Yearly Archives: 2021

⭐ Fingering explorer to find the best fingerings for your needs
▫ Change the relevant chord settings and get the fingerings immediately in the gallery
▫ Define your fingering favorites, so they are always visible, independent from the chord settings
▫ Apply the new chord setting changes or discard them at the end of your exploration

✅ Songbook:
▫ Fingering explorer is used to replacing a fingering
▫ New directives to embed links to images and PDF files
▫ Songbook editor supports these new directives. Image and PDF pickers are used to add them

✅ Technical release with graphical improvements like better support for large fonts

✔ Fix: Chord name UI refresh after instrument change

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Bob Crowder, Kalle Mackel and Olav Stüwe for their contribution to this version

✅ Technical release with graphical improvements

✅ Open a chord in the fretboard explorer by the context menu of a chord gallery

✔ Other minor improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Jonathan Olson and Philibob Gossimer for their contribution to this version

⭐ Songbook: Replace a chord or fingering by direct input on the fretboard

⭐ Improved handling of fingering favorites
▫ Fingering favorites are always visible independent from the chord settings
▫ Fingering favorites for major, minor and seventh chords are automatically created for every instrument and tuning

⭐ 5-string Banjo with improved chord algorithm

✅ Set list: Possibility to add PDF or image files from GoogleDrive

✅ Scale favorites are now part of the synchronization

? Save and restore favorite instruments
? Fretboard explorer used with settings ‘Solfège’ and ‘Theory notes’

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Armin Schmitt, Carsten Bleisch, Jörg Dengler, Luiz Marcos Wal, Ricardo Zalba, Rudolf Stetulic and Teddy McGibbie for their contribution to this version

⭐ History is filterable to speed up access to the entries like songs

✅ Songbook: MIDI support extended
▫ Control a MIDI device within the song text
▫ New directive to add MIDI commands which are sent to a MIDI receiver: {x_sccrd_midi:<midiCommand1>, <midiCommand2>, …}
▫ The directive appears as grey ‘MIDI’ line in the song
▫ The commands are automatically sent to a MIDI receiver when
◾ the scroller passes the ‘MIDI’ line
◾ the user taps on the ‘MIDI’ line
▫ Documentation: https://smartchord.de/s-mart-songbook/#Control_a_MIDI_device

✅ Songbook: Scroll breaks are recognizable as such and show the duration of the breaks in seconds

✅ Possibility to change the folder for import and search when ‘Read storage’ permission is granted

? Online song editor, importer, viewer: HTTPS support completed

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Angela Müller, Armin Schmitt, Jean-Pierre Martin, Jens Martin, Jörg Dengler, Stefan Balaz and Uwe Fischbach for their contribution to this version

⭐⭐⭐ ‘Set list link’ released ⭐⭐⭐
▫ Connects different devices of your bandmates during rehearsals and live performances
▫ Mirrors the set list of the ‘Leader’ to the devices of the ‘Followers’
▫ Opens, starts and stops the song on the follower devices in synchronization with the leader so everyone is on the same song
▫ Mirrors also songs, images and PDF files, even if they are not present on a follower device
▫ ‘Leader’ options:
◾ A secret code to prevent strangers from registering as ‘Followers’
◾ Need to acknowledge each ‘Follower’
▫ ‘Follower’ options:
◾ View the song of the leader or the own song with the same name
◾ Scale the songs to fit on a different display size
▫ Uses ‘Wifi Direct’ and works on Android Lollipop (5.0) or newer
▫ No need for a dedicated Wifi router
▫ Please see documentation: https://smartchord.de/set-list-link

✅ Online song editor, importer, viewer:
▫ HTTPS for all supported Android versions
▫ New ‘troubleshooting’ page: https://www.smartchord.de/song/troubleshooting.html

✅ Fretboard trainer: Game is resumed, if it is accidentally interrupted

? Menus were just partly visible after fullscreen mode

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Frits Boogaarts, Hakkie de Groot, Harry Fehlemann, Jörg Dengler, Markus Knell and Philibob Gossimer for their contribution to this version

✅ Online song editor, importer, viewer:
▫ Chrome is supported again
▫ HTTPS support: To secure internet connections and protect sensitive data, we have switched our online tools to HTTPS. This has also slightly changed the addresses
❗❗ They now start with https. E.g. https://www.smartchord.de/song/ ❗❗

✅ Set list
▫ Export: Links in the table of contents to jump directly to the song
▫ Optimized performance on large set lists

? File access on some device

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to André Messerschmidt, Carsten Bleisch, Emory Keller, Gianluca Banchetti, Marc van Westerlaak, Reinhard Miottke, Robert Dampier, Roy Young, Sean Hartigan, and Lino Velletri for their contribution to this version

⭐ Migration to Android 11 is now complete
❗❗ PLEASE CHECK your set lists for errors ❗❗
▫ Permission to access the storage can now be withdrawn (Android 4.4 or newer)
▫ Android 11 has a focus on privacy improvements and protecting user data
▫ smartChord meets Androids 11 API level requirements
▫ For more information please see:
◾ https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy
◾ https://www.neowin.net/news/android-11-the-new-privacy-and-security-features-to-know-about
◾ https://www.androidauthority.com/android-11-privacy-1161814

✅ Create or edit an existing note in the notepad with a link to your item from each ‘Folder’ menu. Use it for instance to document your ideas about certain items.
▫ Chord progression
▫ Fretboard Trainer
▫ Metronome
▫ Pattern
▫ Playground
▫ Practice
▫ Set list
▫ Songbook
▫ Tone generator

✅ Set list:
▫ Share songs, images and PDF files directly from the set list
▫ Adding PDF and image files using the system PDF and image picker

? Set list: Search panel hides list

✔ A lot of other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Anke Kellermann, Carsten Bleisch, Hotte Schmiegelt, Jens Martin, Mario Ravlić, Rainer Schediwak and Stefano Tranchini for their contribution to this version

⭐⭐⭐ Set list link ⭐⭐⭐

▫ Connects different devices of your bandmates during rehearsals and live performances
▫ Mirrors the set list of the ‘Leader’ to the devices of the ‘Followers’
▫ Opens and starts the song on the follower devices in synchronization with the leader so everyone is on the same song
▫ Mirrors also songs, images and PDF files, even if they are not present on a follower device

❗ It is a pre-release version for ‘Songbook’ customers (invisible for all others)

▫ ‘Leader’ options:
◾ A secret code to prevent strangers from registering as ‘Followers’
◾ Need to acknowledge each ‘Follower’

▫ ‘Follower’ options:
◾ View the song of the leader or the own song with the same name
◾ Scale the songs to fit on a different display size
▫ Uses ‘Wifi Direct’ and works on Android Lollipop (5.0) or newer
▫ No need for a dedicated Wifi router
▫ Please see documentation: https://smartchord.de/set-list-link

✅ Set list: Reorder button replaced by a menu item in the ‘Edit’ menu

✅ Option to hide the hints also in setting dialogs

✅ New Russian 7-string tunings

? Backup: some settings were not restored

✔ A lot of other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Carsten Bleisch, Haisam Ido, Klaus Brockt, Ramon Haack and Wolfgang Kienberger for their contribution to this version

⭐ Further internal privacy improvements to protect your data

✅ Set list: Automatic lookup for images or PDFs, if the location has been changed or if the location is different on synchronized devices

? ‘Table of contents’: Problems to open items with spaces at the beginning or end of the name are solved

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Anke Kellermann, Eric Gump and Simone Sapienza for their contribution to this version

⭐ Privacy improvements to protect your data
▫ Links to image and PDF files in set lists are migrated to links to Androids MediaStore

⭐ New instrument: Viola Caipira with predefined 19 tunings

• Standard
• Big onion in C
• Big onion in D
• Big onion D#
• Big onion in E
• Big stream
• Cattle
• D down
• Downhill river
• Green cane
• Half guitar
• Hand crank
• Little onion
• Natural
• North eastern
• Paraguazu
• Repainting
• Upwardriver
• Uruguaya

⭐ Songbook:
▫ Possibility to show all chord charts at once
▫ Audio recordings from notepad can be used in the audio player

✅ Songbook & Set list:
▫ Option that allows that the ‘Information’ area will not be hidden in full-screen mode
▫ Option that allows that the ‘Player’ (Video, Audio, …) will not be hidden in full-screen mode

✅ Edit screen and text dialogs support voice recognition to enter the text

✅ Backup: Restore your data directly from a backup file in your cloud

✅ Set list: Dialog to print the set list

✔ A lot of smaller improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to A’Athiel Va’ Da’ath, Anke Kellermann, Dave Murray, Kenneth Calpito, Manfredo Leitner, Markus Knell, Simone Sapienza and Victor Osaka for their contribution to this version

⭐ Privacy improvements to protect your data
▫ Songbook does not need storage permission anymore
▫ Links to audio and video files in songs are migrated to links to Androids MediaStore

⭐ New instrument: 9-string guitar with nine predefined tunings

• 9-String Standard
• 9-String B
• 9-String Double Drop A
• 9-String Drop A
• 9-String Drop B
• 9-String Drop B + E
• 9-String Drop F
• 9-String Drop G
• 9-String High A

✅ Notepad: Manage your favorite YouTube videos in the Notepad. Use the menu ‘Link -> YouTube’ in the edit screen to add links to YouTube videos

✅ Audio-, video and YouTube-search: Use voice recognition to enter the search term

✅ Backup: Save multiple backups at once by sending them to a save place

✔ Other changes and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Fausto Hernandez, Ginger Hawkins and Victor Osaka for their contribution to this version

✅ Set list:
▫ Edit duration, key, tempo and time signature for PDFs and images
▫ Edit duration for notes and breaks
▫ Option to fade in the key, time signature, BPM and duration for the set list entries
▫ Duration of the set list is automatically calculated by the duration of the songs

▫ ‘Break’ screen with countdown timer. The timer is automatically started if the set list setting ‘Auto start’ is activated
❗ Edit set list information is now possible by menu

✅ Songbook: Option to refresh Androids MediaStore if audio or video file could not be found

✅ Scales: Option to change scale without changing the key

✅ New instrument: Waldzither with predefined 12 tunings

• Standard
• Barock
• Bass
• Basszither
• Descant
• Guitar
• Piccolo 1
• Piccolo 2
• Tenor 1
• Tenor 2
• Völkel

✅ New chord type 7/b13

▶ There is a new songbook video: https://youtu.be/BCd8yJ7Nxb4

? Share lists: Some share links made problems and couldn’t be imported

? Scales: Fixed update TAB and fretboard view after scale change

? Table of Contents: Preview prevented the selection

? Table of Contents keeps selection when entered again

✔ Other changes and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Brooks Van Buren, Carlos G Santos, Dirk Klamerek, Eric Gump, Rob D. Schaefer and Santi Chacon for their contribution to this version