![]() Using keyboard shortcuts like Command+Clicking, Command+Tabbing, and the precision of the keyboard and mouse, allowed me to easily drag and drop most of my remaining digital sheet music library straight into forScore from the Finder. Not only is it lightning-fast for me to get all of the scores that were not in my forScore database inside of it, but scores can also now sync across devices over iCloud. I am happy to report that forScore on the Mac resolves these frustrations. When this happens, and I try to open a score from the Spotlight, even a score I used the day before, I will have to wait an extra-long time for my Mac to download the file before actually opening it. To make matters worse, iCloud Drive periodically decides to put some of my scores back in the cloud when I am low on space. It is in some ways like maintaining two separate libraries of the same stuff. I cannot annotate them as I can in forScore, or use music stamps, and I cannot see them in the context of my organized setlist. They don’t have any of my indexes, metadata, or attached recordings. This means that to share music on my Mac’s screen (without doing the AirPlay method above), I have to open the files in PDF Expert. Until this point, I have been storing all of my scores in a folder in iCloud Drive and then creating duplicate copies in the iPad version of my forScore library. I will get into the implications of that in a moment.Īdding music to my library is now a breeze. Using it right on the Mac is just as easy as I expected.Īll of the buttons, knobs, bells, whistles and user interface elements are exactly where you would expect them to be because it looks and feels like the iPad app. It is on a shared screen during every band class and private percussion lesson I teach. I have been using it aggressively since the fall. Having forScore on the Mac is a huge deal for me. Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS Furthermore, most users know how to use the Finder on Mac but don’t know how to work with the Files app on iPad, even though it is mostly the same these days. Yes, the iPad can technically do the same things as the Mac in this regard, but it’s slower and more cumbersome. No matter how many Mac features the iPad adds (drag and drop, Files app, etc.), it is simply not as easy as the Mac. For example, file management is way easier on a Mac. ![]() In the same way that the iPhone is sometimes useful for being always the one in your pocket, the Mac is also useful sometimes. In a moment that my iPad battery once failed, I did conduct a percussion ensemble rehearsal from forScore on the iPhone. An iPhone is small, but there are those moments when it is the only device on you and you want to reference something really quickly. Still, an app this useful screams to be used cross-platform! The more I moved my sheet music library from PDFs on my hard drive to forScore, the more I found I needed to be able to work with the same library structure on my other devices. This is to say that it is an app that takes specific advantage of the iPad’s strengths (form factor, pencil support, paper-like display, direct touch input) and leverages them in a way that makes the iPad feel essential.įor the same reasons it is essential on iPad, it has seemed slightly less essential on the iPhone (small screen size is impractical) and Mac (similarly, the design is not easy for direct manipulation, annotation, portability, or sticking on a music stand). ForScore has long been my most essential iPad app, and one of the few apps I consider iPad-first.
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