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Links & sharing

When you share a song, Leadsheet.app can create three kinds of link. They differ in what travels inside the link and in what happens over time: choose based on how self-contained, updatable or under-your-control you want the song to be.

In every case you also choose where the link opens: in View to read, or in Write to edit a copy.

With a fly link the whole song is wrapped inside the link itself. Whoever receives it needs neither an account nor access to your material: they just open the link.

  • It always opens, even without signing in and even offline — because it doesn't have to download anything from the server. That's why it's perfect for a QR code.
  • It's a snapshot of the song at the moment you create it: if you later edit the original, the changes don't reach whoever already has the fly link.

Things to keep in mind. Once distributed, a fly link takes on a life of its own: anyone who holds it can open it, and you can't fully recall it (copies already downloaded remain). It applies no permissions: whoever has the link sees the song as you shared it. It's the right choice for open sharing, quick run-throughs, teaching material, QR codes.

Pasting it into a chat. The Copy to clipboard and Share buttons already prepare the message with a line of text before the link. If you copy it by hand (for example from the browser's address bar), type something before the link: some apps, such as WhatsApp on a computer, shorten a link sent on its own, and the shortened link won't open.

If a fly link ends up spreading content it shouldn't, anyone can report it (see Reporting content). If it's removed, whoever opens it in View finds the Content removed screen instead of the score (see View). Copies that have already left the app, such as a PDF or a .nrk file, stay where they are.

A hard link does not contain the song: it's a reference to the song saved in your library. Whoever opens it always sees the current version.

  • It follows the edits: if you update the song, whoever reopens the link sees the new version.
  • It stays under your control: you decide who can open it (see Who can open a link) and you can revoke access or change the settings at any time.
  • It requires the app and a connection (and, if the song isn't public, access to the song).

It's the right choice for stable, controlled sharing: a link that always points to your up-to-date song, whose access you grant and revoke as you wish.

A reactive link is like the hard link (a reference to the song, with the same permissions), but with a twist: whoever is watching sees the changes in real time, as they happen.

Whoever has edit rights can "take the Lead": from that moment their changes, as soon as they're saved, appear live to everyone who has the link open for reading. It's designed for rehearsals, lessons, group performances — when everyone has to follow the same page as it changes in real time.

Who can open a link

Hard links and reactive links respect the song's sharing setting, which you choose:

Setting Who can open it
Private only you and the people you've given a role on the song (they must be signed in)
With link anyone who has the link
With protected link anyone who has the link and the password
Public anyone; the song also appears in the public catalogue

A fly link, by contrast, has no access setting: whoever has the link opens it.

You add, change or remove a protected link's password from the Library, via the song's sharing icon. Playlists too are shared with a link or a protected link: see Playlist.

To stop anyone guessing the password, wrong attempts are limited: at most 5 a minute from the same connection (the same internet address, for example the same Wi-Fi network); and after 20 wrong passwords within a quarter of an hour, from anyone, the link stays closed for everyone until that quarter of an hour is over, even for those who have the right password. In those cases the page says "Too many attempts" and how many minutes to wait. Opening the link with the right password uses up no attempts: a whole class can open the same link from one network.

Before making a song public you're asked to declare that you hold the rights (your own work, public domain, under licence, or authorised). See the Terms of Service.

Reporting content

From the View reader anyone can report a song or a fly link that infringes a copyright or the usage rules. The report is reviewed and the content may be removed: a removed song leaves public access, a removed fly link shows the Content removed screen in View. How to fill in a report → View.

In short

Fly link Hard link Reactive link
What it contains the song, inside the link a reference to the song a reference to the song
Sign-in / connection not needed needed (unless public) needed
Updates over time no (it's a snapshot) yes yes, live
Under your control no (a life of its own) yes (grant/revoke access) yes (grant/revoke access)
Ideal for QR, open sharing, offline stable, controlled sharing rehearsals, lessons, groups