Guitar Toolbelt
The tuner
The needle is not moving
The tuner needs microphone permission. On iOS, open Settings → Guitar Toolbelt → Microphone; on Android, Settings → Apps → Guitar Toolbelt → Permissions. If the permission is on and the needle still will not move, check that nothing else on the phone is holding the microphone — a call, a recording app, or a headset that routes audio away from the built-in mic.
Can I tune to something other than A 440?
Yes. Reference pitch is on the instrument screen, and the whole app follows it — the chord library and the reference tones move with the tuner.
Tuning by ear
Tap Hear a note to have the app sound the reference pitch rather than listen for yours. With a screen reader running, the tuner switches to reference tones automatically.
Chords and scales
Where did my chord shape go?
Chord diagrams are built for the instrument, tuning and capo you have set. Change any of those and the shapes change with them, which is the point — but it does mean a shape you remember from standard tuning will not be there in DADGAD. Check the instrument screen if something looks unfamiliar.
With a capo on, the name is different from what I am fingering
That is deliberate. The app shows both: the shape you play and the chord that actually sounds. An open C shape with the capo at the second fret is a C to play and a D to hear.
The chord finder will not name my shape
The finder refuses to name a fingering it cannot fully account for. If a note you played does not belong to any chord it knows, it returns no name rather than a confident wrong one. Names marked with a ? are chords that assume a note you have not actually played — they are offered, but ranked below exact matches.
Why is the bass note ignored on ukulele?
Because ukulele's standard tuning is re-entrant: its lowest-sounding string is not its lowest in position. Counting it would make almost every ordinary ukulele shape come back named as an inversion, which is not what anybody plays.
The metronome
Changing the tempo
Hold the tempo button down to run through the range rather than tapping it one beat at a time. A tempo change is heard on the very next click; a change to the meter or the accent pattern waits for the bar line, because a meter cannot change mid-bar without dropping or doubling a beat.
It keeps playing when I leave the screen
On purpose — you can look up a chord while the click runs. Stop it from the transport, or with Siri on iOS.
Languages and accessibility
Note names look wrong in my language
Note names follow the convention your language actually uses, so German reads H where English reads B. Chord symbols stay international. The app follows your device's language setting; change it there and the app follows.
Screen readers
Both are supported: VoiceOver on iOS and TalkBack on Android. Every fretboard shape has a spoken summary, and double-tapping plays it. The tuner switches to reference tones when a screen reader is running, so you can tune by ear.
Turning off the animations
iOS: Settings → Accessibility → Motion → Reduce Motion. Android: Settings → Accessibility → Remove animations (some manufacturers name it Reduce motion). Either one replaces the sliding and fading with immediate visual changes.
Buying and platforms
When is it out?
Guitar Toolbelt is coming to the App Store and to Google Play. There are no links to give you yet — write to us and we will let you know when there are.
Is there an Android version?
Yes. Both builds are the same app: the pitch detection, the chord engine and the metronome's scheduler are the same C++ underneath each, running on CoreAudio on iOS and Oboe on Android. Every feature on this site works on both, with one exception — the Siri and Shortcuts actions are iOS only, and there is no Android equivalent yet.
Tablets
The iOS app runs on iPad as well as iPhone, and the Android build runs on Android tablets.
Changing the app's language
The app follows your device's language. On Android you can also set it per app, in Settings → Apps → Guitar Toolbelt → Language.