nearfield
Request access

Nearfield for Ableton Live Invite-only beta

Request access.

Nearfield is a desktop app for Mac and Windows. It runs beside Ableton Live, and keeps working in the tray or the menu bar when you close its window. The beta is invite-only. It goes to a small group of producers first, and we read and approve each request ourselves.

  • Mac Apple silicon (M1 or newer) only
  • Windows Windows 11 only, for now
  • Ableton Live Nearfield works with Ableton Live 12.

On a phone? You can request access from here. Nearfield itself runs on the computer where you make music.

Request access

The beta opens to a small group first. Access is by approval.

You sign in to the app with this email. There is no password.

Your computer

The Mac beta runs on Apple silicon (M1 or newer) only. The Windows beta runs on Windows 11 only, for now.

Nearfield needs Live 12. You can still ask for the beta.

Invited by someone who uses Nearfield? Request access here too, with your own email.

Pressing Request access sends what you typed to our account service, run for us by Supabase. What we keep

What happens next.

  1. We read your request.

    The owner of Nearfield reads every request himself, and approves a small group at a time.

  2. If we approve it, you get one email.

    It comes from noreply@nearfieldapp.com, to the address you typed, with the link to download Nearfield. Look in your spam folder too. If we cannot take you in this round, we send you a short note to say so, and we write again when there is room.

  3. Download it and open it.

    The link opens a page with the Mac and Windows downloads. The first time, your computer asks you to confirm. The steps are below.

  4. Create your account with the same email.

    In the app, choose “Create an account” and use the email you requested access with. Nearfield sends you a sign-in link. There is no password. An email address that we did not approve cannot make an account.

What we keep.

A request keeps only what the form asks for. Supabase stores it for us, and Resend sends the emails.

What a request keeps

Your name, your email, your computer (Mac or Windows), your version of Live, the time you accepted the beta agreement, the time you sent it, and our answer.

Who reads it

Only the owner of Nearfield. We email your request to hello@nearfieldapp.com, which only the owner reads.

Your internet address

To stop one sender from filling the form many times, we keep a scrambled form of your internet address, not the address itself, for one day.

How long

A request that nobody answers is deleted after 30 days. A denied request is deleted 90 days after the answer. An approved request, and its approval, are kept while your approval stands.

To have your request deleted, write to hello@nearfieldapp.com. Read the privacy page

Opening it the first time.

For when your access is approved. The beta builds are not signed yet, so your computer does not recognise them and asks you to confirm. This is expected for this beta. You do it once, and after that Nearfield opens like any other app.

On a Mac

Apple silicon (M1 or newer) only. The Mac beta does not run on a Mac with an Intel processor.

When you first open Nearfield, macOS may say it cannot check the app, and offer only Done or Move to Bin.

  1. Open the zip file you downloaded. Put Nearfield in your Applications folder and open it. When macOS stops it, click “Done”.
  2. Open “System Settings”, then “Privacy & Security”.
  3. Scroll down to Security. Next to the line about Nearfield, click “Open Anyway”.
  4. Confirm with “Open Anyway” and your Mac password.

On macOS 14 or earlier you can also Control-click Nearfield in Applications, choose “Open”, then click “Open” again.

On Windows

When you open the installer, Windows may show a blue box that says it protected your PC.

  1. Open the installer you downloaded. Its name starts with Nearfield-Setup.
  2. In the blue box, click “More info”.
  3. Check that the app is Nearfield-Setup, then click “Run anyway”.
  4. Windows asks if this app may make changes to your device. Click “Yes”.
  5. Follow the installer. On its last page, leave “Start Nearfield” ticked and click “Finish”. Nearfield opens.

If you do not see the blue box, there is nothing to do. The installer simply starts.

What you need.

Ableton Live

Installed on the same computer. Nearfield reads your Sets. It never edits them.

An approved account

During the beta, access is by approval. In the app, choose “Create an account” and use the email you requested access with. Nearfield sends you a sign-in link. There is no password.

Someone to make music with

They install Nearfield too. You pair your computers once, then share projects.

Your first ten minutes, once you are in.

  1. Install it and open it.

    The app opens in its own window, and stays in the tray on Windows or the menu bar on a Mac.

  2. Show it where you keep your projects.

    Point it at the folder that holds your Live projects. It reads them where they are.

  3. Sign in, and keep your recovery code.

    Choose “Create an account” and use the email you requested access with. Nearfield sends you a link. There is no password. Write down the 12-word recovery code and keep it offline. You need it to add a new computer to your account when none of your other computers can approve it.

  4. Let it remember everything now.

    Nearfield reads each project once and remembers how it looks today. Every later change is measured against that. It only reads your files, and you can keep working while it runs.

  5. Pair with your collaborator and share.

    Before anything goes out, the app tells you what will travel, and what will not. In the beta, a share arrives only while both computers are on at the same time. Cloud sharing comes in an update.

Updates wait for you.

When a newer beta is out, the app tells you and links to it. It never downloads or installs an update by itself.

Removing Nearfield.

Removing the app never changes your music library. Your Live Sets, samples and projects stay where they are. Nearfield also keeps the folder named .alsvc in your library folder, and its own settings, so that it remembers your projects and your account if you install it again.

On a Mac

  1. In Nearfield, open “Settings”. Under “Startup”, look at “Start Nearfield when I log in”. If it is on, turn it off. This removes its start-at-login entry.
  2. Click the Nearfield icon in the menu bar, then “Quit”.
  3. Move Nearfield from your Applications folder to the Bin.

The switch is off until you turn it on. If it was on and you moved Nearfield to the Bin before step 1, delete the file com.nearfield.app.plist. It is in the Library/LaunchAgents folder in your home folder.

On Windows

  1. Open “Settings”, then “Apps”, then “Installed apps”.
  2. Next to Nearfield, click the three dots, then “Uninstall”.

The uninstaller quits Nearfield first and removes its start-at-login entry. Its settings and logs stay in AppData\Local\Nearfield in your user folder.