Hosting a session

In a browser you host your own Stab Cloud songs, with a Stab Cloud subscription: open the song, then choose Session › Host This Song. The session chip in the title bar says Hosting ABC-DEF; click it for the Session pane: the code and its QR code, Copy Link, the people to follow and their roles, Shared Playback, and End Session. The Session menu has Copy the Code, Copy a Join Link and Stop Hosting too. Without Stab Cloud, Stab says “Hosting from a browser comes with Stab Cloud” and offers it. A demo or a file opened in the browser can’t be hosted: it has nowhere to be saved.

A browser hosts through Stab’s relay only (it can’t be found on the Wi-Fi), so everyone joins with the code, nearby or not. The song saves itself to Stab Cloud as you all edit it.

Keep the tab open while you host: the Session pane says so. Closing it asks first; closed anyway, the session ends for everyone. Hiding the tab is fine on a computer: the session goes on. A phone’s or a tablet’s browser stops hosting as soon as it’s hidden, because the system puts it to sleep.

Watch links and letting guests keep a copy are in the apps. See Joining a session for the other side.

Hosting a song

1. Open the song.
2. Click the session chip in the toolbar, after the workspace menu (it reads Play Together while there’s no session), then Host This Song in the Session pane. Choose Together › Host This Song. Its keys are ⌥⌘PCtrl+Alt+P.

The session gets a code of six letters and digits, shown as ABC-DEF. The Session pane shows it in large type with its QR code, and the session chip says Hosting ABC-DEF until someone joins.The Together menu shows it: “Sharing, code ABC-DEF”. Give the code to those who should join, or let them scan the QR code with a phone’s or tablet’s camera.

A song that’s shared with you through Stab Cloud can’t be hosted: letting others in is its owner’s to do. Its members edit it live by themselves when they have it open: see Shared songs.

Sharing the code

A join link looks like https://stab.audio/j/ABC-DEF. Opened on an iPhone or iPad with Stab installed, it joins in the app; anywhere else, it opens Stab in the browser on its Join a Session page with the code filled in. The QR code is the same link.

On this Wi-Fi, and from anywhere

A session is open on your Wi-Fi network, and, with Join from Anywhere on, through Stab’s relay too, so a code works from anywhere. The Session pane says which under its heading (“on the Wi-Fi and the internet”).The panel’s line says which: “The code works from anywhere.” or “The code works on this Wi-Fi.”

The relay passes the session’s messages along sealed: it can’t read the song. Recordings never go through it (see Recordings in a session).

Open to Nearby

Turn on Open to Nearby in Session Options…, in the session chip’s menu (right-click the chip),the Together menu and anyone on the same Wi-Fi joins with one tap, without the code. It’s off at first: devices nearby see your session listed with a lock, and need the code on your screen.

The name others see is the one in Settings › Account › Your Name; empty, it’s your device’s name. The song’s name is never shown on the network.

Who’s in

The Session pane’s People lists who has joined, and the chip shows their faces,The panel lists who has joined, each in their colour: the colour of their caret in the song. While nobody has, it says “Waiting for someone.” With a licence or Stab Cloud, up to seven people can join a session hosted with a code; on the free tier, one. Anyone past that is told “This session is full.” Joining someone else’s session is always free.

What those who join may change is set in Those Who Join (in Session Options…), and each person’s own role in their menu: see Roles and copies. How playback is shared, and following someone, are in Following and shared playback. For an audience that only watches, see Watch links.

Stopping

Choose End Session at the foot of the Session pane, or Stop Hosting from the File menu, where Host This Song reads Stop Hosting while you host; while someone is with you, Stab asks first (Keep Hosting or Stop Hosting)End Session in the Session pane, or Stop Hosting from the Session menu; while someone is with you, Stab asks first (Keep Hosting or Stop Hosting)Stop Hosting from the Together menu, or End Session in the Session pane; while someone is with you, Stab asks first (Keep Hosting or Stop Hosting), and alone it stops at once. The session ends for everyone. Your song stays as it is, with every edit made in the session; those who joined see that the session ended, and keep a copy only if you let them.