You can get it via the Intiface Central front page.

Android Changes​

There’s been a lot of updates to the android system in this release, including the Bluetooth system as well as handling keepalives a little bit better.

On the Bluetooth side, there were just a lot of errors we weren’t throwing, which would cause users to crash when starting and stopping Bluetooth scan. These have been by far the most common crashes we see in our crash logging system for all platforms, since the mobile app was first released. With the changes made this version, we hope these bugs have been resolved, or at least that we'll have a better chance of figuring out how to resolve them versus just falling over. This includes building a full hardware platform for testing our bluetooth library, which has already surfaced several bugs we didn't even know we had.

We’ve been getting a lot of complaints from both users and the Google play store that the app keeps the phone alive for too long and therefore drains power. The only time this really needs to happen is with certain devices that require updates every few seconds to stay on (brands like Satisfyer, VibCrafter, Mysteryvibe, etc). We've done some work to make sure we only stay on when needed, which should hopefully reduce power draw on phones.

Deprecating Lovense Connect and the Lovense Dongle​

The next Intiface Central will have less features (I can hear every other software dev out there sighing happily). We are deprecating support for the Lovense USB Dongle, as well as the Lovense Connect Service. Support still exists in v3.0.3 of Intiface Central, but will be removed in v3.1.0 (the next non-bug-fix version).

Both of these services were added when Buttplug and Intiface were in their early stages, and we did not have a mobile application. That’s no longer the case, so while they're still used (mostly due to habit and our lack of documentation and guidance), these services really just produced bugs more than anything.

We’ve gotten in tons of reports that Lovense Connect no longer works post Intiface v3. We're not sure whether we broke it or Lovense changed it, and frankly, we don’t care. Neither Connect nor the dongle were documented by Lovense or meant for use by 3rd parties, we reverse engineered them as best we could with the time/resources we had. Maintenance is a nightmare, and we don’t want to do it anymore.

We’re replacing Lovense Connect with using the Interface Central mobile app in a couple of different ways, with starting documentation already available in the Intiface Docs.

For the Lovense Dongle, the recommendation to is to use a regular Bluetooth dongle. Windows 10 and 11 both have decent Bluetooth capabilities at this point, and a regular bluetooth dongle is far faster and more reliable than the Lovense dongle. Guidance on which Bluetooth Dongles we recommend are available in the Intiface Documentation.

We're happy to help users through this transition where we can through our various support channels.

TCode Fixes and Device Additions​

We're aware that users of TCode devices have had issues with the device not registering with video sync services lately. This was due to a device misconfiguration in a prior version of Intiface Central, which has been fixed in this version of Intiface.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To fix this properly, you may need to hit "forget device" in the Intiface Central devices tab and readd the device using the serial port dialog.

For anyone using TCode devices in real time situations (VRChat + OSCGB, etc), please get in touch with us via our support channels, as we're looking at how to support those users better.

Finally, we’ve got some device additions. We’ve added support for HoneyPlayBox devices as well as more Joyhub devices. WeVibe devices now have battery reading support.

What's Next​

With what is hopefully a more stable base to work on top of, what's next?

JFC. THE DEVICE PANEL. IT'S SO BAD.

The Device Panel of Intiface Central is possibly the most important part of the UI, but also the least worked on because it's a complicated mess. We're looking forward to scrubbing and rebuilding it, with some new features:

• Support for device property changes while clients are connected or the server is on, so you can tune limits while using things instead of having to constantly stop and restart
• Ability to see the current state of a device, such as how fast it's vibrating or where in a stroking event it is (I cannot believe we don't have this yet)
• Simulated devices so poor devs don't have to put a toy on their desk every time they want to do something.

No ETA on when this will be out, but it’s our hope that this is going to be in the next minor version update.

As always if you have any issues with the software, please do not hesitate to reach out via our support channels.

Until next time, keep buttpluggin'!

First update in 18 months! Hopefully the first one that doesn't register as a virus/malware in... several years!

I removed process finding code that opened live processes and list their library bindings. Windows hated that lol.

I would just like to state that there is not, and will never be, a memecoin related to Buttplug, Intiface®, or any subsidary projects that is "official" or in any way endorsed by me or anyone involved with this project.

Working in open source is so much fun.

https://github.com/intiface/intiface-central/releases/tag/v3.0.0%2B36

Intiface Central v3 and Buttplug Rust v10 are out! This also includes new versions of Buttplug C#, Python (using the old "buttplug" pypi project!), Javascript/Typescript, and Dart!

There's a LOT that's come out today, which I'm going to be spending the rest of the week writing a blogpost or 3 about. I'll post about those when they're ready.

Please let me know (via one of the links on the bottom of this page) if you have any issues. Looking forward to implementing new stuff soon finally!

Missed the deadline on getting Buttplug v4 out by end of 2025 because I started working on testing Input messages annnnnd it turns out I just completely forgot to implement like half the system.

Christmas break was mostly spent on that, porting the typescript and dart libraries into the v4 spec, and various refinements within the library. By the end of it things were feeling more solid but not quite there, hence more betas.

Since then, I've done even more work on reducing our message footprint (now there's just one stop message instead of 2!) and cleaning up the insides of the library. I've also started a bit of fun work trying to integrate a small scripting language into commands, which is something people have been asking about for just about forever. Check out the linked issue if you'd like to see where that's going or have some input. This will not be shipping in v4 (most likely v4.1, because yes we can minor version specs now), but it should be neat!

Intiface Central

Not much to say on Intiface Central, outside of that it's now the first testing ground of the v4 spec! Whenever you use the device panel in the beta, you're now sending v4 messages! It probably looks about the same!

Most IC updates will be coming after I get Buttplug v10 and Intiface Central v3 out, but at that point I'll have a lot of room to make smaller updates.

Everything Else

Still honestly not sure when everything is going to get released as it mostly revolves around my otherwise very busy schedule now, but we're real close. Here's hoping it happens soon!

Until next time, keep Buttpluggin'!

• qDot

But now there's a macOS build too!

https://github.com/intiface/intiface-central/releases/tag/v3.0.0-beta4

Still planning on doing a release on 12/31!

The new https://buttplug.io website is live, and for the first time in years I don't dread updating it now. There's a blog, as well as the documentation for both the current version of the spec (v3) and the upcoming versions (v4, hopefully out by... next Wednesday. :| ).

Please let me know what you think!

Currently working through implementing new versions of the Buttplug client! So far I've gotten Rust and Typescript done, next up is C#, then Python. After that, I'll be updating all of the examples in the documentation, at which point we'll be pretty close to done.

We've still got a lot of random device bugs floating around in the latest version, but we may just release with some of those as they're on devices almost no one actually has.

For those that've picked up the Lovense Spinel, we do have support for it in the library now, and I'll be doing another beta release of Central soon to pick that up.

Intiface Central

Mostly doing bugfixing in Central right now. Got limit UI for linear devices working again, otherwise holding off on adding anything new because I'm mostly interested in just getting v3 out with the new spec under it, then I'll get to work on Central updates.

Buttplug Website

I haven't updated the buttplug.io website since... 2018? 2019? Somewhere around there. It's super stale now. Planning to just fold the front page into our documentation site, since that's kind of the important part anyways. You can see the beginnings of that at

https://beta.docs.buttplug.io

I'll also be bringing up a blog over there to do longer form posting about the library.

Everything Else

• We got another balatro mod!

• And a war thunder mod!

Anyways, that's it for now. Starting to get a bit more time to work on things so I'm pretty hopeful I can get v4 out in 2025, then spend 2026 actually creating new stuff!

Until next time, keep Buttpluggin'!

• qDot

Or, well, I finally got sick of saying "one more thing then I'll release" and just decided to fucking release everything, lol.

For the past 3 or so years, y'all have been listening to me ramble about the next version of the Buttplug Spec, how long it's been in development, etc... I honestly wasn't sure it was gonna make it out this year, but over the past couple of weeks things have come together enough that I felt ok starting beta releases, so here we are.

The buttplug changelog is pretty massive:

• v4 Spec implementation! A simplified spec, with expanded capabilities and extra future-proofing (I hope)

• Rebuilt our backward compatibility for older specs

• Split repo in many different crates, as we rarely touch like 80% of the code

• Folded Intiface Engine into the main Buttplug repo

Everything is now on the main branch at https://github.com/buttplugio/buttplug

Intiface Central

Intiface Central looks almost exactly the same, but has Buttplug v10 under it now! There's also been quite a few bugfixes, mostly for quality of life issues.

And then there's the built-in REST API! This will hopefully make it easier to make quick one-off apps and test ideas without having to use a full client implementation.

Pre-releases are available at https://github.com/intiface/intiface-central/releases - v3b2 is up already, though the builds are not signed and it's just desktop for now. v3 builds also have a "Use pre-release" option so you can track beta updates.

What's Missing

At this point, I'm pretty sure we're feature complete on the Buttplug side. I'll be updating and changing Intiface Central while we test both of these though.

• Documentation. There is almost no accurate documentation currently. I'd updated the spec and some of the dev docs at some point in the past, but I need to sweep through and update everything again. Due to this, I'm not really announcing this release much yet.

• Bug fixes. We're aware of quite a few devices that are broken, mostly devices that have commands that can cancel other commands (joyhub devices, lovense devices with rotation, etc)... We've done quite a lot of testing but still have a lot to go.

• Client implementations. Rust has an implementation, but so far none of the other languages are implemented. This is considered part of testing.

What's Next

The plans as they currently are:

• Documentation, documentation, documentation

• Continue bugfixing as we find things, as well as filling out holes in implementations.

• Move the Buttplug and Intiface websites to be built on docusaurus

  • They've been static pages since 2017, the plan now is to integrate the base pages into the documentation sites so everything is in the same place.

• Start work on JS and C# implementations

• Maybe do some development streams?

The main thing that could get in the way of this is my dayjob, the thing that's mostly been the reason for the slowdown over the past year. Not necessarily a bad thing, because I love the work and it's a great place, but it's definitely keeping me busy.

There's a lot more motivation to work now that I've hit a big milestone on this though. 3 years was way too long to run this branch, but it gave me a chance to actually do things as right as possible. I hope.

As always, for those with subscriptions, thank you so much for your continued support and dealing with the long quiet spells. I really appreciate it.

Anyways, that's it for now. Until next time, Keep Buttpluggin'!

• qDot

So much for doing a release candidate of the new version of Buttplug in August! Life got in the way and I wasn't really able to touch the project for the better part of the month.

That said, got some time in this weekend to finish up the very boring but very needed Configuration Separation project. Basically, how we stored config was too intertwined with how we work with data in the system, and it ended up being a bit of a pulling apart a grilled cheese sandwich situation. Good news is that the feature is now complete, and I'm mostly working on getting bugs and tests fixed up.

After this, I'm hoping to sweep through and update documentation/APIs once again for the changes that brings in, then actually get to that release candidate. There's still a chance we'll ship the new REST API as part of the RC too!

Intiface Central

Alongside the Buttplug updates, we'll be doing one last release of Intiface Central v2, in order to accommodate some device updates (including the Kiiroo Keon WiFi, for those of you that've been asking about it). I'm hoping to also get a "use beta version" option in this build so we can have people auto-update to RC's of Intiface Central when those are ready.

Everything Else

• We're still seeing a steady stream of new game mods in with the current hardware, check out https://awesome.buttplug.io to see what's new!

• Alongside all of this, a whole bunch of new VR Hardware just landed here, so I may be doing a stream or video on all of that soon. Not particularly buttplug related but there's some overlap in interests. :)

Hopefully a more productive month this upcoming month.

Until next time, Keep Buttpluggin'!

• qDot

Work continues on trying to get the next version of Buttplug out to the world! Work is split between two areas of focus right now

• Documentation and building things with the API to make sure it's sane

  • Documentation can be found at https://beta.docs.buttplug.io. Currently the new spec is redone, as is the dev guide up to the "how to use the API" portion. For anyone that wants to help with the project, letting me know if the documentation makes sense is a huge help!

  • For building things, I'm implementing a native HTTP/REST server! This'll ship in Intiface Engine and most likely Intiface Central, to make it easier to build Buttplug apps quickly without having to go through websockets (json parsing will be optional in some cases too).

  • Getting extra features due to things I find in the API builds too, as I figure out things that might be handy. For instance, we've now got the ability to reverse the min/max points of position-based stroking/thrusting devices, as well as disabling features of a toy.

• Fixing issues with devices I broke while converting protocols.

Both of these initiatives are going well, if a bit slowly as I have to stop to fix things, do my dayjob, etc... What was a hope in getting this shipped by the end of July is now end of August, but I'd rather not rush it.

That said...

Intiface Central

Just because I don't have a full release done yet doesn't mean I don't want people trying things! I'm hoping to start posting pre-release alpha builds of Intiface Central v3 in the near future. I still need to add some extra UI to work with our new features, but once that's done I'll throw a desktop (and possibly sideloadable APK?) on our github and will post here about it.

Unfortunately I think we're going to limp into Intiface Central v3 with the current UI mostly intact. I'm hoping to spend the rest of the year concentrating on updating that and adding features once this project is done.

Everything Else

• Someone built quake3 buttplug

• Getting multiple projects working on the "keypress-to-buttplug" dream: VibeMapper, Buttplug_AHK

That's in for now. Until next update, Keep Buttpluggin'!

• qDot

Buttplug Spec v4 and library v10 is... mostly feature complete! I think! Maybe!

I keep adding stuff and I really need to stop it!

For real though, great progress is being made and I think I'm now down to hammering out specific message details and starting to rework client libraries for other languages. I spent the July 4th weekend finishing up some bugs and rebuilding the message spec, which is available at

https://beta.docs.buttplug.io/docs/spec

You will probably notice that it is much, much simpler than prior specs, which is the point. I wanted to remove a lot of complexity while giving us room to grow more easily in the future, and I think I've achieved that.

If you're curious about what's left, the tracking bug is being kept up to date:

https://github.com/buttplugio/buttplug/issues/565

I'd like to get the Buttplug v10/Intiface Central v3 release done before the end of July, but it kind of depends on how much I continue to change things, and documentation/testing I can get done.

Intiface Central

Intiface Central is now building against the new spec, and seems to be working pretty well. I'm trying to figure out what prerelease builds will look like, but I'm hoping to have a build for people to try up soon. This will be an important step in making sure the new version is ready to release, since pretty much every part of the library code got touched at some point over the past 2-3 years of development.

Probably the most interesting thing here outside of all of the underlying changes (which will make things hopefully more robust for users, but probably won't be noticable) is that I'm still hoping to release an HTTP REST API built into Central, for easy access to toy control. No more being required to use websockets! (Though I will still recommend that :| )

Everything Else

• A lot of people making Keyboard/Mouse pickup software now! We've got VibeMapper, Lewd Input Viewer, and at least one other in the works!

That's it for this week. Thanks to all of the new patreon/github/etc subscribers this past couple of weeks, the funding means a lot, especially as my affiliates fall apart due to me being so busy with coding I forget to run ads.

Until next time, Keep Buttpluggin'!

• qDot

omfg I think I'm actually on the home stretch of v4.

The current to-do list: https://github.com/buttplugio/buttplug/issues/565

Honestly, we're mostly to updating documentation and client libraries, and a little bit of internal cleanup. I expect documentation may take a few weeks, but I'm planning to release beta version of engine/central while that's happening.

Goal right now is to minimize any more major changes going into the library. This past weekend saw me rip out Raw messages altogether (a development feature that got used 2-3 times in the past 7 years but contributed almost 2k lines of code to the library due to all of the special casing it required) and continue trying to simplify things, but I think I'm mostly done now.

At least I hope I am.

Intiface

Not a lot has been happening on the Intiface front as I've been so busy with the base library, but plan is still to concentrate on Central once the new spec and library versions are done. I'll probably release Intiface v3 with the same UI/features at Intiface v2.x, then start slowly upgrading UI/UX and adding features through the v3 line, with v4 being a huge UI overhaul to make things simpler up front (as I keep hearing that Central provides way too many features to people who really want to do 1-2 things).

Everything Else

That's pretty much it for now actually. Thanks to the surprising amount of new patrons in the past week!

Until next time (maybe... next week even?!), keep buttpluggin'!

• qDot

Holy shit, after 8 years of writing this stupid library I think I may have finally landed on a message format and API I don't hate, and that I hope others will similarly not hate.

Buttplug didn't start with plan so much as just a problem: How to control a bunch of random shitty hardware? Coming up with a solution didn't happen through planning so much as just coding until something worked, calling that done, then throwing it out and seeing what the response was.

As of Buttplug Spec v3, that's mostly been "eh it mostly does what it's suppose to but it isn't easy". Part of the reason Spec v4 is nearing 2.5 years in development is that I wanted to actually plan, figure out formats, etc. Up until a couple of weeks ago I had something that was... ok and I could live with shipping but it didn't feel good, and it wasn't going to scale or extend well.

Cue me driving to pick up ramen and having some sort of weird epiphany about turning data structures inside out. Thanks to this, buttplug is now much simpler.

Devices are now defined in terms of features, which have groups outputs and inputs. Outputs can do things like vibrate, rotate, etc. Inputs are sensors. Features act as a container to bring context to things a device does. Of course, most devices are just like, a vibrator, so this isn't very interesting in that case. However, we are getting to the point where people are making DIY devices with motors that may have encoders and temp readings. All of those would be in the same feature since they all related to that specific motor. It also gives us a way to extend how we command outputs to do things, or new types of inputs we can take.

On top of this, we now just expect one command from a client to be one command for a feature. The new Buttplug server takes care of throwing away repeated commands as well as keeping timing so apps don't flood devices. No more blaming app devs for sending too many messages, we regulate that ourselves now!

This will probably all make more sense after I actually write up the new documentation for it, but I've been writing some sample programs with it and in general the library becomes so much easier to use and build clients for. Really looking forward to getting this out into the world now, mostly down to a few small tasks and changing some of the weirder protocols we support.

If you're curious how work is going, the to-do list is at https://github.com/buttplugio/buttplug/issues/565 . I think I probably still have a few weeks or so of work left before this is in any releasable form, and I may put out a beta of Intiface Central before doing a full release since this changes so much.

Everything Else

That is actually it for this update. There's been so many huge structural overhauls to the library that getting to where I am now has taken most of the past month, but for once I actually feel like I'm putting out useful software, versus software people have to use because it's the only thing that does what it does. We'll just have to see if that holds up when it's out.

Until next time, keep buttpluggin'!

• qDot

Well the good news is, I finally got a new version of Intiface Central out! Not a ton to say about it because I've had almost no time to work on new features, but it does integrate a bunch of device updates that've happened over the past 5 months.

We're also in discussions about creating a "simple" mode for Intiface. This was requested by a user who then actually provided wireframes, which is way more than we normally get! If you're interested in checking out the direction is this going, see https://github.com/intiface/intiface-central/issues/185

Buttplug

I've started working on the neverending project that is Buttplug v4 again. I think I've shaved the new protocol down as much as possible, which should make life much easier on both Buttplug app devs and client devs for new/different languages. At this point, the work is mostly down to fixing backward compatibility (so all of our apps on the current protocols stay work), and making sure everything still functions. It's slow going, but it's getting there.

HTTP/REST Buttplug

While the above work is happening, I'm also finally looking at simplifying buttplug down to a REST API. We've had complaints for years that the current system is too complex for a lot of developers, so I'm hoping a simple web API will open things up even more. This will be integrated into Intiface Central, and I'll post OpenAPI specifications here as they become available.

Everything Else

• I'm still absorbing the life changes of the past 6 months, hence the slow development and lack of news. I'm not really sure what my development schedule is going to end up looking like, but I feel like I'm slowly making progress.

• I spoke at NYU last month about the experience of developing Buttplug! I'll be doing a stream of the talk soon.

• We've had lots of new additions to game mods and apps, including an MCP layer, as well as mods for R.E.P.O., Garfield Kart, and others. Everything is updated on https://awesome.buttplug.io

• We've gotten a lot of free members following here on patreon, so I'm opening this newsletter up to them in order to say Paid Subscriptions Are Appreciated! As the project is free I don't really get much income for it outside of Patreon and Affiliates, so every dollar is appreciated!

That's it for now. Until next time I decide to write one of these things, Keep Buttpluggin'!

• qDot

For those not aware, I unexpectedly lost my last job in October 2024. Ok, it was actually kind of expected, we were a startup with iffy funding prospects. I just didn't expect it to collapse as fast as it did. Last time I wrote one of these updates was about 2 weeks after that happened.

I was luckily able to move into a new position at an even smaller startup in December. That's been going well, but due to the hectic nature of being at a tiny, under-resourced company, I haven't had time for... much of anything other than work, really. Hence the lack of updates outside of random twitch streams and media appearances. There's not been much of anything to say on the code front.

Things haven't really calmed down, but I'm now trying to regain at least some hobby time to make sure I don't burn out completely.

Patron Benefits

Many of you have signed up since last time I did a patron survey, so I'll be sweeping through again to get an idea of who wants their name included in Intiface Central builds.

If anyone else has extra benefits they'd like to see on this Patreon, please let me know. I'm 8 years into having this and still trying to figure out how to grow it.

Buttplug

Buttplug did get a good bit of work done on it in the time between jobs. Version 4 of the spec and library continued to roll along, though it came to a screeching halt once the new job started. I've now gotta go back and figure out what was left to do, which is going to be difficult because it was mostly esoteric/challenging bugs and features.

One of the things I may prioritize is getting a new website up. While the current site has... well I hate to say it's served us well, 'cause honestly it's mostly years out of date at this point. The plan now is to just have a simple front page to our docs site (https://docs.buttplug.io) that outlines the library, and possibly a better formatted version of our awesome list (https://awesome.buttplug.io). May also add a blog. Dunno.

Intiface Central

Intiface Central is basically stagnant right now. Any updates are mostly around device additions or bug fixes, but it's hard to tell when I'm going to get time to do UX work or add more features. Luckily no one is really asking for that.

At some point, I'm really hoping to add some small utilities to Central, like a REST API for device control, desktop audio reactivity, maybe a very simple funscript playback system, etc. Nothing fancy, just simple utilities people keep asking for, that can be used on both desktop and mobile. These are all things that have been implemented in one way or another outside Intiface, and I really don't want to step on the community's feet, but for both the REST API and audio following, none of the utilities stay maintained for long and there's confusion about what to use. We'll see if implementing that in a central place fixes it or just makes things worse.

Everything Else

Despite my lack of activity, people are still writing Buttplug mods and apps, which is great. The BalatroBuzz plugin got a decent amount of attention, and we've had other announcements happening in the discord and on social media lately.

Wish I had more concrete things to announce, but right now it's pretty much returning from basic survival mode.

That's it for now. Until next time, keep buttpluggin'!

• qDot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq-k6abTucY

I'm showing setup and usage on Twitch now!

(I swear I'll post a project weekly update soon)