Score Creation for iPad (Pro)!!

• Aug 24, 2018 - 07:39

Just got my new iPad and the keyboard case and it feels just like a computer! Are you guys planning on making score creation possible in iPad with keyboard? If so, when?? :D
Seems like it shouldn't be too hard? idk haha

Thanks!!
-Andrew


Comments

It's hard :-) Unfortunately the tools used for creating MuseScore and making it work on Windows, macOS, an Linux don't work so well for also making things work on iOS or Android. It's possible in some ways but a big undertaking.

Meanwhile, check out rollApp, which allows you to run MuseScore via a connection to a remote server. Currently no sound, though. Hopefully some day they solve that.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

This topic has been discussed before. See: https://musescore.org/en/node/248176.
At the time the suggested approach to make MuseScore available on tablets, was to start with a minimalistic version.
If the goal is to create a MuseScore compliant score editor for use om Android/IOS tablets, what could be the way forward?
We already have the MuseScore Songbook. This means that some of the basic issues have been handled.
- A score can be opened rendered and navigated via touch screen.
- Interaction with the score from the user interface is possible (e.g. changing tempo, transposition, muting and hiding instruments).
- Playback can be started/stopped, and sound levels set.

This means that a basic paradigm for linking the Ui with the Ms command-interpreter is in place. Also that interface to the sound engine is in place.

This could be used as a starting point, and features for creating scores, entering and editing notes and symbols, and possibly entering lyrics could be added.
Four areas of action seem to present themselves:
a. Design and develop a Ui suitable for tablets, with the selected features.
b. Improve responsiveness and precision of the touch activation of the score itself, to ensure precise control on the selection of elements for editing
c. Investigate and select solutions for presenting palettes and add symbols to the score.
d. General performance and stability - and testing!!

Is this a fair assesment, or am I way off the mark?

What tecnical challenges do you see?

I have worked for some time on the Ui design, and should be ready to present something shortly. I hope this can spawn off some usefull discussions ;-)

In reply to by Niels Erik Nielsen 2

I'm not directly invovled in anything having to do with the mobile app development, but my sense is you have the basic situation outlined well. Additional info: the way MuseScore source code is structured, things are divided into to folders: "libmscore" for things having to do with score rendering and so forth but not otherwise UI-focused, and "mscore" for the rest. Only "libmscore" code is involved in the mobile apps. I imagine it would be considerable work to port the "mscore" code as well, and I think the general feeling is this wouldn't be nearly as good a use of time and energy as building a tablet-friendly UI from the ground up.

In reply to by Niels Erik Nielsen 2

But come on! its 2020.

Other developers like presonus with their Notion app for iPad did.

I could be very interested even to buy a musescore app for iPad to write scores on it.

I think it´s becouse there is not a developer that put hands on

There are at least 5-10 apps for score in iOS but compatibility for musescore its what we need

In reply to by Telodigotodo

Notion and a few others do it because they have a large paid staff of people able to dedicate their time to that. MuseScore is mostly run by volunteers, and the few paid staff have other priorities (see the recent post regarding the upcoming changes for MuseScore 4). I have little doubt it will happen eventually, but we volunteers only have so much time on our hands.

In reply to by Telodigotodo

Well as you say it is 2020.
So luckily now you can have a pretty good device at the same time tablet shape and able to run MuseScore (as well as lot of other software): Microsoft Surface.
I would recommend to buy it around black Friday as generally models from previous year still perfectly valid are sell with a huge price reduction (possibly -40% (and -66% for the keyboard))

I am bumping this old thread to let people know that Muse Group (which owns MuseScore) has acquired StaffPad which is a score writer for tablets, including the iPad. This means that 1) Muse Group is actually providing both Mac and iPad score writers but 2) it seems unlikely to me that these will be fully merged, given that staff pad is a paid proprietary piece of software. However, one can hope that staff pad will support muse score files.

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