[ludu]

Hello everyone,
What happens when you write annotations in double page mode, sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right device? Are the annotations of the two devices merged or do you always have to make your annotations on the same device?

[Zubersoft]

The annotations will be stored separately on each device. Other users have certainly asked for annotations to be automatically synchronized between devices when using the Connect Tablets feature, so that's something I'm going to look into adding in a future update.

Mike

[ludu]

With Forscore and PadMu it is not necessary to duplicate files on the 2nd device. Wouldn’t that be a simpler solution?

[Zubersoft]

It depends - do you want to have to rely on either the WiFi network or bluetooth to transfer complete images of every page before they can be shown on the second device? On a high resolution screen, each uncompressed rendered image can easily be 25 MB. Do you really want to have to wait for 25 MB to be transferred per page or would you like things to happen instantly on each device as each device has its own copy of the files? I prefer the latter, but I guess some people might prefer the former if they have a reliable and fast network connection. Also, annotations aren't stored in the files anyways, so in order to synchronize the annotations, I would still have to send over the annotation data. I don't see how that can be avoided, especially if I want to allow annotations on either device. It's actually significantly more complicated to implement if the right device only has copies of the images and not of the actual library itself. If I didn't send over raw images, and instead sent over the song information along with any files in use by the song, that reduces the amount of data that has to be transmitted, but now I have to significantly change the application behavior on the second device, as it needs to disable functionality based on whether it's displaying a song from a different device. And once again, I would still have to transfer the annotation data if any edits are performed. 

In general, it's not particularly useful to just say "this other software supports what I want, so isn't that simpler?", because I don't know any of the details of their implementation, and whether that has any shortcomings or issues.  Is forScore basically doing the equivalent of screen casting where it just displays images on the other device? Can that other device perform all functions normally like annotating or is it in a reduced-functionality state? From their own documentation:

When using Cue within forScore, navigating to a different file opens that same PDF on every connected device if they have a copy, and offers to send them one if not. The standalone Cue app doesn’t have its own music library, so we had to come up with a different way of working with files in this situation.

So it offers to send them the file. This is in contrast to what you said about forScore not sending the file. That certainly sounds like it's duplicating the file, just on a file-per-file basis. I also assume that means you can't make any edits to the library on the device running cue. You may be able to trigger link points and such, but you can't make any edits (annotating is obviously allowed as they implemented that specifically). This also sounds like it would only work well over WiFi - I can't imagine bluetooth would transfer the image data fast enough (correct me if I'm wrong). According to this (http://forscore.co/cue-feature/) they are using something Apple provides that combines both bluetooth and WiFi - so that's not something I can just openly utilize on Android and Windows 10. 

If users want a mode similar to this where a separate application is running on the second device that allows them to only view pages and trigger link points and smart buttons, I can certainly work towards something like that in the future. It is a very different way of handling things than running MobileSheets on each device though, and there would be a lot of limitations on what could be done on the second device, which may be acceptable to some users. There would also be more delay in loading pages when compared to duplicating the library on each device, and you would be at the mercy of the WiFi network for pages showing up in a timely manner on the second device. Once I support simpler options for automatic synchronization and the ability to synchronize annotations when using the connect tablets feature, then users would be able to work with either option.

Mike

[ludu]

Hello,

Any news on synchronisation? I have two e-readers, but I haven’t bought my second license yet because I’m afraid that an annotation on a page will disappear when the page arrives on the other device (in 1–2/2–3/3–4, etc.). Is there an update planned regarding this issue?

Luc

[Zubersoft]

I've been working on finishing the iOS version, so that's been consuming all my time. Once that is complete, I will be working on enhancements. I do plan to tackle the real-time synchronization of annotations at some point with the "Connect Tablets" feature. I'm not sure if I will support an option to send over files and annotations to prevent a second device from needing a copy of the library. That would come later and be separate, and I would probably only support it over WiFi as bluetooth is fairly slow for file transfers.

Mike

[ludu]

Wonderful! This software is evolving in an exciting way.

[alatona]

Are wifi and bluetooth the only ways to connect tablets?
Could I use a USB-C cord to do a wired connection to access and control both screens?

I have a theater gig coming up, and the screen on my Samsung Chromebook Pro has gotten glitchy over the past few years. I decided to get a new 2-in-1 device so I can run MSP on it and have it be more reliable, and I LOVE the idea of being able to see two pages at a time, especially for the theater thing. I love that I will be able to backup my MSP library and import everything to my new device. Whew!!!!

Thanks, Mike, for making such a USEFUL and HELPFUL app!
Amanda Latona

[ludu]

And by the way, is there any news about the synchronization method in double page mode?

[Zubersoft]

Amanda/alatona - You cannot use a USB cable to connect the tablets. Sending data over USB is prohibited on all operating systems except for file transfers through protocols such as MTP or PTP. So there isn't really a way for me to support that. Companies can get around this with specialized drivers, but that only really works for specific things like accessories. It definitely doesn't work to allow two different tablets to connect to each other to transfer data.

Luc/ludu - as you may have seen on the forum, I've been working with users on the iOS beta. So once that is finished, then I can resume working on enhancements. The goal is to allow annotations to be synchronized when using the Connect Tablets feature - I'm assuming that is what you are referring to, and not getting around the limitation of needing to have the same files on both devices.

Mike

[ludu]

The annotations will be stored separately on each device. Other users have certainly asked for annotations to be automatically synchronized between devices when using the Connect Tablets feature, so that's something I'm going to look into adding in a future update.

Mike

Hello Mike,
Do you still intend to work on this synchronisation project?

[Zubersoft]

Yes, it's still planned. Just trying to deliver features that I promised first, while juggling all of the bug reports with the three different versions.

Mike

[ludu]

Is there any news since March 2023 about the planning of this synchronization function?

[Zubersoft]

Check the news section to see what's been included in updates, and I'll often indicate what I'm working on next. I've been busy mostly fixing critical issues like rendering issues on ARM devices, although I do slip in small changes when possible. This is still targeted for one of the next major updates.

Mike

[Soundsgoodjoe]

Just a quick post from another interested party here!  I too am anxiously awaiting android implementation of this feature.  I use two tablets to direct concert bands, and really need a good way to annotate as we go!

Perhaps a related question...  I read that others have found a way to turn a single page on just one of the connected devices, in order to annotate all pages on just one device.  I cannot find that.  In fact, in annotation mode, on one of my tablets, the small navigation buttons will advance pages, two at a time, but on my other device, the leader, these buttons don't work.  Weird.

Anyway, while we wait for annotation merge, can anyone detail how to advance one device by one page while in connected setup with two tablets?

Thank you!