Originally Posted by
atsunrise
'Flat'.
It's free for ipad, prob available for smartphones too ...
I hadn't heard of Flat, but here's what I found out...
According to the Flat website pricing page:
"Flat Free includes:
Create and store 15 scores"
So apparently you get 15 songs for free, then you have to pay? The pricing options are:
"$149 One-time purchase"
*or* subscription rates as follows:
"$6.99 Monthly subscription
$49 Yearly subscription"
Hmm.
While I have not tested this, their website indicates that there are two different ways to use Flat:
- An online interface using a regular web browser on any device or computer. Apparently this is how you'd access the Flat music-writing functionality if you had an Android (non-Apple) phone or tablet.
- An app for Apple gadgets only (iPhones, iPads, iWhatever-Else-They-Have). According to the Flat Do you have a mobile app? page:
"If you are using an iOS device (iPhone or iPad), we have a native app available on the App Store. ... We have plans to develop a native app for Android as well, stay tuned!"
I don't know what, if any, advantages there are to using the "native app" vs the web-browser interface. But, if you had an Android (non-Apple) device, at the moment the web-browser interface would appear to be your only option.
That's all I was able to gather by skimming through their website really quick.
Up until I saw the pricing arrangement, I was tempted to give it a whirl just out of curiosity to see if it was any good, but I guess I'm lazy because I can't work up enough enthusiasm right now to pursue signing up for yet another account (oh joy, another online account at some website I'll probably never use again, just what I need - not!) to test it out. Besides, if it turned out I actually liked it and was going to spend $149 on it, I'd probably just go ahead and throw some (a whole bunch!) more money into the pot and save up for Finale or something (at this point in my life and budget, Flat's $149 is just as out-of-reach as Finale's $600, not going to be buying anything like that anytime soon, I have other obligations). As to software subscriptions, I already have one of those (Adobe nonsense) and I don't want any more subscriptions to *anything* unless there are no other acceptable options that offer the same high level of functionality. (Yeah I know, the subscription pricing model is allegedly the wave of the future in software stuff, so I keep hearing/reading, so I might as well get used to it sooner rather than later, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.)
Meanwhile, I'm ok with using the other software I've already been using for a few years now (as I rattled on about in a different post above), at least I'm used to it and it doesn't cost me anything (although before it got bought out by some guitar outfit or whatever, I used to make the occasional small donation, as I do believe in supporting open-source projects that I find useful).
Anyway... back to the topic... as to Flat, it may or may not be a useful app, I didn't get far enough to actually test its capabilities, but maybe someone else has already tried it (or something similar) and can report on it?
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