Our beta testers are invaluable when it comes to finalizing the latest major forScore updates, but there are limits to what we can do without putting their music libraries (and in some cases their livelihood) at risk. So today we’re announcing a new program, forScore Labs, which will give us the flexibility to test bigger features for longer.
forScore Labs is a separate app that’s only available for beta testing through TestFlight (it won’t ever be available on the App Store) and it can be installed on a device that already has forScore on it—they’re completely standalone apps. forScore Labs is nearly identical to forScore, aside from the new features or changes we’re testing at the moment.
Before we get into what the first version will include, we want to be clear: these features might never be publicly released. They are at the proof-of-concept stage, we have no hard time frame for their release, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll ever be finished. The presence of a feature in forScore Labs should never be interpreted as an announcement.
The inaugural testing phase of forScore Labs includes something we’ve been working on for several years now: iCloud syncing. With an app as complex as forScore developed by a company of just two people, this has been a huge undertaking for us and we’re very excited to finally be reaching this milestone.
We’ve put together a new page that details the forScore Labs program and gives you more information about what to expect and how to sign up. If you’re interested in something like this, be sure to check it out now—space is very limited.
forScore Labs
Nocturne 1.3, the latest free update to our MIDI recorder, is available now on the App Store and Mac App Store. This version introduces a newly rewritten recording engine that addresses Nocturne’s biggest weakness: handling of delayed events, especially when using network MIDI sessions. Version 1.3 also brings enhanced support for use with pointing devices on iPadOS, adds the ability to scroll left and right to adjust a track’s playback position (on iPad or Mac), and improves various interface elements on the Mac.
Until now, Nocturne has really been a passion project for us. It’s an app we created to provide a simpler approach to recording musical ideas quickly—a sort of MIDI notebook—and to prove that there’s room for such an app in a marketplace full of sophisticated alternatives. It’s clear that there is, and with these improvements we think Nocturne lives up to its potential like never before.
To all of you who bought it, thank you for helping it grow. As with all of our products, Nocturne is fueled by your support, feedback, and passion.
Available now for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS
Last week we released forScore 11.2 and one of its headlining features is Page Copy & Paste which allows forScore Pro subscribers to copy or cut a portion of a page’s contents and paste it elsewhere on that page, on another page, or even in another document. It extends the existing copy/paste functionality of the Selection annotation tool when used with the new PDF layer that’s automatically available on every page.
We know that some people who are anxious to use this feature aren’t necessarily familiar with the Selection tool, though, so we’ve updated our knowledge base article to provide step-by-step instructions. We’re sorry this wasn’t available last week, but we think it’ll help curious users get up and running quickly.
We occasionally get app reviews from users asking questions or seeking help, so we wanted to take a moment today to discuss how app reviews work and why they’re not a great way for forScore users to get answers.
For most of the App Store’s history, reviews were totally one-sided: developers couldn’t respond publicly or privately to offer help or ask for clarification. That changed a few years ago, but Apple limits the number of times a developer can respond to a review and, most crucially, they must approve each one and it can take up to a day for a response to appear on the App Store. At that point the reviewer is notified of the response via email, but if the reviewer doesn’t regularly check that email address the response may never be seen.
In general, reviews are great for offering your overall opinion about an app’s functionality and usefulness to you on the whole in a way that helps others understand if the app might be right for them as well. When you’re having a specific, temporary problem or don’t understand how something works, please get in touch with us first and let us help; you’ll get a much faster response, more detailed information, and be able to follow up with other questions at any time.
Reviews that follow these guidelines really do help. We just released our 17th major update to forScore, each one absolutely free for all users who purchased a previous version. If you bought forScore 1.0 for $2.99 back in 2010, you’ve gotten access to every single one of these updates and an app that does orders of magnitude more than it did at the start. If you can, please consider leaving a 5-star review and help us fuel all of the updates still to come.
Today we’re proud to announce the release of forScore 11.2, available immediately as a free update for all users. It’s a jam-packed release and we can’t cover it all here, so be sure to check out our update page to learn all about it. We think it’s easily the best version of forScore yet and we think musicians everywhere will love the new features, big upgrades, and incredible enhancements.
Thanks once again to all of our customers, and especially to our amazing beta testers for helping us get ready for this big release. Your support keeps us going and ensures we can keep releasing big new updates for years to come. Thank you, truly—we couldn’t do it without you.
Available now for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch
