iGigBook

For an app like this the giggability rules. And the iGigBook is great at the gig!


App: iGigBook
Available for: iOS, Android
Price: $15
Developer: Black & White Software
Website: http://www.igigbook.com/

Looking at the feature list alone, iGigBook is probably the closest competitor to the Fakebook app. Actually, up until recently not even a direct competitor, as Fakebook is Android only and iGigBook natively ran on iOS (as suggested by the name). It is now available for Android as well, which makes this side by side comparison possible.

Both music readers have great PDF support, including automatic indexing of collections, Real Book compilations and similar. Both apps also sport transposable chord charts, actually with an almost identical set of a thousand or so jazz tunes.

(...side by side screenhots of iGigBook and Fakebook with chord charts...)

However, here the similarities stop. In Fakebook the huge chord charts library is built-in and included in the purchase, the iGigBook requires registering to the my.igigbook.com website. While Fakebook allows you to import other chord charts in several formats like iReal B, iReal Pro, ChordPro, abc and text, the iGigBook only handles PDF. Also, initially PDF import and indexing in iGigBook can be quite confusing, so I really recommend reading the users manual.

That being said, once the initial setup is done the PDF import works very good. Books in the public domain download with a single click, while other real books require a proper http download link. If you have your PDF files stored locally, again please read the manual...

Now, I'm happy to report that iGigBook shines at a gig. Page turns are really quick and the set and gig list editors works well, even though the concept is unnecessarily complex. After a while you'll find your way around the app and can use the song search e.g. when taking requests (strangely enough song search and composer search are different functions). Bluetooth pedals and keyboards works as expected.

Though exclusively a tablet app, iGigBook runs only in portrait mode. In most cases this makes sense, but on smaller tablets I sometimes prefer to show half-pages a little larger in landscape. (This is also nice when using your phone as a backup or always-in-the pocket song reference. There is an iGigBook Mobile version for iPhone, but this is an extra $10.)

The iGigBook app's iOS heritage clearly shows in the look and feel on both platforms. Some parts are beautifully designed, but the main impression is decidedly non-Android and a little odd on the modern styled 5.0 Lollipop. The Android version also lacks some of the more advanced features of its iOS sibling, and it still seems a little unstable (though I actually had crashes on both platforms).

Verdict:
Of course, for an app like this the giggability rules. And the iGigBook is great at the gig! However, it is quite messy to set up and the competition is tough. So, as I have the choice, on the iPad I prefer forScore (even though it lacks transposable chord charts), and on Android I have my trusty Fakebook (which does everything I need).

iGigBook - 3 stars - The Music Reader Review

(Tested: iGigBook version 2.66.2 on iPad and Android tablet)