PlugInfo: audio plug-in explorer utility

[Lady Gaia]

I'd seen a lot of people posing the same question around various forums. How do I know which of my plug-ins are actually M1 native? It doesn't help that some publishers tout M1 compatibility for Intel code that has simply been tested under Rosetta. I originally tried to help out by posting Python scripts to ferret out the details - but it was hardly ideal for your average user.

So about a month back I started putting together a macOS app to do a better job of revealing those kinds of details - and it turns out it's useful for a lot more besides. I've even heard from folks who found old plug-ins they've migrated from system to system that only contain PowerPC or 32-bit x86 code! Based on community feedback the app has grown and evolved while retain a focus on speed and simplicity. Today, it's capable of scanning thousands of plug-ins in a second or two, refreshing its list automatically as plug-ins are added or removed:



The simple interface disguises a variety of helpful features. Sort by any column. Turn on filtering and type a few characters to narrow the list to matching plug-ins. Double-click on a publisher name to visit their web site. Select any number of plug-ins and you can open Finder windows selecting them wherever they're installed, or copy either the installation paths or full details to the clipboard for use in other apps.

It's available for free on ThinkerSnacks.com with a Mac App Store option for those who would like to express their thanks, or get the convenience of automatic updates and added security of Apple's review process.

The publisher identification feature is of potential interest here, as there's no way I can track down every publisher out there and make sure I know what identifier scheme they use and what their web site is (though it does currently know about more than 400 publishers!) If you work for or run across a publisher it doesn't know about, capitalizes or spells incorrectly, or links to the wrong URL? Please feel free to let me know. The PlugInfo page linked above includes a "support" section with brief instructions regarding what would help most.

[danielh02]

This is a great tool! Thank you for your efforts and generosity!

[kidslow]

Thanks for sharing this. Found it useful to get a quick assessment of installed plugins.

One suggestion for improvement would be an option to specify the specific folders to scan and/or an option to blacklist certain directories. I often move plugins off to the side and even though the system and DAWs don't pick those up your tool does.

[Lady Gaia]

Thanks for sharing this. Found it useful to get a quick assessment of installed plugins.

Glad to hear it. Speed has definitely been a major focus and continues to be refined with every release.

One suggestion for improvement would be an option to specify the specific folders to scan and/or an option to blacklist certain directories. I often move plugins off to the side and even though the system and DAWs don't pick those up your tool does.

This was true prior to the 1.8.0 release a couple of days ago, which completely overhauled the scanning process to improve performance and reliability by eliminating the use of Spotlight. It now only looks in the same locations DAWs use, while retaining the ability to automatically detect when your collection of plug-ins is updated. This latter feature was a large part of why I started using Spotlight initially, but I finally had time to dig in and ensure that I could accomplish the same thing reliably and efficiently without Spotlight.

If you have an App Store release, you should be able to search for the PlugInfo page and force an immediate update to the current release (otherwise most releases go through a 7-day rollout period - just in case an issue is comes to light.) Either way, you'll get these improvements eventually. Direct downloads from ThinkerSnacks.com must be manually updated, but the same revisions are also available there.

[kidslow]

Great to hear. I'll keep an eye out for the update.

I've been using Kushview Element for this sort of thing, but PlugInfo is remarkably faster just for a quick look at versions and silicon support and whatnot. I appreciate and noticed you focused on speed.

Does the data come directly from the plugins? Wish I could edit the Developer on some of them just to consolidate, like Izotope vs Izotope, Inc. I poked around in the plist files for a few different plugins but it was non-obvious, and never figured out where to do that ... if it is even possible.

[Lady Gaia]

Does the data come directly from the plugins?

Some of it does, though not in the same manner as a typical plug-in host. Some of the data is inferred from information Apple's platform standardizes - which is part of why a Windows version wouldn't be straihghtward. Some of the information is inferred from more obscure representations, most notably the publisher and their web site.

It knows about more than 400 different publishers and their various aliases or acquisitions over time. That helps ensure that a given publisher has a consistent name within PlugInfo. It also means it's possible I won't be able to determine a publisher and will show a raw identifier string (they usually look something like a domain name but in reverse order - like "com.companyname.pluginname" but there's a some inconsistency and a small handful that seem to have simply gone out of business without a trace.)

I've looked at a few thousand plugins so far, but it's quite possible you'll run across one from a publisher that PlugInfo doesn't know about. On the ThinkerSnacks product page there are some suggested steps for capturing information and forwarding what you do know so I can update the publisher list. Even if I don't update the app it will still pull down the latest list, at most once a week.

[kidslow]

Updated to 1.8.1 and that solved the unintended plugins problem. Much more useful and still as lightning fast.

Just a suggestion, but I think that export might be a useful function. If you added a method to export the results (as CSV or some such), I would send you a list of publisher identifier strings in my results that PlugInfo doesn't know yet.

I'm also still a bit confused where that Publisher data comes from, but starting to see the light. Seems like you have a sort of lookup table to match the com.blah.deeblah identifier to a more human-readable string. Where do the DAWs perform this? I always assumed the publisher string I see in the DAW was self-reported by the plugin itself.

[Lady Gaia]

Updated to 1.8.1 and that solved the unintended plugins problem. Much more useful and still as lightning fast.

Delighted to hear it.

Just a suggestion, but I think that export might be a useful function. If you added a method to export the results (as CSV or some such), I would send you a list of publisher identifier strings in my results that PlugInfo doesn't know yet.

As noted in the support section of the PlugInfo page, there already is a way to export the information: select the plug-ins in question and use Edit > Copy Full Details to put tab separated data on the clipboard. Paste into an email message, spreadsheet, or anywhere else and you've got a standard TSV file.

If you do so often enough to need a one-step approach to exporting a file rather than using the clipboard, let me know how you're using it and I'll see if there's a common scenario I should enable.

I'm also still a bit confused where that Publisher data comes from, but starting to see the light. Seems like you have a sort of lookup table to match the com.blah.deeblah identifier to a more human-readable string.

Yes, that's the basic idea. There are some interesting subtleties in doing so.

Where do the DAWs perform this? I always assumed the publisher string I see in the DAW was self-reported by the plugin itself.

That's right, an instantiated plug-in can be queried for additional information including the publisher but the process is dramatically slower and differs from one plug-in type to another. It's also impossible with plug-ins that can't be loaded and executed on the system you're running on, whereas PlugInfo can show you details about PowerPC-only plug-ins, even on an Intel or Apple Silicon system.

[Lady Gaia]

Version 1.9.0 should be live on ThinkerSnacks and the App Store any minute now. As is often the case, it was inquiries about how best to accomplish a goal that spurred the work on this one. Here's what's new:

• Improved filtering enables more sophisticated searches: matching across multiple columns, a "must not match" option, and matches limited to a specific column.
• The filter field now has a pop-up list of recent filter text used, plus two suggested filters that make use of the new filter syntax (plug-ins that need Rosetta, and obsolete plug-ins - which are those that don't have anything more recent than 32-bit Intel code.)
• An online user manual​​​​​​​ linked under the Help menu for extensive insight into features including the new improved filtering options.
• Added standard cut/copy/paste and undo/redo menu items to the Edit menu to assist with editing more complex filters enabled by this release.

[Lady Gaia]

Version 1.9.1 is live. What goodness does this release bring? I'm glad you asked...

• Streamlined procedure for reporting missing publishers with the new menu item File > Report Missing Publishers... This menu item will only show up if publishers cannot be determined for one or more plug-ins. You can review all information before sending it, as it uses your preferred email client for communication.
• Status text now includes the number of selected plug-ins.
• Plug-in version and size now update reliably when upgrading a plug-in to a newer version.
• Improved compatibility for macOS versions prior to 10.14.
• Additional performance tuning.

If you've been putting off reporting missing publishers in your collection? It'll never be easier to submit them as PlugInfo now does essentially all the work for you.

[nordickvr]

Will those last updates made available on the App Store?
Still shows version 1.8.1 over here.

Many thanks for you work, this is much appreciated.

[Lady Gaia]

Will those last updates made available on the App Store?

Absolutely! It should be live already, and a quick search of the App Store confirms that for me. I'm not sure if it's visible in all regions at the same time, but it shouldn't take long. I generally opt for 7-day progressive update delivery which won't push an update to all users at the same time - just in case a problem comes to light - but you should always be able to search the App Store and request a download of the latest version.

[nordickvr]

Will those last updates made available on the App Store?

"you should always be able to search the App Store and request a download of the latest version."

Thank you for the hint, just did it and it installed the last 1.9.1 version!

[LuisSanchez]

Ahhh, awesome, just what I was searching for! Thank you for developing this tool and please, keep it alive!!

[Lady Gaia]

Ahhh, awesome, just what I was searching for! Thank you for developing this tool and please, keep it alive!!

Very late in replying, but thank you for letting me know it's just what you needed. While the version number hasn't been bumped in some time (though there's actually a minor 1.9.3 release in beta with a few testers right now to address a couple of rare situations), it doesn't mean PlugInfo hasn't been evolving.

Behind the scenes it will automatically download new versions of the known publisher library, which gets updated with great regularity. It was up to 888 publishers last time I checked, plus all the aliases required to cover cases where a company was acquired, or a plugin was released where the identifier I use contains typos or other odd variations. Thanks to everyone who has taken advantage of the Report Missing Publishers feature to alert me to gaps in coverage. These reports are what keeps the database growing.