I agree with you Mike.

Maybe this will make Makemusic change its attitude towards making a Finale for iPad version in the future. (and there are rumours that Sibelius is also announcing something similar tomorrow).

The competition is getting harder, there's no turning back now if a company intends to be in this field.

Even if they do, they will be way behind the curve. Unless, of course, they already have it in the works. 

Sibelius now also have released a version for the iPad.

MakeMusic could get ahead of the game if they released something that worked on Android as well. There is a large community that wants nothing to do with Apple.

Don't forget that MakeMusic already released a Finale Reader for iPad some years ago. Perhaps it didn't gain enough user interest; perhaps it was an additional burden on an already over-stretched dev team. Who knows? And who knows whether they could resurrect the code base. Or indeed whether that would be the best use of their limited time.

From what I've heard, porting stuff to Android is more problematic (due to the increased variety of devices), and is less profitable.

Dorico for iPadiOS allows you 2 staves for free; 4 staves if you have a Steinberg User account as I do. If you want up to 12 staves, it will cost

”A monthly subscription costs just $3.99 US (or equivalent in your local currency, as determined by Apple), which is around the price of a single cup of coffee in your local chain coffee shop”

Glad to see that Steinberg has done the appropriate cost/benefit analysis—I guess. If you want more than 12 staves, you are out of luck. Oh, no support for iCloud Drive so exchanging projects with Dorico on the desktop is via MusicXML. That will probably change someday but, Iike their four your old promises to replace eLicenser and fix MusicXML, I’m not holding my breath.

Notion for iOS is quite good, has been out 10 years and costs $14.99 last time I checked. Instrument VIs are available for in-app purchase. Its MusicXML export to Finale is quite good as one should expect from a mature app. Those of us who downloaded for free back when it was introduced were pleasantly surprised to find out that we aren’t charged for in-app purchases.

Sibelius is out as has been announced. I have no interest in it.

>Don't forget that MakeMusic already released a Finale Reader for iPad some years ago<

…in 2012? — I think. It was a public beta and pretty horrible. Eventually, Coda Music stopped responding to those of us actually trying to use it. Notion was already better.

>MakeMusic could get ahead of the game if they released something that worked on Android as well. There is a large community that wants nothing to do with Apple.<

So what? Until they get it right for a controlled environment like iOS, releasing it to the Android clown car is not going to happen. Unlike iOS, there is almost no framework that supports music making apps though a few have dipped their toes in the water. Or as Steinberg puts it:

”For the time being, we have no plans to introduce Dorico for any other platforms: I’m sorry, fans and users of iPhones, Android phones, Android tablets and Chromebooks. At least for now, we don’t have sufficient man- and woman-power to extend Dorico on to any other platforms. Although we are not ruling this out forever, it’s not something you should expect any time soon.”

 

Mike, that's not true: you can save Dorico files to iCloud Drive, or DropBox, OneDrive, etc, and open them on the desktop. And vice versa. 
The team have said that the 12 stave limit may be increased in the future depending on interest.

Importing MusicXML into Dorico from Finale works very well for me. Even importing XMLfrom Finale to Finale, I have to do cleaning up. As for the elicenser: that's a Steinberg-wide process. 

In fewer than 5 years, they have a track record of making good on promises, implementing new features and listening -- and responding -- to user requests. Which is refreshing, to say the least.

Ben, I got that from a review that said you couldn’t but ScoringNotes agrees with you so I stand corrected.

https://www.scoringnotes.com/reviews/dorico-arrives-on-ipad/ 

Since it only supports 4 staves without subscription or 12 staves with and I’m used to Notion for iOS, it’s unlikely that I’ll ever use it. I might change my mind if Dorico 4 fixes the things I hate about 3.5 and earlier.

I am new to iPad itself, so I am facing a learning curve beyond that for the Dorico iPad version alone. I cannot envision using it without the iPad keyboard, which gives access to the keycodes built into the Dorico desktop program. Indeed, I would never use the iPad version when I could use the desktop program.

I bought Dorico when it first came out precisely because I knew there would be a learning curve, and I wanted to get my proverbial "10,000 hours" in by the time Dorico became a realistic notation program. I purchased the $40 yearly iPad Dorico license for precisely the same reason, to practice with the program enough to learn how to use it. Since my desktop version of Dorico is the Pro iteration and the iPad version is parallel to the mid-level Elements version, I am constantly searching for capabilities the iPad version does not have (even if I could find them in the iPad interface). But I figure that if I practice in odd moments starting with simple files, I'll get better.

It is the same approach I take to Finale. When I find something I cannot do (rarer now than it was years ago) I practice on a small file to try out solutions.

>I cannot envision using it without the iPad keyboard…<

How do you like it? I'm using the BRYDGE with my 2nd Gen Pro and while I like it a lot, I may go for the latest and greatest iPad Pro in the next year and that Apple keyboard looks nice. I too cannot envision using an iPad without a keyboard.

https://www.brydge.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwr56IBhAvEiwA1fuqGv-pIO_zqJxlBtTorboWVCbuZWTieFn1olRdzmwAvdPclrRHy5i0bhoCzCAQAvD_BwE 

I bought a keyboard/cover for my iPad a couple of years ago. I think I’ve used it (maybe) twice.

I find any significant amount of typing unsatisfactory on the touchscreen itself, and hooking up a keyboard makes the iPad much more useable for the kind of things I'm likely to do. (Dorico works fantastically with the same familiar desktop shortcuts.)

However, the iPad-connecting keyboards I've come across are not very sturdy for 'lap' work: e.g. sitting in a comfy chair. So an actual 'lap'-top still wins for portability and usability for me. To say nothing of all the things that MacOS does better than iOS.

I can plug in a USB mouse, USB keyboard and USB MIDI keyboard to the iPad, but I've got to have it connected to power to support them all. So easy enough to set up a makeshift 'station', but with a laptop I would plug in only the MIDI keyboard and still not need a power cable.

I do like using Metagrid on the iPad, which turns it into a custom action trigger for your Mac. So you tap one icon on the iPad, and something happens on your Mac. 

> the iPad-connecting keyboards I've come across are not very sturdy for 'lap' work: e.g. sitting in a comfy chair.<

Ahhh... I have a handicap and can spend many hours a day in a recliner typing with one hand only.  The BRYDGE excels at that, maintaining whatever angle I set, just like a laptop. Only downside is bluetooth connectivity — when the iPad goes to sleep after inactivity, takes a couple seconds after pressing a key to wake it up again. I had a Logitech keyboard that connected directly but it couldn't maintain an angle—decided that the BT wakeup lag was less annoying.

>> How do you like it?

Mike H,

I bought the iPad for two reasons: first, my MacBook Pro was getting old and could no longer upgrade the OS to Big Sur. I had bought the MacBook for access to a program called QLab, which allowed me to sync sound files (including vamps) for development readings of my musical plays. Most of my work has been done on PC's for decades now.

I like to read in bed before going to sleep, and one of the nice aspects of my (original) Kindle was that I could enlarge the type, allowing me to read in bed without maneuvering around the stems of my eyeglasses. But my Kindle was black and white and very old, so I figured that, too, was due for a replacement. The iPad has a Kindle reader that will let me read books in color (to preview picture books for my grand-nieces), lets me increase the type size, and (as an added benefit) is my first back-lit Kindle, so I can configure white type on a black background and not worry about the text falling into shadow or even reading after the light turns off.

That was why I bought the iPad, for Kindle access and to run a version of the QLab program. The Magic Keyboard helps me position the iPad to read in bed (although I am still working on reading sideways when I want to rest my head on the pillow). The Magic Keyboard provides a protective cover for the iPad screen and is much easier to type on than any screen keyboard would be. The hardest thing about the Magic Keyboard is pushing my fingers in to snap it open and away from the iPad.

Adrian,

Now that you're one of us (!) one of your first app purchases should be ForScore https://forscore.co/

Mike R,

Thank you for the recommendation. I will definitely look into it.

ForScore is a must app for musicians that use an iPad. I only sad that they (the developer) don't want to make it read musicxml format (like Newzik has) - this would make ForScore even more useful in situations that you need to change the key of a song on the spot.

I'm fine uploading pdfs of the scores I need to read on my 12.9" iPad (my eyes are too old for trying to read a performance score on anything smaller). The Kindle app makes uploading and viewing easy.

I do know the cool features and advantages of ForScore, Newzik and a few others but I've not needed the functionality.

ForScore is the reason I went with the big iPad, years ago. I can’t imagine not having it. One of the greatest features is that I can load a part-predominant MP3, linked to the PDF, and practice while sitting in my recliner!

"If you want more than 12 staves, you are out of luck."

Daniel Spreadbury has just announced that a forthcoming update to Dorico for iPad will remove the limit on staff numbers for subscribers!
While many users have been been asking for this, I dare say that Sibelius's iPad offering may have also affected their decision.

Possibly, but it is also possible that Dorico's very active user base, and Dorico's very responsive development team were responsible.

We've been promised a replacement for that horrid eLicenser, fixes to the Steinberg Download Assistant and proper implementation of MusicXML for the four+ years that I've been a customer. Yes, there are convoluted workarounds but the basic issues have never been fixed and the promises continue. 

> I dare say that Sibelius's iPad offering may have also affected their decision.<

That.