Earlier this year, Apple made a big announcement about iTunes: they’re discontinuing it on the Mac with macOS 10.15 (a free update coming in October). Instead, its responsibilities are being split up by media type into the new Music, TV, and Podcast apps. That’s left some of our users wondering about iTunes’ File Sharing panel, a long-standing tool used to copy files between an iPad or iPhone and a Mac, as well as the additional syncing functions previously offered by iTunes.
When macOS 10.15 ships later this year, those functions will all still be available, but they’ll be found within Finder instead (plug in your device, open a Finder window, then select your device from the sidebar). We’ve been beta testing macOS 10.15 all summer long, and while Apple hasn’t finished working on this transition, it’s been a painful one. The file sharing panel wasn’t available at all for months, and even now it’s incomplete, missing basic functionality like the ability to select multiple items.
We hope that Apple will make some progress on this front over the next several weeks and that the final version will be more complete, but we know that many of our users rely on this panel and we weren’t just willing to wait around with our fingers crossed. So we took matters into our own hands and built our own version of the File Sharing panel right into forScore Backup Utility. It works exclusively with forScore, but otherwise offers all of the same functionality and more: you can preview scores and even rename them without losing your annotations or metadata.
Some people think we have Apple’s ear, and unfortunately that’s just not the case. We know about as much concerning Apple’s plans as the average consumer does, so sometimes we have to make a tough call and put in the extra hours. In the end, though, we think we’ve created something valuable and we hope you find it to be every bit as capable (if not more) than the system functions it replaces.
forScore Backup Utility 1.1 is a free download for macOS 10.14 or higher, and the new File Sharing functions require forScore 11.1 or later.
Available now for macOS 10.14 or later
September 19, 2019
Uncategorized
On iOS and iPadOS, Contextual Menus combine thumbnail previews, swipe actions, edit mode actions, and Drag and Drop gestures into one streamlined interaction. On macOS (or when you’re using a pointing device with an iPad) they work just like normal right-click menus. Just as it does with Drag and Drop gestures, forScore leverages Contextual Menus to make many of its existing features more accessible, discoverable, and quicker to use.
Basics
If you’re using your finger, a long press (or tap and hold) gesture opens a contextual menu whenever one is available, along with a content preview when applicable. Tap to choose any of the available actions, or tap away to dismiss it. If you’re using a pointing device, right click instead to open a contextual menu; note that in this case Apple does not provide any previews but menus otherwise work the same way.
Scores & Bookmarks
A great place to use contextual menus is when you’re working with scores and bookmarks in list views like the main score, bookmark, and setlist menus, the search panel, and within item pickers used throughout the app. Tap and hold an item to see a preview of it and discover all of the actions that are currently available: common actions include opening an item in a new tab, sharing it, or deleting it. In most cases, you can also tap the preview image to either open or select it depending on the context.
Setlists
When working with setlists, use contextual menus to share, duplicate, move, delete, or open them in a new tab. The move item, in particular, uses nested menus to give you more granular options: tap “move” then choose from “to top” or “to bottom.”
Multiple Selection
In menus that support multiple item selection through edit mode, contextual menus can be used to work with all selected items at once. Tap “Edit” to activate edit mode, select two or more items, then tap and hold or right click on any one of them to see which options are available for all of those items.
More
In forScore’s main view, the title bar’s central display area includes a contextual menu that lets you work with the current score. You can also right click on any open tab to work with that tab’s item, or anywhere on the page to access additional common actions (due to conflicts with existing tap-and-hold gestures, these last two menus are not available using touch).
While in annotation mode, use contextual menus to duplicate or delete drawing presets and to copy, paste, replace, clear, or delete annotation layers. In the tools menu, contextual menus are available for many (though not all) items in the list. If there’s a tool you haven’t used yet or want to know more about, tap and hold it then choose “learn more.”
Other places you can use contextual menus include the Services panel, libraries menu, backups panel, storefront, and Dashboard. Tap and hold items within these views to see all of their available actions.
Mac Menus
On macOS, contextual menus in forScore work just like other “right click” menus. They do not provide previews or icons but otherwise replicate the same functionality as described above.
Disabling Contextual Menus
If you find that contextual menus aren’t helpful, or if they interfere with Drag & Drop gestures, you can disable some of these interactions by visiting the Accessibility section of forScore’s settings panel.
September 19, 2019
Uncategorized
Accessories
forScore works with a variety of accessories, including page turners, keyboards, MIDI devices, and styluses. Most MIDI devices and certain page turners can be connected using a cable (and usually an adapter such as Apple’s USB adapters or the iRig MIDI).
Most other accessories use Bluetooth and can be connected to your iOS device through the Settings app, or through System Preferences on a Mac. Several specific devices can also connect directly to forScore through the Devices section of the app’s settings panel: these include AirTurn’s page turning devices that use the newer “Bluetooth Smart” technology, such as the PED, PEDpro, and BT200 series, as well as the iRig BlueBoard, Turn Touch remote, and devices that support Bluetooth MIDI.
Keyboards
When a typing keyboard is connected to your device, forScore allows you to use a variety of shortcuts to perform common actions depending on which view you’re working in. In the main view, default shortcuts allow you to turn pages, enter annotation mode, open most menus, search, work with tabs, and more. Most of forScore’s menus include default shortcuts like search, back, and dismiss, while other views like the Metronome and Pitch Pipe feature shortcuts for common actions specific to each utility. On iPadOS or visionOS, press and hold the command key to see an overlay that shows all currently available actions and the key combination you can use to activate each one.
By default, forScore turns pages when you press the arrow keys, space key, return key, and the page up/page down keys. That’s because many page turners are actually simplified keyboards that feature just a few “keys” or pedals and they usually send some combination of these keystrokes; this configuration allows forScore to work with most accessories right out of the box.
Virtual Keyboard
iOS’ virtual keyboard, which normally appears on screen when you need to type, disappears when the system thinks you’re using an external keyboard—this can prevent you from typing while using certain page turning devices. Some of these accessories include a hardware workaround to help you with this issue, which you can learn more about here.
Customization
Most of forScore’s shortcuts can be customized, and you can set up dozens of optional actions using almost any keyboard shortcut, MIDI command, or other supported accessory input. Open forScore’s Tools menu, choose Settings, then tap “Page Turners & Shortcuts” to access them all. Where applicable, defaults commands are shown in gray to the right of their associated actions. To customize an action, tap to highlight it and then activate a control on your external device—if the signals it sends are compatible with forScore, you’ll see the command appear in blue next to it. Tap the “x” button to remove a custom command.
You can use multiple inputs to trigger the same action: just repeat the process above to assign additional inputs, and a circled ellipsis button will appear to the right of the cell. Tap on this button to see all assigned inputs and remove one or all of them if needed.
Note: if a shortcut isn’t being recognized, check that it’s not already assigned to a different action; if so, you’ll need to remove it from that other action before reassigning it to a new one. Note that certain signals, like MIDI commands that represent a range of values rather than a simple on/off state, cannot be used in this panel.
Apple Pencil
Newer Apple Pencil models are touch sensitive and can be squeezed or double tapped to perform certain actions depending on which app you’re using. Apple provides a system setting that indicates how apps should generally behave—in forScore, “Switch between current tool and eraser” and “switch between current and last used tool” work as stated, while “show color palette” and “show ink attributes” open the currently selected tool’s options, if applicable. Squeezing Apple Pencil Pro can also be configured to “show tool palette” which presents a radial tool picker in forScore so you can quickly switch tools.
By default, tool switching actions only work while you’re in annotation mode, but you can adjust this by changing the “switch tools” option in the Apple Pencil section of forScore’s settings panel (great if you use the instant annotation settings described above). Otherwise, if you prefer to repurpose the gesture and allow it to perform a different task whenever annotation mode is inactive, you can assign it to any of the options available in the “Page Turners & Shortcuts” settings panel.
AirPods
You can also flip pages using head turn gestures while wearing one or both AirPods Pro, AirPods 3, or AirPods Max. AirPods gestures are available beginning with forScore version 12.0.4. They require iOS or iPadOS 14.0 or later, compatible AirPods (a firmware update may be required), and a device that supports motion processing.
To flip pages backward or forward, hold your head still for a moment and then turn to the left or right with a quick and steady lateral motion (similar in speed and movement to a swipe gesture performed with your finger). Since gestures aren’t relative to your screen, you can start them from any position: forScore establishes a resting baseline, then waits for horizontal movement in either direction to determine when you’re trying to turn pages.
Note: AirPods gestures are not customizable and can only be used to turn pages; they do not function as inputs in the “Page Turners & Shortcuts” settings panel.
To set up AirPods gestures for the first time, open the Tools menu and choose Settings › Devices › AirPods, then enable gestures and, if prompted, allow forScore to access Motion & Fitness data to use this feature.
Once this is done, any time AirPods are active and connected to your device you’ll see the AirPods icon in the Display Options overlay where you can toggle these gestures per-window.
With iOS 13 right around the corner and iPadOS 13 coming later this month, we’re getting ready for our next big forScore release and wanted to announce some upcoming changes to forScore’s minimum requirements that affects a small number of people: forScore 11.1 will require iOS 11 or later, meaning the iPad (4th generation), iPhone 5, and iPhone 5C will no longer be compatible.
Once we release forScore 11.1, new customers will not be able to purchase and install forScore on those devices. However, if you purchase forScore 11.0.4 now you’ll be able to continue using it as long as you like and you’ll also be able to re-download and install that version at any time if needed.
We’re proud to serve a wide range of musicians and we know that any update to our apps’ minimum requirements can become a barrier to some; we take these changes very seriously and only raise these requirements when we can no longer serve all of our customers adequately, as is the case now. We appreciate your understanding.
Updated 9/18: A previous version of this post stated that forScore 11.1 would require iOS 12 or later due to a major issue with Apple’s developer toolkit—this issue has since been resolved. As a result, forScore 11.1 will require iOS 11 or later and not iOS 12 as previously stated.
Today we’re proud to announce the immediate availability of free updates to all of our Music Box apps: Pitch, Please!, Beat Keeper, Cue, and TuneWave. Each of these apps has been optimized for iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, TuneWave and Cue now take advantage of Dark Mode, Beat Keeper and Pitch, Please! feature home screen shortcuts and expanded support for keyboard commands, and more.
All of these apps are available for purchase separately or at a discount as part of the forScore Music Box bundle, and of course all four updates are totally free for all existing users so be sure to check them out on the App Store!
Available now
Available now
Available now
Available now
