So, I have a fair bit of criticism regarding the new update, primarily focused on the layout. Then some feedback and thoughts on features. I do appreciate the effort to improve notion, but this update was a step in the wrong direction from my point of view.

Opening the app, you are no longer presented with the file manager. There should at least be a setting for this, since the one tap to get to the file manager (compared to before) is just a nuisance.

After opening a project, you get an interface that is cluttered and takes up way to much space, with no way of minimising it. On mobile this is rather difficult to work with. Again, please add a setting to switch to the old layout, as it is much easier to use and takes up less space.

To test the new user experience, I decided to create a new project and write down what I found. I did this because I noticed things had changed in those menus as well. (If this is tl;dr, there is some personal feedback right after)

I tap “+” to create a new project and get a list of ensembles, including the option for an empty project. I name my project and proceed with “empty”. I get a decent list of instruments, including empty staves, though unpitched percussion is missing (as a returning user, the new order of instruments is somewhat annoying, but I can live with that, it’s not a big deal. I recall there being both a unpitched empty staff alongside a couple others though). The scrolling is quite buggy, but the instrument groups at the bottom help. I pick flute and electric piano, I want something mellow. I write something simple, and what’s that? When I listen to the playback there is no E.Pi, instead an acoustic. If I were a new user I would be somewhat confused (but I am not. I have been using notion for a few years, and I already know this is what notion does when you don’t own a particular instrument. But E. Piano was free before when I bought the app for 280 SEK (~30 USD), and now I don’t even get that, since the app apparently is free now? Pardon my wording, but this is pure corporate bs. But let’s continue). I decide to go with piano because I can’t bother, I find that the samples aren’t very good anyway. I write a few bars, seems quite solid. But when I try to add symbols, I’m lost in the menu. While most of the icons make sense, it’s just cluttered, with many submenus containing only one symbol (when I was new to notation software, this would have taken way to long to figure out and memorise, and I’m a quick learner). Oh well, I decide to familiarise me with the other menus. There is a mixer, okay cool. There is a layout editor, very useful. Continuous view is definitely my favourite. I can easily navigate this menu (this is honestly one of the biggest improvements over the old app) and I have many settings without any bloat. I also find a setup menu, where I can hide and rearrange instruments. I also have settings for how the instruments are shown and how they behave on the staff, like transposition.

I decided to cut here. All in all, it’s a decent first experience, but it’s far from perfect. I could explore solutions, but that would make this post way to long. So, some personal feedback:

Bring back the old file manager, it’s more familiar and easier to use. You should also be able to create projects from the file manager, like before.

Bring back the previous interface, or make the new one easier to use. I know this is ambiguous, so I can help with ideas and design if you’d want.

It’s easier to use multiple voices on a single staff now, that’s a big improvement.

The hierarchy menus are far more convenient than the previous submenu system.

Distortion is no longer available to all instruments. While it’s a little strange to apply distortion to viola, I have actually used this, so distortion should be available to all instruments.

The bar which shows where your player is at needs to be clearer. The way it was before (when it was green) was excellent, there’s no reason to change it.

The selection window also needs to be clearer, it was blue before, just keep it that way.

The “return to start” playback button should also stop the playback, like before

Then I have a myriad of other little improvements, but again, too much text. There are quite a few bugs still to fix, I have noticed that many of them are still left over from the old app, which suggests that “rewritten from the ground up” is rather exaggerated. It’s not difficult to tell that big parts of the app simply have been reskinned (which is sometimes good and sometimes bad in this case). I appreciate your effort, but to present it as completely remade is a mild lie. I can tell that some things have been reworked though, I guess the playback has been remade, since a few bugs related to it are gone. But one bug which has annoyed me for as long as I remember is that adding a second credit overwrites the previous one, and it’s the same with the other text types. It’s not often I have to add multiple credits, but this is a nuisance every time I do have to.

Well, this is a rather long feedback post. I really hope this is helpful and at least looked at. But still, what I would like the most is a legacy app, which behaves like the previous one, or a setting in the new app to toggle the old interface. I will probably get used to the new look, but please resist turning notion upside down again in a few years will ya.