Superpowered Web Audio SDK (beta) and WebAssembly Audio

Gabor Szanto

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The Superpowered Audio SDK consisting of audio players, decoders, audio effects (including spatialization), streaming, music analysis, runs natively and identically on six OSes (iOS, macOS, tvOS, Android, Linux and Windows).

And in a few weeks, Superpowered is bringing low-latency, interactive audio to the browser with a Superpowered Web Audio SDK (beta) that computes with WebAssembly (JS/WASM).

Low latency interactive audio hasn't been possible on the web until now, because in the past few years, much has changed in the web platform, and the most important of which are the improvements in WebAssembly. WebAssembly allows browser-based experiences (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari) to be on par with native app experiences, unlocking the browser as a target for interactive audio apps. Which means if you write high performance native apps in C, Rust or C++, you’ll be able to compile them for the browser too.

The takeaway: native app-like, interactive experiences will soon be found outside of the app store paradigm and in the browser. The economics and business of apps will change in a big way.

This will have a massive impact on how and what sorts apps and app/web user experiences companies choose to deliver to their customers, and will also provide tremendous leverage to companies and developers who currently depend on app stores for distribution. And in fact, may even obviate the need to build and distribute native apps in some cases. We'll publish more soon about WebAssembly and how it will affect software development going forward.

Apply for beta access to Superpowered Web Audio (WebAssembly Audio)

If you’ve wanted to bring your app or even a demo version of the app to the web or if you’re using WebViews in your native app development, but aren’t happy with audio latency and performance, now’s the time.

This includes all sorts of audio effects apps, karaoke apps, VR, walkie-talkie apps, HTML5 games, or anything involving interactive audio -- we want to hear from you.

If your project or idea is a good fit, we’ll provide a free license and free support. We also plan a big PR and media push involving notables from music and tech in getting the word out about how WebAssembly changes the app game. For the right projects, this will be a great way to get more eyeballs on and people in your app, whether native or web-based.