News

smartChord V13.8

  • Post published:

✔ Faster app start

  • smartChord starts noticeably faster
  • Tapping the app icon while smartChord is still running takes you back to the screen you left

✔ Themes

  • Three new themes: ‘Copper’, ‘Fuchsia’ and ‘Indigo’

✔ Help

  • New look for the help pages
  • The FAQ and the help search got the same new look, the search highlights your search terms
  • On tablets and unfolded foldables the help opens beside the screen it explains

✔ Settings

  • New, clearer look for the settings
  • Switches instead of check boxes, the whole row can be tapped
  • Lists with several choices show the number of selected entries, offer ‘Select all’ / ‘Deselect all’ and can be cancelled

✔ Lists and dialogs

  • Selection dialogs got the same clearer look as the settings
  • The lists of the Library got a lighter look, the selected entry is framed instead of filled
  • New look for ‘Simplify chords’: each chord with its simplifications as a row of cards, the dialog shows the simplifications as steps from the original to the simplest chord

🎧 New podcasts

🐞 Chord names

  • Chord names containing a slash like ‘C6/9’ or ‘A13/#9’ were shortened to ‘C6’ or ‘A13’ in some places, e.g. when simplifying the chords of a song

🐞 Dropbox

  • Dropbox now expects the automatic renewal of the login

🐞 Playground

  • The full screen button had no effect, and in portrait mode it was missing completely

✔ Many other minor improvements and fixes

Special thanks to Dr. V. Nagaraj, Laurent Nachtergaele, Nezih Yesilnil, Octavio Oyhanarte, Robert S. Sutherland, Spencer Kellogg, Sunny Sunshine and Vito Piscitelli for their contributions to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.8

smartChord V13.7

  • Post published:

⭐ Songbook & Set-List

  • ‘Add song to set list’ in the song screen and in the Library shows all set lists with a check box each, so you see where the song already is and can remove it from a set list as well
  • Data Maintenance: new property ‘Set lists’ shows in which set lists a song is used, sorts the songs which are in no set list to the top and lets you add one or several songs to set lists or remove them with a single dialog
  • Deleting songs which are used in set lists: the delete question names the set lists and offers to remove the songs from them as well
  • Renaming a song renames it in all set lists too
  • 📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/set-list/set-list-song-maintenance/

✔ Songbook

  • Support for guitarians.com

✔ Chords, Fretboard, Tuner, …

  • A capo icon next to the tuning opens the capo dialog directly, no detour via the menu

🐞 App

  • The language setting ‘System (smartphone)’ was ignored and always resulted in English; the app follows the language of the device again. If you never chose a language yourself, the app now starts in the language of your device, and you can still pick a different one in the settings
  • Changing the theme closed the app instead of restarting it

🐞 Songbook

  • The app closed when an internet search hit a chord page without any song text
  • ‘Transpose with capo’ replaced the fingerings you had picked although ‘Keep fingerings’ was switched on, whenever the capo stayed on the fret it was already on
  • Cancelling ‘Change chord’ or ‘Change fingering’ with the back key replaced the chord by a fingering you had never chosen when the song had a capo
  • With the tone names set to Nashville (1234567), slash chords like Gm7/F were not recognized

🐞 Chords

  • the back gesture from the display edge changed the fingering on the fretboard it swiped over

🐞 Library

  • after an import the new items did not show up until the library was opened again
Special thanks to Benjamin VL, Bruce Reirden, Dietmar Claussen, L. Dehl, Manuel Estévez López, Reno Habeck, Sadicus, Thomas Just and Wil X for their contributions to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.7

smartChord V13.6.1 + V13.6.2

  • Post published:

❗ Fretboard Trainer: the note names according the ‘Fretboard info’ setting

🐞 Set list: Under some circumstances a swipe moved through the library instead of the set list and could override a song

🐞 Fretboard Trainer: the app closed when a scale was answered while the note names were set to Solfege or Nashville

🐞 Library: deleting the item which was open left it on screen, and saving it brought the deleted entry back

✔ Some improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Andreas Aumann, Carmine Zonno, Dave Brown, Marc van Westerlaak, Matt Walst, Reno Habeck and Wil X for their contributions to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.6.1 + V13.6.2

smartChord V13.6

  • Post published:

⭐⭐⭐ Songbook + Set-List Online Tools ⭐⭐⭐

  • 🦋 The redesign is done 🦋

⭐ Songbook: Easy-to-use online editor

  • Edit your song in your computer’s browser: smartChord shows a code, you enter it at smartchord.de/song/edit2 – or scan the QR code
  • Have you imported online before? The IP address, the same Wi-Fi and the certificate warning are gone
  • 📖 https://smartchord.de/song/edit2

⭐ Songbook: Easy-to-use online import

  • Send your songs from your computer’s browser: smartChord shows a code, you enter it at smartchord.de/song/import2 – or scan the QR code
  • Paste them or pick your song files, several at once, separated by a line with {new_song}
  • Have you imported online before? The IP address, the same Wi-Fi and the certificate warning are gone
  • 📖 https://smartchord.de/song/import2

⭐ Set list: Easy-to-use live view for your audience

  • Your audience follows the whole set list in the browser: every song you open shows up on their screens
  • One link and one QR code from the first song to the last – no shared Wi-Fi and no IP address to type in
  • Start it in the set list via ‘View song online’ or ‘View lyrics online’ – and switch it off there as well
  • 📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/set-list/present-your-set-list-to-your-audience/

✔ Lyrics Pad: share your lyrics

✔ Library ‘Category filter’

  • The new entry ‘No category’ filters the items without any category
  • ‘Select all’ does not select ‘Not assigned’, so just the items with the category entries are selected

✔ Volume for the metronome and the drum machine

  • Turn them down on their own, so they no longer drown out your audio tracks – no need to reach for the volume keys of your device between songs
  • The drum machine volume is a master volume: it keeps the balance of the single drums of your kit and is found in the drum machine settings
  • The metronome volume waits in the metronome settings

✔ New documentation

🐞 Songbook

  • Chords were not recognized in songs using the fullwidth bar sign ‘｜’, as Asian song sheets do
  • With the automatic player selection the metronome stuck to every following song, even if that song had an audio file
  • A song was reported as changed although nothing was edited

🐞 Custom instruments could no longer be deleted

🐞 Hint and tip: the dialogs showed no text on some devices

🐞 Choosing a file or a folder crashed on devices where the system’s document picker is disabled – smartChord’s own file explorer steps in now

🐞 A crash caused by the system’s button animation – it could hit any screen, most often when a message popped up

✔ Other minor improvements and fixes

Special thanks to Carmine Zonno, Carsten Bruns, Derek D. Lichter, Dwane Davis, Eva Salgado Sanchez, Franz Aukenthaler, Jonnathan Hernández Trejos, Lennard Campbell, Matthias Hübner, Neftali Vargas, Robert S. Sutherland, Sergio Jover and Wil X for their contributions to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.6

smartChord V13.5.2

  • Post published:

🐞 A lot of fixes. Some of them:

◾ Workaround for new Play Store behavior

◾ Hint and tip: a long text pushed the check box and the buttons out of the dialog, so the hint could not be switched off

◾ Songbook: the info section showed its texts in the chord color instead of the text color

◾ Songbook: changing a chord of a song written in solfege inserted the new chord in western notation

◾ Sharing a Lyrics Pad did not create a link

◾ Song Writer played drum sounds instead of chords once the metronome or drum machine had been used

◾ The Editor could crash while you were typing in a long text or song

✔ A lot of improvements

❀ Special thanks to B. Clarke, Bernd Breitinger, Brian Torone, Giuseppe Maggio, Gonzalo Gutiérrez, Hotte Schmiegelt, Jens Martin, Marc Barten, Michael Garrard, Reno Habeck and Stevie Dee for their contributions to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.5.2

smartChord V13.5

  • Post published:

⭐ Live view: share the current song with your audience ⭐⭐

  • Broadcast the song you have open to everyone’s phone, tablet or browser – live
  • Your audience installs nothing and signs in nowhere: they just open a link or scan the QR code you show them
  • Switch songs on your device and every screen follows along on its own
  • Colors match your songbook, and everyone sets their own text size and number of columns – readable on a small phone or a big TV alike
  • Start it in the Songbook via ‘View song online’ or ‘View lyrics online’

Songbook: 15 new color variants – including options for accessibility and specific environments

  • Spectrum (light) and Beacon (dark): colorblind-safe, distinguishable for all common types of color vision deficiency
  • Daylight (light): extra bright for reading in sunlight and bright surroundings
  • Midnight (dark): very dark with a low glow for night and dark rooms
  • Fiesta and Bubblegum (light), Disco and Arcade (dark): bold, poppy palettes
  • Coral, Meadow, Sorbet (light) and Ember, Teal, Slate, Neon (dark): further harmonious combinations

10 new color schemes for note and chord coloring across the app – including an accessibility option

  • Colorblind-safe, distinguishable for all common types of color vision deficiency
  • Bold, poppy palettes
  • Harmonious color families
  • High-contrast for bright surroundings
  • Dark with a low glow
  • Set them under Settings > Appearance > Color scheme

‘Table of Contents’ renamed to ‘Library’ across all tools – depending on the tool, it’s now ‘Song Library’, ‘Exercise Library’, ‘Preset Library’, …

Songbook: The change in tuning had not altered the fingering

Backup: Backups are automatically created although the ‘Auto backup’ option was disabled

Other improvements and fixes

Special thanks to B. Clarke, Gary Draper, Giuseppe Maggio, Helmut Beranek, Jürgen Friedrich, Reno Habeck and Wilx2000 for their contributions to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.5

Google Play Purchase Issues

  • Post published:

Over the past four days, we have received an increasing number of reports from users experiencing problems with purchases and subscriptions through Google Play.

Based on the reports, it appears that Google has recently made some changes on their end. All payment processing, subscription management, and accounting are handled entirely by Google Play. Unfortunately, we have no control over these systems and no way to resolve issues directly. We also do not have access to users’ names or email addresses, so we cannot investigate individual purchase problems.

We hope this is only a temporary issue with Google Play. In many cases, users have reported that one of the following steps resolves the problem:

  • Force-close the Google Play Store app and try again.
  • Restart your smartphone.
  • If the issue persists, clear the cache and data of the Google Play Store app, then restart your device before trying again.

We hope these steps resolve the issue for you. If they don’t, please let us know so we can continue to monitor the situation and collect feedback.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Continue ReadingGoogle Play Purchase Issues

smartChord V13.4

  • Post published:

⭐⭐ Internet song search ⭐⭐

  • New supported chord pages:
    • ⭐ chordify.net
    • ⭐ songsterr.com
    • ⭐ guitartuna.com
    • ⭐ kytario.com
  • Songs from Ultimate Guitar are fetched without line breaks
  • Search results improved, so e.g. song artist and title are determined in e-chords
  • Cleaner song pages with fewer banners and ads
  • Web search results no longer list images and videos
  • New setting Automatic search:
    • The first search results are analyzed in the background, so you get the song text right away – without a result list, cookie banners or ads
  • ‘Next hit’
    • Shows the next search result – if no song was found, as well as to get another version of a song
  • Songs can be shared from the browser to smartChord
  • A chord page link copied in the browser is offered for loading right away
  • The song content type (chords, TAB) and the chord page can be selected directly above the search field
  • A search by speech input starts immediately

Many other improvements and fixes

Special thanks to Andreas Eggenberger, Bernd Breitinger, Franz Aukenthaler, John O’Neal and Steffen Heckmann for their contributions to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.4

smartChord V13.3

  • Post published:

Set-List-Link: Bidirectional synchronization over Wi-Fi Direct

  • Set lists now sync reliably in both directions — any device can act as the leader or follower
  • Works seamlessly with modern Android versions and legacy devices
  • Improved stability through a new architecture
  • Full support for large PDFs and images with automatic file resolution

Set list: Scan documents directly into a set list

  • Add a scanned document as a PDF without leaving the app
  • Choose the document name and get warned before overwriting an existing file

Table of Contents: Filter items without a category assignment

  • Each category filter now offers ‘Not assigned’ to find items that have no value set for that category
  • Combine it with NOT to show only items that do have an assignment

Songbook: Left/right padding for the song text

  • Set the space shown left and right of the song text in the songbook appearance settings
  • Choose a value between 0 and 20 pixels (dip)

Other improvements and fixes

Special thanks to Allan Richard, Franky Ka, Franz Aukenthaler, Mitchell C. Webb, Rubens Candido and Scott Noroozifor their contributions to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.3

smartChord V13.2

  • Post published:

Fretboard view: Option for ‘Reverse string order’

  • It flips the fretboard vertically so the thick (low) string is on top and the thin (high) string at the bottom
  • Exactly the orientation a left-hander playing a normally-strung instrument would want
  • Affects every place a fretboard or chord diagram is shown – not only the dedicated tools like Chord, Scale or Fretboard Trainer, but also the chord galleries used throughout the app, e.g. in the Songbook

Set list: More reliable access to image and PDF entries

Quality Initiative:

  • New ‘Send error report’ menu item
  • It only appears when a recent error file exists
  • It zips the collected log and error files and lets you send them by mail to the smartChord team, so a problem you experienced can be analysed and fixed

New documentation

A lot of other improvements and fixes

Special thanks to Franky Ka, Jürgen Friedrich and L. Renato A. Trujillo Quiroz for their contributions to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.2

smartChord V13.1

  • Post published:

Playground – mode ‘Fretboard pure’:

  • The fretboard can now show a chord or a scale
  • Pick a chord or a scale directly via the ‘Chord’ and ‘Scale’ buttons
  • Open the Playground straight from the chord tools via the ‘Show Playground’ menu – the current chord is shown right away
  • Only the notes that belong to the selected chord or scale produce a sound, so it is easy to stay in key while playing
  • Store the configured fretboard together with its chord or scale

Arpeggio: Only the notes that belong to the selected chord produce a sound, so it is easy to stay in key while playing

Set-list: Images can be zoomed beyond their original size

Home screen widget:

  • The tool icon now uses the same color as on the home screen
  • The icon background adapts automatically

Fretboard Trainer: ‘Musical notation’ question view did not display every note for option ‘Correct octave’

Playground: Chords were played shifted by one position

Metronome: Stopped in background mode

Drum Machine: Stopped in background mode

Table of contents: ‘Save as’ always copied the current item and not the selected

A lot of other improvements and fixes

Special thanks to Allan Richard, Franz Aukenthaler, Gernot Grupe, Jürgen Friedrich, Martin Schumacher and Valerie Pachucki-Bammer for their contributions to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.1

smartChord V13.0.1

  • Post published:

We have identified and fixed an issue that could cause smartChord to crash immediately on startup on devices running Android 11 or earlier. The problem was introduced by an internal library update in version V13.0 and only affected these older Android versions.

If you are experiencing crashes when opening the app, please update to version V13.0.1 from the Google Play Store. This release resolves the issue, and smartChord will start normally again on all supported devices.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.0.1

smartChord V13.0

  • Post published:

New sound engine

  • Clearer, more natural instrument sounds
  • Noticeably lower latency — playback feels more responsive
  • MIDI output in every tool: every tone smartChord generates — chords, scales, exercises and more — is now also sent to your connected MIDI device (receiver)
  • Optional high-quality sound: download a richer, more realistic instrument set once and turn it on or off any time in the settings. It also reproduces special or high sounds (e.g. sound effects, full chords) more reliably.

smartChord for the whole world!

  • We are thrilled to welcome new musicians to our community. This update adds full support for 6 additional languages
  • Chinese (Traditional)
  • Indonesian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Polish
  • Turkish
  • 📖 Language support

Improved translations

  • completed
  • corrected and standardized terminology
  • fixed grammar issues
  • typos
  • ‘What’s new’ message in your language
  • Corrected languages:
    • English
    • French
    • German
    • Italian
    • Portuguese
    • Russian
    • Spanish
    • Basque

Instrument Translator:

  • Buttons to play a chord and switch to the chord details screen

Quiz Statistics:

  • They were sometimes not displayed or only appeared upon the second launch

A lot of other improvements and fixes

Special thanks to Callum Spiller, Darren J Rourke, Franz Aukenthaler, Gernot Grupe, Greg Phillips, Jiffy Skippy, Lukas Scherdel, Osger Sarsan, Paulo Carneiro Fernandes and Walid Mohamed for their contributions1 to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V13.0

smartChord V12.11

  • Post published:

smartChord V12.11 2026-05-11

Chord Pad:

  • Option to show a fretboard
  • Option to switch between the fretboard and piano
  • The fretboard is playable
  • When a pad is pressed, the chord notes are highlighted on the fretboard and the piano
  • MIDI support: The chords can now be transmitted directly to external sound generators or recording software via MIDI output
  • 📖 Piano and Fretboard for Melodies

Our YouTube-Tutorials in your language 文

    • Our YouTube-Tutorials now have subtitles so you can understand smartChord in your own language, no matter where in the world you make music
    • Here’s how it works: Just click the gear icon (⚙️, Settings) in the video → Subtitles → Translate automatically and select your language
    • 🎬 YouTube channel

New documentation

Other improvements and fixes

Special thanks to Batuc Adore, Eric Damien, Fabian Hidalgo, L. Renato A. Trujillo Q. and Walid Mohamed for their contribution to this version
Continue ReadingsmartChord V12.11

smartChord V12.10

  • Post published:

⭐ Fretboard Training Tutorial

▫ A systematically structured course that takes you from your very first note all the way to
reflex-level mastery of the entire fretboard

▫ The tutorial is aimed at beginners and experienced players alike — anyone who wants to finally move their fretboard knowledge from “calculating” to “seeing”

▫ 38 progressively structured exercises across three phases — each with a clear learning objective, didactic framing, and a direct launch button into the Fretboard Trainer

◾ Phase 1: Unlock the fretboard note by note
◾ Phase 2: Bring in octave awareness
◾ Phase 3: Speed and reflex training

▫ Tuning-agnostic: Every exercise works with all supported instruments and any tuning

▫ Links open each exercise tailored to your setup automatically

📖 Fretboard Training Tutorial

📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/fretboard-trainer/fretboard-trainer-how-to-use/

✔ Fretboard + Ear Trainer

▫ Fretboard, Piano and Music Notation views are showing the note range of the quiz before start

✔ Ear Training Tutorial

▫ Redesigned with a cleaner, more polished look — all exercises and functionality remain exactly the same

▫ Pre-filled last selected answer view

▫ Title bar with a Back button to quickly come back to the app

📖 Ear Training Tutorial

📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/ear-trainer/ear-trainer-how-to-use/

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Fred King, Keith Frusiante and Robert Winter for their contribution to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V12.10

smartChord V12.9

  • Post published:

⭐ Songbook, Set List:

▫ Option to set the default number of characters per line for the Intelligent Line Break
📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/songbook/songbook-user-interface/#intelligent-line-break

▫ Separate scale factors for use with Intelligent Line Break (ILB) enabled and disabled.
◾ These settings are intended to ensure that a song is displayed with maximum clarity and readability across different devices
◾ When synchronizing your songs between your devices
◾ When you get shared songs from your bandmate via Set-List-Link
📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/set-list/use-a-song-on-different-devices/

▫ Familiar shorthand notation to define MIDI Commands
📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/set-list/use-external-devices/#defining-midi-commands

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Henk Oostrom, Jens Martin, Rob Sektor and Robert Hilverth for their contribution to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V12.9

smartChord V12.8

  • Post published:

⭐ Pattern Editor to create exercises

▫ Create exercises from custom scale patterns

▫ Create exercises from custom arpeggio patterns

▫ Edit scale patterns before creating exercises

▫ Edit arpeggio patterns before creating exercises

📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/pattern-editor/pattern-editor-overview/

⭐ s.mart Fretboard Trainer

▫ New Quiz types:
◾ Identify Scale Degree
◾ Locate Scale Degree

▫ More qualified quiz name suggestion

❗ Fix for quizzes in low tone range

✔ Sync: Workaround for Android problems

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Craig Jackson, David Lingerak, Felipe Nobrega, John B. and Scott Noroozi for their contribution to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V12.8

smartChord V12.7

  • Post published:

⭐ s.mart Fretboard Trainer

▫ New Quiz types:
◾ Identify Interval
◾ Locate Interval

▫ Quizzes allow more different output and answer components

▫ The piano input takes into account the instrument setting ‘Force root note’ when entering chords

▫ A lot of improvements and fixes

⭐ Ear Trainer: A lot of improvements and fixes

🎧 New podcast: https://smartchord.de/docs/getting-started/podcasts
◾ E57: smartChord – Ear Training Tutorial

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Claus Backhaus and John Rees for their contribution to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V12.7

smartChord V12.6

  • Post published:

✔ Open at random:
◾ New item in the ‘Folder’ menu opens an item like a song or exercise at random
◾ Use it to break ingrained habits. It challenges you with unexpected exercises or songs
📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/practice/open-at-random/

✔ Tuner:
◾ Cent added in the ‘Detailed’ mode
◾ Microphone gain adjustment (settings)
📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/tuner/tuner-overview/#microphone-gain-adjustment

✔ Tuning Favorites:
◾ Possibility to add a capo to a favorite tuning
◾ Possibility to add a tuning multiple times with different capos

✔ Tuning List:
◾ Custom tunings are also listed
◾ The current tuning is pre-selected
◾ Button to select the standard tuning
◾ The current tuning is the template for a new custom tuning

✔ File explorer: Button to view the selected file

✔ Songbook: Improved chord detection

✔ New documentation
📖 How to run smartChord on Windows, Linux, Mac and Chromebook
📖 File Explorer

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Mike Ellis, Lanticina Emiliano, Olivier Pince, Sadicus and Scott Noroozi for their contribution to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V12.6

smartChord V12.5

  • Post published:

⭐ Set List

◾ Advanced algorithm for finding your PDF and image files

◾ Option to define a folder of your choice for your PDF and image files. This can greatly simplify the file handling and synchronization

📖 https://smartchord.de/docs/set-list/using-pdf-and-image-files-in-set-lists/

◾ Set-List-Link: Improved stability

✔ New scales:
◾ Major sixth diminished
◾ Minor sixth diminished
◾ Dominant seventh diminished
◾ Dominant seventh flat fifth diminished

❗ Tuner behaviour change: The tuner now vibrates only when a tuning note is hit exactly

🐞 Fretboard Trainer: Changed accidentals in the settings were ignored in the notes input view

✔ Other improvements and fixes

❀ Special thanks to Anke Kellermann, Craig Jackson, Christian Sylvoz, David Lingerak, Franky Ka, Henk Oostrom, Hubertus Gawinski and Lindsay Debb for their contribution to this version

Continue ReadingsmartChord V12.5