iCloud directory

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altares
Posts: 17

Post by altares »

Hi, I'm working on a midi file and have to go back and forth from my mac to my ipad and it's really painful that way. Could you please implement icloud folder as a synthesia library (like garageband, or soulver which is not by apple).

thank you!
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

You can use the new "Files" app included with iOS 11 as an easy-to-use bridge between Synthesia and iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, and more.

Once you've added a cloud file provider to the Files app, you can just tap a MIDI file and send it to Synthesia using the button at the top-right.
altares
Posts: 17

Post by altares »

Ok, Thanks I'll try that.
blickfangQ2
Posts: 4

Post by blickfangQ2 »

Hi there,

Thank you for this hint. Unfortunately this only adds the midi file temporarily. If I choose another song and want to go back to the iCloud “imported” one, it just is not there anymore. You can select it and it brings you to the “choose a song” directory. That means you cannot really add a midi file and keep track of your progress etc...

I’m browsing midi files on musescore and can download them to the files App or iCloud on my iPad.
I would love to just add or remove, rename etc files via iPad and Synthesia just recognizes changes on the next load.
(Sure if I rename songs, progress would be lost...)

I bet Apple has some preset ways to include that in the app.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

I just investigated this (for a couple hours; information about the iOS 11 stuff is still a little hard to find because it's so new!) and found lots of good and a little bad news:

The good: Apparently we just need to add a single line to our app's metadata to signal that we would like Synthesia to "participate" with Files. Suddenly there is an "On my iPad / Synthesia" folder in the Files app and you can see everything you've added to the song list, bulk copy things into it, rename them, delete them, etc.

Even better, you can make folders! And then inside Synthesia, you'll be able to choose the "All Songs (grouped by folder)" option and see all of your neatly organized files automatically under the "Documents" folder!

The bad: That same line we have to add to our metadata also opts the app into a slightly more technical way of opening files ("in place" from other app's sandboxes instead of automatically being copied to Synthesia's Documents folder), so it will actually take a little more under the hood work than simply flipping a switch. Not too much, though. This is definitely a big enough win for a small enough effort that it can go on the list for the next release.
blickfangQ2
Posts: 4

Post by blickfangQ2 »

I have to say, this is awesome. Thank you for your effort!
I love Synthesia so much! It’s great to hear how it will get better every day!

I already spread the app to my friends and family who play piano!

Seb
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

A little update (after having spent another couple hours tinkering with this): Synthesia is going to have a tiny wrinkle when working with files outside of its own Documents folder. Hopefully it's not too big of a deal.

Apple's own paradigm for handling files outside of an app's own personal sandbox is a little... strange. Without going into any detail, the short version is that it would take a lot of work to make Synthesia's idea of file systems line up with Apple's. So, to keep this simple and something we can implement quickly, we're going to cheat a little: whenever you launch Synthesia with a file from some other location in the Files app (or a browser or other app for that matter), Synthesia will simply copy that song right into its own Documents folder.

It's a little inconvenient if that wasn't your intent, but it will keep things like the Recent Songs list on the title screen working correctly (without tons of extra work) and the songs you play will continue to show up inside Synthesia's internal song list in subsequent app launches. They can be deleted again just as easily from either inside Synthesia or from the Files app.

Is that acceptable?
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