better founding for Photon project and be more active on updates.

Quick reminder on pricing:

New Users Pro Users (Founders)
First Year $39/year $19.99/year
After $59/year $29.99/year

Founder pricing ends June 2026. If you’re a Pro user, this is your window. After that, this rate is gone.

And as promised: your existing Pro/Starter features are untouched. Nothing was taken away. Nothing ever will be.

iOS 26 Compatibility

For those of you running the latest iOS, we’ve done extensive work to make Photon look and feel right on iOS 26. Tab bar, navigation bar, popovers, modals… everything has been tested and fixed across iOS 15, 17, 18, and 26.

Bug Fixes & Stability

I heard you loud and clear in the comments on the last post. Stability matters. This release includes dozens of bug fixes:

  • Crash fixes (Philips Hue heartbeat, background mode)

  • StoreKit 2 migration (smoother purchases, no more receipt validation issues)

  • UI fixes across all iPad models

  • Better Photon+ gating UX (no confusing behavior for free users)

And of course this forum is where I hear what needs fixing first.

Thank You

To beta-testers and those who already subscribed, thank you. You’re directly funding the future of this app.

To everyone else, thank you for being part of this community.

Go grab 2.6, test those multi-dashboards, and let us know what you think.

— Clement

TL;DR:

  • Photon 2.6 is live on the App Store

  • Multi-Dashboard: create, swipe, drag widgets between dashboards

  • Photon+ subscription is available, big discount with Founder pricing until June 2026 and of course your Pro/Starter features you already paid = yours forever

  • iOS 26 compatibility

  • Dozens of bug fixes and stability improvements

1 Like
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Instantly subscribed. Happy to support your work, and love this app!

1 Like
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Thank you very much.
You are maybe the first one, we’ll do our best to make sure you love the app! :fire:

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What other features do you have planned? I want to know if it’s worthwhile subscribing or not.

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Also add if you can add one payment or subscription to the starter plan to multiple Dashboard because not everyone needs midi or 512 Dmx. A useful option is to export and import your own fixture. A better way will be to write a remote application for Android and iOS, such as Freestyle Dmx. A better idea is to add osc instead of midi. The app is awsome. Thanks

1 Like
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Thanks a lot for all your ideas! I think we’ll set up a way for everyone to share suggestions and vote, so we can better prioritize what comes next.

For now, we’re keeping the current setup, without MIDI or multiple dashboards under a single lifetime payment, which is reassuring for people who prefer to avoid a subscription.

Most of the feedback we’re getting is focused on stability. We’re already working on a new version with a lot of improvements to further reduce crashes, already cut in half since version 2.6. We’re continuing in that direction because it benefits everyone, even free users.

After that, we’ll start adding small quality-of-life improvements like being able to reorder groups or fix small oversights, before focusing on the bigger new features that we’d really like to prioritize together with the community : fixtures movements, hue pro, midi channels support, music genre recognition for dashboard automation, just some ideas..

The subscription is also a way to support the indie dev of the app. :flexed_biceps:

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I paid for the lifetime plan and have midi. Have I lost midi or is that just for new users?

Presumably if I don’t subscribe I’ll still get the bug fixes but just no new features?

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No worries you keep all the features you already had, including MIDI. You’ll also get ongoing improvements like stability updates, UI tweaks, and overall refinements.

And if you ever want access to the big new features coming later, you’ll get a discounted rate. So nothing’s lost, if anything, everything just got a bit better!

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Subscription purchased - glad to see it was seamless

Doug

1 Like
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The v2.6.1 was just released !

Our first goal before adding new features is to be sure that the app can run without issues during your gigs.

It fixes 4 major bugs and 1 minor. You should notice try stability improvements.

Enjoy !

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Thanks.

Does this fix the stability issues in using midi and background mode?

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Yes we really improved the MIDI stability, enjoy !

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My first big gig with Photon 2. I played for 8 hours and only had 3 crashes—a tiny fraction of the total time. I used an 8th-gen iPad running the latest iOS. The controls are incredibly intuitive; even in the heat of a party, creating presets takes just seconds. In practice, I’d rate this app a solid 10/10. Huge thanks to the developers—I’ll definitely be supporting further development with a subscription!

1 Like
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So thrilled you’re loving it! I saw the TikTok videos, they really made my day.
Sorry to hear about those 3 crashes though, I think that’s too many. Please send them to us next time the app restarts so we can fix them.

Also, everyone is invited to leave 5-star reviews on the store since that’s what helps us get known and push even further together!!

And of course, your subscription is already a true support :heart:

Thank you

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I played for 8 hours yesterday and experienced 3 crashes again. I’ve already submitted the reports. It seems like these crashes happen at regular intervals: the first one after 2 hours, the second around the 4-hour mark, and the third after 5 hours of playtime.

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We received your crash logs, it appears to be caused by a problem in the Philips Hue implementation in Photon.
Good news: we’re working on a completely new implementation of this driver to support the new Hue Bridge Pro (Upgraded to Hue Bridge Pro but it’s not showing in the app — when will support be available?), so this will kill two birds with one stone.

Thank you very much for sharing