It is the first modern app to incorporate the following features:

• Unified Multiple displays and multiple controllers, all in sync
• Auto Select Logic assistant to switch between repeated lines (AsQweI) and all the other lines (AMqrw)
• InSight Next line shown for sangat to follow along with confidence
• Live Captions Easy and elegant subtitling for live broadcasts

And more! Our features section goes into more detail and covers more topics. Check out our support section to voice your desires and missing features. Otherwise, read on to install Shabad OS!

Windows Users Remember to accept the firewall traffic prompt for full functionality. Otherwise they won't be able to interface through the network for multiple controllers and displays.

Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux versions are in development. Desktop applications for macOS and Linux can already be built from source code. The "OS" in our name stands for this project being as open source as possible. Help out by submitting issues, forking repos, sending pull requests, and more at GitHub.

Change Log

• 2018 February 9
• Replaced menu item (OBS) with new Live Caption Tool. This tool allows users to easily format and design their livestream captioning. It includes instructions for setting up OBS (Open Broadcaster Software). This should greatly reduce the effort required to setup broadcast subtitles. Click "Menu" in the Controller, then click "Live Caption Tool", and finally click "Help" for more information.
• Removed next line and added english transliteration for default displays.
• Added 3 color themes: White and Yellow on Blue as well as Pastel Colors on Dark.
• Fixed Akhand Paath mode.
• 2017 November 24
• Using the cap height as reference for English caused tiny fonts. We have reverted to using 1/2 the cap-height of gurbani font size as the x-height for english. The benefit is that English is about 35% larger and Punjabi Darpan is about 25% larger. The negative is that line-heights were maintained to fit as much data as possible on typical projector resolution ratios of 4:3.
• In addition, we made the change to show only one line of the next line to conserve considerable space. Before, we used to allocate two lines of space, and sometimes the next line could fit on one, resulting in wastage.
• Archived
• 2017 November 23
• Added connect feature in menu. You can connect to other compatible versions of Shabad OS and vice versa using the gui. Personal settings will be maintained. Your server will automatically be broadcasted on the network.
• Added color themes (Day, Night, and Philosophiae).
• Added layout options (Normal, Space Around, and Space Between). There is a bug with "Space Evenly" in electron, but will work in Chrome.
• With the new layout options, removing Next Line will open up free space. This fixes a bug from previous versions.
• Rehauled font sizes to properly display next line when font size is changed.
• Added different height options for popped in controller.
• Added the option to not automatically split gurbani lines by their heavy pause and line-endings.
• Added larivaar gurbani option. Useful in combination with turning off previous "split gurbani lines" option.
• Added the option to show or hide a background picture. You can place any custom file in place of the existing ones to show your own background.
• Various bug fixes and efficiency throughputs.
• 2017 June 28
• Fixed database for shabads incorrectly using nbsp; instead of normal space character. This fixes some long english translations from being only one line scrolling off the screen.
• 2017 March 24
• Fixed Ctrl+left,right,up,down hotkeys.
• Fixed scrolling to the correct line of Asa di Var when using the back arrow/hotkey as opposed to the Bani/History methods.
• Added shortcut hints to title when hovering over icons.
• Edited a shabad to match the Amrit Kirtan version. Original version can be found in iGurbani database. Here are the before and after versions of the first line changed:
• pUCq pQik iqh mwrg n DwrY pig pRIqm kY dys kYsy bwqnu ky jweIAY
• pUCq piQk iqh mwrig n DwrY pig pRIqm kY dys kYsy bwqn sy jweIAY
• Changed the gap between icons at the bottom-right of the navigator so it won't look as if an icon is missing.
• 2017 February 9
• Small feature adding left and right arrow keys to mimic up and down arrow keys for changing lines. This should help on laptops with smaller up/down keys than left/right. Also should help those that are familiar with PowerPoint Presentations for switching slides.
• Search queries are saved when using the top-left arrows or ctrl+left/right arrow keys.
• Fixed a memory leak that caused crashes during prolonged use.
• 2016 December 3
• Small fix for low resolution laptops (1024x768 and lower).
• 2016 November 10
• Added a font slider to the settings menu.
• 2016 November 4
• Vastly improved UI with custom titlebars, new color scheme, icons, and scrollbars. Improved UX with hints for keyboard shortcuts (when controller is hidden), hovering over menu items, and short animations for orientation during jumps.
• Organized all shortcuts under the ctrl key, except for the simple "?" hotkey. Type shift+/ on your keyboard to see some available shortcuts. Still in the process of documenting them all.
• Mouse only users will benefit from the many new controls implemented. Aside from searching, most features should now be available with a trackpad / mouse.
• Tested and improved the mobile version. When navigating a shabad there will always be a gap at the top and bottom. This allows you to use muscle memory for going "up" or "down" regardless of where you are in the shabad. If you're at the top, hitting the top 1/3rd will do nothing and the bottom 1/3rd will take you to the next line. Same concept for the last line at the bottom.
• Formatting update for the Kobo eReader device. With the new font it should always show the next section coming up. (There is still a bug with very long passages, but those cases are rare. We'll try to fix that in the future.)
• Formatting for broadcast pages updated. Gurbani should have no gaps between words now.
• Fixed a small bug with the display trying to scroll when reaching the bottom of the navigator.
• 2016 October 26
• Fixed a bug that was causing formatting issues on all lines in display and controller.
• Made it so the menubar is visible by default and hidden in fullscreen. You may still hit "alt" on your keyboard to activate the menubar while in fullscreen.
• Fixed being able to toggle "Next Line" in settings.
• Formatting; Combined "Rahao" with the line before it to save vertical space.
• Removed vishraam from controller.
• Cleared search results if clearing search query.
• 2016 October 22
• Users can now open a new window for the navigator with Ctrl+N or by opening up the menu bar with alt and going into Window > New Navigator Window.
• Navigating back or forward a page has been changed from Alt+Left Arrow & Alt+Right Arrow to Ctrl+Left Arrow & Ctrl+Right Arrow.
• History can now be downloaded as a .csv file from the alt menu (Tap alt on your keyboard).
• Toggle Line was renamed "Set Main". After setting the main line, it will change to "Toggle Line".
• 2016 October 18

• Wrapped program in Electron, created an installer for Windows, and implemented an Updater.
• Program will automatically download updates in the background when connected to the internet. User will be notified of update with a pop-up message. Simply close all windows and restart the program when prompted.

Features

Fast SearchingSearch

Shabad OS will order shorter results (2 or 3 word matches) before search queries that are longer. This makes it easier to find the shabad you're looking for if the entire line is short. It's also really quick to find these matches. Many searches can happen in the blink of an eye or seamlessly as you type (results varying from machine to machine).

Smart searchingSearch

Not only can you search fast, but you can search smart. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between similar sounding words like vismaad and bismaad (ivsmwd / ibsmwd). Othertimes it's hard to remember whether or not Khalsa is spelled with a bindi (^wlsw / Kwlsw). And there are times when you simply missed the entire word. That's okay. Shabad OS provides wild card characters for you to search with. If you type a blank space with a hit of your spacebar, you'll allow all letters to fill that spot.

Expressive searchingSearch

Why limit yourself to a mouse? Our program lets you define whether you're searching the first letters of each word or full words with a simple symbol. Leave it blank for the default, but type a hash tag (#) for full word search. In the future we might even introduce more options like english transliteration/translation or full words with no vowels.

TimestampsHistory & Bookmarks

Our program provides you with not only a history of each shabad opened, but also the ability to download this data with timestamps as a csv file. You may appreciate this for quickly creating track labels for audio and video recordings. For example, you can easily add timestamps to YouTube videos for users to click.

There is also an option to download the timestamps for every single line that was activated. This can easily be converted to subtitles (gurbani or english) to be added to YouTube's native subtitle feature.

Compiled BanisHistory & Bookmarks

There are a lot of banis that are read at Sikh gurdwaras which require juggling different shabads. An easy example is reading 6 pauris of Anand Sahib and then opening the concluding salok. A harder example is Asa di Var where each pauri is accompanied by one shabad of a chhant. Luckily we've already compiled all these for you and will add the feature to create your own.

Custom LayoutsSettings

You can customize whether you'd like everything spaced evenly or if you'd like to read gurbani top-down. You can also control whether the navigator in the bottom right is small or large. Other options include turning on or off spaces in gurbani (larivaar), english translations, punjabi sri guru granth darpan, and english transliterations.

The font size is very easily customized with a slider that works on multiple displays and aspect ratios. And if you want to take the gurbani reading to the next level, you can show or hide vishraams for three different pause weights (long, medium, and short) with either different colors or characters to signify their locations. Each weight of vishraam can be turned on or off. And as an added bonus, we tried to split most gurbani lines by their heavy pause, so they naturally look more poetic than if they just tried to fit as many words to each line.

Next LineSettings

Probably the biggest feature you never thought you wanted. Why clutter a beautiful presentation of the current line of gurbani being sung? Because of human and technical errors that happen in day to day life. People forget to activate the next line, some times projectors freeze up for a short bit, and it could just be the gurbani being sung is across two lines since they were short and fit the tune better. Whatever the reason, you will probably find that people sing along more and are more confident about what is coming up next when they can see the next line. Still not convinced? You can always toggle it on/off in the Settings.

ThemesSettings

We started out with the seamlessly displayed dark theme. This allows projectors to hide their borders by only displaying the words in color (useful when the projector doesn't fit the screen perfectly!). But what about when it's too bright near the projector? That's why we've included a high-contrast, bright, and mostly monotone day theme as well. And for those that love color, we have the Philosophiae theme as a nod to gurbanifiles.org and Guru Granth Darpan.

HotkeysNavigation

As far as gurdwara laptops go, they're not always the best. Sometimes they have finicky touchpads and that means the more you can rely on the keyboard, the better. Not to mention, even for those with good trackpads and mice, keyboard still reigns king in terms of speed and accuracy. With our hotkeys you can search a shabad, pick one, set a main line, go to the first line, jump back to the main line all with the keyboard. We've even numbered and lettered up to 36 lines for each shabad.

Hotkey NumbersNavigation

Compiled banis have specific jump points, so for instance you could hit the "9" key for the 9th pauri of Asa di Var. If you look at your keyboard, you'll see half the letters follow the row above them. So the letter "T" under the "5" key is the 15th. "P" under the "0" is 20. And in the next row, "G" is under "T" which is under "5", meaning 25.

Advanced HotkeysNavigation

Let's kick it up a notch. Most of the interaction during a shabad is switching lines. We've drastically cut down on the amount of times you have to scroll and find the main line. Sure you could memorize it's hotkey as explained in the last section, but better yet would be to use our spacebar or "autoselect" feature. Once you've opened a shabad, hit the spacebar to set the current line as the "main" line. Now go to any other line and hit the spacebar again. It will do two things: (1) the obvious one is it jumped back to the main line and (2) it remembered where you jumped from. Now from the main line, hitting spacebar again would take you to one line past the line it jumped from before. It automatically selected the correct line from the previous jump back to main. The only problem? Takes time to realize that only the main line can toggle an auto jump, and any jump to the main line will reset the secondary line. So don't use it to jump back to the main line in the same rahao, or you'll lose your place in the pauris.

Mouse 2.0Navigation

Don't worry, we didn't forget about mouse users! You can use the autoselect feature with the "location" icon in the bottom right. (The title of the navigator will change based on what icon you're hovering on, so you can know for sure). And if you're in a shabad you can use the up and down arrows in the middle of the bottom bar to change lines. If you're in a compiled bani like Asa di Var, the functionality changes a little. The up and down arrows we just mentioned now skip to "chapters" (in our example, each chakka). The numbers in between the arrows can be clicked on to let you see each of these chapters. And the autoselect button now uniquely activates the start of each pauri. So at the end of any Asa di Var pauri, you can autoselect the beginning of the pauri again to be read again if needed (even works on the beginning lines of the next section in case you skipped ahead by accident!).

PhonesNavigation

Not only did we try to deliver a top notch keyboard only and mouse only experience, we also took into account those that would use their phones as controllers for the display. Our UI is adjusted to only show three lines in the navigator, and the current line will always be in the middle (even if the current line is the first or last line). That means, with practice, one could use simply muscle memory to move up and down in the shabad. And of course you still have the full powers of using Shabad OS on the desktop! Almost every single feature has a dedicated place on smartphones and tablets.

Multiple DisplaysNetworking

Finally! Some of the really cool and interesting features of Shabad OS is how it acts as a local webserver. This means that behind the scenes, Shabad OS is actually displaying web pages. And it also means that other devices on the same network can interface with Shabad OS. One device can be used to control multiple devices (for instance one laptop to control what's displayed on multiple projectors, TVs, and even eReader devices). And, if you wanted, multiple devices can help control the main device (for instance multiple phones and laptops searching for the shabad to display on the main projectors). All you have to do is type in Shabad OS's address into your device's browser. And that address is found in the title bar of the program. You just hover over it and it will show you the IP address as well as the port number. If you type that in, you'll get another controller. If you type that in and add a "/display" on the end you'll get another display. And if you type that in and add a "/kobo" on the end you'll get another display targeted to eReaders like a Kobo or Kindle.

Automatic SubtitlesNetworking

Since we can control so many devices, wouldn't it be neat if we could automatically update the subtitles for our YouTube or Facebook live streams? With Shabad OS you can! Using any streaming software (we recommend OBS), you can add our green-screen version of the display to your live stream. Just use your software to capture the green and make it transparent, and voila! You have subtitles on your video that are updated whenever the controllers on the network change the line.

Conclusion

There you have it. With Shabad OS, one person could potentially be controlling the projectors in the gurdwara, the tablet readers for older folk in the back of the hall, the TVs around the gurdwara outside the main hall, the subtitles for the YouTube live stream, and all that from their phone!

We've thought through this stuff many times and that's because we've been using this software for years now. All the features like showing the next line to the sangat and kirtaniye and autoselecting the correct lines is crucial to a seamless experience. Our program is designed to perform faster than anything else currently available. Give it a try, help us with your feedback, and let's work together to benefit the global Sikh sangat.

Tutorial

On first run, you'll be greated with a blank window (display) with a smaller embedded window (navigator) in the bottom right. You can hover over any button for a description in it's titlebar. For instance hover over the second to last icon in the navigator's titlebar. This button will let you minimize the navigator.

There are many shortcuts available. If you ever want to look up a shortcut, type the question mark (?) key on your keyboard (shift + /). This will bring up a menu showing you the various shortcuts.

To connect with a mobile device, hover over the titlebar of the display window. This will get you the web address to type into your phone. You can similarly join this address on different laptops, tablets, or even smart TVs. A couple noteworthy addresses include adding "/display" or "/kobo" to the end of the program's address. Example: 192.168.X.XXX:8080/display. You can use this to clone the display. The kobo link can be used on modern E-Ink technologies, similar to the Kindle, as an alternative view to reading the shabad.

Support

We'll try our best to help you within the scope of our project. If you're having any trouble setting up Shabad OS or implementing any of the official features, the preferred method is to open a "New issue" on our GitHub. If you can't manage that, then try to message us through our social media accounts: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If all else fails, then try the email address found on our GitHub profile.

I can't connect

(1) Did you allow the program through the firewall when you first installed? Even so, double-check your firewall settings for the program. (2) Are you sure you have the right IP Address? Sometimes there is a networking problem and the IP address shows up as 169.254.XXX.XXX. If so, run ipconfig for the proper address. Don't forget the port number as well!

When will you release Mac OS and Linux versions?

Soon! Mac and Linux developers can use our github to install their own Shabad OS either as a standalone web server or wrap it in electron for the full desktop experience. Rest assured it's on it's way and will most definitely be out in 2018.