Dashboard

If you allow it, forScore can track which scores, bookmarks, and setlists you view and for how long. With this information collected, the Dashboard feature in the tools menu can give you valuable insights into your playing habits and helps keep you on track. Three tabs along the top or bottom of the screen (shown on the left of the screen in a sidebar when space allows) give you different ways of viewing and using this information:

Analytics

The Analytics tab shows information collected over the past ninety days. It can show you statistics for either items (scores and bookmarks) or setlists, and displays either the total amount of time you spent playing or the number of views.

Tap on any day to see a detailed list of items or setlists in the lower portion of the screen. This list shows everything you viewed on that particular day and is sorted from most played or viewed to least. You can tap on any item or setlist in this list to see how often you’ve viewed or played it over the past ninety days.

Goals

The Goals tab helps you reach a minimum number of views or amount of play time for each day, week, month, or all time. Goals can be item- or setlist-specific, or they can be more general.

The main list of goals shows your current progress as a circular view and, if your goal is time-specific, uses an additional view in the lower left-hand corner to show your results for the previous term. For instance, a weekly goal would prominently display this week’s progress with a smaller view for last week’s results.

Tap a goal to edit it or to view your results for the past ninety days. The timeline along the top of the screen shows your results for the past ninety days: tap on any of these graphics to share your progress with friends or colleagues via email, message, Twitter, Facebook, and more. It’s a great way to hold yourself accountable or to share your success.

Reports

The Reports tab lets you periodically share more detailed information with a colleague or instructor as a PDF document. To begin, create a new report template and tap the circled arrow button to edit it.

Here, you can customize your report to display progress for all items and/or setlists or for one in particular. Select day, week, or month, and choose how far back you’d like the report to go. Once you’re done, tap the back button and tap the report to view its results and use the action button in the top right-hand corner to share it.

Note: The information forScore collects is stored locally on your device. It doesn’t get sent to any servers, and won’t be shared with anyone unless you specifically choose to do so. Visit forscore.co/privacy to learn more.

The Files App

On iOS and iPadOS devices, Apple provides a standard system interface that any app can use to help you work with documents, also available through the standalone “Files” app. It lets you access and work with your documents whether they’re stored in iCloud Drive, third party cloud storage services, or within apps like forScore that choose to make their documents available in this way.

File Providers

The Files interface lets you access documents stored in iCloud Drive, other apps, or dozens of third-party cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox. Learn more about configuring the Files interface to work with your favorite cloud storage provider at forscore.co/files.

Importing Files

Use the Import button in the main menu to copy files to your forScore library. Tap a single file or use the Select button (only available in the Browse tab) to import multiple files at once. Use the Locations sidebar to switch between cloud storage providers, including iCloud Drive, or to view files stored locally on your device.

Sharing Files

Any time you share files from forScore, you’ll see iOS’ native sharing interface appear which includes an option called “Save to Files.” Use this action to copy your files to other apps or upload them to any of the cloud storage services you’ve configured.

On iPads, Drag and Drop gestures make importing and sharing content even easier, especially when using iOS’ multitasking modes. Learn more about these gestures in the Drag and Drop section at the end of this guide.

The Services Panel

If you prefer, you can also access the Files interface using forScore’s Services panel. If it’s not already shown in the list of Services, tap the + button to select it, then tap it to view the splash screen and choose to either upload or download content.

forScore’s Documents

Every app has its own Documents directory where they can store a user’s information. This is where forScore stores all of your PDF files; if you’ve ever used the File Sharing interface, this is the directory you were working with.

forScore’s Documents directory can also be accessed directly through the Files interface and standalone app. Choose “On My iPad” (or iPhone) from the Locations list in the app’s sidebar to see app folders for forScore and any other apps on your device that store data in their own Documents directories.

Working within forScore’s Documents directory through the Files app carries the same implications as working within the File Sharing interface does—delete files here and they’ll be permanently removed from forScore. We do not recommend renaming PDF files through this interface as doing so will remove that file’s metadata, annotations, and more.

Note: If you want to rename PDF files stored in forScore’s Documents directory, use the metadata panel to change its title instead and the filename will be updated to match it as closely as possible.

Accessibility

forScore includes several Accessibility options in the settings panel that can help you get more out of the app.

Reflow

Although forScore can’t interpret the notes in a PDF file, it can detect where important information is generally on each page. With Reflow, forScore takes that information, magnifies and redraws it, then lays it out end-to-end so you can read your music in one long line—like a horizontal teleprompter. Reflow gets you most of the way there with its smart detection, and if it gets something wrong you can correct it quickly and never worry about it again.

Reflow is available by default on iPhone but on other devices it must first be enabled for use through the ‘Accessibility’ section of forScore’s settings panel. To activate it, select the Reflow (zig-zag arrow) icon from the Display Options overlay.

Reflow mode features several buttons along the top of the screen: Edit, zoom, navigation mode, and an exit button. Learn about each of their functions below.

Editing Zones:

The Edit button allows you to adjust Reflow’s zones if needed. You’ll see them as gray rectangles—tap once to see its resize controls, and tap again to show the delete option. Drag the green control at the top of each rectangle to downward to split it horizontally into two new areas.

You’ll see a control bar along the bottom of the screen: use the + button at the bottom of the screen to create a new zone, use the arrows to move between pages, and drag the set of three lines on either end of the control bar to drag it up or down and out of your way. If you’d like forScore to reset all zones and re-scan the page, tap the Reset button.

Zoom:

Zoom in or out to find the best magnification for you—up to three times as large as the original page.

Navigation:

Choose to page or scroll through your music. In Page mode, tapping on either side of the screen will shift the music over by half of your screen’s width. In Scroll mode, your music will scroll by continuously: tap the left side of the screen repeatedly to slow it down or the right side to speed it up. Tap in the center of the screen to pause or resume scrolling.

More

Other Accessibility settings allow you to disable Drag & Drop and Contextual Menu gestures, change the metronome’s sounds, adjust the default size of links and buttons, or use full-screen menus.

Drag & Drop

Drag and Drop gestures make working with forScore much faster and more intuitive. In most cases Drag and Drop provides a second way of doing things, so you’re free to use the original way if you prefer.

Basics

To use Drag and Drop on iOS or iPadOS, tap and hold certain items for a moment until they appear to lift off the screen, then drag your finger away from it slightly to begin the drag process. While holding the item with one finger, you’re free to use your other fingers to interact with forScore or any other app on your device. On macOS, drag and drop works immediately—just click and drag without pausing first. Since Macs don’t support multiple simultaneous pointer interactions, some drag and drop techniques described below may not be practical on macOS.

Note: Contextual Menus also use a long press gesture and change how Drag and Drop works in cases where both are available. Tap and hold an item to show its contextual menu and then drag the preview away to use Drag and Drop (there’s no need to lift your finger first, just use one continuous motion). If you prefer, you can disable either Drag and Drop or Contextual Menus in the Accessibility section of forScore’s settings panel.

In some cases, tapping additional similar items adds them to the drag session (like dragging a score in the Score menu, then tapping other scores to drag them at the same time). You can open and close menus and panels and your drag items will follow your finger as long as it’s touching the screen.

When you’ve dragged your finger over a valid drop zone, you may see some indication that lifting your finger here will perform some kind of action. The drop zone may react by moving or changing colors, or a green “+” badge may appear, for instance, letting you know that dropping the items in this spot will copy them in some way. Each interaction works a little differently, so try some of the following examples for yourself to see how they behave.

Rearranging Items

Many of forScore’s views list items that can be rearranged: setlists and their contents, libraries, audio tracks and MIDI commands in the Metadata panel, accounts in the Services panel, and more. Typically, these items can be arranged by tapping “edit” and then dragging the three horizontal lines on the right-hand side of the cell up or down as needed. With Drag and Drop, there’s no need to enter “edit” mode first—simply tap and hold any part of the item until it lifts up and out of the list, then drag up or down.

Working With Items

Scores and bookmarks can be dragged out of forScore’s Score, Bookmark, and Setlist menus, the Search panel, and you can even drag the current item out of the main view’s title display (and remember: you can use any combination of these sources to add multiple items to your drag session). Drag any single item onto the page to open it, or drag one or more items into the Tab bar to open them in tabs.

Working With Setlists

No feature is better suited to Drag and Drop than Setlists. Creating, editing, and organizing your setlists is dramatically simpler and faster using these new gestures. To rearrange setlists or their contents, drag items up or down as discussed in the “rearranging items” section above. You can also drag a setlist into or out of a folder to move it.

To create a new setlist, drop one or more scores or bookmarks into the main Setlists list and supply a name. To add items to an existing setlist, drop them onto the setlist’s name and they’ll be added to the end of that list. Or, hover over a setlist (or tap it) to open it, then drop the items into the list at a specific point. You can even drag items out from one setlist and into another one to copy items between them.

Importing & Sharing Files

Drag and Drop isn’t just restricted to the same app; you can also drag compatible files into forScore to import them. Drop one or more PDF files into the Score menu to add them to your library, onto the page to import them and open the last one, or drop them into the tab bar to import and open all of them in new tabs. Drop them into the Setlist menu to create a new setlist with them or add them to an existing setlist using the same methods described in the previous section.

Importing works with other files, too. Drop any file type supported by forScore into certain views or panels to import them. Other supported formats include our own 4SC (scores), 4SS (setlists), and 4SB (backups) file types, as well as certain kinds of text and audio files.

You can also drag some items out of forScore to export them: drag a score to share a copy of its source PDF file, or drag an audio track, recording, or backup file to copy it to any other app that accepts them.

Audio Tracks

forScore uses Drag and Drop to help you work with audio files more quickly and flexibly, too. Drag them into and out of the audio file picker to import or export them, or drag them onto the media box to import them and link them to the current score or bookmark.

If the current track is a locally stored file, you can drag the track’s title out of the media box to send a copy to another app. Otherwise, if it’s a track that comes from your device’s shared Music library, you won’t be able to export the file but you can still use Drag and Drop to add the track to another score or bookmark in your library (drop it into the Metadata panel’s audio track list).

Annotating

While annotating, use Drag and Drop to rearrange your drawing presets by dragging them left or right. You can also work with images in several ways: drop an image onto the page (from the Photos app, Safari, or any app that allows you to drag images) and forScore will place it as an annotation. Resize it, reposition it, then tap outside of it to complete the process.

Create new stamps by dragging images from other apps directly into the Stamp Creator’s canvas. Use the Selection tool to select an area of drawn annotations, then use Drag and Drop to copy them as an image to other apps. Since you’re working with standard images in both cases, you can even combine these two examples to create new stamps from annotations you’ve previously drawn by hand, all without leaving the app or needing to go to your computer to deal with image editing software.

Services

In the Services panel, use Drag and Drop to move files between folders or drop certain things here to upload them. Drag scores, bookmarks, setlists, audio files, backups, or CSV files into the Services panel to upload them.

MIDI

Drag commands between the various MIDI sections in the Metadata panel and the Button editor to copy them, or drag commands onto the page to create a new button with them.

Multiple Windows

On iPadOS, Drag & Drop gestures can be used to create new windows. Drag a score or setlist to the left or right edge of the screen until it shows the forScore app icon, then let go to open a new window displaying that content.

Disabling Drag and Drop

Some users may find that iOS’ Drag and Drop gestures interfere with their ability to work. Although iOS does not currently provide a system setting to disable them, forScore offers an option in the Accessibility section of its Settings panel called “Drag and Drop” that significantly alters how it utilizes these gestures. When this setting is disabled, forScore does not make items available for dragging and most interactions return to how they worked with older versions of iOS.

Note that this setting does not affect how forScore receives drop gestures originating from other apps, however, so you can still do things like drag a PDF file from the Files app directly into forScore to import it.

Backups

Every app on your device has a standard set of folders that it uses to store information. This ‘Documents’ directory is used to store user content, like documents you add to (or create within) an app. Other data like app settings, which are designed to be changed through the app’s interface and not edited directly, are stored in a number of private app directories instead.

4SB Backups

In forScore’s Backups panel you can create a forScore Backup (4SB file) that packages all of forScore’s private information into a single document that is saved alongside the rest of your files in forScore’s Documents directory. Copy all of the files in this directory (including the 4SB file) to a safe location and you’ll be able to restore forScore back to its current state without affecting any other apps. As a safeguard, forScore creates an automatic 4SB backup when you launch the app. It keeps the most recent copy and a copy from the last calendar day you used it.

A backup file can not be used on its own. It only contains forScore’s information about your documents, not copies of your documents themselves. Backups are a good choice when copying all of your files to a computer using File Sharing.

4SB Archives

You can also use the Backups panel to create a forScore Archive which is similar to a backup (it also uses the 4SB file extension) but it includes a copy of every file in forScore’s Documents directory as well. This means that in order to create an archive you need to have significantly more free space available on your device, but it can be used to restore your library or migrate to a new device by copying the single archive file.

An archive file can be used on its own to recover or migrate your forScore library to a new device. They’re great for uploading your library to a cloud storage service for safe keeping.

forScore Backup Utility

Mac users running macOS 10.14 or later can use the forScore Backup Utility to archive their iOS device’s forScore library directly to their computer via a USB cable. This can be useful if you want to create a 4SB Archive but don’t have enough free space on your device. Visit forScore.co/backup-utility for more information.

Apple Backups

In most cases, whole-device backups to iCloud or iTunes (depending on your settings) are sufficient to get you back up and running if something happens to your device. The backup techniques described in the sections above are intended to provide an additional layer of security, not to replace this essential part of protecting your data.

Recently Deleted Files

When you delete a score or setlist using forScore’s delete functions, it is moved to the Recently Deleted section of the Backups panel. You can recover it for up to seven days or permanently erase it, if needed.

CSV Metadata Import/Export

Tap the scrolled page icon in the top left-hand corner of the Backups panel to import or export your forScore metadata using standard CSV (comma-separated value) text files. These files are exported using UTF-8 encoding by default, but this can be adjusted to UTF-16 if needed under Settings › Advanced options › CSV export.