Upgrading to iOS 9 is on the minds of our users and we want to share what we know so you can make an informed decision.

Please Backup Your Library!

No matter what, always make sure that you have a backup of your library in case a problem arises. We've had users that experience issues when upgrading their iOS and have lost the information on their device. It's easy to make a backup file. Safety first!

What do we know?

• OnSong 1.999 provides fixes to iOS 9 bugs

  Keep in mind that there are some issues with iOS 9 when running the current version of OnSong such as the date picker in the set editor and light text on menus when sorting or performing actions. We are aware of these issues and have them fixed in the upcoming OnSong 1.999 release.

  Thank you for your patience as we work to research all reported issues and finalize our testing. We should launch OnSong 1.999 in mid-October.

• Apple continues to release minor updates to address bugs

  Apple has released iOS 9.0.1 within a week of the initial launch and has released iOS 9.0.2 today. That means there are still many issues they are working to resolve. iOS 9.1 is also in progress and being sent to beta testers.

• 40% of our active users are running iOS 9

  When there are problems, we hear about them. However, we have received no further reported issues. Most users are reporting good results.

  Here's the iOS breakdown over the past week: iOS 9: 40%, iOS 8: 50%, iOS 7: 8%, iOS 6: 1% and iOS 5: 1%.

• Hardware vendors are urging customers to hold off on upgrading to iOS 9

  AirTurn is urging customers to not update to iOS 9 due to Bluetooth connection problems. We have tested OnSong with AirTurn pedals under iOS 9 and it appears OnSong is behaving properly. Pairing pedals in the iOS 9 Bluetooth settings screen appears to be the issue. Some users have reported Bluetooth devices disconnecting.

• iOS 9 fixes some longstanding iOS 8 bugs

  Shortly after iOS 8 launched, OnSong reported major issues to Apple. We have worked together with Apple and have confirmed these issues have been addressed. If you have had crashing issues when using stage monitor mode on Lightning port devices, or have poor formatting in Microsoft Word documents, iOS 9 will correct this.

• WiFi and Bluetooth has been overhauled in iOS 9

  iOS 8 has been a nightmare for many users in regards to WiFi performance and peer-to-peer communication. If you use OnCue, you may be familiar with this. iOS 9 has reverted back to using the same networking services as iOS 7. Our tests and reports confirm this as iOS 9 can communicate wirelessly with all iOS versions except iOS 8.

  If you use OnCue, make sure you are running the same version of OnSong and iOS on all of your devices. We strongly urge you to use OnSong Connect for live use since it does not rely on Apple's frameworks and is more robust.

• Some users are reporting that WiFi with an Internet Connection is required to use OnSong

  We have some users claiming that OnSong is requiring an Internet connection in order to launch. If an Internet connection is not available, it is causing OnSong to crash. We have been working to replicate this scenario and unfortunately have not been able to. We do recommend resetting network settings to correct network-related issues. You can do this by going into the Settings app on your home screen and choosing General, Reset and then Reset Network Settings. This will remove your WiFi passwords so you will need to enter your passwords again.

• Some users are reporting performance issues in iOS 9

  This is a mixed bag. Some users are having performance problems after updating to iOS 9 while others report improvements. One user claims that iOS 9 has breathed new life into their iPad 2. Another user reports serious lag on iPad 4. We have experienced user interface lagging when opening the camera app or using the home screen on our iPhone 6 devices. Even iPhone 6s users are reporting problems.

Should You Upgrade?

We are still recommending not updating to iOS 9 for production devices because of these reports. We also want to work around the issues presented by iOS 9 in OnSong 1.999. iOS 9 does fix a number of issues and has not drastically effected 40% of our users.

iOS 9 Update

It's been almost a week since iOS 9 was launched and we wanted to address your questions about the iOS 9 update and the status of our upcoming OnSong 1.999 release. We are still advising to hold off on updating to iOS 9 on production devices until we fully address all known iOS 9 issues. However, if you are willing to load iOS 9 and give us input on OnSong running on those devices, it will help us to be certain that we've addressed all known issues.

We have discovered and fixed two bugs that are caused by iOS 9:

• The date picker control in the set editor does not appear in iOS 9. This is caused by a change late in the iOS development cycle that was not found until the final version. While we believe this is a bug in iOS 9, we have been able to workaround the issue in the upcoming OnSong 1.999 release.
• Text in menus used for sorting and editing items shows as white text on a light grey background. This has been fixed in the upcoming OnSong 1.999.

We are getting the following reports that we are researching further, but have not been able to independently replicate:

• Reports of users having issues with OnSong freezing or crashing. Some users report this is caused by WiFi being disabled. Resetting network settings or reinstalling OnSong seems to correct this issue.
• Reports of wireless sharing not functioning with other devices. Apple has completely swapped out the Multicast DNS (Bonjour) service from a faulty product used in iOS 8. OnSong relies on Apple frameworks and multicast DNS for peer discovery. If you are using OnCue we recommend using the same versions of iOS and OnSong and strongly recommend using OnSong Connect instead which is built from the ground up to be cross-platform and not reliant on Apple's frameworks which are limiting in nature.

While many users have reported good results with iOS 9, others are reporting general performance issues as well as battery drain. This tends to happen with new iOS releases and is normally corrected by resetting network settings or through an update from Apple. Again, we believe it's important to not update if you are actively using your devices for live, production use.

Why Should I Upgrade?

iOS 9 has a number of great new features so it's no wonder that it's the fastest installed iOS update ever. Aside from the typical update woes, this looks to be a solid product. Issues that we have mentioned above should be worked out in a about a month.

iOS 9 has also fixed a number of outstanding bugs in iOS 8 that may effect some users. Upgrade if you have one of the following issues:

• If you are experiencing hard system crashes when using stage monitor mode over a Lightning port video adapter.
• If you are having problems with WiFi performance or Bluetooth disconnection.
• If you use Microsoft Word documents and are experiencing incorrect formatting.

OnSong 1.999

OnSong 1.999 is a huge release and will be our last update for a period of time as we turn our attention towards OnSong 2.0 completion. That's why we are taking our time with the release of this build. Once we are certain it is "gold", we will release. Our goal is to make something that will last for a few months as we continue to reinvent how music is organized.

To celebrate OnSong 1.999 on iOS 9, we are releasing nine new features we think you'll like.

• Spotify Integration lets you link streamed audio tracks to songs in your library.
• Automatic Backup now lets you configure where to backup your library and how often if gets backed up.
• Organizer Menu lets you mark the current song icons, place in sets and quickly add to books.
• Improved Sliders are not made available in many menus to make selecting styles and keys faster.
• Bluetooth MIDI is now supported for devices like the Quicco mi.1.
• Quick Pick lets you quickly find songs from your library with a single tap of the menubar.
• Playback Heads-Up Display lets you toggle playback, scrub to different track position, adjust volume and pan and audio routing – all from the menubar.
• Timer Heads-Up Display lets you keep track of the elapsed time, or a countdown for both songs and sets.
• Separate Styles for Books lets you keep a different key, capo, styles, notes and more for a song in each book.

For full details on this upcoming release, please view the release notes.

OnSong 2.0

We get a lot of questions about OnSong 2.0 and why it's taking so long to launch. The truth is that since we've announced OnSong 2.0, many of the features that we had on our list have been added into OnSong. Just this year we have added 100 features from our OnSong 2.0 list into OnSong 1.9x. On average OnSong is updated once a month and unlike other apps, we cram more functionality, features and fixes into 1/100 of a point than many do in a major version release. Be sure to review our list of releases notes to see what we've added.

Much of OnSong 2.0 has already been completed and now must be integrated into the OnSong 1.9x codebase. You've seen some of this added in the Color Picker component as well as Improved Sliders coming in OnSong 1.999.

Our Focus

Our primary focus has always been to serve our customers and keep OnSong working its best with as many versions of iOS and devices as possible. This has often times put our production schedule for OnSong 2.0 on pause. Our goal is to make OnSong 1.999 the best release yet so we can focus our attention on OnSong 2.0.

Thank You

Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve any upgrading issues and for your continued use of OnSong. Stay tuned for updates as we move forward with our vision for transforming music.