Tracker Pro 1.2: iPhone, Mac, Piano Roll and Vintage Synths
Tracker Pro 1.2 adds iPhone and Mac versions, a piano roll, three vintage synths, new sampler filters and Bounce in Place. One purchase covers every device.
Dubspot's best Black Friday dealsDubspot Tracker Pro: $15, was $24.99 ↗Drum Programming and Groove Production Course: $19, was $99 ↗
Tracker Pro 1.2 is out. Our tracker app is no longer iPad only. The update reached the App Store on 5 November 2026 with iPhone layouts and a native Mac workspace. One purchase now covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. It also brings a piano roll, three synths modeled on classic hardware, new sampler filter models, six effects and Bounce in Place. New to the app? The Tracker Pro launch post covers the core tracker and sampler, and the Tracker Pro 1.1 update added the Beads granular devices and Sample Crate.
Black Friday: Tracker Pro is $15 on the US App Store through November 30, 2026 (regular $24.99). It's a one-time purchase for iPhone, iPad and Mac, with no account, subscription, ads or in-app purchases. Other storefronts use Apple's local prices. See every current offer on our Black Friday deals page.
Here's the update at a glance:
- Platforms: iPhone (including iPhone Duo), iPad and Mac, plus the iPad app on Apple Vision Pro
- Requirements: iOS or iPadOS 17 or later; macOS 14 or later on a Mac with an M1 chip or later
- Writing: a piano roll for pitch, note length and velocity, next to the tracker grid
- Synths: VintageSub, VintagePD and VintagePoly, for six built-in synths in total
- Sampler: more filter models inspired by E-mu E-series samplers, with modulation across the filter parameters
- Effects: EQP1, Gate/Exp, Saturation, Tape, Vinyl and Transient Designer
- Workflow: Bounce in Place renders a track's pattern into a new Sampler instrument
- Price: $15 for Black Friday through November 30, 2026, then $24.99, one-time
What's new in Tracker Pro 1.2
Our own video covers the update in under three minutes. It plays real projects, so you see the piano roll, the three new synths and Bounce in Place while bass and drum patterns run in the tracker above each device.
The App Store release notes sort the changes by area. This table sets them against the 1.1 release from October.
| Feature | Tracker Pro 1.1 (19 Oct 2026) | Tracker Pro 1.2 (5 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Devices | iPad only | iPhone, iPad and native Mac on one purchase; the iPad app also runs on Apple Vision Pro |
| Note editing | Tracker grid | Tracker grid plus a piano roll for pitch, length and velocity |
| Built-in synths | Macro (24 engines), Resonator, GrainOSC | Adds VintageSub, VintagePD and VintagePoly, six in total |
| Sampler filters | Original filter models | More models inspired by E-mu E-series samplers, modulation across filter parameters |
| Effects | Granular FX, Ambient Reverb, Lofi and others | Adds EQP1, Gate/Exp, Saturation, Tape, Vinyl and Transient Designer |
| Resampling | Not available | Bounce in Place, to the same track or a new one |
| Plug-ins | AUv3 on iPad | AUv3 on iPhone and iPad, Audio Units on Mac |
| Price | $19.99 on sale at the time | $15 for Black Friday through Nov 30, 2026 (regular $24.99) |
iPhone and Mac on one purchase
The biggest change is where the app runs. Tracker Pro launched on iPad in September. Version 1.2 adds iPhone and Mac without a second purchase. Projects use the same format on all three, so you can sketch a pattern on the phone and finish the arrangement at your desk.
Each layout fits its screen. On iPhone, a compact window shows one main page at a time, with the KEYS strip below it when you need to enter notes. A large enough iPhone Duo window switches to the same multi-panel layout as iPad. The Mac version resizes with its window and works with a keyboard and pointer. It hosts Mac Audio Units, while iPhone and iPad keep hosting AUv3 instruments and effects. Apple Vision Pro runs the compatible iPad app.
Plug-ins need some planning when you move between devices. A project saves each plug-in's settings but not the plug-in itself, so the destination needs a compatible version installed. Bounce in Place, covered below, keeps an audio copy of the part for exactly that case. One more limit: Sample Crate, the web and video collector from 1.1, isn't part of the native Mac version in 1.2. On Mac, you import audio files through the browser instead.
A piano roll next to the tracker
Trackers write music as rows of text. That's fast once it clicks and hard to read until it does. The new piano roll gives the same notes a second view. Choose PIANO next to the FULL, COMPACT and ZOOM views, and the selected track's notes appear across time and pitch. Every edit shows up in the tracker views as well.
Editing works the way it does in most DAWs. Double-tap or double-click empty space to add a note. Drag a note to change its pitch or start, and drag its right end to change its length. A Velocity lane under the notes sets how hard each one plays. Draw mode adds a note with one tap, Erase removes the notes you drag across, and Snap offers Row, Half row or Free timing. GHOSTS shows the other tracks as outlines, so a bass line can follow the kick without switching tracks.
The grid is still the heart of the app, and it handles melody as well as drums. In this 40-second short from our channel, the Super Mario Bros. ground theme by Koji Kondo is rebuilt the classic tracker way. A pulse-wave melody and harmony, a triangle bass and noise percussion are all written as rows.
Three vintage synths
Version 1.2 doubles the built-in synth count to six. Macro (24 engines), Resonator and GrainOSC are joined by three synths that take their cue from classic hardware.
- VintageSub is a mono synth inspired by the Moog Sub 37, with two oscillators, a sub oscillator, a ladder filter and Drive. The description of our 1.2 video says it was calibrated against hardware recordings.
- VintagePD uses Casio CZ-1000 style phase distortion. Each of its two lines has a waveform pair and its own eight-step envelopes for Timbre, Amp and Pitch.
- VintagePoly takes after the Korg Poly-61, with two DCOs, a resonant filter, six voices and a Programs bank.
Together they cover a lot of a typical track. VintageSub handles weighty mono bass and leads. VintagePD gives the bright, glassy tones phase distortion is known for. VintagePoly plays chords across its six voices. You no longer need an AUv3 synth for those basic parts.
New sampler filter models
The Sampler's Filter page gains more models inspired by E-mu E-series samplers. The Model menu now spans low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, swept EQ, phaser, vocal and morphing responses. Peak/Shelf Morph moves between two EQ shapes. Vocal Ah-Ay-Ee sweeps through formant regions. Options such as Bat-Phaser and Flanger Lite add movement to a static loop.
Modulation now reaches across the filter parameters, including the Morph filters. Envelope, LFO, velocity and key tracking can move whichever main control the chosen model uses, such as Frequency or Morph. In practice, a vowel filter can open a little more on every hard hit, or drift slowly across a held chord.
Six new effects
The effect list grows in two directions: tone shaping and dynamics.
- EQP1 is a passive program EQ in the Pultec style, with separate low and high boost and attenuation, plus Color and Drive.
- Gate/Exp, inspired by the API 235, works as a gate or a downward expander, with Threshold, Depth, Release or Hold and a filtered key input. It's the tool for bleed and noise between drum hits.
- Transient Designer shapes the attack and the body of a hit separately.
- Saturation, Tape and Vinyl add drive, tape character and record texture as three separate effects.
The existing Lofi effect also gains reverb and decay controls, a choice of reverb placement and gentler dropouts. Effects can sit on tracks, on the two return buses or on the master, and their controls can be automated.
Bounce in Place
Bounce in Place renders one track's current pattern through its instrument and effects, then loads the result into a new Sampler instrument. A single note on the first row plays back the rendered phrase. You can replace the current track, or put the bounce on a new track and keep the editable original. In our video, the new-track option keeps the release tail of the last note.
This is the move hardware sampler users make all the time. Bounce a synth line, then slice it, pitch it or run it through the vintage modes like any other sample. It also keeps projects portable. Bounce a plug-in part before you move the project to a device that doesn't have that plug-in, and the part still plays.
Getting started with Tracker Pro
If you haven't used the app before, this independent overview tutorial walks through its main features in about 19 minutes. It was recorded just before 1.2, so the piano roll and the new synths don't appear. The tracker, sampler and AUv3 workflow it shows still applies.
For written steps, the official Tracker Pro guide covers your first pattern, the Sampler, mixing and export.
Smaller improvements
The release notes also list better phone navigation, faster note entry, macro range editing, and fixes to recording, Audio Unit handling and project recall.
Who is Tracker Pro 1.2 for?
It suits producers who like writing in patterns and want the same tracker on the phone, the iPad and the computer. The piano roll makes it easier to approach from a DAW. Bounce in Place covers the resampling habit that hardware sampler users already have. If you're weighing hardware against software, our best drum machines guide treats Tracker Pro as the software alternative to the hardware picks.
If you want a linear timeline with long audio recordings, a pattern-based tracker will feel indirect. Mac users who rely on Sample Crate will miss it in the native Mac version. And if you want the M8 hardware workflow specifically, the Dirtywave M8 tracker on iOS runs that engine instead.
Get Tracker Pro 1.2
Tracker Pro is $15 on the US App Store for Black Friday, through November 30, 2026, and $24.99 after that. It's a one-time purchase that covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. Existing owners get version 1.2 through the App Store at no extra cost. Download Tracker Pro on the App Store, or see the Tracker Pro page on dubspot.com.
Download Tracker Pro on the App StoreMoog, Casio, Korg, E-mu, API and Pultec are trademarks of their respective owners. Their names describe the hardware that inspired each device, and none of these companies is affiliated with Dubspot.
