I have 2 of these working flawlessly with spad.next for quite some time now. The ONLY issue (which no app can solve as far as I know) is that the Xtouch’s do not have unique device IDs on a hardware level, so you need to keep them connected to the same USB ports all the time. If you start switching them around, it’s a bit random which one will be recognized as #1 by Spad and which will be #2. Which obviously can mess up your configs, although the workaround is then as simple as switching USB ports.
I’ve never used AAO to be honest.
There’s a discussion about Xtouch’s in Behringer X-Touch mini works flawless with lots of useful tips. For example in Spad it’s relatively simply to create scenario to either toggle or even flash any LEDs at all (from buttons to those small LEDs around rotaries). I remember leaving a link here on how to control encoder LEDs with Spad: Behringer X-Touch mini works flawless - #197 by Zeppos
For example in CJ4 I’ve set up a button to toggle pitot heat. This is how’s it’s configured to light up the button when pitot heat is enabled:
The above is accomplished using Script Panel but you can do the same by programming the button itself like this:
Similar mappings are done for functions such as yaw dumper, flight director or even flashing encoders which e.g. set VS rate when VS mode has been selected elsewhere. This makes it easier to highlight which knob to turn if I don’t have labels on the Xtouch. It all works like a charm with Spad.