IPad-Pro user’s - Notation App

• Nov 9, 2019 - 14:37
Reported version
3.3
Type
Development
Frequency
Many
Severity
S5 - Suggestion
Reproducibility
Always
Status
by design
Regression
No
Workaround
No
Project

The Musescore notation app is not accessible for IPad-Pro user’s. Perhaps there could be an online version accessible to IPad-Pro User’s.


Comments

By "accessible" are you talking about features for blind users, or do you just mean, you want there to be a notation program for iPad Pro? If the latter, yes, that is something many would like to see someday.

Severity S2 - Critical S5 - Suggestion
Status needs info by design

There is no MuseScore program for iPad and none is planned for in the foreseeable futur, and the mobile app a) doesn't allow note entry and b) is not supported via the issue tracker on musescore.org, but only via its group on musescore.com.

Regression No Yes
Workaround Yes No

It is disappointing that MuseScore does not plan to support the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. I have switched almost entirely to using my iPad for everything given the flexibility of the pencil or ability to use keyboard (QWERTY and/or Midi). I truly believe you are missing a market share as most of the other notation companies are adding iPad apps. I don't want to leave MuseScore but I really need something that I can use on all my platforms.

For the record though, while anything is possible someday, you have to understand this isn't some arbitrary decision not to support that platform just because we don't feel like it. Writing software for iOS is entirely different from writing for Windows, macOS, or Linux. We have literally the exact same code that compiles and runs on all three of those platforms very easily. Getting the code to work on iOS would be enormously complicated. Blame Apple, I suppose, for creating an otherwise useful device but not figuring out a way for it to run a more traditional operating system, then it would be easy for everyone to support it. I have little doubt that it will be supported someday, but keeping in mind, we are a small open source projects run mostly by volunteers, so we can't undertake enormous projects like this on a whim.

BTW, you say "many other" notation programs have iPad apps - which of the primarily desktop-oriented programs do you mean? Certainly there is no iPad version of Sibelius, Finale, or Dorico, the big three in this world. StaffPad is the only one I am aware that made the transition, and this was always a tablet-centric program to begin with on Windows. Then there is Notion, but that's like a totally different program between desktop and tablet from what I understand. Anyhow, there is a reason you don't see Finale, Sibelius, or Dorico doing this, and it's the same as ours: not that we wouldn't want to, but it's a huge task.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Maybe Musescore can write something like this in their app so people know it's not available on the iPad. I think people just expect it to be the same on the iPad as it is on a Desktop. But clearly it's a lot more complicated than that and I appreciate having your free program and didn't realize it was mostly volunteer. For all the Musescore users, a simple solution is to use a laptop. That way you can be at your instrument composing without having to use a Desktop.

The mobils app does not claim anywhere to be able to create or edit scores, the MuseScore program does not claim anywhere to be running in iOS or Android

Frequency Once  
Reproducibility Always  

Hello, I’m fairly new to MuseScore and I really appreciate it, great app for what I need.
Regarding this topic and understanding what Mark clearly explained, is there an idea to have a cloud version? You could access that version from iOS, MacOS or windows with minimum development in each of the OS.
Thanks for all your effort.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Guitar Pro has an app with some basic editing features and TablEdit has full tablet versions for iPad and Android to complement the desktop software. However, it would clearly be a huge programming task to port MS to iPad and I guess that a lot of resource is busy right now with the (eagerly awaited) MS4 update.

A cloud version sounds a good idea as iOS and Android users would both benefit.

Forgive my ignorance, but I guess I’m curious as to what kind of funding and time would be required to are rewriting iPad for the Musescore a possibility? No doubt as you say it would be a big undertaking, especially since muse score is open source and run by volunteers unlike Sibelius and Dórico, but seeing them remake their apps for iPad makes me think there might be a significant demographic and future potential – it looks like it’s where some things are heading. Makes me feel like it might be worth biting the bullet and starting somewhere with this project.

The way Musescore maps it’s rhythm and pitches to the QWERTY keyboard has what’s been a game changer for me in my experience, making note entry super fast, so maybe Musescore could create an app that adapts this keyboard layout for the iPad? Once again, I know I’m probably oversimplifying this a lot! Even if the app starts as very basic and gradually gets better over time, people might like this. Or maybe slowly putting more notation features in the reader app til it slowly reaches feature parity??

I personally wouldn’t mind even paying for it on the App Store, or giving towards a crowdfunding…. I really like this app, but it’s one of the only reasons I turn on my iMac, which takes so long just to turn on. I really would like to support the idea of “Musescore on iPadOS” however I can. I’m a musician, not a coder though 🥲. In either case, grateful for the team currently behind Musescore!!

What about a MuseScore player? I seem to recall that in bygone days there was a useful MuseScore player for iOS that allowed playing (not creating or editing) mscz files and maybe some useful tricks like setting a loop within the score and adjusting the balance between instruments. Is my memory correct? If so, is it still available?