View source for Features We Can't Implement

{{Intro|There are a number of [[Feature Requests|'''features''']] that users regularly request for Audacity, but which we are prevented from adding for various reasons, usually licensing restrictions.|}} 


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== Licensing restrictions == 

We cannot ship Audacity with the following features due to the manufacturers of the technology enforcing non-disclosure clauses in their licensing agreements: 

* '''[[ASIO Audio Interface|ASIO Support]]:''' We ''could'' create an ASIO version of Audacity quite easily, but if we distributed it with its source code, we would be breaking the Steinberg license agreement, and if we distributed it without the source code we would be breaking the licenses for Audacity and all the other libraries it relies on. Audacity 1.3.3 and later can be compiled from source code on Windows with the ASIO SDK to give ASIO support, but this is on the strict understanding that this ASIO enabled build must '''not''' be distributed in any way. Our inability to distribute pre-compiled versions of Audacity with ASIO support will remain until Steinberg relaxes licensing. See [[ASIO Audio Interface]] for more information.       

*[http://www.propellerheads.se/technologies/rewire/index.cfm Rewire] is a proprietary technology owned by Propellerheads Software AB that permits real-time streaming of audio data between applications, typically between Propellerheads' Reason sequencing software and a mixer application such as Cubase. As with ASIO, the Rewire licensing agreement requires non-disclosure of their software code, which is contrary to the open-source licence that Audacity is distributed under. As a result Audacity cannot implement Rewire support.

== Circumvented restriction ==
* {{checkok}} '''Import/Export WMA files:''' This restriction imposed by Microsoft has been worked around in current Audacity by use of the [[FFmpeg integration|FFmpeg]] library.

* {{checkok}} '''VST GUI support:''' This restriction imposed by Steinberg prevented VST effects displaying their full customised interface. It has been worked around in current Audacity by using an open source VST header.

==Other== 
* '''Mobile devices/operating systems:''' Unfortunately, we can't support these at present, partly due to the processing power and disk space requirements of Audacity, and partly because the interface library we use doesn't support mobile operating systems yet.<br />For more details and alternative applications, see [https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/faq_about_audacity.html#Will_there_be_a_version_of_Audacity_for_iPod.2C_iPad_or_other_smartphones_or_tablet_computers.3F Will there be a mobile version of Audacity for iPod, iPad or other smartphones?] in our [https://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq.html Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)]. 
 

 [[Category:For Developers]][[Category:Feature Planning]]