When I first started thinking about building the app that would become Tape Trade, I called it "Houndstooth" because I was in the midst of a number of sewing projects and it seemed cool to be named something non-specific to audio. That name evolved to be the name of the MVP product, which showed up sometime in 2024 to a very select group of users.
Subsequently, we named the different iterations after fabrics that came to represent the state of the thing. V2 was Tweed, a lot more functional of a textile than Houndstooth, move versatile and rugged.
V3 became Indigo. It was going to be denim but that seemed kinda lame. What's cool is that when using Indigo dye, the process makes the color extremely permanent- this fits well with the big underlying changes we've made across the system. Our expectation is that with everything currently live, we're going to be able to iterate faster, make some very fun feature additions, and generally continue to improve the core functions of storage, sharing, and listening for audio files.
I don't know what the next iteration is called, maybe we're making it some kind of fancy Japanese or American denim, but we're excited to be here and share the new and improved Tape Trade with you.
Here's a quick read out of everything that's changed, but my advice would be to fire up the app and see what's what.
Sharing, upgraded: new link controls and collaboration for your collections
There are now two ways to share your collections, depending on your tier.
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Web Links: As always these are open to anyone, no account required. Links are now uinque, and can have their own properties aside from the collection itself. Users can specify password, allow downloads, and now set an expiration time. Users can also see how many views a link has received, and how recently. All users are now able to revoke links at any time, shutting down access.
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Collaborative Collections: Collection owners can invite specific people to a collection via email with real permissions, not just a link. Editors can upload, rename, retitle, reorder, etc, so make sure you trust them. Listeners will be able to save and listen to the collection on the web or app in a new "Shared with Me" section. Invitees are not required to have a subscription, just a free account. Our app paywall is now dismissible, so these free users get full use of the mobile app as well.
It's a little funny to boil down months of work and headache to two bullets, but as I said above, the underlying mechanisms of sharing have taken a big leap forward. It's not a far leap to much more link customization and more collab tools. If any of that sounds cool, feel free to let us know.
The immediate next step is this, so Android users, keep your eyes peeled.
