NEED RECOMMENDATION ON MUSIC READER APP FOR IOS DEVICES e.g. I-PAD

SoloRule

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 22, 2015
Messages
2,356
Reaction score
32
Location
Toronto , Canada
I know this is not a NEW topic but technology change everyday , I hope its OK to revisit again.

I am hoping to get updated recommendation on what is the best app to display sheet music from PDF format. My needs are very basic :

1) auto page turning that includes returning to previous page when needed for repeat sections

2) capability to zoom , rotate to landscape or portrait mode


OPTIONAL

3) metronome that can scroll your music according to the timing.


I actually prefer page turning over scrolling as scrolling can be hard on the eyes.

I owned AutoFlap. It was wonderful but the creators never updated the app. It is no longer opened with the new iOS system. I lost all my sheet music and back to cluttering my desk with printed sheets.

I also own ONSong. It is created for professional musicians. It is way too complicated and the scrolling made me dizzy. All I really want is simple app.

I don't want to waste any more money on poorly designed app so I like to hear your experience and recommendation. Thank you !
 
I use ForScore and like it. I was hoping to hear other recommendations, just out of curiosity. For books of music, I use PDF Expert. ForScore does everything, and it's great, but has its quirks. Sometimes I wish it did less, more simply.
 
I use ForScore and like it. I was hoping to hear other recommendations, just out of curiosity. For books of music, I use PDF Expert. ForScore does everything, and it's great, but has its quirks. Sometimes I wish it did less, more simply.

I am trying to find a comparison of ForScore to OnSong! ForSore is just as expensive as OnSong now. I have OnSong just afraid it’s the same kind of complicated app.
Downloaded SongBook. Don’t think it does auto flap
 
In my opinion, forScore is better than OnSong, but the Android/Windows 10 app MobileSheets Pro is better than both by far. The developer, Mike Zuber is planning an iOS version, but not soon. I'm biding my time on a 13.5 inch Windows 10 tablet until the iOS version comes out so I can switch to the superior iPad Pro 12.9 inch.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 tenor cutaway ukes, 3 acoustic bass ukes, 8 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. http://.www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: https://www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos
 
Last edited:
In my opinion, forScore is better than OnSong, but the Android/Windows 10 app MobileSheets Pro is better than both by far. The developer, Mike Zuber is planning an iOS version, but not soon. I'm biding my time on a 13.5 inch Windows 10 tablet until the iOS version comes out so I can switch to the superior iPad Pro 12.9 inch.

Have you tried using it with a laptop computer? I'm so frustrated with the iOS file management, and I don't have a large screen iPad, so although it's better than carrying a bunch of binders, using ForScore is frustrating in many other ways.
 
I started with Goodreader. It's a basic app that lets you make annotations and you can create folders, etc.

I then went to Onsong so that I could use a page turner. It had amazing capabilities that were not used by me. But basic annotations were a pain.

I ended up realizing that I will reorganize any two-pagers into one-pagers as soon as I identify them, so I didn't need the page turner. Which meant that I could go back to Goodreader. I'm still very happy with it, because it's just what I need. Basic PDF management. I don't know about the metronome.

Oh, and switching all of your songs from one program to another, and back, was a huge pain. Airdrop could have helped, if I had a second ipad.
 
Forscore flips pages.
Also allows you to annotate your music pages, and design stamps, (I created a Uke chord box which I then annotate with dots for finger positions.)
Auto page turns/metronome, iirc if you tell Forescore the number of beats per page it will auto turn pages, metronome can be sound or flashing border to the page.
Use mine with a bluetooth page turner.
Works great for me.
h
 
Look like most of you recommend ForScore
I guess I will bite the bullet to have that installed today
I know my this year spending after this app is :
Then a Bluetooth paddle
Then a full size iPad Pro
Ha ha it’s like a snowball effect. There is no end!
Thank you for sharing your experience and advice. I knew this is the perfect group to ask!
 
Have you tried using it with a laptop computer?

I'm a Mac user, not PC/Windows, the only reason I ever used a Windows (and Android) tablet is for MobileSheets Pro. A laptop is landscape, music is portrait. I design all my own PDF sheets on my MacBook Pro to be a single page that I transfer to the tablet with Dropbox. I actually think Mike Zuber who created MobileSheets Pro, made a mistake choosing to make a Windows 10 version instead of an iOS version, I'm sure iPads far outsell to musicians than Windows tablets.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 tenor cutaway ukes, 3 acoustic bass ukes, 8 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. http://.www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: https://www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos
 
Last edited:
I'm a Linux user and am not a fan of either Windows or Mac. I only got an iPad because at the time there was nothing comparable in Android which I prefer to iOS. I've recently got a very nice 10" Android tablet for half the price of an iPad or Samsung tablet which I put mobile sheets Pro on. I create my own music and song sheets and aim to make everything a single page like the poster above so no need for page turners or scrolling. I dislike scrolling because it's very difficult to get the scroll rate right to fit with the song/tune as you sing or play it. (Very difficult = almost impossible, in my experience).
 
I'm a Linux user and am not a fan of either Windows or Mac. I only got an iPad because at the time there was nothing comparable in Android which I prefer to iOS. I've recently got a very nice 10" Android tablet for half the price of an iPad or Samsung tablet which I put mobile sheets Pro on. I create my own music and song sheets and aim to make everything a single page like the poster above so no need for page turners or scrolling. I dislike scrolling because it's very difficult to get the scroll rate right to fit with the song/tune as you sing or play it. (Very difficult = almost impossible, in my experience).

Autoflap could let you record your playing then flap seamlessly at your own speed. Too bad the creators never update the app
how do you squeeze sheets into a single page.
Some songs are four to five pages long
Please advise. Thanks much
Yes those large size tablets are great for this purpose.
 
ForSore purchased but page doesn't do auto flap. :confused:
I must have screwed up somewhere.
I saw SETLIST in the menu but now disappeared.
I am usually very good with this kind of thing . I should have waited until I have my smart pill before I start fooling around with it. What to do. What to do...
 
Autoflap could let you record your playing then flap seamlessly at your own speed. Too bad the creators never update the app
how do you squeeze sheets into a single page.
Some songs are four to five pages long
Please advise. Thanks much
Yes those large size tablets are great for this purpose.

I don't include chord diagrams in my songs to start with. It's not necessary. I keep those on a separate sheet for reference if needed. I use "chord pro" format for lyrics and chords that is chords on the same line as the lyrics in square brackets like this: [C] and I highlight them in red so they stand out. Being in the UK I use A4 page size and keep the margins reasonably small (usually 1.5cm). Unless the song is long I use a 14 point sans serif font for readability and if the song has a chorus I write it out once then simply write "chorus" at the end of each verse. If the song is very long I will reduce the font and, if necessary use 2 columns. I mostly don't include musical notation on my song sheets. If I do and it doesn't fit on the page with the lyrics I will put it on a second page as it's there as a reminder rather than to be used while actually singing. That way I can get 90% of my songs on a single page. I don't generally scan or download song sheets but create them in Libre Office Writer on my laptop (any word processor will do) and save them to PDF in Dropbox for transfer to my tablet. I do download lyrics/chords as plain text files - saves a lot of typing and I do have a little piece of software that will convert chord names written above the line to chord pro format.

Hope that helps. When I'm next on my laptop, I'll upload an example sheet. I'm on my iPad just now and it's easier from the laptop
 
ForSore purchased but page doesn't do auto flap. :confused:
I must have screwed up somewhere.
I saw SETLIST in the menu but now disappeared.
I am usually very good with this kind of thing . I should have waited until I have my smart pill before I start fooling around with it. What to do. What to do...

Be patient. It always takes time to get to know software properly and to learn to use it. There is a help file built into ForScore which is actually quite good. You can access it from the menu on the right hand side of the page. Tap on the right of the page somewhere near the top and the menu should drop down.
 
Here is a link to one of my song sheets. I tried to upload it but it was bigger than the largest size UU allows. You'll notice that if the chords repeat in the same pattern in several verses I just put them in for the first verse. The bridge, near the bottom has a different set of chords.

Fields of Gold
 
Oh I see how you managed to squeeze into a single page. I play only finger style so the song can be more than three pages because of all the notes.
I think I found the tool that supposed to train ForScores to flap pages. I have not tried it yet. The menu does not give you much instruction so it can't be too difficult . Just like Iphone, seems to me that there are some hidden tools the app creator assumes you already know about it.
 
Forescore page flips/flaps!
Form the manual
Autoturn
For scores with sequential pages, forScore’s metronome can also turn the pages for you automatically. To use autoturn, follow these three steps:
• For each page of your score, enter in the number of beats on that page or type in the number of measures and the app will do the math for you. If you’re on the first page of your score, consider adding a few extra beats as a lead-in.
• Taptheautoturnbuttontoturniton(ifitisn’talready)
• StartthemetronomebyselectingAudible,Visible,orBoth
Once the metronome counts up to the number you’ve specified, the page will turn automatically.
If you’re viewing your score in landscape mode, forScore will also scroll down when it reaches half of that number. (If you have 64 beats on a page, it’ll scroll to the bottom of the page at 32 beats.)
Turn the metronome off at any point to reset the autoturn count.

Hope this helps.
H
 
Top Bottom