RailControl Pro Blog

Version 3.4 Released

2026-01-24T00:00:00+01:00

RailControl Pro now fully embraces Liquid Glass on iOS 26 and macOS 26. But that’s not all, this update also makes connecting to your Central Station easier than ever.

Liquid Glass

Back in September, I wrote about why I was holding off on adopting Apple’s new design language. At the time, too many things were broken or barely functional. I’m happy to report that Apple has since addressed a lot of these issues, and RailControl Pro now looks right at home on iOS 26 and macOS 26.

If you’re still on a slightly older OS version, don’t worry, the app will continue to look and work exactly as it did before.

Automatic Discovery

Connecting to your Central Station just got a whole lot easier. RailControl Pro now automatically discovers Central Stations on your network. No more manually entering IP addresses. You won’t see the Connect screen anymore, unless we can’t find any Central Stations on your network, or unless we find more than one, and you haven’t connected with any of them before. Of course, you can always manually open the Connect screen from the System menu, just like before.

This is especially handy if you’re visiting a friend’s layout or your local club, where you might not know the IP address by heart. Combined with the recently used stations feature from version 3.2, getting connected should now be a breeze.

Hidden Collection

For users with lots and lots of locs, there’s a new type of collection called Hidden. Locs added to this collection won’t appear in other collections—not even in All. This is perfect for locs you want to keep around but don’t need cluttering up your everyday view. Think of that test decoder you use once a year, or locs collecting dust on a shelf, but you’re not ready to sell just yet.

Other Changes

A few more things worth mentioning: the Articles filter for CS3 now includes Track Diagram areas, making it easier to find articles by their location on the layout. And for macOS users, you can now navigate through your locs using the up and down arrow keys when in list view. Lastly, we fixed a lot of issues too. Check out the full release notes.

As announced with version 3.3, this update drops support for iOS 15 and macOS 12. If you’re still on one of these systems, you can continue using version 3.3, but you won’t receive any future updates.

Get the update from the App Store. If you encounter any issues or want to share some ideas, let me know.

Introducing RailControl Unit

2025-12-29T00:00:00+01:00

I’ve built a new app which transforms your iPhone or iPad into a retro-inspired model train controller for your Märklin CS2 or CS3, just for fun.

How did this happen?

Well, I needed a small app to test my new Swift CAN framework, which will be used in a future version of RailControl Pro. The app needed a keyboard, to type in an address for a loc or an accessory, and then a way to control speed, functions or states. Before I knew it, I ended up with something very similar to an old Märklin Control Unit.

This gave me an idea. As a kid from the eighties, for years I was dreaming of owning a Control Unit. I had no idea how it worked, I had just seen it in Märklin’s catalogue over and over again. It looked so cool. The modules, endless buttons, the speed knob, the colors. Everything basically. So what if I made my test app look like a Control Unit? How cool would that be? And what if I added a Keyboard?

Eventually, it got a bit out of hand: I bought a beat-up Control Unit and other modules for cheap, and discovered how these devices actually worked. Then I made sure my app matched that behavior (yes, even the L and F buttons). Several coding nights later, RailControl Unit was born.

Why release it?

I figured, maybe some people feel as nostalgic as I do about the early days of Märklin digital. So that’s why I’ve made this app available for you too. Of course, the functionality of those old Märklin devices is very limited compared to what we have today. This means this app is very limited too. It might come in handy to control a loc not added to your Central Station, if you happen to know its address, but other than that, it’s mostly just fun.

What’s next?

Get the app from the App Store or read more about it on the RailControl Unit web page. If you have any feedback about RailControl Unit, feel free to let me know.

My best wishes for 2026, and most importantly: have fun!

Version 3.3 Released

2025-11-15T00:00:00+01:00

Version 3.3 of RailControl Pro goes one step further with locomotive management and introduces Smart Collections for locs.

Smart Collections for Locs

With the introduction of version 3.0, it became possible to create collections to which you could manually add your locs. Now, imagine if a collection could automatically include locs based on certain criteria.

That’s exactly what a Smart Collection is: a collection where you define the rules, and the software dynamically manages the locs — no AI involved!

Rules can be based on the loc’s name, functions, type, or decoder. For example, you could create a Smart Collection that includes all locs with “DB” in their name. The next time you add a new DB loc to your system, it will be automatically included in that collection. Another example could be a Smart Collection for shunters, containing all locs with TELEX couplers as a function. You get the idea.

Improved Window Management for macOS

Another big part of this update is improved window management on macOS. It’s now possible to open multiple windows of the same type. For example: two loc windows, each showing a different collection. All windows now also include a stop/go button.

Bug Fixes

As always, this release includes a few bug fixes. Most notably, it resolves a regression introduced in a recent iOS/macOS update that caused the Speed Slider to behave erratically when dragged for more than about two seconds. This issue has been fixed, and loc speed changes should now be reliable again.

Get the update from the App Store, and read the full release notes.

P.S. This version is still built in compatibility mode. However, it seems that OS 26.1, which Apple recently released, has fixed many of the initial issues. This means that the next version of RailControl Pro will include full support for Liquid Glass, while keeping things usable and readable.

P.P.S. This will be the last major update compatible with iOS 15 and macOS 12. If you’re using the app on either of these systems, you’ll still be able to use it, but future updates won’t be available.

RailControl Pro and iOS 26

2025-09-11T00:00:00+02:00

With the launch of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS 26 around the corner, I’d like to shed some light on how I see things moving forward with Apple’s new operating systems.

Over the summer, some users contacted me asking whether RailControl Pro would still work reliably on their devices if they installed the iOS 26 beta. Even though I tested the app and didn’t find issues, I advised against it for two reasons.

First, installing betas is usually not a good idea if your main device contains data you don’t want to lose, or if you rely on apps that might break. I learned this the hard way myself when I installed the Mac OS X Tiger beta 1 on my Mac as a teenager.

The second reason is more concerning, and also the reason I’ve written this blog post. Some of Apple’s design choices and implementations with Liquid Glass are very questionable and, in many cases, barely functional. Animations are slow or broken, and text is sometimes hard to read. These are fixable issues, but I had hoped Apple would make progress over the summer. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened. Especially on macOS, many problems remain unresolved. Some are so serious that they can’t realistically be fixed by third-party developers, or at least not within a reasonable timeframe. These issues make their apps appear broken when, in fact, it’s the OS and its APIs that aren’t working as they should.

Because of this, I’ve decided not to invest any effort into adopting the Liquid Glass UI for RailControl Pro for now. Apple must have foreseen that many developers would face these challenges, as this year they introduced a compatibility mode for apps. This allows apps to run with the previous UI, even on devices with iOS 26. Let’s hope the state of Apple’s operating systems improves in the coming months. If it does, I’ll be more than happy to adopt the new style in RailControl Pro as well. Until then, RailControl Pro will look exactly as it does today, even on upgraded devices.

In the meantime, I’ve resumed work on RailControl Pro. A bug-fix update has just been released, and a larger update with new features requested by some of you is already in the works.

Version 3.2 Released

2025-04-07T00:00:00+02:00

Two weeks ago, an updated version of RailControl Pro was released, featuring a convenient new way to reconnect to previously used Central Stations, along with improved app stability.

Previously Used Central Stations

For those using multiple Central Stations—whether at home or at the club—RailControl Pro now remembers the stations you’ve previously connected to.

You can now easily add a custom name to each entry (e.g., Club CS3). Needless to say, you can also delete entries with just a swipe.

App Stability

Another major improvement in this version is app stability on iOS. Due to a regression in iOS 18, RailControl Pro would stop responding correctly after switching back from another app—loc functions would no longer work, and changing a locomotive’s direction became impossible.

This issue should have been easy to track down, but unfortunately, it only occurred in the App Store version—not when running the app directly on a device during development.

As iOS 18 rolled out to more devices, a few sharp-eyed users reported the issue, which kicked off a slow and difficult investigation. I’m very happy to announce that, with this update, those same users have confirmed the problem is now resolved.

Once again, this proves how important it is to contact me if you run into any issues. Thank you for taking the time to reach out! A small annoyance for you might be affecting others too—without me even knowing it.

Get the update from the App Store. Read the full release notes.

Version 3.1 Released

2025-02-06T00:00:00+01:00

The first update of 2025 introduces a few handy improvements for managing Locs and Events, along with a few essential bug fixes.

Rearrange Loc Collection Tabs

Loc collections, introduced in version 3, are a great way to organize your Locs. Previously, these collections would show up in the order you created them, which wasn’t necessarily the best order. With version 3.1, it’s now possible to rearrange the tabs to your liking.

Choose Edit Collections from the menu on the Locs overview, and drag the collections into the order you prefer.

Groups for Events

Speaking of collections, users with a lot of Events might want to organize them more efficiently. With this update, CS3 users who assign their Events to a group will now be able to filter by these groups as well. Assigning groups still needs to be done on the CS3 for now, but a future update of RailControl Pro will allow you to manage Event groups within the app for both CS3 and CS2 users.

Bug Fixes

Bug-free software doesn’t exist. And apps built on top of complex technology with a lot of legacy—like Märklin CAN and the Central Station software—need to provide support for an infinite number of configurations, making them even more prone to bugs than other software. Luckily, bugs can be fixed. In this release, we caught a few bad ones:

Users with Control Desk-style Track Diagrams on CS3 might see a few previously missing elements showing up again.
Crossings with two drivers are finally working properly again.

These bugs, like many others, were reported by users, for which I’m very grateful. Without your support and reports, RailControl Pro wouldn’t be what it is today. If you come across any issues, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The update is now available from the App Store. And as always, the full release notes.

Version 3 with all-new loc control

2024-10-09T00:00:00+02:00

It’s been a while in the making, but here it finally is: Version 3—without a doubt, the biggest update so far for RailControl Pro.

As promised in the roadmap post, 2024 brings improved loc-management. And that’s exactly what Version 3 is all about. From now on, you’ll be able to control multiple locs without having to navigate between them.

Additionally, with the introduction of Collections, it’s now easier than ever to manage and control the locs you’re using at the moment.

Column vs. List View

To make it possible to control multiple locs simultaneously, RailControl Pro now features a Column View for locs, where each column has its own set of controls for a specific loc. Don’t worry if you prefer the traditional list format—it’s still available from the menu.

Collections

For users with a large fleet, managing it has never been easier thanks to Collections. RailControl Pro offers three default collections: All, Favorites, and Recent. The names speak for themselves.

But there’s more! If you want to create your own collection—maybe for all your Era III locs, or one dedicated to your TEE consists—you can do that, too. Creating a new collection is as easy as tapping a button.

Other Changes

By default, the Stop button now lives in the upper left corner. However, if you prefer the original placement, you can change its position in Settings. Regardless of its location, the button will now display a play/stop icon and change color (green/red) depending on the state. Learn more

As usual, a few other issues were resolved, most notably a bug that prevented two different Track Diagram windows from showing different contents—quite annoying, but now finally fixed.

Discover all new features

Grab the fresh update from the App Store while it’s hot! And please do get in touch with your feedback—it’s incredibly helpful in improving the app.

Version 2.3 Released

2024-02-21T00:00:00+01:00

After a few smaller bug-fix updates, here’s the first feature release of 2024 with full support for Control Desk-style Track Diagrams on CS3.

Control Desk

It was in the making for a while, after Märklin’s surprise release at the end of November last year, but here it finally is.

To make this work, I had to figure out the algorithm Märklin is using to calculate the straights and breakpoints between two points. Since every layout is different, there might still be some edge cases not looking exactly the same in RailControl Pro as they do on your CS3. If so, feel free to reach out.

Keyboard Mode

Another new feature in this version is Keyboard Mode for Articles. This feature is especially useful for CS2 users who didn’t configure all Articles. In Keyboard Mode, all addresses between 1 and 128 will be shown and can be controlled, regardless of their configuration. Existing configurations won’t be overridden.

That’s it for now! The update is now available from the App Store. In the meantime, I’m preparing the next one.

Roadmap for 2024

2024-01-03T00:00:00+01:00

2023 was an incredible year for RailControl Pro with five big releases and more new customers than I thought possible. As the new year kicks in, let’s take a look at what 2024 has in store.

For now, I have three significant features in the pipeline:

Full support for Control Desk-style Track Diagrams
Improved loc management
Editing locs and articles

On top of that, I’d like to modernize some internals of the UI, making the app faster and more reliable between launches. However, I’ll have to drop support for iOS 15 and macOS 12. Feel free to let me know if you’re still using these older versions of the OS.

For those who read my blog post back in the summer, you’ll remember that I hoped to bring editing locs and articles to RailControl Pro by the end of 2023. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do so, mainly because support for CS2 was more work than I expected, and Märklin surprised us with CS3 software version 2.5. It’s in the works, and it will definitely come. Stay tuned.

Thank you for all your support in 2023; it truly was an incredible year. Now, let’s get back to work and ship these features!

Version 2.2 Released

2023-12-03T00:00:00+01:00

RailControl Pro version 2.2 was almost ready for release when CS3 software version 2.5 was unleashed by Märklin. Since RailControl Pro wasn’t compatible out of the box, I decided to finish off the last things for 2.2 over the weekend and include the necessary fixes for the new CS3 software as well.

So, let’s have a look at what’s new in RailControl Pro:

Backup Management

The most significant feature in this release is backup management. Now you can create, upload, download, restore, and delete CS3 backups right from RailControl Pro. CS2 backups can only be downloaded, due to the system’s restrictions.

Create a new backup or manage existing backups.

Article Filter

Larger layouts tend to have hundreds of articles. In that case, finding the right article was pretty hard. This should be much improved now. The article type buttons on top of the screen will update the list. On top of that, the sort options are now accessible right from Articles. No need to go to Settings anymore. Small change, big improvement!

Filter and sort articles right from the article overview.

Support for CS3 Software Version 2.5

As explained in my previous blog post, this new version is a pretty big deal for RailControl Pro, since it enables access to Control Desk-style Track Diagrams. I’ve already included experimental (read: rudimentary) support for them in this release. Needless to say, my focus will be on full support for the next version of RailControl Pro.

Other than that, a bunch of other annoying issues are fixed as well, especially for window management on macOS. Feel free to have a look at the Release Notes. Update now available from the App Store. Have fun!

CS3 Software Version 2.5

2023-12-01T00:00:00+01:00

Exciting news for Märklin Central Station 3 users, finally a new software version for CS3! A fully compatible version of RailControl Pro is set to be released in a few days.

Update: RailControl Pro version 2.2 is now available, and fixes the issues with CS3 software version 2.5. Read more

Märklin has just unveiled version 2.5 of the CS3 software. The change log is quite extensive, and although I haven’t had the time to thoroughly examine all the differences, one standout feature is the updated web app.

In my previous blog post, I discussed the issue with missing Track Diagrams. It seems that this issue has finally been resolved! However, there is a downside – they’ve tweaked the logic a bit, meaning I’ll need to update RailControl Pro to ensure compatibility.

If you rely on Track Diagrams with RailControl Pro, I advise against updating your CS3 until the compatible version is released, which is expected to be by the end of this weekend. I’ll keep you posted on any developments!

The curious case of Märklin CS3 Track Diagrams

2023-11-23T00:00:00+01:00

As you might have noticed, Control Desk-style diagrams don’t show up in RailControl Pro and the CS3 Web App, while the so-called Panels are displayed just fine. Let’s take a closer look at why this is happening.

Update: Märklin has fixed this issue with software version 2.5. Make sure RailControl Pro and the software on your CS3 are up-to-date to enjoy all your Track Diagrams. Read more

Panel-style Track Diagram on CS3

With the introduction of Central Station 3 back in 2016, Märklin also introduced an all-new track diagram style. Gone were the tiny black lines in a square that could only be rotated by 45°. The new approach was to place your articles on the layout and connect the endpoints. CS3 would then draw the connection automatically with smooth curves. Sounds nice, but in reality, it’s still a lot of work to get it right, since the curves go in all directions. These diagrams also require a lot of screen real estate, while they don’t resemble a real track diagram like the ones you might find in a signal box. Looking back, the layouts on CS2 did a much better job.

That’s why, after some community backlash, in December 2019, Märklin introduced an extra style with CS3 update 2.0: the Control Desk. Control Desks are basically a mix between a Panel and a CS2 layout. Articles are still automatically connected like on Panels, but the connections are black straight lines with 45° angles, like on CS2. A good solution, right? Well…

Control Desk-style Track Diagram on CS3

While it shipped on the actual CS3, Märklin never bothered to show them on the CS3 Web App. I discovered that only if you edit a Control Desk, the CS3 WebSocket sends all the data for it to the CS3 Web App, but it never gets displayed. I will do some further research in an attempt to get them to RailControl Pro in a convenient way, but I can’t promise anything. So what’s the story here? Did the contract with their web app development party finish? Is it a bug they never bothered to fix? I have no idea.

Long story short: Control Desks are not accessible by any sort of API endpoint out of the box. This makes them useless if you want to control them remotely.

As a workaround, Märklin provides a way to convert Control Desks to Panels. Not ideal, but it’s something. I wrote a support article about it, which is linked to from RailControl Pro.

Version 2.1 Released

2023-11-16T00:00:00+01:00

RailControl Pro Version 2 has been out for about a week now, and here’s the next version already. Today’s update mainly brings welcome improvements to the Track Diagram on CS3.

I’ve fixed a lot of small annoyances, but let’s take a closer look at the biggest improvement: the visual representation of digital and mfx turntables.

Version 2 brought support for turntables. This basically means you can control them by tapping on the item in Articles or on the Track Diagram. A sheet will come up to choose the new state, e.g., a track. However, the way the turntable was represented in Articles and on the Track Diagram didn’t make it really clear that you were dealing with a turntable. For example, the icon could be a huge stop sign when the status was “stop.” This has vastly improved in this version.

Turntables now always look like turntables, and the position of the bridge will be accurately represented in the icon. Like Märklin does on CS3, but in my honest and humble opinion, it looks even better in RailControl Pro. In Articles, there’s now a little state indicator next to the icon. And on the Track Diagram, the whole turntable is interactive. Tap on the center part to reveal all controls, or tap on an individual track number for direct manipulation. In both cases, there’s a small animation telling you when the turntable will change its position.

For k84-controlled turntables and transfer tables, I’ve added a custom icon as well. The only difference is that for these Articles, the current track position is not displayed, as it is not known.

That’s it for today! Feel free to have a look at the other improvements and contact me with all your remarks, ideas, or issues.

Version 2 for Central Station 2

2023-11-09T00:00:00+01:00

Finally, after two years of RailControl Pro, version two is out with support for Central Station 2. But that’s not all. Also for CS3 users, there are new features to enjoy in version 2.

Admittedly, it took a bit longer than I hoped for. I bought my CS2 all the way back in spring with a single goal: to bring support for it to RailControl Pro.

To do so, I had to rewrite the communication logic to talk to Märklin CAN, instead of the CS3 websocket. For those unaware of how Märklin CAN-bus works, let’s say that it’s not a walk in the park, and implementing it involves navigating through numerous edge cases. Oftentimes not documented. Furthermore, certain features available for CS3 users, such as shutting down Central Station or viewing details about connected devices, remain inaccessible for CS2 users. Despite these challenges, I’m very pleased with the result.

What’s New?

For CS2 users, everything old is new: locs, articles, and even track diagrams can now be controlled from RailControl Pro.

But also for CS3 users, there are some nice new things in version 2:

Starting Events

A feature absent from RailControl Pro for much longer than it should have been. Finally, it’s possible to start events from RailControl Pro, and not just observe their status.

Turntables

Another long-missing and often asked-for feature. Turntables are now supported as well, with an optimized layout for mfx turntables on CS3.

Overall Improved Reliability

The status of articles and locs should now always be up-to-date with your Central Station. This wasn’t always the case in the past, especially for articles with more than two states, such as some signals.

What’s Next?

In my previous post, I laid out a roadmap for the rest of 2023. Obviously, this first update arrived with a bit of a delay (we’re in the train business after all). Let’s see how the rest comes along, but it looks like early 2024 will be more realistic for the next big update.

To everyone trying RailControl Pro with a CS2: please let me know what you think about it. And as always, for everyone: thanks for your overwhelming support! All your ideas, suggestions, or bug reports are more than welcome.

Building a Sustainable Future for RailControl Pro

2023-07-27T00:00:00+02:00

Building a sustainable business out of an app is not easy. I would love to spend more time developing RailControl Pro, but the reality is that the income is far from enough to live on. There are so many ideas for the app, waiting to be developed, but I don’t always have the time to do so. That’s why I’m going to try and change the pricing model in an effort to be able to dedicate more time to the app.

What’s New?

From now on, RailControl Pro is available for free on the App Store, but requires a paid subscription after the free trial. There are three plans. Each plan is charged yearly and comes with a one-week trial period.

Previously, the Mac and iOS versions of the app used to be two separate purchases. No more! The new version gives you access to both the iOS and Mac apps.

Plans and Pricing

Hobby: Limited to five locs. € 9,99 per year.
Pro: No loc limit. € 19,99 per year.
Pro Family: No loc limit, can be shared with up to 5 family members through Apple’s Family Sharing. € 29,99 per year.

Prices shown are for the Euro-zone. Depending on your region and currency, pricing might be different.

Existing Users

If you bought RailControl Pro before today, not much will change. You will be able to continue using RailControl Pro without a subscription.

For users on iOS, the Mac version will now be available for free as well.

Users using version 1.3.5 on macOS can get a free upgrade (with the iOS app included) by choosing Request Upgrade… from the RailControl Pro menu. The purchased app won’t receive updates anymore.

What’s next?

For 2023, there are still two big updates planned. I hope to finish support for CS2 by the end of summer and, finally, in the fall, ship an update that makes it possible to edit locations and articles.

I hope this pricing change will make RailControl Pro more sustainable business-wise, which means I can spend more time developing it. People who were not familiar with RailControl Pro yet will now have the possibility to try it first for free. And everyone gets a copy of the Mac app!

Fixing Bugs

2023-05-30T00:00:00+02:00

Unfortunately, even the best apps contain bugs. Sometimes these bugs are never discovered; usually, they’re merely annoying. But once in a while, they make your app unusable. This time, a user discovered the latter in RailControl Pro.

Getting to the issue

When a user reports an issue, I usually ask them for a few things to help me fix the issue.

The first thing I ask for is a backup of the CS3 where the issue happens. Märklin CS3s are pretty complex devices, and every configuration is different. Some people have three locomotives, while others have over 200. Most of the issues are caused by a configuration for which RailControl Pro is not prepared. In such cases, I can simulate the issue from the backup and easily fix it.

If a backup doesn’t solve the problem, things get a bit more complicated. Device settings, network settings, and other factors are harder to replicate remotely. In that case, I ask the user for a screen recording or video to show me what’s actually going on.

Crashing at launch

But sometimes that’s not enough. This time, a user reported that RailControl Pro for Mac crashed immediately upon launch. Every time. That’s not something that should ever happen, and I’m deeply embarrassed about it.

After importing the backup and running it on my system, things still worked as they should on my end. Hmmm. Since this issue occurred on Mac, the user also sent over the crash log. Usually very useful, but now it didn’t provide much information, except that the crash occurred right at launch. I also found the crashes in the Xcode Organizer (see screenshot), but there wasn’t much I could make out of that either.

The fix

Eventually, after some TestFlight builds and follow-up questions, it became clear that RailControl Pro launched as it should the first time after installation.

However, it crashed after entering the IP address and kept doing so when relaunching the app. The user then tried reinstalling it a few times from the App Store, but with the same result.

Now, this was information I could work with. I tried bypassing the validation on the IP address field, and bingo! A stupid bug, causing a lot of trouble, was fixed with two lines of code.

It turned out the user entered the MAC address, instead of the IP address. Easy to mix up, especially because they’re shown almost next to each other in the CS3 settings.

This bug caused a lot of frustration for the user. When you pay for an app, it should work out of the box, right? It also frustrated me because it took a while before I could identify and fix the issue. Luckily, this time, we were able to solve the issue together and update the app.

Bug-free software doesn’t exist, so if you ever happen to come across any issue, big or small, do not hesitate: let me know, and we’ll fix it.

I've bought a CS2

2023-03-16T00:00:00+01:00

The majority of the emails I receive from people stumbling upon RailControl Pro consist of only one question: “Does this app support Märklin CS2?”

Over time, I’ve saved a standard reply for it:

Unfortunately, RailControl Pro only supports Märklin CS3 at the moment, but this might change in the future.

Well, I think we’re approaching the future because I’ve bought a CS2!

And this is it, or at least the box. It’s the first version of the CS2, art. nr. 60213, which has a few known issues. My reasoning is that if I get RailControl Pro working with this one, it should also work with the newer CS2’s.

I’m not sure yet when it will arrive. I bought it from a live auction in Germany, and the auction house is rather slow, but it’s on the way.

Converting the most essential parts of the code base to support CS2 will take some time and testing, so I can’t give any timing on that just yet. Furthermore, supporting the upcoming WLAN Receiver Box, and the features I’m working on right now have priority.

Version 1.3 Released

2023-03-06T00:00:00+01:00

I’m happy to announce that RailControl Pro 1.3 is out the door. As the version number suggests, this is more than just a bug fix update. Let’s take a look at the new features in this release.

A Brand New Speed Slider

This improvement has been long overdue. I experimented with speed controls in release 1.2 already, and this update builds on that. Quite literally: with a setting, you can now display the +/- speed buttons on top of the slider.

Which brings us to the slider… The default slider provided by iOS or macOS was never a good fit. It was too small, hard to grab, and didn’t react well. The new speed slider is built from scratch and solves these issues.

The new slider is big, with an easy-to-grab knob. It slides smoothly, with haptic feedback along the way. It looks pretty cool, too, with bold red pinstripes. As a bonus, you can tap anywhere on the drag zone to make it move.

Improved Support for Game Controllers

This was a feature requested a few times by some of you, and to be honest, the original game controller implementation was a bit lacking.

Ever since version 1.0, RailControl Pro has had support for a game controller. When you connected a game controller to your device, it would only control the active loc in the app, which wasn’t very flexible.

So what’s changed? Now, it’s possible to control up to four locs with game controllers, all connected to a single iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Since a game controller is assigned to a loc, the person using the app on their device can still control any loc available at the same time. And before you ask why four, well, that’s the maximum number of game controllers you can connect to your Apple device.

If you’re interested in how this all works in detail, read this support article about it.

I’m very happy with how this release turned out. I fixed a few more things, and hopefully, I didn’t break too many things. I’d love to get your feedback, so feel free to send a message with your thoughts.

In the meantime, I’m busy preparing the next release, which will be all about editing. Stay tuned!