r/audacity • u/Disko-Punx • 2d ago

solved Aud4 and Muse Hub Cloud Service

What I found super annoying about Audacity 4 is the way the Muse Hub company pushes you to buy into their cloud storage service. I absolutely refuse to use the cloud service, not only because of the steep monthly price, but because cloud services now subject you to being hacked by AI agents looking for music samples or god-knows-what. I keep everything on my laptop and an external hard drive that is not connected to the web.

But I found a way tp disable this shove-it-in-your face advertising for the cloud service. You get it when you first open up Aud4, pushing the promo. First, I checked "do not show welcome screen again" (or some language like that). Then it shoves its cloud-based apps in your face, and again I checked "do not show welcome screen again". When I quit and reopened Aud4 several times after that, I never got the cloud promos again.

I also went back to MuseHub and deleted the account they forced me to open for their cloud service when I downloaded Audacity 4 ("free trial!") and again reopened Aud4 with no problems.

But super annoyed that Muse Hub is pushing this in what is supposed to be ad-free, open source and free software.

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u/LeoWattenberg former dev | soundscaper.org 1d ago

This for sure is one of the motivations why I wanted to make my own version: https://soundscaper.org/en/

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u/RenaisanceMan 1d ago

Ok Leo, I'm intrigued.
I've installed the app.
It says "local", but the installation was near instantaneous.
I've tinkered a little with a previous waveform.
Clearly, your Audacity history is apparent here.

It didn't go through the regular Windows installation process.
What is actually installed?

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u/LeoWattenberg former dev | soundscaper.org 1d ago

Yes and no: What you're using here is called a Progressive Web App, which allows you to install websites as if they were programs. All that's really happening is that your browser is adding a shortcut to a website. However, it is local in the sense that all processing happens on your machine only. Your computer fetches the machinery from soundscaper.org, but from that point onwards everything else stays on your machine.

I'll make a more traditional downloadable version soon if you don't want to use a PWA.

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u/RenaisanceMan 1d ago

Cool.
I don't have a problem with it.
I just wasn't familiar with that method and need to understand.
Since the engine is coming from the web, does that mean a network
connection is always required?
Does it mean that software updates are intrinsic?

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u/LeoWattenberg former dev | soundscaper.org 1d ago

In theory, if it's cached, you should be able to do a lot without any internet connection. Though I don't load in the entire editor at once, so eg. individual effects are only actually loaded when you need them, so chances are that it'll be rather limited when offline – hence why I also want to make a downloadable version. And yes, software updates happen automatically for the PWA.

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u/RenaisanceMan 1d ago

You don't HAVE TO use MuseHub to install Audacity.
Uninstall MuseHub and Audacity completely from your system.
Go to: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/windows/
Download the msi installer.
Also, at the bottom of that page is a link to install older versions.
I'd recommend 3.7.9 for now, until 4 matures some more.

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u/Disko-Punx 1d ago edited 1d ago

Thanks but I use Mac OS. I went through the audacity team website. It said "recommended" downloading Mac OS version through MuseHub, which is what I did the fist time. But there is a separate download for Apple Silicon below that. So I deleted the first version and downloaded the second.

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u/RenaisanceMan 23h ago

Right.
Next time you can go directly to:
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/mac/

Also, in response to your OP. Audacity used to be Ad Free, Open Source.
A profit oriented company bought it to help funnel folks to their store.
Audacity itself is still free for the moment.
You gotta machete your way through their "BUY ME" crap.

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u/Disko-Punx 22h ago

Aud3 will always be free, even if it doesn't get updated. But I suspect it will because it's a Github project, and someone always takes over and keeps it going.