Need Advice on macOS Compilation for My Plugin

[DAEN]

Hello everyone in the HISE forum,

I’ve recently developed a plugin, and I wanted to share my progress and ask for some advice. I’m not very fluent in English, but I’ve received so much help from this forum, and I’m truly grateful for that. Thank you all!

I’ve successfully got the plugin running on Windows and even implemented a simple anti-piracy system. (I realized that while integrating with a server might be a good idea, it’s ultimately a matter of time and resources.)

I also managed to create an installer using Inno Setup, allowing users to specify the installation paths for VST2 and VST3. So far, everything works great on Windows!

Now, I’m planning to create a macOS version as well. From what I’ve researched:

On Windows, I can compile VST2, VST3, and standalone versions, but these are only usable on Windows.
To create a macOS version of the plugin, I need to transfer the project I built on Windows to a Mac and compile it as an AU (Audio Unit).
Here’s what I’ve done so far:

I transferred the project from Windows to a Mac (running macOS Sonoma 14.7.4).
I installed Xcode (version 16.2) and HISE on the Mac.
I launched HISE and attempted to compile the project.
However, the DAW Vst isn’t working.
During the process, I encountered the following message:

Building targets in manual order is deprecated - check "Parallelize build for command-line builds" in the project editor, or set DISABLE_MANUAL_TARGET_ORDER_BUILD_WARNING in any of the targets in the current build to suppress this warning

I found a post from 2023
https://forum.hise.audio/topic/8331/export-issue-building-targets-in-manual-order-is-deprecated

But I’m not sure if I’m understanding everything correctly. Could there be an issue with my setup?
If anyone has had a similar experience, I’d really appreciate your advice.

I’ve also realized there’s still a lot more to do—creating promotional images, demo videos, setting up a website, and so on. It’s a challenging journey to tackle alone, but seeing everyone here working hard, developing, and sharing knowledge has been truly inspiring. I’m always grateful for this community.

Thank You Everyone

[Tangerine_Sounds]

@DAEN I can't answer your question as I am slightly behind where you are currently, however I will follow this post as Im sure I will come up against similar problems soon!

One thing I noticed is that you mention anti-piracy. I was under the impression that if you release your plugin under the Free GNU GPL licence then you must make it available for others to copy - so without copy protection. That doesn't mean you can't charge people though as I understand it.

Perhaps someone with more experience can confirm.

[d.healey]

@DAEN You can't release a VST2 plugin - unless you have a license from Steinberg, but they stopped providing new licenses several years ago.

That message about building targets in manual order... can be ignored.

You'll need an apple developer account in order to notarize/codesign your plugins and installer.

@Tangerine_Sounds said in Need Advice on macOS Compilation for My Plugin:

was under the impression that if you release your plugin under the Free GNU GPL licence then you must make it available for others to copy - so without copy protection.

I didn't see a mention of the license the OP is using in their post. But the GNU GPL says you can do what you want with the software as long as it gives the user the 4 freedoms. So you can implement a copy restriction system if you wish, but there is nothing to stop the user from removing it.

[Tangerine_Sounds]

@d-healey thanks for confirming. I was just going by the Licensing FAQs https://hise.dev/#license

[d.healey]

@Tangerine_Sounds

[DAEN]

@d-healey Thank you for your detailed response!

I understand that since I started development relatively recently, releasing a VST2 plugin doesn’t apply to me.

To resolve this, I should release my plugin as VST3 and obtain Steinberg’s VST3 license, which is required as a standard step.

Regarding the macOS installer, I learned that an Apple Developer Account is required. However, upon looking into it, I initially thought it was only available for corporations, but now I understand that as an individual plugin developer, I can’t do that part.

Thank you for clarifying!

While developing, I’ve come to realize that every plugin involves a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication.
I’ve also become incredibly aware of how terrifying it is that there are so many people out there who hack programs, :)