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Page turner pedal on iPad isn't turning the pages

I have used a Cicada Page Flip pedal for many years to turn pages on song lyrics in Dropbox files on my iPad. Suddenly the pedal does not turn the pages, even though it instantly connects via Bluetooth and no preferences have changed. Any ideas what's up?

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Walter

Hi @Greg Knowles, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you please let me know if you've made sure that your device's OS is up to date?

Also, have you rebooted your iPad at all lately?

Any additional information is more than welcome!

Greg Knowles

Thanks for the reply. I have re-booted, checked preferences, batteries, the phases of the moon and the Page Flip folks did a review and said the pedal is fine. It has to be the iPad. No changes to anything, so I am baffled.

Greg Knowles

I recently loaded iOS 15.4.1 and I wonder if that could have caused the issue, but nothing on the Apple site indicates a preference change or other problem. The Page Flip folks had me do some tests and the pedal is performing as it should. But it will no longer turn pages in Dropbox text files. I am baffled.

Walter

Thanks for the additional details, Greg - most appreciated.

It might be due to the recent OS update on your device, but, just out of curiosity, have you tried clearing the app's cache on your iPad or trying the pedal on another device?

Also, have you tried a different wifi or cellular data?

Greg Knowles

It doesn’t work on other WiFi systems, and after 30 minutes on Apple support, they say I may have to delete the Dropbox app and start over. They said the new OS probably had nothing to do with it. I just finished resetting all preference to factory, and it still doesn’t work. Next call is to Dropbox. Although they are not easy to reach. Thanks for your suggestions. I will try the pedal on another iPad and see what happens.

Greg Knowles

It works perfect on another iPad. Apple Support thinks it’s the Dropbox app, and that I should try everything else, then uninstall the app and start over. I will lose all data, but have backups. I’ll let you know if I’m successful.

Walter

Sure thing, Greg - just keep me posted with any updates.

And while we're at it, note that uninstalling the app won't be affecting any of the files you've stored in Dropbox.

Greg Knowles

I deleted the app, reloaded it, the pedal locked onto Bluetooth immediately, and it still won’t turn a page on this iPad.

Greg Knowles

I see nowhere at all that Dropbox has preferences as to page turns or alternate keyboard commands. I am on a freebie, so I get no tech support at all, just this forum. Frustrating doesn’t even begin to touch this. I assume the app that is based on photo storage would have a function that flips thru photos. Dropbox worked so incredibly well for so long, and dozens of my friends are using it successfully with various page turner pedals, so what’s up? I am using less than 2% of the available 2GB, so that can’t be it. Anyone?

Greg Knowles

Just spent another hour on Apple Support. We discovered the page turner works to scroll through text in a news story, and even from icon to icon on the desktop. So since this pedal and another brand both work flawlessly to turn pages in Dropbox on my wife’s iPad with identical settings, the support guy says it is a Dropbox problem. Where does anyone suggest I go from here? Please be kind.

Greg Knowles

Like many basic users I know, we store our digital (Word) files of song lyrics in Dropbox files. We open a file, select a document and then use a Bluetooth page turner to advance the text from one page to the next while performing. My page turner suddenly will not turn pages in Dropbox, although it does work in Kindle and other apps. Did the latest Dropbox version do something to prevent my iPad and page turner from responding? Does Dropbox recommend a Bluetooth page turn pedal? I appreciate your help.

Dave

Hi Greg

Thanks for getting in touch

Can I ask you firstly how you are viewing the files ? is it on the Dropbox mobile app, iPad’s web browser (using Dropbox previews), or downloading the file and using the microsoft word app ?

Thanks

Greg Knowles

I create song lyric files in Word on my desktop Mac, and drag and drop those files into a Dropbox folder. Then I access the file in Dropbox on the iPad, and use a Bluetooth page turner to advance pages s they are played and sung.

Greg Knowles

I have tried three different page turn pedals on three different iPads. All three pedals work on the other iPads, but not on mine. All I am trying to do is advance through a pages of song lyrics. The pedal works on digital files such as emails and books, but not on Dropbox. Six people with both iPads and Android devices used page turners on Dropbox files yesterday, and they worked perfectly. Mine didn’t. Apple tech support says it’s a Dropbox problem, but why would it be a problem for me and no others? I will attempt to address it with Apple a third time. Any input toward a solution is welcome.

Greg Knowles

Called Apple Support again to try to solve the page turn issue in Dropbox. The tech said it is a 3rd party issue, and has to be a Dropbox problem. I'm going around in circles here.

Jackofalltrades442

Same here. My pedal page turner quit moving the pages as soon as IOS 15.4.1 updated. Like an idiot, I had IOS updates turned on automatically - even when I knew better. Quit scrolling pages in OnSong right after I started the Easter morning worship service. Had to get the books out. I know that Apple cannot guarantee the absence of conflict with every piece of software and hardware; I should have known better than to let my Ipad update without checking with the OnSong developer before installing the update. They are always having to play catch-up. The Bluetooth pedal works fine moving from verse to verse in OnSong, but it doesn't move the page up so the current verse is visible. It's not a DropBox pedal or IOS issue; it's an introduced incompatibility with a certain software - in this case - OnSong.

Greg Knowles

So what’s the next step? Revert to the previous iOS? Since I am backed up in the cloud, I suppose that’s an option, but will it work? As I understand it, Apple has passed the buck to the Dropbox app, when in fact it is an Apple bug. Frustrating.

Greg Knowles

Apple Support told me they are not authorized to degrade the iOS, but that I could find info on line to revert to iOS 14.8, or a former version that will allow a page turned to work on Dropbox. As a dozen or more in my music group use iPads, I will warn them to delay the 15.4.1 upgrade or they will fall prey to the same bug. Of all the things that could go wrong with an upgrade, this one was, by far, the most unexpected. If you find a solution, please let me know.

Nancy

Hey everyone, sorry to jump in here.

To anyone who’s still facing the same issue, can you please open a support ticket via this page, and send me your ticket numbers here?

Thanks!

Greg Knowles

I have no idea what a support ticket is, or how a number is assigned.

Nancy

If you go to our Support page here, you should be seeing an option to send an email over to our support team.

After you’ve completed the steps, you should receive a ticket number to your email address.

If you pass this along to me, l will be able to track your ticket in our system and have a look.

Let me know if you face any issues along the way, though.

geoffpreston

I'm having the same problem, as are several members in my music classes who use Dropbox to share and read music in PDF format. I'm sure DropBox used to work with both AirTurn and Donner page turners, but not any more and I can't access any support. However, here are a couple of workarounds that I use...

In both cases, place a zipped file of your PDF documents into DropBox so others can access it (those that you want to access it that is). Compressing a file is best done on a Windows or Mac computer.

On your tablet, open DropBox select the zipped file and you'll get an error message telling you that you can't open it in DropBox. On the iPad there is a menu at the bottom right, choose Share file. You then get a list of applications present on your device that could open a compressed (zipped) file. The three that I know work are PowerMusic (free), PDF Expert (which I think is free) and Adobe PDF Reader (free). My Donner foot Switch works with all of them although you do need to select the correct buttons on the foot switch control panel - PowerMusic requires Button 3 (up / down arrows), Adobe requires Button 1 (which is labelled Up Dn) and PDF Expert requires Button 2 (left right). Hope that helps.

geoff

Greg Knowles

Obviously Dropbox needs to catch up to Apple’s iOS, or Apple needs to adhere to the Dropbox page turn functions. While I love Dropbox to death, I need an easy fix now, so I migrated 570 PDF songs to ForScore and my page turn pedal works flawlessly. I will anxiously await the day, sometime soon I hope, that Apple and Dropbox are working together again.

geoffpreston

I contacted AirTurn (who make Bluetooth page turners) asking them about compatibility and this is their response…

“It's not recommended that people use that program. Dropbox is a file storing, and file sharing program. That is what it was built for. Not for people to use pedals, or controllers to trigger it. So they don't always have the needed protocol that makes it work. I'm surprised you were able to use it for an extended period of time.”

Pity, as it was convenient to store files and then read them an control them with a page turner.

Greg Knowles

When Dropbox worked so well, for a number of years for our various non-professional musical groups, it was an incredibly stable platform and easy to use. I’d rather not open the door to an idea, but I would pay for convenience features, even though we use so little of the “free” allotted memory.

geoffpreston

I know what you mean but I can’t wait indefinitely for a fix that might never happen so I’m moving all of my music group members to PowerMusic which actually has several advantages over DropBox, not least of which is synchronised page turning (on Apple devices only)

Nancy

Hi again everyone, I hope you’re all doing well.

I wanted to check if any of you have opened a ticket, so that I can look into this and investigate further.

If you face any issues with this, you can let me know and I’ll open a ticket for you instead.

Thanks!

Greg Knowles

Nancy, you have seen all this chatter about a problem, why don’t YOU open a ticket. Every single contact I have tried has been kicked to FAQs.

Nancy

I’ve just opened a ticket for you, so you can go ahead and reply back to me.

Thanks.

Greg Knowles

No make or model of Bluetooth page turner will work on Dropbox documents on an iPad that runs iOS 15.4.1. Previous versions of the software allow Bluetooth page turners to flip Dropbox document pages in Word or PDF formats. The fault is not with the page turners. Apple says it is a compatibility issue with the newest iOS, and the next release “may” fix it. I don’t know what Dropbox can do from your end to return page turner functionality.