General discussion

[Gareth Evans]

Any general comments, feedback, help, etc.

[thr3...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 1:53:40 PM UTC-6, Gareth Evans wrote:
> Any general comments, feedback, help, etc.

Dude,THANK YOU! I'm also a worship leader and have played around with the various apps out there for Android. Even the paid apps have some serious bugs in them. So far yours is awesome and FREE! So far so good. If this continues i will definitely be sending some support your way (going to give it a good try at church this Sunday to see how it performs). I only wish this had been available a few months ago! And your DIY foot pedal? Brilliant! I just forked out over $100 for the AirTurn and it seems pretty chintzy, i may be returning it and try building yours.

Any thoughts on adding annotations?

[Gareth Evans]

Thanks for your comments!
You can add annotations to the song file using comment lines (lines that start with a semicolon ;). To do this, go to the right hand menus, and from the song menu choose edit. This is how I add custom notes.

Unfortunately it isn't possible to 'draw' annotations on the screen as they would be messed up if the text is scaled differently due to different devices, scale options or screen orientation.

Let me know if you meant something else!

The foot pedal is definitely the best way to use this app while leading worship if you have a set. If you do make your own pedal, send me a picture and I'll add a gallery to show others!

The app went live in March last year! I suppose you have to know what to search for on the play store though.

Blessings,

Gareth

[eis...@gmail.com]

On Friday, 18 April 2014 01:23:40 UTC+5:30, Gareth Evans wrote:
> Any general comments, feedback, help, etc.

This is a great software and very useful as I try to avoid printing song sheets. We've been using the Opensong software for projecting songs in our church and I've just been trying to use the same song files (that we project) in this tablet version and realized that songs which have background images saved within the song file take extremely long to load on the tablet. It seems the software is hanging, but after several minutes the lyrics appear (without the photo, which is not needed anyway). I don't know whether the time needed for stripping the photo can be reduced or avoided, or should we rather keep separate files? Thanks for these great apps and for offering it free also. We are using it here in Lucknow, India, since several years and it's rather tough to pay for commercial software from here, because of high exchange rates.

[Gareth Evans]

On Thursday, 17 April 2014 20:53:40 UTC+1, Gareth Evans wrote:
> Any general comments, feedback, help, etc.

I've never used background images for songs before, so never noticed this problem. I will look into this issue for you. Unfortunately I'm in the process of rewriting the code for the menus to make them more user friendly and is taking some time! I will get to it as soon as I can!

Gareth

[Gareth Evans]

As a follow up - you can now add custom 'sticky'/post-it notes to a song.  You'll find this under the right hand 'songs' menu.  Songs that have notes attached, show an extra button at the bottom of the screen.

Gareth

[Andrés Bedolla G.]

How does adding PDFs work? Will this feature be available for KitKat? Not many tablets out there have Lollipop...

Great updates and features that you have been adding. Thanks for doing this!

[Ian Gray]

Hi Gareth,

Great looking app - seems to be virtually the only thing available on Android fit for purpose...
One question - I may be missing something obvious, but I can't work out how to delete a song from a set. I can add songs, move them around, and delete the whole set, but not delete an individual song...

(BTW, apologies if this post appears twice - the first time I sent it, it seemed to just disappear into the ether!)
Many thanks,

Ian

[gev...@edubuzz.org]

Hi Ian,

Not a problem! To remove a song from a set, simply long press (press and hold) the item to remove in the set menu (kind of works a reverse way of adding a song to a set from the song menu).
Hope that helps!

Gareth

[Ian Gray]

Excellent! Thanks, that works.

Is there any way to quickly search for a text string? e.g. halfway through a service, suddenly think of a song with first line "Bless the Lord O my soul" but I can't think what the actual title is - would be great to be able to search for that somehow.

Grace and peace,

Ian

[Ian Gray]

Oh, and another question... is it possible to use a USB footpedal, rather than a Bluetooth connection?

Ian

On Thursday, 17 April 2014 20:53:40 UTC+1, Gareth Evans wrote:

[Gareth Evans]

Hi Ian,

Currently no.  This would require loading all the individual song contents into a central database which would be very slow  and memory intensive rather than simply searching the names of the files.  I am considering trying to get this working in the background, but I haven't got it working yet.  It is in the pipeline though.

Gareth

[Gareth Evans]

Hi again,

Yes assuming the following 3 conditions are met:

1. You have the appropriate connections on your tablet (often microUSB) and your pedal connection fits
2. Your tablet supports USB peripheral devices.  One way to test this is to plug a USB keyboard into your device and see if your tablet recognises it.
   
3. Your USB pedal sends a 'key' code - i.e. any code that a normal keyboard sends.  If in doubt, plug it into a desktop device, open a text document and see if pressing the pedal either types a character or moves the cursor (more likely).

I actually modded a USB keyboard to make my first pedal!

Cheers,

Gareth.

[Bobby Fielding]

Hi Gareth,

After testing out this amazing program, I am now in the process of starting to import my library of over 90 Christmas/holiday songs into this format. I am wondering how to handle a few things (and I imagine I will have a few more questions for you before I am done).

What does the presentation element control? I see on your sample song, Love everlasting, that the presentation order is "V1 V2 B V3 V1". I don't see V1 displayed after V3 anywhere.

Are you perhaps planning to add something to "Presentation mode" such as a note for the person controling which page of lyrics to display, to tell them the order to display the lyrics in? Or will it somehow be automatic?

What about scrolling mode. When a refrain is repeated, is there a way to indicate "take all of the text of the refrain and display it here" so that I don't have to copy and paste the text of the refrain multiple times to set up the song for scrolling mode?

Thanks!

Bobby

[Gareth Evans]

Hi Bobby,

The desktop program uses the presentation order to preplan the presentation mode (i.e. correctly sequences all the sections). The Android app doesn't do this (yet) but I plan to support it. I'm also hoping to give an option to include it in the performance mode as well. If a refrain was included in the presentation order it would then add it automatically. This feature is a little further down on my planned updates, but it is there.

Gareth

[Ian Gray]

On Thursday, 17 April 2014 20:53:40 UTC+1, Gareth Evans wrote:

> Any general comments, feedback, help, etc.

Hi Gareth,

With some trepidation, tried this on Sunday with my new Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, and it worked a treat!

Some questions and/or feedback, if I may:

1) What is the "select page" menu option for? When I choose it, it just tells me it's not available with songs.

2) When I edit a song, if i'm in portrait mode the "save" button is always just hidden by the on screen keyboard. Would it be feasible to move it up bit, or maybe put the toggle/quit/delete/save buttons all on a single line?

3) Can I suggest changing "quit without saving" to "cancel" - "quit" always makes me worry it's going to exit the program.

4) I love the ability to add capo chords. Downside is that they take up so much room. You already give the option to print capo chords or not - would it be possible to have an option to *only* print capo chords?

5) The blue slider on the song menu doesn't seem to work.

6) Probably a major item, but a very desirable one for me - would it be possible to add the ability to include pdf docs in the set list? That might be for prayers, or readings, or in my case a sermon (otherwise I have to exit OST, find my pdf doc and open it, then go back to OST at the end...)

Many thanks for a great piece of work!

Ian Gray,
Peebles Baptist Church

[Gareth Evans]

Hi Ian,

Many thanks for your feedback and suggestions.  I'm glad the app worked well for you.  My brother uses the Galaxy Pro 12.2 tablet - an incredible screen to use for your music stand!  I use a 10" tablet, but 12.2" makes everything more readable!

Addressing your suggestions/questions in turn:

1) The 'Select page' option if for multipage PDF documents.  PDF document support is only currently available for devices running Android Lollipop (5.0+).  I've seen a few comments suggesting that your device will get the Lollipop update by the summer, although that's not official.  I am trying to support PDF documents for KitKat (4.4) and below, but this isn't easy!

2) I've added more space to the bottom of the edit page, so hopefully everything should be visible now.  You can also press the back button to hide the keyboard and then click on the save button.

3)  I've changed the Quit without saving button to read Cancel

4) The newest update gives that option (Capo only, or capo + native chords).  This has been requested by a few people.

5) I assume you mean the scroll bar indicator?  Yes, this used to work, but since updating to a collapsible menu structure in the songs (song folders/songs), this has been broken.  I will look at this again.

6) PDFs can be added to sets, but as point (1) currently only for devices running Android Lollipop.  If you are desperate to install Lollipop, you can install a Custom ROM such as CyanogenMod (this involves rooting your tablet and does involve some risk).  I have rooted virtually all of my older Android devices and use CyanogenMod without issues.  There are plenty of guides on YouTube on how to do this.

Blessings,

Gareth

PS. You're not far from me - I'm based in East Lothian (Pencaitland)!

[Ian Gray]

That's excellent, thanks Gareth.

1 & 6) Right, I'll keep waiting (either for your KitKat support or for Lollipop to come out for the NotePro). I've rooted phones before, but I'm reluctant to do so on my nice shiny new tablet!

All others: outstanding! I'm keeping my eyes peeled on the Play Store for the update...

Yes, I spotted your EH postcode on your Dev page - maybe we could meet up for a coffee some time?

Grace and peace,

Ian

_____________________
Rev. Ian K. Gray
24 Damcroft
Peebles EH45 8EF
07881 518854
i...@spinningfish.net

[Ian Gray]

Update looks great - that will be a real help.

One more suggestion if I may: could there be a "max font size" setting, for when autoscale is in use? The problem occurs when you get to a song with just a few, short lines - with autoscale on it makes it so big it's absurd!

Oh, and one more (sorry if I'm becoming a suggestion spammer!) - would it be possible to show the title of the next song in the play list in small letters at the bottom right of the screen?

Grace and peace,

Ian

_____________________
Rev. Ian K. Gray
24 Damcroft
Peebles EH45 8EF
07881 518854
i...@spinningfish.net

[Gareth Evans]

I always appreciate comments and suggestions, so definitely not a suggestion spammer. I'll see what I can do Ian!

Blessings
Gareth

[Gareth Evans]

Hi Ian,

I've added a maximum autoscale value to the 'Change fonts' page and also a 'Next song in set' message. You can toggle the message to appear at the top or bottom of the song page, or switch it off completely from the options menu.

Blessings,
Gareth

[Ian Gray]

Outstanding!

Ian

___________________________
Rev. Ian K. Gray
24 Damcroft, Peebles EH45 8EF
07881 518854
i...@spinningfish.net

[Nicola Lunghi]

Hi,

I have a lekato wireless turner  (pretty cheap here on amazon https://amzn.eu/d/543cDfP)

The problem is that the turner is sending page up/page down commands (like a usb computer keyboard) and that on stage mode is scrolling the page but not going to the next section (so the text is "grayed out").

How can I setup this controller to scroll through the sections instead?

Thank you,

Nick

[Nicola Lunghi]

Also other things:

1) can we have more than 4 custom buttons? or just have a menu where we can select the buttons and reorder them (and remove the custom buttons just add a list with all the commands

2) Quick metronome on/off button? (or add for example two buttons on the top bar to stop/start autoscroll and metronome (I have a tablet so a lot of space)

3) automatic backups? would be nice to have an auto backup somewhere :-) like on google drive or via email

[Sarah Dab]

Sure, see Options>Other>Help(Online).

Explore 'Page Buttons' ... If you have pad, metronome, autoscroll button a long press starts/stops

/starts.
Explore 'Controlling Opensongapp' for how to config a pedal.

Explore sync options for automated sync to a external storage using a third party app.

Cheers.

[Gareth Evans]

As usual Sarah is correct and these are all possible.

For the foot pedal:

https://www.opensongapp.com/user-guide/controlling-opensongapp-with-gestures-and-pedals/foot-pedals

Your pedal is sending up/down or page up/page down signals which by default are interpreted as scroll actions in the app.  You can change this though.

Go to the 'Gestures and Menus' option menu and click on 'Assign foot pedal'.

For pedal 1 (make sure the short press/tap action is set to 'Set Previous Button'). Click on the green 'Assign foot pedal' button and then press the left foot to register the pedal keycode.  This will deregister this keycode from the scroll up/down pedal settings.

For pedal 2 (make sure the short press/tap action is set to 'Set Next Button'). Click on the green 'Assign foot pedal' button and then press the right foot to register the pedal keycode.

I would suggest turning on the 'Scroll before previous/next' option.  That way the pedal will scroll first if possible first before moving to the next section in Performance mode.

I'm not sure if the long press action will work with this pedal as it seems to suggest it sends a separate keycode (for portrait/landscape).

The page buttons:

https://www.opensongapp.com/user-guide/controlling-opensongapp-with-gestures-and-pedals/quick-launch-buttons

https://www.opensongapp.com/user-guide/customising-opensongapp/customising-page-buttons

There are default page buttons covering common actions and 4 customisable page buttons.  You can hide/show whatever buttons you don't or do want.

Long press actions are options for many of the page buttons.  The upcoming v6 version changes this slightly by giving you 6 fully customisable buttons that explain the short and long press actions:

Automatic backups:

https://www.opensongapp.com/user-guide/setting-up-and-using-opensongapp/dropbox-and-dropsync

https://www.opensongapp.com/user-guide/setting-up-and-using-opensongapp/google-drive-and-autosync

Best is to use Dropsync/Dropbox or DriveSync/GoogleDrive.

I haven't embedded this into the app as not all users have Google Play installed and this would cause problems for them, so it is easier for now to let them set this up manually as appropriate giving the additional option of Dropsync or any other cloud service of their choice.  This sync method keeps a backup of everything in the cloud automatically.

Again the upcoming v6 version will prompt you to create a manual backup regularly and give you a quick link button to do this which then lets you share the file via email, etc.

[Nicola Lunghi]

Hi Gareth,

thank you for your response (and the app that is amazing).

If I follow your procedure I don't get the keycode but the page scrolls

(see the following video)

[Sarah Dab]

Hi Nick,

Looks like it might not be behaving as a keyboard.

You can install Android app 'Hardware Keyboard Check' to check what keys it is (if any) sending.

Your device is for a specific purpose and may not work for general use as a pedal.

 The app detects keys. 

Cheers

Sarah

[Gareth Evans]

I think Sarah is right that it isn't sending 'normal' key events.  You can also test online by visiting this page on your device connected to the pedal:

https://w3c.github.io/uievents/tools/key-event-viewer.html

Click on the input text box and test the pedals.  If it sends key events, they will be logged there.

I've tried to find more information online, but came to a dead end other than finding out is seems like the same pedal as the cuvave cube (now called the m-vave cube).

Does the manual suggest what information is sent via the pedal (keycode numbers/key events/page up/down?).

I did find a few people online saying that they switched the pedal to iOS mode and connected it on Android and it then worked fine.

Also you can try switching between landscape/portrait to see if that changes anything.

On Monday, 1 August 2022 at 14:58:11 UTC+1 nick...@gmail.com wrote:

[nick83ola]

Hi,

you were right the device is not sending standard events.

Luckily I discovered that in "ios mode" is doing it -> so now I can use it!!!

Thanks,

Nick

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[Gareth Evans]

That's great to hear and that you now have a working pedal too!

[Sarah Dab]

Hi Nick, the pedal is cheap if you buy the m-wave / cube version (Lekato is a bit more).

They seem to be the same pedal. Great price if you use aliexpress.

Now we know to use iOS mode...

Does it do long press as well?  How robust is it?

Anyone else got feedback on mwave cube / cube page turner ) Lekato?

[Stanley Gill]

Hi Gareth,

I hope you know by now that I love the OpenSong App. I use it several times monthly, often two or more times a week onstage with a variety of bands, including three groups where my 10-inch tablet acts as host to two or three other tablets. I have over 700 songs edited and formatted to my specs and ready to perform upon request, with another 500 in my tablet's library that I will some day get around to working on, and several hundred more on paper awaiting input. 

This general question is not a software concern, but more of a "how to?" concern. 

I often perform under bright stage lights and have trouble dealing with the reflections on my tablet interfering with my ability to see the page. Today one of my bands played at a local Fall Festival, outdoors under a bright clear blue sky. Same problem, so much that I was unable to see anything but the reflection of myself, my drummer, and the homes and trees behind the stage.  No matter which direction I turned and tilted the tablet, I was blind to the content of the page. I guess I have been lazy about learning my music, because there were several times during our performance where I was guessing at chord changes and making up lyrics on the fly. I tried changing the display from white text on black and dark colored backgrounds, to black text on light pastel colors. Nothing helped cut down the glare.

I would love to hear from other users of OpenSong about how they have managed to work around this problem. 

Thanks for all you do,

Stan Gill

[nick83ola]

Buy a Matte screen protector

Cheers,

Nick

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[Gareth Evans]

Hi Nick,

That's a really interesting point - does it make a big difference to glare?

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[James Mills]

This thread has some general ideas. https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-reduce-screen-glare-on-my-Tablet-if-there-are-no-anti-glares-available-for-the-model-I-use

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/opensongapp/CABNrKrvPUJkfUswCdfeSFZ6kvYHa%2BNSztPAZ9O_NKbt9wJPL4A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Stanley Gill]

Thanks all. 

I ordered these from Amazon after reading your suggestions  I’ll let you all know if they make a difference. The price was good, and I had Amazon credit points, so the experiment won’t cost me anything. I’m already wishing I had done this before my last show. 

Stan

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 9, 2023, at 2:52 PM, James Mills <jmi...@knowtown.com> wrote:



[Bernd Krämer]

You said: "Unfortunately it isn't possible to 'draw' annotations on the screen". Maybe I didn't understand you correctly, but you did give us the feature "Highlighter" which you can use to draw on the song sheet. And there you even solved issues for rescaling!

Op donderdag 22 januari 2015 om 18:19:48 UTC+1 schreef garethev...@gmail.com:

Thanks for your comments!
You can add annotations to the song file using comment lines (lines that start with a semicolon ;). To do this, go to the right hand menus, and from the song menu choose edit. This is how I add custom notes.

Unfortunately it isn't possible to 'draw' annotations on the screen as they would be messed up if the text is scaled differently due to different devices, scale options or screen orientation.

Let me know if you meant something else!

The foot pedal is definitely the best way to use this app while leading worship if you have a set. If you do make your own pedal, send me a picture and I'll add a gallery to show others!

The app went live in March last year! I suppose you have to know what to search for on the play store though.

Blessings,

Gareth

[Bernd Krämer]

Correction: I didn't notice the date of your remark (22 January 2015). So I assume this was a comment on an earlier version of OpenSongApp, while I am currnetly using V6 Beta 40. There it seems to work!

Op maandag 4 december 2023 om 23:29:00 UTC+1 schreef Bernd Krämer: