This release dramatically improves the performance of the Default Library loading, adds UDP/IP as a new signal type with wider network compatibility, and removes the length limit on connection tag labels.
Faster Default Library Loading
The Default Library could sometimes take minutes to regenerate if you were using GearConnect while our team was actively updating items. After each library update, the library needs to regenerate, re-mapping all expansion cards to their proper devices. This process originally only took a few seconds, but as the library has grown significantly, this process has started taking noticeably more time.
Once the generation process was complete, the library would only take a few seconds to load, which is what most users experienced, but for users that were actively using the library while it was regenerating, the experience could be frustrating.
We've drastically improved this with two key changes:
- The library generation is now 4.7x times faster thanks to several optimizations, particularly around expansion cards, so it completes in a fraction of the time it used to take. From our testing, we have been able to get the full Default Library generation from ~6:40 minutes, down to ~1:24 minutes. These optimizations not only apply to the Default Library, but User and Team Libraries as well!
- The Default Library now regenerates on its own in the background, using dynamic regeneration for only the sub sections that changed, and doesn't alert the app until the generated library is ready to load. This means in almost all cases, you will only pull in the faster library in about ~9 seconds and never have to wait for the slower one to finish generating.
This allows GearConnect to continue to work in full project Offline Mode, having access to the entire library while offline, and hopefully this will make the library experience much smoother for everyone!
New Port Options
New Signal Types
Signal Compatibility
UDP/IP joins TCP/IP, Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast as a general network signal type, allowing connection to any of them.
The audio over IP protocols are now compatible (with a warning) with all five of those general network types too. AES67, AVB, Dante, CobraNet, Milan, Ravenna, and Waves can each be connected to a TCP/IP, UDP/IP, Unicast, Multicast, or Broadcast port, so running a Dante or Milan device into a plain network port on a switch works as expected. Previously only AES67 was set up this way.
The network video protocols (SDVoE, SMPTE 297M, ST 2110, and NDI) have picked up UDP/IP as well, alongside the network types they already supported.
Although these compatibility changes aren’t technically accurate in every real‑world scenario due to varying device network configurations, we've heard your feedback, and allowing the different protocols to connect provides a smoother experience while still displaying our usual signal warnings.
Default Library Updates
Thank you to everyone who has submitted and requested library items! This batch is a smaller one for this update:
- APC
- HP
- HP Poly Studio X32
- HP USB-C 100W G6 Dock
- Poly TC10
- NovaStar
- Nvidia
Improvements
- Connection Tag labels are no longer cut off at 24 characters. Long gear and port names now show in full on the tag, in all three Tag Label modes (Gear Only, Gear and Port, and Port Only), and the tag resizes itself to fit.
- Teams can now enter a tax ID when subscribing. The checkout page includes a field for your business tax number, such as a VAT or GST number, so it is recorded against the team and appears on your invoices.
- The team name and team picture fields in Team Settings now explain why they are disabled (such as a Member trying to rename the team).
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a gap that allowed reports and cable inventory items to be created without a Pro subscription.
- Fixed the tooltip on the promo code field never appearing when the field was disabled, such as when there is not an active yearly promotion.
