Appmuse

I updated to the latest ipad iOS and now I cannot close any project. The menu pops up and disappears. I would gladly revert back to the old iOS just to have this app work again. I have spent countless hours on it. It has helped me tremendously UPDATE: I tried saving the file— I saved the .sym file to itunes and then sent it to google drive and then clicked the menu again and for some reason it works. SO glad Show more

This app constantly crashes and with no way to easily save while working (you have to save and close the score) it gets super frustrating to lose a lot of work because the app crashed before I saved for the evening. Please please put a simple save button and allow for auto saving so that if it does crash, at least we don’t lose work! Show more

This review is for SymphonyPro versions 5 and 6 with handwriting recognition on a 2019 iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. SymphonyPro 6 is hands down the most pleasant experience I’ve had with any music notation software (I’ve also used LilyPond, MuseScore, and Finale). As of 2021 (v. 6), the handwriting recognition is fast and reliable. It was always decent, but I’ve noticed it’s particularly smooth with my latest update. It’s well worth the $10 upgrade. The interface is intuitive and relatively easy to learn. The manual (version 5) is well organized. You probably won’t find the same extent of user forums for SymphonyPro as with other notation software, because users don’t need as much help to figure out the app’s features (or bugs, for that matter). MuseScore has a bit more customization, and Finale has more bells and whistles, but SymphonyPro can do everything I need as an arranger of music for small ensembles, and note/articulation entry is faster to boot. The score and parts are neat and clean. The playback feature is excellent. The Auto-save feature admittedly makes me nervous (I’m a compulsive saver on desktop programs). Thus far the app hasn’t crashed on my iPad Pro, but I might be concerned if I were trying to arrange a complex score on a regular iPad. I’d feel better if the app had an easy “save” button. As of December 2021, the app is in active development status, with regular updates. For the price, it’s a powerhouse. The elegant UI design is a sweet, sweet bonus. Show more

i enjoy composing music, and this makes it easier. the one flaw with it is how much it crashes. i can barely use the app

This app is the worst notation software ever made. I’m on a tablet now and looking for an alternative to muse score. The menus are horrible and unintuitive. I can’t figure out how to do a single function, even deleting a project which should be the easiest thing ever. The design is honestly pathetic. Don’t waste your time Show more

I am a professional harpist and arrange much of my own music for gigs, performances, and for my students. I did a lot of research into music writing programs that would work best for my needs. I have been using the app on my iPad for a few months now and love it. I checked recently again to see if there was a version for the computer and was happily surprised! There are a few issues with the Mac version I have noticed so far: - The biggest issue is every time I select a note or range of notes, I get the menu for the note popping up. I have changed the keyboard shortcut for these to an obscure key so that it wouldn't happen, but I keep having this issue. I can't get the menu to go away. I am aiming to be able to type directly in and create scores efficiently, and this makes that hard if not impossible. They are also hard to click away from. - Menu colors - the menu colors: (Open score, etc) when they are on the dark blue background, the text is also a darker blue so the text isn't legible These are my observations so far. I will continue using the program and exploring this new platform! I will also be continuing to use it on my iPad for sure. Happy to give more feedback as improvements are made. So excited this is available on the computer now! Show more

Spent $30+ for the app and the Apple pencil features. For context, I’m a classically trained in music education and percussion, and have a graduate degree in human-computer interaction design. Even outside the handwriting functionality, the UI is EXTREMELY confusing. Trying to navigate adding and manipulating various elements is unintuitive and relies on several gestures and hidden swiping capabilities. The documentation non descriptive and vague, with guidance like “just tap on the insert icon” but no description or image of what the “insert icon” even is! So not only are you trying to figure out the app UI, you’re also trying to figure out what they are even talking about or referencing in the help documentation. So even if you are able to figure out some things, using an Apple Pencil is like starting over again. I bought one after a few days, thinking “ok maybe this will just be way easier and faster to learn if I can just write/draw everything and can forego learning all the controls.” NOPE. It’s more of an extra set of variables mixed in with the confusing UI that you still have to interact with. So now I’m constantly going back and forth between UI controls, handwriting notation, and gestures. Half the time I try to start drawing a note, it just enters a note instead and slides up and down the measure across all the instruments (I write percussion parts). It’s clear that this app did not have a UX designer help create it, they didn’t test it with users, and the documentation was written by someone already so familiar with the app that their unconscious bias excluded how new users would interpret and understand it. I will continue to experiment and see if I can learn how to use it, but only while I’m sitting on the toilet or something. I don’t have hours to spend trying to adapt to a poorly designed tool that should be adapting to how I, the user, actually thinks and operates. Show more

Layout tools and features are very unintuitive and even seem buggy. Can’t tell if I’m the problem or if the layout tools are as bad as they seem.

purchased handwriting upgrade some time ago and needed help reinstalling it. no respnse after several emails.

Symphony Pro has been the most convenient and functional composition app out of any other one I have used. There are no hidden purchases, except for the handwriting tool, but I personally think the default writing mode is much quicker and more convenient. This app has never crashed for me, even when I do large edits; and it allows for easy printing and sharing. If you are looking for an app to do a composition job quickly, Symphony Pro is definitely worth the money. Show more

I couldn’t find any way to add lyrics to my music. What am I missing?

I’ve used this app for a year now and I have no complaints at all. I’m using this app to compose a music sheet for piano at it works perfectly. Midi devices inputs are so convenient and with any bluetooth keyboard, writing your own music sheet is seamless. Of course without the midi devices and keyboard, it’s still good to use. Most of the music notations you can think of is here in the app. Triplets, glissandor, octaves, you name it. Export functions are also working like a breeze. (Printing and pdfs) Show more

I love it

It has some issues and features.

Very buggy and frustrating to use at times. Would not recommend

The program is becoming worse, when I bought I liked, but now I have a lot of problems in my iPad

I page so much money for this app and it doesn’t even work well with Apple Pencil. Not satisfied.

First time ever reviewing an app, to let you all know how BAD it is. Crashes literally dozens of times a day. The app canNOT be trusted to format a score properly into pdf. Will have to rewrite several pages of score on different software because the app simply can’t load my project on a new iPad Pro. 0/10 I wish I could get my time back. Show more

I paid to get the app downloaded on my iPad assuming that the handwriting notation is part of the core functionality. Except it’s not, and I am expected to pay another amount? On top of that the app crashed when I try to record notes using the built-in keyboard. Definitely not what I expected and not what I originally paid for. Submitted a request to Apple for a refund. Show more

Can you add short and long fermatas? And beat notes? Update: There are problems with large Copying please fix.