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Hearing your notes
Fretrune isn’t hearing my notes
Fretrune needs microphone access to hear you play.
- iPhone: open Settings, find Fretrune, and turn on Microphone.
- Mac: open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, and turn on Fretrune.
A quieter room helps. So does letting each note ring rather than cutting it short. The lowest notes on a bass are the hardest for a phone microphone, so hold the phone or Mac a little closer to the instrument if those are missed.
How do I see what Fretrune hears?
Open Settings and choose Mic Check, then play. It shows how loud the input is, how far above the room’s background noise it sits, the last note it heard, and why it ignored a sound it didn’t count. If the level barely moves when you play, move the device closer to your instrument.
It heard a note I didn’t play
The microphone hears the whole room, you included. Talking, singing along, or music playing nearby can be heard as a wrong note, so keep quiet while you play and mute the strings you aren’t playing. Voice prompts don’t count against you: Fretrune stops listening while it speaks.
Can I use an audio interface?
Yes. Fretrune listens to whichever input your instrument is plugged into. If it doesn’t hear yours, email us the interface’s name and which input you’re using.
Practicing
Where do I start?
Basics, on the Home screen, explains the strings, the note names, and how to count from a note you know to one you don’t. Then choose Practice. It starts on the thickest string, low frets first, and brings in new notes as you get the earlier ones right.
What do the levels mean?
- Shaky: often wrong.
- Learning: mostly right, not yet reliably.
- Solid: right almost every time, without hunting for it.
- Mastered: right every time, at recall speed, over a long record.
Speed counts. A note you find eventually stays at Learning, and it only reaches Solid once you find it quickly.
Is there more than Practice?
Advanced Modes, on the Home screen, has three more:
- Free Practice: choose which strings and which part of the neck to drill.
- Note Hunt: Fretrune names a note and you find it everywhere on the neck, then the next, until you’ve found all twelve. There’s no clock.
- No-Guitar Quiz: answer on screen instead of playing. Choose Name it, Find it or Mixed, and which strings and part of the neck.
Can I practice without my instrument?
Yes. When Practice starts its sound check, choose “No guitar? Quiz instead”. Fretrune asks about the notes you’re learning and you answer from three choices: name the fret that lights up, or pick which fret on the string is the note it names. It works without the microphone, and on bass too.
The quiz follows your Practice goal but doesn’t change your levels, goals or Fretboard Challenge. Only playing a note does that.
Settings
Open Settings from the Home screen to change how Fretrune looks and sounds:
- Voice Prompts speaks each note out loud as well as showing it. You can also turn it on or off with the speaker button during a session.
- Voice Detail chooses between just the note and the string and zone too.
- String Names calls strings by number or by name.
- Accidentals shows the notes between the letters as sharps or flats.
- Fret Count matches the neck to how many frets your instrument has.
- Fast Mode moves on sooner after a right answer.
Practice reminders (iPhone)
Turn on Practice Reminder in Settings and choose a time. You get one reminder a day, skipped on days you’ve already practiced. If none arrive, check that notifications are allowed: the reminder setting says when they’re off and links to iOS Settings.
Purchases and the Fretboard Challenge
How does the Fretboard Challenge work?
It’s free. For 30 days, every string and fret is open. Get every note in the first 12 frets (frets 0–11) to Solid on guitar or bass, and the whole neck stays unlocked for good. If time runs out, your progress stays, the neck locks back to the free string, and Full Neck unlocks the rest. Each Apple Account gets one challenge.
I bought something. How do I get it on another device?
Every purchase works on iPhone and Mac with the same Apple Account. Open the Unlock screen or Settings and choose Restore Purchases.
Your data
Where is my progress saved?
On your device, in the app’s own storage. There’s no account, so your iPhone and your Mac each keep their own progress. The one exception is a Fretboard Challenge, which is copied to your iCloud so it follows you between devices and survives reinstalling the app.
Will I lose my progress on a new device?
Not if you move with Apple’s tools. Your progress is part of your device’s normal backups (iCloud Backup or a computer backup on iPhone, Time Machine on a Mac), so it comes with you when you restore or transfer to a new device.
What happens if I delete the app?
On iPhone, deleting the app deletes the progress stored on the device. On a Mac, the app’s data stays in its container folder until that is removed too. Either way, your purchases are kept by Apple, and Restore Purchases brings them back.
How do I start over?
Choose Reset All Data at the bottom of Settings. It asks once more before it does anything. Then it deletes your progress, practice history, practice time, settings, setup choices and anonymous usage ID, and opens Fretrune at the welcome screen as if it were new. Your purchases and any Fretboard Challenge are kept, because they belong to a purchase.
See the privacy policy for everything Fretrune stores and why.
What should I include in an email?
Your device, its iOS or macOS version, and which instrument you were practicing. If something went wrong, tell us what you did just before it happened.