🔗 Microsoft Office for iPad now supports opening files from the Files app more directly

Microsoft Office and the Files App Finally Play Nice Together:

Today Microsoft updated its Office suite for iOS, with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all reaching version 2.12. Office updates rarely receive detailed release notes, and today was no exception, but user Teddy Svoronos discovered that the updates brought 'Open In' capabilities to the share sheet, which previously only enabled making a copy of an Office document. The 'Copy to' option has now been removed, replaced by the more convenient 'Open in.'

After seeing Teddy's tweet, I did a little playing around in the Files app and discovered that, while Excel and PowerPoint documents accessed in Files will load Quick Look previews and require tapping 'Open in' from the share sheet, the experience is even better with .docx files. Those Word-associated documents open directly in the Word app with just a single tap from the Files interface – no need to open the share sheet first.

It is really nice to see proper use of the Files app user interface being adopted into apps by third party developers. The more time passes, hopefully we will see this adoption so wide that opening documents using the native file browser will feel no different on an iPad than it does on a Mac. It always feels jarring on Mac when the “Open” option doesn’t show the Finder. On iPad, custom “open” UIs have been standard since its beginning. Hopefully the Files app introduced this past fall with iOS 11 will continue to change that. 

What I really thought was interesting about this article was something I have been wondering about the Files app since the summer. 

Update: One of the developers working on Office has confirmed my suspicions: the reason Word files open for me with a single tap while Excel and PowerPoint files do not is that I haven't opened those files enough for iOS to know that I would prefer to bypass the share sheet.

I had noticed that tapping on files in the Files app could open them within third party apps but I never understood how iOS knew which apps to use. (For example, standard text files were opening in Byword on my iPhone and 1Writed on my iPad for a time.) It seems that the user can to some extent control these apps by using the “Open In…” option from the Files app and choosing the desired app frequently. Still though, I would love the option to set default apps on iOS. I can tell my Mac which app I want to open PDFs. Why not on my iPad Pro?

🔗 App Santa | Check out these top class and cheap apps!

App Santa | Amazing Discounts on Award Winning Apps:

App Santa is back! Enjoy savings of up to 80% on award-winning apps from independent developers through December 26th

Lots of great apps on here.

Twitterrific is an amazing Twitter client (although not the one that I use). Screens is a Mac app that allows you to tap into your Mac from your iPhone or iPad and control it as if you were sitting right next to it. Linea is a beautiful and simple sketch pad app. Alto’s Adventure and Mini Metro are two of the best iOS games I have ever played. Waterminder helps me track my water intake daily. I use Deliveries to track packages. I could go on and on. The list is just great.

🔗 iLok Cloud - Maybe people will not feel absolutely miserable authenticating Pro Tools?

PACE Launch iLok Cloud - Cloud Based Alternative To Hardware iLoks — Pro Tools Expert:

PACE Anti-Piracy, Inc. introduces an entirely new approach to software license protection—iLok Cloud. With iLok Cloud, software publishers can offer their users quick and easy access to their licenses from any computer with an Internet connection. iLok Cloud has the same level of robust security as the current iLok USB smart key, which will remain as an option along with machine-based licenses.

Today, PACE Anti-Piracy announces the imminent launch of iLok Cloud. With iLok Cloud, software publishers that use PACE’s licensing system will have a third option to offer their users, in addition to the previously available iLok USB smart key and machine-based licenses.

Upon launching iLok Cloud protected software, the users will be prompted to provide their username and password. That’s it—the iLok protected software is now ready for use, without any dongles or having to use a specific authorized computer. It’s easy, iLok Cloud protected software can be used anywhere, and iLok Cloud takes the risk of lost or damaged iLok USB smart keys and computers out of the equation.

The iLok is one of the primary reasons I stopped using Pro Tools years ago. Hopefully this is a step towards iLok getting out the way of people using professional music software.

🔗 Looking for a cheap, powerful alternative (or replacement) for Photoshop on Mac. Pixelmator Pro might be for you.

Pixelmator Pro:

Pixelmator Pro is an image editor packed full of innovations. From a reimagined editing workflow and simplified editing tools to machine learning powering all-new, intelligent image editing features. So the tools at your fingertips are smarter and more powerful, yet more intuitive and easier to use than ever before.

I have not updated to macOS High Sierra yet so I cannot download this, though I will say that I have had tremendously positive success with the standard Pixelmator on Mac and iOS.

This all leads to the inevitable moment that I cancel my Photoshop subscription.

Download here.

🔗 Marco Arment releases public beta of his podcasting tool, Forecast

From Jason Snell’s Six Colors blog...

Forecast: A must-have tool for Mac podcasters—>

Marco Arment’s Forecast is a newly released (into a public beta) Mac MP3 encoding and tagging tool for podcasters. It’s a tool that Marco built a couple of years ago to serve his own needs, and for the last 18 months or so I’ve been using it (in a private beta) to encode most of the podcasts that I create. Here’s an overview of how Forecast works and what it does.

I have been waiting for this for a long time.

Marco is behind Tumblr, Instapaper, and now the great podcast app, Overcast. He is an avid podcaster and really knows his stuff. I can’t wait to take this for a spin while editing my next show. The feature I am perhaps looking the most forward to is the ability to import Logic markers as chapters.

🔗 Black Friday 2017 deals for music notation software and related tech

Black Friday 2017 deals for music notation software and related tech - Scoring Notes:

Planning on traveling, eating, napping, and shopping this holiday weekend? We can’t help with the first three, but if you’re looking for a few deals, we’ve sorted through some of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers in our corner of the world of music notation software and related technology. This list is hardly exhaustive, and if anything else comes to our attention after publishing this post, it will be updated.

This is a really solid list. Nearly every player in the music notation space is offering a discount today. 

🔗 Black Friday App Deals

Every Black Friday, tons of apps go cheap or free on the App Store. I always use this opportunity to score a bunch of apps I have been waiting on, particular higher priced apps. 

The best resource I have found for keeping track of every deal is MacStories. Check out their blog post on The Best Deals for iPhone and iPad Apps, Games, and Accessories. They have already started collecting apps on sale and will be updating it all throughout tomorrow and in the coming days. It catalogues apps ranging from iOS apps to Mac apps to tech deals on Amazon. 

Happy app purchasing!!!

🔗 Spotify Buys Online Recording Studio Soundtrap

Spotify Buys Online Recording Studio Soundtrap:

STOCKHOLM — Music streaming company Spotify has bought online music and audio recording studio Soundtrap, it said on Friday, declining to give financial details of the deal.

Stockholm-based Soundtrap allows its subscribers to have an online music studio and create music together with other people in real time, its website says.

”Soundtrap's rapidly growing business is highly aligned with Spotify's vision of democratising the music ecosystem," Spotify said in a statement.

This is a really interesting deal for music technology education. Spotify is a major player in the music streaming space and is well known to the major public. I can definitely see how Soundtrap fits into Spotify’s vision. But it will be interesting to see what they actually do with it, and if it has any influence over Soundtrap’s usefulness in the music classroom.

🔗 “The Simpsons” Composer Alf Clausen Fired After 27 Years

 “The Simpsons” Composer Alf Clausen Fired After 27 Years:

Two-time Emmy winner Alf Clausen has been fired from “The Simpsons” after 27 years of providing music for Bart, Lisa, and company.

Clausen told Variety that he received a call from “Simpsons” producer Richard Sakai that the company was seeking “a different kind of music” and that he would no longer be scoring the longtime Fox hit.

This just makes me entirely sad.

🔗 Sibelius 8.7 released with Cloud Sharing, other fixes - Scoring Notes

Sibelius 8.7 released with Cloud Sharing, other fixes:

Today Avid released Sibelius 8.7, the latest update to Sibelius. The new feature in Sibelius is Cloud Sharing, which we previewed a couple of weeks ago. The update is free for all 8.x users with an active subscription or support plan. Sibelius First has been updated as well.

Sibelius users share scores online in a format that can be displayed in any browser on a modern device, regardless of whether or not the person viewing the score owns Sibelius. No extra plug-ins are necessary.

Sibelius is pretty late to the game here. I admit, this is a nice improvement upon Scorch, but Scorch was terribly out of date. The best part in my opinion is the easy web publishing, though Noteflight has had it for a while now. 

The Sibelius team would have to do a lot at this point to get me to come back to it after switching to Dorico last fall. Sibelius is still plagued with layout issues, has a horrid user interface, and performs poorly alongside all of the other professional apps on my Mac. That being said, if you are using Sibelius, this is a nice update.