The Search panel’s new text results in forScore 10.3 include page notes and text annotations, as we’ve seen, but there’s a third and final source: your PDF file’s actual content.
Unlike text annotations or page notes, which are stored independently of your scores within forScore’s database, a PDF’s text is embedded within that file. Up until now, forScore hasn’t been able to peer inside files to reliably find words and phrases, but with iOS 11 it’s now possible.
There are two important caveats, however. First, PDF text searching only works for files that were created using fonts and text, not for PDFs that use images instead (like scans). Also, since forScore has to load your file into memory to look through its contents, PDF text search is limited to the file you’re currently viewing and doesn’t work across your entire library in the way that page notes and text annotations do.
Those two concerns aside, PDF text searching is a great way to find a specific page quickly and easily. No more squinting at thumbnails or jumping back to a table of contents page, just type in a few characters and you’re on your way.
Last week we saw how you can use forScore’s global search panel to find notes you’ve made per page—across your entire library—in just a few seconds. That’s not all, though, because version 10.3 also adds the ability to search the content of any text annotations you’ve made on each page. Just like with page notes, text annotation results are listed by title and page number, with your query highlighted and a bit of text surrounding it so you can get some context and make sure you’re selecting the right thing. That’s all for this week’s quick feature (those new versions don’t create themselves, you know!) but we’ll be back next Friday with even more.
Once you’ve digitized your sheet music collection and added metadata like composers and genres, finding things becomes a breeze. You can browse through forScore’s menus or use the global search panel to find scores by providing any combination of words that occur in its title or many of its metadata values.
Sometimes, though, you may remember making a note of something without remembering which score you were working with or how to get back to it. With forScore 10.3, the search panel now includes page notes (added by choosing “Notes” from the tools menu) so you can find what you’re looking for in seconds. Just type in a few characters or a phrase and you’ll see every page note that includes that query, highlighted within a larger selection of its text so you can get some context and make sure you’ve got the right thing. Tap on it to not just open the corresponding score, but to open it to that specific page.
No matter how organized your collection is, tracking down a particular page has always taken a little bit of work but now, if you’ve written something down, getting back to it is almost effortless.
September 29, 2017
Feature of the Week
The eraser isn’t the only annotation tool that got an update last week with forScore 10.3 and forScore mini 3.3—the selection tool also gained a nice new feature: tap it once to make it the active tool, then tap again to see a detail view where you can choose whether to use the original, freeform selection method, or to use rectangular selection mode instead.
With this new mode, dragging your finger around on the screen will create a rectangle that’s formed between your starting point and current point. Lift your finger and forScore selects your drawn annotations, just like before. It’s a small thing, but it’s one more way we’ve made annotation more flexible and customizable.
September 25, 2017
In Depth, News
Last year Apple announced that they were making subscription pricing available to all apps, not just those that provide access to content like magazines or streaming media. It was a big policy shift that provided a new potential path to sustainability for more complex “pro” apps: those that require intensive, long-term development that one-time purchases can’t fund forever (especially in niche markets). forScore is perhaps one of the best examples of an app that could stand to benefit from a business model like this, but for us it’s seven years too late.
Since its introduction, forScore’s price has been fairly consistent, increasing only a handful of times as forScore’s feature set has grown. We don’t do sales, and we’ve found success by balancing a fair price with an evolving product. We said “free updates for life” and that’s no empty promise. With version 10.3 having just arrived, it’s clear we’ve delivered and we’re not changing course now.
But there’s a more troubling problem with the shift to subscription pricing than our own sense of integrity—especially when it comes to creative tools: the kinds of people who use these tools often make their money through gigs, contracts, or other sorts of limited employment. If someone can’t find work for a few months, they shouldn’t have to give up the tools they rely on just to make ends meet, especially if those tools are necessary to finding new work. Subscriptions can help companies become and remain sustainable, but it’s often at a cost that customers shouldn’t have to bear.
With that said, we do occasionally have customers ask us how they can contribute to the ongoing development of forScore. They may have bought the app when it was $2.99, $4.99, $6.99, or today’s $9.99, but they feel like whatever they paid wasn’t enough now that they’ve discovered just how indispensable forScore really is to them. We sincerely appreciate their passion, and we want to find a way to honor their enthusiasm.
So with forScore 10.3 we introduced voluntary upgrades (found in the Support section of the tools menu). These in-app purchases allow customers to support forScore beyond their original purchase price, no matter how long ago they bought it. Voluntary upgrades aren’t necessary for continued, full use of forScore, but they do help ensure that forScore continues to get regular and meaningful updates. As a thank you for those who choose to support us in this manner, these purchases unlock the ability to change forScore’s app icon.
forScore is doing great. We love what we do, and our customers love the results. We’re not asking for help, but we also want to make sure that people who want to contribute more can do so, and we think this is a great way to achieve that.