Ipad apps

Currently using OnSong to convert my paper song books to digital. Ran into some limitations with conversions. Redoing all in Microsoft Notepad for .TXT files.

Has anyone used SongBook ChordPro?? How does it compare to OnSong??

I use SongBook ChordPro, but haven't used anything else at all. If you want, you can try their Windows version for free to get a feel for it. The iPad/iPhone app actually has more features and a better layout, though! You can even edit the ChordPro files from the app!

I use both the Windows and iPad/iPhone app, linked together by running DropBox on the PC and enabling the DropBox option in the app, so if I use the app's Internet Search ability to grab a new ChordPro file it'll show up ASAP on my PC, or vice versa.

It's really a great, well made app. Worth the price, for sure, if you have a bunch of ChordPro files.

I've been uing SongBook for some time and just recently got OnSong. I keep coming back to SongBook because you can display the chord diagrams on the side instead of them just being at the bottom of the song. You may be able to do it in OnSong but I couldn't figure it out. Other than that they are quite simular.

What sort of limitations are you facing?

Thanks for your input.
As for the limitations of OnSong, all my songs are written in Microsoft Word. I use the New Zealand Template/Chord Forms (on the side). I've tried converting to .TXT files then loading through ITunes to OnSong. Even as a text file, I need to do a lot of editing on OnSong to get the chord forms to line up over the correct position. Given the number of songs I have (from two groups), I find the easiest way to digitize to OnSong is to convert the .DOC document to .PDF. This gets the song loaded to OnSong with minimum work. The drawback to the .PDF conversion method is that now I can't use the OnSong editor. Nor can I transpose nor add custom chord forms. The only advantage for me is to get all songs on the IPad to replace three thick binders.

Would SongBook be an improvement ??

I think for both apps the imported files need to be in a specific format: http://linkesoft.com/songbook/chordproformat.html
Here's one file in that format attached.

If you go to chordie.com in the apps you can upload a lot of songs in this format.

Hope it helps

I've been using SongBook for about a year and love it. I'm approaching 500 songs in my Ipad2 and SongBook is getting a little slow starting up or switching between "All Songs" view and "Playlist" view. Thankfully, once you're in either view, the program runs the song database quickly. I've just ordered a baritone and look forward to easily switching between standard and baritone tuning as I learn the new chords. I haven't used any of the other apps so I can't make any comparisons.

If you only need to check a chord diagram, in OnSong, when you use the OnSong formatted files, you can click on the chord name, and get a choice of chord diagrams, with ukulele one of many choices, including piano, guitar, mandolin, banjo etc. It shows up in a little pop up window. It is great if you just transposed the song into an unfamiliar key.

–Lori