Better Windows tablet interaction

Let us know which features you'd like to see added to Playground Sessions.
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roncain
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Better Windows tablet interaction

Post by roncain » Sat Sep 03, 2016 5:36 pm

I use a Surface Pro 3 tablet for my lessons because it works well and fits on the piano's shelf. But the PGS app is sort of old fashioned Windows and does not respond to normal tablet gestures. Could you please make it more tablet friendly? Or at least increase the size of scrollbars and button so they can be used on a tablet? It would make PGS even better than it already is. Thanks.

davidsides
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Re: Better Windows tablet interaction

Post by davidsides » Tue Sep 06, 2016 10:54 am

Hi,

Thanks for expressing your thoughts on this.

So the Surface version you're using is actually the desktop version, displayed on the tablet - in opposed to a tablet version displayed on the tablet. This is why there's a lot of tablet functionality that isn't working.

We're currently wrapping up the iPad version, then we'll shift gears and make an Android version. However, we won't be making a Windows tablet version.

roncain
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Re: Better Windows tablet interaction

Post by roncain » Fri Sep 09, 2016 12:32 pm

Thanks David. I understand resources may limit which tablets get the focus. I know you probably can't recommend brands, but is there any one tablet PGS users have found the best to use, assuming it's propped up on the piano's music shelf? My Surface Pro 3 works great (except for the non-tablet user experience), but the 12 inch (diagonal) screen is about the smallest I can use and still read the music. I know I can zoom in (great feature!), but the score jumps around a lot to stay onscreen.

I guess I'm asking "which tablet works best with PGS?" I don't want to use a laptop because it doesn't fit the piano well. I also have 60+ year old eyes and need the largest and clearest screen.

PGS is great. I signed up for lifetime membership and want the best experience when practicing.

davidsides
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Re: Better Windows tablet interaction

Post by davidsides » Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:48 am

I understand. Laptops won't work on keyboard stands.

At the moment we don't have any official tablet versions, so you'll likely run into the same issues with any other tablet that you do with your Surface.

At any rate, someone may have a recommendation for a tablet that offers a better experience than the Surface.

roncain
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Re: Better Windows tablet interaction

Post by roncain » Fri Sep 23, 2016 4:58 pm

For anyone curious about this subject, I found the HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 with the 15.6" screen a really great alternative to the Surface. The screen rotates around to lie flat like a tablet, so it can sit on the piano music stand along with other sheet music. The 15.6" screen is huge, and with a pen (the one from Dell works great and is cheaper) the scrollbars and buttons are big enough to hit. I just set one up, and PGS works great on it.

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sw1tch73ch
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Re: Better Windows tablet interaction

Post by sw1tch73ch » Tue Nov 08, 2016 4:26 am

I'll add the Lenovo Yoga laptops, Yoga Pro 2 in my case, to the folding flat kind of touch screen laptop into a tablet system.

I don't use my laptop with my piano keyboard though. I have a tiny Intel NUC (next unit of computing) with a full size monitor (34" :D ). The NUC is 4 inches by 4 inches by about 2 inches, has wifi and an selection of processors to chose from. You supply the memory and hard disks, so some assembly is required. But the low end one I have, with an Intel i3 processor runs PlaygroundSessions, Cubase AI, and most necessary software quite well. I have a small computer keyboard and Kensington trackball that sit on my piano and the monitor is on a swing arm so I can position it over my piano, or over my desk as needed. Obviously my desk and piano are very close together. The NUC is actually mounted to the stand of the piano. It certainly isn't the solution for everyone, but I too couldn't read the small screens of the tablets, and even my laptop's more generous 13 inch screen ended up too small, so I opted for a "real" computer.

The flipside is I can do this because my digital piano is large enough.
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==

-- jbs --

billdyszel
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Re: Better Windows tablet interaction

Post by billdyszel » Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:31 pm

I also use an HP Spectre and I find that it works pretty well with Playground sessions. I know you probably won't do a Windows 10 tablet version soon ( although there's a huge user base), I wish the tablet interface were less touch-unfriendly. Scroll bars would actually work nicely on a Windows tablet if they were about 4 x wider and buttons would work if they were 4x higher and at maybe 2x wider.

davidsides
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Re: Better Windows tablet interaction

Post by davidsides » Wed Dec 07, 2016 2:02 pm

Just the heads up, we recently released the beta version of our iPad app. It doesn't currently have all of the functionality of the desktop version, but once we add them it will definitely make the iPad a contender for the "best tablet to use Playground on".

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