Consider

Matt Bolton gets into the GarageBand groove.

Apple recently released big updates for its music apps: a new-look interface and many more advanced features for Logic Pro X on Mac, and a whole raft of new stuff for GarageBand on iOS, which you can read more about on p14. I’m leaving the judgments on Logic Pro to someone who really knows what they’re doing for our review next issue, but I’ve been using GarageBand, and I’m just blown away by what Apple has added. Without making the main interface any more complex, it’s now full of fantastic granular tools, and offers expansion via app extensions. It’s interesting that an app that’s theoretically very focused on casual users gets updated alongside the pro app. I feel like we’re seeing one of Apple’s strategies for the future of iOS really come into focus: to make its apps capable on their own with very clean and friendly interfaces, but with extensions to allow for more advanced and high-end features.

GarageBand’s tools are now impressively deep, but they’re nothing compared to Logic. But third-party apps are now capable of adding their own interfaces into GarageBand to apply sounds and effects. And if you’ve seen some of what’s out there, you’ll know these apps can be incredibly complex and detailed. But Apple is leaving that choice up to you – instead of it making a Logic-style pro app for iOS, it’s up to users to add app developers’ more advanced offerings. We see this approach in Photos too, and Maps, and even Siri. I kind of love the idea – pull you in with a free easy default app, while leaving the door open for you to expand that however you want as you become more confident.

I hope we get the same approach in iMovie soon – I can imagine extensions adding new transitions, titling styles, color grading, and all kinds of effects. Inevitably, this approach can’t satisfy everyone, but when I think about how easy this will make it for new people to get into video or music creation, and grow their skills to produce truly polished work, I get really excited.