Notion Mobile, the cross-platform music composition application from PreSonus, has recently been updated to version 3.5. The app, which was already available on a wide variety of platforms, including on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, is now available on Linux as well as natively on Windows ARM devices.
Features and improvements include support for simultaneous time signatures, better enharmonic options, and global chord symbols. Note that while Notion Mobile is free, some features are only available with an additional purchase of a $15 Feature Bundle, or an active Studio One Pro+ membership.
Chris Swaffer, PreSonus’s product manager for Notion, told Scoring Notes, “We’ve been wanting to include proper support for polymeters for a long time. This new feature is available for all users and is part of the core functionality of the app, along with unlimited staves and a full orchestral sample library. The optional add-on purchase includes all sound libraries, handwriting recognition, network score transfer, and writing into 4 voices on a single staff. The new platform support is one of the technical benefits of having a shared framework between all our apps, so Notion can inherit work from Studio One, and vice versa. It’s been fantastic to see Notion and Studio One running at top speed on a Windows on ARM powered laptop. And on Linux, it’s opened up a number of possibilities — education users using our free Fender Studio and Notion apps on a Raspberry Pi, for example. This release also has a number of notation fixes and improvements that are shared between Notion Mobile and Studio One’s score editor.”
Notion Mobile 3.5
Here’s what new in Notion Mobile 3.5, as provided by PreSonus.
New platforms
Windows on ARM
Notion Mobile is now available as a native Windows on ARM app. If you have a ARM device, the Microsoft Store will automatically deliver the compatible version of Notion Mobile.
Linux
Notion Mobile is now available on Linux. Available in Flatpak format, it can be downloaded for both AMD64 and ARM64 devices – so whether you have a Linux laptop, virtual machine, or Raspberry Pi, you can run Notion.
The in-app Feature Bundle is available on Linux, via a valid Studio One+ membership.
Notion Mobile requires Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or higher, Wayland, and Flatpak support.
New features
Simultaneous time signatures
Notion can now correctly layout and play back multiple simultaneous time signatures. Add a time signature as normal, uncheck Show in all parts and then close the dialog (or keyboard shortcut Enter).
A common example of simultaneous time signatures (or polymeter) would be where compound and simple time are played by different instruments at the same time:
More complicated time signatures can be aligned too, and any number of time signatures can be combined:
To keep your metronome as required, set your “base” time signature first — so in the above examples, set the time signature for all parts as 2/4 first, before setting the independent time signatures.
New enharmonic tools
Notion’s enharmonic tool changes accidentals from flats to sharps and vice versa. But now the tool will work for a selection of notes, not just one at a time. Make a range, or select non-adjacent notes, and tap the enharmonic tool (or the keyboard shortcut E).
You can now also make a selection and select which accidentals are preferred — whether to favor flats or sharps. Make a selection, then open the Enharmonic tool palette.
Show chords
Chords are now global, in that you only have to enter chords once, and choose to show or hide in individual parts.
To only show chords in a specific section, use the show/hide tool in the Context Menu
Individual part PDF export
As well as the existing feature to save all parts as a PDF, Notion’s built-in PDF creator will now produce a PDF of just the current visible part. View the part you want to export, go to Application Menu > Export > PDF, and select Current View.
New minimum requirements for Apple devices
Notion Mobile 3.5 is supported on Apple laptop and desktop computers running 12.4 Monterey or later, and iPhones, iPads and iPods running iOS15 / iPadOS15 or later.
Amazon support dropped
Notion Mobile used to be available on the Amazon Fire OS system, but as of this release of Notion Mobile 3.5, it will no longer be available from the Amazon App Store.
Release notes
For the full release notes for each version of Notion Mobile, visit their official site.
Listen to the podcast episode
On the Scoring Notes podcast, David MacDonald and Philip Rothman talk with Notion’s product manager Chris Swaffer about what Notion is, who it’s for, and where it’s headed. Listen now:
