[gunduetun]

I've been using the iPad only because of Forescore. Now the screen is broken and a new one will probably be too expensive. I have absolutely nothing against switching to Android, but everyone says Mobilesheets is a long way from Forescore. Before I decide, I would like to get to know the new app via this forum. First question, what will be the biggest difference and what will I be able to miss?

[Zubersoft]

I'm probably not the right person to answer your questions, as you could say I have a bias being the creator of MobileSheets, but I will say that there aren't that many functional differences between forScore and MobileSheets as far as what you can do and what features are supported. Each app takes a different approach to some things like file storage and management, the relationship between songs/pieces and files, supported metadata, and the organization and presentation of the user library, but you can still accomplish all of the same goals with each app. 

• If you use MIDI, both apps support that. 
  
• If you need buttons that can be pressed to trigger actions, or link points to jump between pages, both apps support that. 
  
• If you need to reorder, duplicate, or remove pages, both apps support that. 
  
• If you need to annotate, add custom stamps, use layers, etc, both apps support that. 
  
• Both apps support a single page display, half page display with adjustable half page turn positions and a two page mode. MobileSheets also supports a vertical scrolling display mode though, and supports automatic scrolling, which forScore does not support. 
  
• forScore supports face gestures with a pro subscription, but that's something I'm adding in the next major update for all users free of charge. 
  
• Both apps support extensive sharing features where you can export proprietary file types (i.e. 4sc vs msf) that can be imported on another device. 
  
• MobileSheets has a free companion you can run on your PC, but you can also just run MobileSheets on a PC and forScore on a Mac. 
  
• MobileSheets supports text and chord pro files which forScore does not support. 
  
• Both apps support importing index files for PDFs to pick individual songs to add. 
  
• MobileSheets allows many songs to all utilize the same PDF to conserve storage space which is not something forScore allows (to my knowledge), which is useful with Fakebooks and Realbooks. 
  
• I'm fairly biased, but I like the library management and organization better in MobileSheets (but that's not surprising as I originally designed it for myself), as MobileSheets has a dedicated library screen for finding songs, setlists, collections, etc, while forScore does everything through one central screen with popups. 
  
• Both apps support playing back audio, adjusting the playback speed and pitch, and both apps support adding notes for songs (I believe). 
  
• Both apps support library synchronization as well as library backup/restore, but forScore has an automatic cloud sync using iCloud, whereas MobileSheets requires the sync to be triggered manually (although an automatic sync will be added next year). 
  
• MobileSheets obviously supports the three major platforms while forScore is iOS/iPadOS/MacOS only. forScore has a slicker UI with a more cohesive theme and looks at home on iOS, whereas MobileSheets has a somewhat dated appearance as it has been updated piecemeal over the years and doesn't fully embrace the material design from Android (this is another thing I hope to eventually address). 
  
• Both apps support a built-in metronome, although forScore's metronome UI looks nicer, while the metronome is playing, there is an LED counter in MobileSheets that works quite well. 
  

One last thing I should mention is that MobileSheets supports multiple files per song (and you can use image files), while forScore only has one PDF per song to my knowledge. I have a bunch of really nice PDF features coming in the next update as well as image correction features to make it on par with what forScore offers. MobileSheets uses a third party library for capturing and correcting images, and this makes taking pictures much more feasible (I've gotten a lot of positive feedback about this). 

I think I covered most things there, although I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting. If you have specific questions about features you need, let me know and I can answer them.

Mike

UPDATE:

• One thing I didn't mention is that forScore allows pages to be turned at specific positions when playing audio tracks. MobileSheets doesn't currently support that (it's on my list of things to do). 
  
• forScore also has an iPhone version, but the iPhone version of MobileSheets is being rolled out very soon.
  
• forScore supports Stage Manager a little better, as you can have multiple forScore instances up essentially, allowing you to load multiple different scores at once. 
  
• forScore also supports tabs while MobileSheets does not.
  
• forScore supports Apple Music for audio, while MobileSheets only supports audio files on the device. 
  
• Both apps support creating multiple libraries and switching between them. 
  
• forScore supports bookmarks that can be added to setlists, whereas MobileSheets uses a "Create Snippet" feature which adds a new song to the library that shares the same file as the original song but uses a different page range. 
  
• forScore supports tracking metrics, but this hasn't been added yet to MobileSheets.
  
• forScore supports a virtual piano keyboard to play notes on, but MobileSheets does not yet have that.
  
• forScore supports recording audio. 
  

Whether these matter to you depends on what features you are currently utilizing.

[gunduetun]

Thank you very much, Mike, this was a good survey for me! 
Regards, Gunnar

[Zubersoft]

No problem, I wish you the best with whatever app you end up using.

Mike

[otnt]

The main advantage of Mobilesheets is freedom: you can free yourself from being tied to the Fruit's hardware and free yourself/your data from iCloud which is governed by Fruit's policies and terms of service.
At the moment you can use Mobilesheets on Android, Windows, Chrome OS and also EInk devices.
Mobilesheets is adding "backing up to your own cloud" feature in the future update.

[AndyT]

A bit late for a reply, but maybe of use to others. 

The biggest reason for me changing from forscore was that I changed Yamaha keyboards (Tyros to Genos 2) and forscore really didn't want to talk to it. Once or twice I got it working and then it failed later. Support was lacking and I was running out of hair.  I only have about a dozen songs loaded whereas I had a few hundred in forscore, but I am so happy that this talks to my keyboard and that communication is so easy to configure that I won't go back again.

Now, with MobileSheets, I can bring up a song, or setlist and the keyboard will completely setup in an instant. Similarly, I could have a playlist on the keyboard and it will have MobileSheets pull up the requisite sheets. It works so well.  
 
I am still at the learning stage and working through the manual. I am trying to devise a new way to categorise my music and I have a post asking for some advice, but the support on here is excellent.   

You really need to read the manual as there are so many non-obvious features. Take for example, the advanced mode on the audio player. If you want to practice a certain section, there is an A-B repeat function, or you can slow it down, or even change key.  That is so handy for trying to learn a fast riff or just to slow everything down on a play-along track (mp3, midi etc) while you are learning the chords. 

So much thought and work has gone into the UI, more than I can remember at the moment, and then again, there are several indirect features such as the opportunity to completely switch music libraries or export setlists with or without sheets, for example.

Anyway, I am using it on windows and doing a lot of testing at the moment to ensure that I understand the ethos and achieve an optimal setup for me. 

I am still learning...but very impressed so far. To balance the review, there are a few very minor issues, but maybe I just haven't learnt enough yet..... 

- Andy