Abc plugin for android?

jjon · 2022-01-13T19:17:32.717Z

I'm so delighted to find the abc music plugin! Works like a charm in desktop. What are the chances of getting this functionality in android?

meldarionqeusse · 2022-01-13T20:08:18.473Z

none of the plugins work on android and no plans to get them wokring on android to my knoweledge. Maybe if we get a webapp that would make them work

tessus · 2022-01-13T20:23:32.300Z

The plugin framework is not supported on mobile.

I recall there was an idea of making it available to mobile as well, but there are a few obstacles:
Many plugins make use of CodeMirror API which does not exist on mobile. The beta editor is CodeMirror, so it might be possible that these plugins will work when the beta editor becomes the default editor.
Other APIs and general functionality (e.g. writing to the filesystem) are also only available on desktop.
Furthermore there's a problem with distribution. The AppStore does not allow to add plugins from external sources, so not sure how that would work then.

IMO it would be straightforward to add this particular plugin to the mobile app (similar to mermaid), but it would have to be via the core app. I am not sure how Laurent feels about that.

jjon · 2022-01-13T23:53:50.000Z

I figured something like this was the case, but let me add my support for adding abc to the core app. For what it's worth, my use case, and what led me to use Joplin to begin with, is that I collect and learn Irish, and other folk tunes. For a long time I would just do a screen shot of a bit of music to add to my collection. This way I could look up the music easily on my phone when I was playing at a session. This works fine, but images weigh a lot more than a few lines of abc code, but if I can't render that code on mobile, then my primary use case is defeated; alas.

I don't have the necessary expertise to be of much help, but from what I can tell, the abcjs library is compact and well thought out. Integrating it with the core joplin app ought to be straightforward. I'm mindful of the dangers of feature bloat, but, as you said, mermaid.

Thanks for a great tool,
Jon

laurent · 2022-01-14T00:24:43.825Z

The first GSoC project idea is support for plugins on mobile, so it's not a forgotten feature however it's not that easy to add.

One idea that was discussed was to have only partial support for it as a start, for example for the Markdown renderers like ABC and such, as they are easier to get working.

Moving ABC to the core is probably not an option. If anything I'd rather move the current Markdown plugins out, and make them regular plugins.

laurent · 2022-01-14T18:02:35.087Z

In fact, while I still remember, I've started the basic work for plugin support in mobile in this branch a while back:

github.com/laurent22/joplin

Trying to add plugin support for mobile app

committed 06:44PM - 30 Oct 20 UTC

laurent22

+2620 -884

It's far from complete but it has the basic idea of using webviews to run the plugins in their own sandbox.

tessus · 2022-01-14T21:18:04.026Z

How will you solve the AppStore and PlayStore restrictions?

laurent · 2022-01-14T22:42:25.293Z

I've considered two options: either we somehow make it acceptable to the app stores, or we bundle the few plugins that will work with the app, disabled by default.

Obviously the first option is preferable but I don't know if it can be done. I'll need to check what other apps, like Obsidian, are doing.

Daeraxa · 2022-01-15T00:56:27.036Z

Was wondering about this myself, Obsidian makes you disable "safe mode" then allows you full access to browse and install all of the plugins - on both Android and iOS.

Firefox also has add-ons that you can browse and install on mobile (a curated list for the normal version but literally any for the nightly version - also on the play store).

So it must be possible to do this within the guidelines somehow - not that I seem to be able to find a single source of truth about it.