iLok goes Apple Silicon: Softube, Soundtoys, Slate plug-ins coming to M1?
PACE Anti-Piracy Inc. has migrated its popular iLok copy protection platform to Apple Silicon. That’s very good news because an obstacle preventing developers like Softube, Soundtoys, and Slate Digital from going full Apple Silicon is now removed. The challenge of porting huge code bases stays, of course.
Native Apple Silicon support for PACE iLok
iLok was much maligned in its USB dongle days, but once it took to the cloud, it got heckin’ sweet! I authorize my plug-ins from a single app, which is more convenient than downloading license files. For developers, the protection is not impossible to crack (what is?!), but it does give pirates a hard time.
Following a long period of development and testing, iLok copy protection tools are now fully compatible with Apple Silicon. The latest license support software update includes full M1 support next to existing support for Intel Macs. More importantly, this lets plug-in makers and publishers bring their iLok-protected products to the latest Apple computers. A wave of native M1 updates by some big names in audio software is likely imminent!
Additionally, iLok License Manager version 5.5 or newer now lets users request machine activation resets from within the application. The publisher will have to approve the request.
iLok is part of the PACE Anti-Piracy licensing platform which enables publishers to distribute their licenses securely via cloud, machine, or iLok hardware. Secure license distribution also requires different layers of protection, including a high security tamper-protection solution called Fusion. According to PACE, the work on Fusion was very complex and required significant changes at the OS Level. The team must be happy finally getting this out of the way!
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4 responses to “iLok goes Apple Silicon: Softube, Soundtoys, Slate plug-ins coming to M1?”
I’d never give my money to a company using ilock. Similarly to denuvo it just f* with paying customers. And pirates will always find a way.
“According to PACE, the work on Fusion was very complex” well… it took you over a year AS A PAID DEPENDENCY to do your job. No applause there.
If it uses ilok I pass. It’s heinous. Phones home at the worst possible times. If their servers are busy it can take 10 minutes to prove I didn’t steel it. The technology is from 199X. I loved the Slate plugins but because of buggy ilok I canceled my subscription. For the customer-focused way to do it, look at Arturia, Toontrak, Izotope. Ilok just drips sleaze to me.
And one of the worst things is that if I sell a device that used it and ilok wasn’t at the top of my to do list and didn’t think of it, I have to write to all the companies to “get permission” to delete it from a device I no longer own. When a company uses ilok they say “we think you’re a crook.” And I say, not any more you don’t, because there are plenty of good alternatives. It’s not exactly a plugin desert out there.