Version History & Release Notes

Version 2.7.2 - June 3, 2024

New Copy, Cut, Paste, and Clear buttons on the Fretboard Editor make it easy to add chords and patterns faster.

The Maple fretboard is now available on the Paper style.

The default style is now Automatic (Paper/Rosewood) for the OS light/dark modes.

Version 2.7.1 - April 28, 2024

Guitar Notebook no longer requires iCloud Drive to be turned on. The app has always used an iCloud Container, and your songs are still stored in your iCloud account, but you no longer need to have iCloud Drive turned on.

When you select filters from the Labels or Tags list, they will now be shown above the toolbar, so it’s easier to see what the song list represents. Also, the menus are now in the same order (top to bottom) as the Labels in the main view.

Version 2.7 - April 17, 2024

Organize Songs with Tags and Labels!

Now you can organize your songs to your heart’s content with Tags and Labels. Easily filter your song list to show just the songs with the tags and labels you assign to that song.

Tags

Assign tags for any characteristic of a song to help find it later. This could be the artist, style, key, instrument, lyric subject, or anything else you can imagine. (Swipe left on the tags section to see more tags if they go past the edge of your screen.)

Labels

Use labels to organize your songs by songwriting Phase, Rating, Album, Category, Mood, or any other grouping you can imagine. Select any item from the label to assign to the song, or tap to deselect it. (Swipe left on the label section to see more labels if they go past the edge of your screen.)

Labels are completely customizable. Tap the Edit icon next to the word “Labels” to change the order, edit the label or label selection names, add and delete labels and label selections. When you edit labels, the changes apply to your entire notebook, so make sure you aren’t using them in another song.

Filter Songs by Tag or Label

With tags and labels assigned, you can easily get to just the songs you want in the Song List. At the bottom you will see some new controls to allow you to just show the songs you want. Select one or more labels and/or tags to show any songs that have ALL of those labels and/or tags assigned.

This makes it easy to just find songs in progress, or songs you use for practice, cover songs, set lists, or perhaps just the songs you recorded with a specific guitar! It’s up to you!

If your song list is filtered by Label or Tag, the icons will change color to remind you. To get back to your complete song list, just clear your selections.

Other Changes

  • In version 2.7 we’ve also increased the audio recording time to 30 minutes. Rock out! One tip - if you just recorded a song, and you go to another device to play it, it may take a few minutes before it is ready to play. Give it time to upload from your first device and download to the second device.

  • On iPhone, in landscape mode, there are no longer chord thumbnails on underneath the fretboard. We will be adding more controls on this page for editing chords and notes, and it will get too crowded!

Version 2.6 - Dec 12, 2023

Import Songs with SongSight AI!

Guitar Notebook can import your paper notebook songs and favorite song sheets with the power of OpenAI Vision!

  1. Take photos of song pages from notebooks, song sheets, or any source, and add them to your photo library. You can also grab screen shots on Mac, iPhone, or iPad of songs you’ve purchased digitally then import them into your photo library.

  2. In Guitar Notebook select up to 5 photos representing one song, in the correct page order, in the photo browser. (Tip: Pinch to zoom if you can’t see enough detail on your photos).

  3. SongSight will scan your selected photos, extracting chord diagrams, lyrics, and the chord names above lyrics. This will take about a minute per photo.

  4. Boom! Check out your song page.

Works great with:

  • Handwriting or Printed Text

  • Printed chord diagrams

  • Lyrics and chord names

  • Song Title and Artist

It is truly amazing with handwriting recognition, in our testing so far (even our terrible handwriting).

With printed chord diagrams it gets anywhere from 90-100% accuracy. The clearer the chord diagrams the better the results.

It has trouble with hand-drawn chord diagrams, so expect a lot of errors there.

It does not currently support guitar tablature or standard notation (treble/bass staff).

If you select photos it doesn’t understand, such as landscapes, people, non-song material, or unsupported song content, it will be ignored.

Guitar Notebook does not keep your photos, and neither does OpenAI.

Send us beta feedback or questions! Have a song that should work but isn’t? Reach out to us here.

Bug fix: Fixed an issue where audio engine could not be initialized when opening the app, or when switching between Bluetooth and speakers, causing sound not to play when tapping the fretboard.

This release updates to app to the latest AudioKit and was compiled with Xcode 15 for best performance.

Version 2.5.2 - Sept 15, 2023

Now you can sort songs by date or by name. Just tap the sort/filter button at the top, in the songs list.

Version 2.5.1 - Sept 5, 2023

Accessibility - Greatly improved support for dynamic text and display zoom on iOS.

Reduced app size from version 2.5 (150MB-200MB) back down to less than 50MB. Turns out that layered SVGs expand dramatically when you compile in Xcode.

Minor graphic touchups and fixes.

Version 2.5 - July 4, 2023

Portrait mode for iOS and iPadOS! Beautiful new fretboards!

Updated styles and record controls.

There’s also an option to turn off “Realistic Fretboards” in the settings, in case you are used to the old fretboards.

Try the new Dark Studio page style for late night work. Ultra-dim so it’s easy on your eyes for no-light or low-light sessions.

Version 2.4.4 - May 28, 2023

Minor UI changes. Default to Chord notation style.

Version 2.4.3 - May 15, 2023

Minor UI changes. Improved help.

Version 2.4.2 - March 22, 2023

Now you can Insert a new blank FlexFret/Chord between others on a page. Long-press (right-click or control-click on Mac) on a grid on your page to see the list of options, which now includes Insert.

The Duplicate function has been changed to be more intuitive, creating the duplicate next to the current FlexFret/Chord.


Version 2.4.1 - March 12, 2023

Fixed a rare crash on some devices where the app could not initialize the audio engine. If you see an error code about this please send to support@sonametro.com so we can help

Version 2.4 - March 5, 2023

BIG update here! At long last… SOUND. Tap or swipe on the fretboard to hear your notes and strum the guitar! We’re very excited to release this update and hope you love it. With sound, Guitar Notebook is more intuitive, creative, and fun!

Mute and unmute sound with the “Note” ♪ icon at the top of the screen.

Custom Tuning! Rockin’! Each string can be set to the full 128 note range. (Why 128? Hint: maybe some MIDI in our future.) Create tunings based on real guitars, or impossible tunings for exploration. And all of it, with sound. The tuning uses the Logic Pro / GarageBand / Yamaha reference with C3 as middle C.

And last but not least, Light & Dark mode support throughout the app. In fact, there are new styles called “Auto” that flip between a light style and dark style depending on your device setting, making it easy to go from daytime practice to nighttime songwriting.

As part of Light & Dark mode support, the song view where you can see all your pages has been redesigned. Don’t worry all your pages are still there! The style that was called “Paper” is now called “Neutral”.

Fixes:

  • Fixed an issue where chords would go offscreen instead of wrapping to the next line on iPad on the Page View.

Note: This version will update your Guitar Notebook database in iCloud to a new version, so once you use the app, going back to a previous version is not recommended, and you should update all your devices to 2.4 or later, or you will see things like strange tunings in older versions of the app.

Version 2.3 - Dec 17, 2022

Standard Chord Diagrams!

  • Fixed a rare issue with the app hanging on launch the first time a notebook is created

  • View notation as either standard Chord Diagrams or FlexFrets! Chords are shown vertically and always have 5 frets. FlexFrets are horizontal and can expand up to 24 frets, making them useful for scales, arpeggios, and any pattern. You can change the page setting in the Guitar Setup (upper right).

Version 2.2.1 (Mac) - Nov 30, 2022

  • Fixed text spacing on MacOS Monterey

  • Redesigned Welcome pages for mouse click


Version 2.2 - Nov 19, 2022

  • All new Page design with infinite space under the chords for your lyrics and text

  • In-place editing of the text section

  • New Info Bar with song details (tuning, page name, capo setting)

  • Audio Recording moved to the info bar and scrolls with the page

  • Added a Delete button to delete the current recording

  • Other UI improvements

  • Fixed an issue with Mac where text would not be saved upon quitting the app

Version 2.1 - October 25, 2022

  • New Setup option in the Guitar Settings: “Show X for muted strings”. This option applies to your whole notebook and can be turned on and off.

  • Changed level meter LEDs to green for better visibility

  • Support for MacOS 13 (Ventura)


Version 2.0.2 - September 29, 2022

  • Completely updated the navigation code to latest SwiftUI architecture for iOS 16 support

  • Fixed an issue with the view snapping back to previous screen when you add notes sometimes (still exists on iOS 15)

  • Added the Yearly Subscription option back in for only $4.99. Lifetime Upgrade still only $19.99!

  • For consistency between styles, the app now uses Dark Mode

  • Redeem Offer Code screen now has an actual Redeem button (thank you Xcode 14)

  • Other graphical improvements and performance improvements


Version 2.0.1 - August 2, 2022

  • Fixed: Tooltip would not dismiss in some cases.

  • Fixed an issue with iCloud sync on Mac.

Version 2.0 - July 5, 2022

  • All new design that organizes the workflow from Song to Page to Fretboard

  • “Tracks” are now called “Pages” and are organized on a separate page under your song

  • Add a Capo to your Guitar in the Guitar Setup!

  • New Mac version! (Requires MacOS Version 12 - Monterey, and later)

  • Songs list supports Dark Mode

  • Changes to free vs Pro version (New Song limit for free version, all styles available for all versions)

  • iPhone now shows FlexFret thumbnails on the fretboard notation editor

  • Fixed an issue that caused audio recordings to be pitched down on playback

  • Requires iOS 15 and Later (no longer supports iOS 14)

  • Audio recording now starts right away when record button is tapped (also beeps and turns red)

  • New Getting Started in-app tutorial and tooltips

  • Known issues

Version 1.0.2 - Jan 13, 2022

  • Update to Xcode 13

  • Songs now automatically sorted by date modified

  • Fixed an issue where chords would be cutoff in the track view

  • Fixed a rare crash when editing chords

  • Other minor user interface bug fixes


Version 1.0.1 - Dec 2021

  • First official release of Guitar Notebook