iAnnotate: turning data into (annotated) information

I have been gleefully showing folk how useful Dropbox is, but truth to tell I have been worrying about handling PDFs. Not only do I get quite a few I need to handle for school, but I am doing some study and want more than Dropbox offers. Just taking them over to iBooks doesn't do: its a very basic reader.

I tried iAnnotate and so far I am very impressed. Your first discovery will be that you can add almost any type of annotation to a PDF... highlight text, add notes in a callout, scribble on the page, or add a short verbal message. This all works in a tidy interface with maximum space for the PDF with easily navigated flyout menus on the side.

Today I discovered some new (for me) features... such as a full file and folder system! You can create your own folders and sub folders, and move documents between folders (or duplicate them) smoothly and graphically with touch gestures. By contrast the "folder" system in iBooks is very clunky.

I was then wondering about working with a bibliography in one document I had... selected the title of an article and found some helpful options coming up: copy (of course) but also Dictionary, Wikipedia and Google. When you select any of these iAnnotate loads its own browser, so you are not diving in and out of the main app. If you find an article in the browser you like, there is a button that allows you to save the web page as a pdf which of course is placed in iAnnotate for you.

In the school context this would be a lovely app to use for a BYOD school or where iPads have been given to individual students. It makes less sense if the iPads are communal, though I suppose students could work on annotating an article then forwarding it to themselves.

As a teacher tool it is just spectacular: you can create a whole range of annotations for a pdf, and then send the annotated pdf to a normal computer. As the product is actually using features built in to the Adobe pdf definition, all the annotations will appear in "Reader" or "Acrobat". Don't try viewing this using Safari on the iPad though, it has limited support for pdfs built in, and the annotations won't show. This is hardly a problem: just get iAnnotate!

You can use drop box, syncing or email to move things in and out, and can also pick up pdfs directly from the web. Even more impressive, you can establish a connection directly to the web part of Dropbox and directly read and import PDFs from there.

A fully realised and thought through package that is going to make my life much, much easier.

Andrew Lack

Notion: real notation editing

I am so impressed with Notion for iPad. It is not hard to find music apps for the iPad (synths, recorders and the like) but this is the first music notation editor I have found and its a fine piece of coding.

The initial cost is fairly low, and for this you get the full editor and a sub set of instruments. Rather than being oriented around a rock band, this app has a full range of orchestral instruments and sections, as well as additional guitars and keyboards. If you want the full range of instruments you have to pay per instruments (there is bulk pricing as well).

You select compose, and initially you have to indicate the instruments you are writing for. Rather than a boring text list you select from a menu of labelled pictures. When you are ready the blank score opens. Data entry is via a combination of piano keyboard or guitar fretboard and some slim horizontal menus with fly outs.

Ultimately the iPad screen is very small for work like this, but the app works well and smoothly. Select a crotchet, hit C on the keyboard, and a C is placed on the stave you are working on. You can use a system where the cursor skips forward to the next logical spot (fine for solo lines) or you can stack up notes in a chord and move forward manually.

It would be unrealistic to expect the power of, say, Sibelius, nevertheless this has articulation, percussion notation, guitar tablature, and full range of note lengths and of course all the key signatures and time signatures you could wish. When you are ready you can play back. Sounds are quite pleasant and as far as I can work out are sampled rather than based on any internal synth. Strings are not bad and other instruments adequate to good.

This is not an app for a keen musician who knows no music. All data entry has to be done by notation entry. There is no option to "play in" a piece. Impressively there is an option to read a MIDI score though I had mixed results with this. There are sample scores provided that sound rather good.

In the school context this is a potential tool for learning notation, basic editing and input, and score study (though again the screen is fairly small for this). Compositions can be downloaded from the iPhone in native format, as PDFs or as MIDI files. There are some video tutorials, and a simple "manual" though I was left wanting a bit more detail.

Worth a look... even if only on a teacher's iPad!

Andrew Lack