I recently purchased Photon 2 Pro to control the lights for our first small musical show, using pre-programmed MIDI tracks in sync with the songs. Since we want a mobile setup, managing both sound and lights with an iPad seemed like a great option.
Photon 2 Pro is a very promising project, but I found it unreliable for my show.
In just 5 hours of using the app, it crashed about 10 times, mostly while editing presets but also during live performances.
Another major issue is that when another app is playing MIDI tracks, and Photon 2 Pro is in the background (since I also need to manage the audio console with another app), the MIDI stops working. The lights stay in their last state from when the app was in the foreground. When I reopen Photon, the MIDI resumes working.
I noticed that the latest version (2.5.3) published on the App Store is 1.5 years old.
Is the development team still working on this app, or is it no longer being supported?
I just paid 90€ for this app (that I would love to use) but it’s not reliable in a live context at the moment.
When is the next update expected? Should I ask for a refund?
I’m working with an iPad Pro 12.9" (2nd gen) on iOS 17.5.1.
There was a time that we had good support for this app. As far as I can tell, that’s no longer the case. I’ve reached out through direct messaging with no response as well. It’s a bummer because this is a great app with good features and an easy to use UI.
I’m currently trying Luminair, although I dislike their subscription business model. However, I haven’t found a better app yet. (still looking)
I found Luminair more comprehensive, stable, and easier to set up than Photon 2.
Hi @abel and welcome !
We are supporting Photon and focused on the Photon for business (schools) implementation.
We don’t forget the v2.6 but wu encountered some issues with iPadOS upgrades, multi dashboard optimizations and also with the background mode.
We have to fix it before publish it. Sorry for the waiting I understand your needs and we will publish a new beta version soon.
Thank you very much for your feedback, we really appreciate it
I’m glad to hear that the app is still supported! There’s definitely a great opportunity for you to provide a reliable lighting app. After working with Luminair for a few days, I’ve found it to be quite unreliable and I’ve encountered many issues. I’m still searching for a better solution!
It seems there’s a lot of computer software available for managing lights, but the app market is lacking. (And I want to avoid using a computer on stage).
@NashvilleSteve Before implementing lights, we used “Go Button,” which is excellent but doesn’t support MIDI for triggering lights. Then we tried “Multitracker,” which is good but doesn’t allow playing multiple cues simultaneously or fading between them. It seems more suited for bands than theater.
Currently, I’m trying to build our show with “Mix16 Show Cue,” which is working great! Their support is very responsive, implementing new features and small fixes within days.
Thanks in any case for your feedback, it’s invaluable in making Photon the best scene lighting management app around.
We are aware that in this type of activity, stability takes precedence over functionality. That’s why, as I said earlier, we haven’t released the multi-Dashboard update before fixing the current problems.
I hope we’ll do what’s necessary @abel to make you want to come back to Photon.
