Song Hive
Find chords. Practice. Perform
Free · In-App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Song Hive is the personal music library and practice companion for the songs you actually play.
If you've ever opened a notebook, a Google Doc, a pile of chord PDFs, and an Apple Note to dig up a song you learned last year, this is for you. Song Hive keeps every song in one place, tracks how well you know it, and tells you what to practise next so the ones you half-know don't quietly slip away.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Build a repertoire that sticks
- Chords, lyrics, and personal notes for every song
- Tag by band, genre, gig, or any category that fits how you think
- Search, sort, and browse your whole library at a glance
Stop forgetting songs you learned
- Rate lyrics and music familiarity separately on a 0–5 scale
- Spaced-repetition scheduling surfaces the songs that need you most
- Instrumentalists can switch the lyrics axis off; vocalists can hide music
- A forecast calendar shows the weeks ahead
Practice sessions that play themselves
- Tap start and Song Hive sweeps you through what's due, full-screen
- Each song opens to the right tab at your saved font size and scroll speed
- Rate when you're done; tomorrow's list updates automatically
- The Practice Randomiser picks a song at any familiarity level you choose
Set lists for every gig
- Drag to reorder; pick chords, lyrics, or notes per song
- Import a set from a public Spotify playlist or album URL
- Perform mode: full-screen, swipe between songs with a counter
- Practice mode: rehearse the whole gig end-to-end with ratings as you go
- AirDrop a set to a bandmate — Song Hive merges it without overwriting their edits
Hands-free on stage
- Pinch-to-zoom font sizing from 8pt to 40pt, remembered per song
- Auto-scroll from 0.25x to 4x, saved per song
- Keep-screen-awake for a dedicated teleprompter feel
Daily reminders that work
- As many schedules as you need, with per-day toggles and per-schedule session size
- Tap the notification and land straight inside a practice session
Your library, everywhere
- iCloud sync keeps songs, set lists, tags, familiarity, and practice history in lockstep across iPhone and iPad
- Import / Export a .songhive file to back up, migrate, or share only the sections you want
PRIVATE BY DESIGN
Your data lives in your own iCloud. Song Hive has no servers and no analytics.
Add your first songs free. Unlock an unlimited library with a one-time in-app purchase — no subscription, no ads.
Ready to stop forgetting the tunes you learned last year? Download Song Hive and build your first set.
more Straight to your songs on launch, a tuner that says what's wrong, and your sort always in reach.
Faster to your library:
• The app opens straight to your songs instead of waiting for iCloud to answer
• No more black gap on launch — the splash stays up until your library is ready
• Launching on a weak connection, or none at all, gets you there just as quickly
• A device still fetching from iCloud says so, instead of looking like an empty library
A tuner that explains itself:
• It now says why it isn't working — microphone access turned off, blocked in Settings, missing on the device, or simply nothing reaching the mic
• No more sitting on "Play a string…" with nothing happening and no reason given
Your sort, always on screen:
• The sort control sits under the search bar on the song list instead of hiding behind the filter icon
• You can see how your list is ordered, and change it, without opening anything first
• The filter icon is just for filters now — tapping it opens content, tag, tuning and capo filters below the sort row
Also in this release:
• A full iCloud is named as one, with where to go to free up space — and uploads stop retrying until there is room
• Upload my library offers its retry when an upload fails outright, instead of spinning on "uploading"
3.16.5 5 days ago
iCloud sync is working again — and if the fault stranded your library, Song Hive goes and gets it back.
A fault in the way changes were queued could stop songs, practice history and set lists reaching iCloud, without ever saying so. It's fixed, and this release also goes looking for whatever it left behind.
Sync you can rely on again:
• Songs, practice history and set lists travel between your devices again
• A song held back by a failed push stays queued and retries, instead of being marked as done
• Deleting a song on one device no longer takes unrelated songs with it
• Duplicate copies made while sync was failing are reconciled back into one song
If your library was stranded:
• Song Hive checks whether your library ever reached iCloud and offers a one-off upload to catch it up
• Nothing was lost in the meantime — everything stayed safe on the device you added it on
• Push Everything, on the Sync Log screen, uploads this device's whole library whenever you want
A sync log that tells you what actually happened:
• Every run is listed with what was pushed, what was pulled, and when it finished
• Anything iCloud refused shows the reason iCloud gave, not a generic failure
• The screen names your last successful sync, and says so when songs are sitting on the device rather than in iCloud
Also in this release:
• Your song list keeps the sort you chose, between launches and across devices
• Sort by Last practised or Last viewed to find the songs you've been neglecting
• Force Full Sync is now called Push Everything, which is what it does
3.16.2 23 Aug
Song Hive now speaks your language — 8 languages, automatic from your device locale.
English, Italian, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese. To use a specific language within Song Hive, go to iOS Settings → Song Hive → Language.
Auto-scroll that locks to the song itself:
• Time-synced scroll: each lyric line hits the page midpoint as it's sung; chord sheets scroll in step
• Auto-scroll pre-roll: first line holds at the top while the playhead descends, so you can read the opening before it moves
• One-tap Sync pill on songs that have lyrics but no timing yet
• Clock icon on the Lyrics tab marks sync-ready songs at a glance
Tuning, capo and a built-in tuner, first-class on every song:
• Standard, Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, and more — auto-detected on chord import
• Capo picker from None up the neck
• Built-in tuner on the Perform screen with a live cents needle
Know the tempo of every song:
• Add a BPM to any song — type it in, or tap Get BPM to fetch it automatically from the artist and title
• Auto-import fills the tempo in for new songs on its own; the BPM shows on the Perform screen and syncs across your devices
• Turn it all on or off in Settings → BPM
Also in this release:
• AirDropped and shared .songhive files now open straight into the import screen — no Open In step
• Auto-scroll fixes: fixed-speed scrolling stops cleanly at the end of the song, the top-of-song pre-roll always plays, and the default speed is a touch gentler
• Smarter spaced practice: extra sessions within a recall cycle no longer compound the interval; a mid-cycle slip resets the cycle so the song comes back sooner
• Sync reliability: Force Full Sync and Push All Songs are always visible in the Sync Log; grandfathered unlimited access propagates to new devices; CloudKit transient errors no longer silently drop songs — failed records stay queued and retry
• What's New popup on upgrade and an Update available prompt when a newer version is on the App Store
• Settings → About: User Guide and Release Notes links, one tap away
• Dynamic Type: layouts grow live with iOS system text size
• UG Official tabs at the top of chord-search results; paywall links save as a tappable pill
• Lyrics from LRCLIB arrive with verse breaks
• Familiarity ratings, song edits, and set-list changes propagate across screens instantly
• Per-song font size, scroll speed, and split-view height survive a sync round-trip
• Recoverable error screen with a Continue button — no forced restart
3.14.2 27 Jul
Song Hive now speaks your language — 8 languages, automatic from your device locale.
English, Italian, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese. To use a specific language within Song Hive, go to iOS Settings → Song Hive → Language.
Auto-scroll that locks to the song itself:
• Time-synced scroll: each lyric line hits the page midpoint as it's sung; chord sheets scroll in step
• Auto-scroll pre-roll: first line holds at the top while the playhead descends, so you can read the opening before it moves
• One-tap Sync pill on songs that have lyrics but no timing yet
• Clock icon on the Lyrics tab marks sync-ready songs at a glance
Tuning, capo and a built-in tuner, first-class on every song:
• Standard, Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, and more — auto-detected on chord import
• Capo picker from None up the neck
• Built-in tuner on the Perform screen with a live cents needle
Also in this release:
• Smarter spaced practice: extra sessions within a recall cycle no longer compound the interval; a mid-cycle slip resets the cycle so the song comes back sooner
• Sync reliability: Force Full Sync and Push All Songs are always visible in the Sync Log; grandfathered unlimited access propagates to new devices; CloudKit transient errors no longer silently drop songs — failed records stay queued and retry
• What's New popup on upgrade and an Update available prompt when a newer version is on the App Store
• Settings → About: User Guide and Release Notes links, one tap away
• Dynamic Type: layouts grow live with iOS system text size
• UG Official tabs at the top of chord-search results; paywall links save as a tappable pill
• Lyrics from LRCLIB arrive with verse breaks
• Familiarity ratings, song edits, and set-list changes propagate across screens instantly
• Per-song font size, scroll speed, and split-view height survive a sync round-trip
• Recoverable error screen with a Continue button — no forced restart
3.12.2 29 May
Auto-scroll that locks to the song itself — and a built-in tuner that fits the tuning you've set on each song.
• Time-synced auto-scroll: for songs whose lyrics are on LRCLIB, each line hits the page midpoint at the moment it's sung. Chord sheets that pair with the synced lyrics scroll the same way
• Auto-scroll pre-roll: the first line stays at the top of the screen until the playhead reaches the page midpoint, so you can read or sing the opening line before it moves
• One-tap "Sync" pill on songs that already have lyrics but no timing — fetches lrclib in place, leaves any manual lyric edits alone
• Clock icon next to the Lyrics tab when a song has synced timing, so you can spot sync-ready songs at a glance
Tuning, capo and a built-in tuner, first-class on every song:
• Structured tuning field with presets for Standard, Drop D, Double Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Open D, Open E, and Half-step down
• Capo field from None up the neck, with a segmented chip picker
• Tuning and capo auto-detected when you import chords from Ultimate Guitar — paste a DADGAD capo-2 song and it lands with both fields already set
• Read-only tuning and capo pills on the Perform screen so you know whether to re-tune or move the capo before you play
• Filter the song list by tuning or capo to group songs that share a setup
• Built-in tuner on the Perform screen with a live cents needle, auto-detect or tap a string to focus
Smarter spaced practice:
• Practice an extra time within a recall cycle and the schedule no longer pushes the next-due date out — extra sessions fold into the current cycle instead of compounding the interval
• A mid-cycle slip in familiarity collapses the cycle back to the start so the song comes back sooner
• Practice history chart now shows one dot per recall cycle for a cleaner timeline
Chord and lyric import polish:
• Ultimate Guitar Official tabs are now a labelled type at the top of chord-search results
• If an Official tab sits behind UG's paywall, save its link to the chord field as a tappable pill that opens UG in your browser
• Lyrics imported from LRCLIB now arrive with proper verse breaks instead of one concatenated block
• Compact per-tab Import buttons sit directly above each content tab
Also in this release:
• Dynamic Type support — change your iPhone's system text size and Song Hive's rows, pills, chips, and headers grow with it, live, no restart
• Familiarity ratings, song edits, and set list changes propagate across screens instantly
• Per-song font size, scroll speed, and split-view height now survive an iCloud sync round-trip
• One-off errors can be recovered from the error screen with a Continue button — no forced restart
• Pinch-to-zoom in the inline editor no longer clips content behind the outline
• Pull-to-sync spinner on the song list now sits cleanly below the floating Liquid Glass header on iOS 26
3.10.0 17 May
• Better use of spaced learning algorithm if you add ad hoc practice session as well as scheduled ones
• Bug fixes
3.8.1 3 May
Tuning, capo and a built-in tuner are now first-class on every song — and the whole app responds to your iPhone's text size.
• Structured tuning field on every song with presets for Standard, Drop D, Double Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Open D, Open E, and Half-step down
• Capo field from None up the neck, with a segmented chip picker
• Tuning and capo auto-detected when you import chords from Ultimate Guitar — paste a DADGAD capo-2 song and it lands with both fields already set
• Read-only tuning and capo pills on the Perform screen so you know whether to re-tune or move the capo before you play
• Filter the song list by tuning or capo to group songs that share a setup
• Built-in tuner on the Perform screen — mic-driven pitch detection with a live cents needle, auto-detect or tap a string to focus
Also in this release:
• Dynamic Type support — change your iPhone's system text size and Song Hive's rows, pills, chips, and headers grow with it, live, no restart
• Familiarity ratings, song edits, and set list changes now propagate across screens instantly — no need to back out and re-enter
• Per-song font size, scroll speed, and split-view height now survive an iCloud sync round-trip
• One-off errors can be recovered from the error screen with a Continue button — no more forced restart
• Pinch-to-zoom in the inline chord, lyrics, and notes editors no longer clips content behind the outline
• Pull-to-sync spinner on the song list now sits cleanly below the floating Liquid Glass header on iOS 26
• Sentry error reporting is wired up so real failures surface with the context we need to fix them fast
• Improved diagnostics on the rare song-load failure so the next fix lands faster
3.7.1 27 Apr
- Tuning and Capo - automatically get set from imported chords, or set them yourself
- Built-in tuner - already set to the tuning of the song you're performing or practising
- Bug fixes with sync across dvices
3.6.2 24 Apr
- Bug fixes
- Logging and feedback enhancements
3.5.2 22 Apr
• Split screen on performance and practice mode - lock the chords to the top and let the lyrics scroll
• You can now turn on and off the tracking of lyrics and/or music familiarity as a default, or per song
• This allows you to focus on the things that matter - if you're just learning to play a song on guitar for someone else to sing, it'll stop asking you if you know the words!
3.5.0 21 Apr
• Practice mode has been enhanced:
• Spaced learning
• Practice graph per song
• Practice forecast calendar
• Multiple practice prompt schedules
3.4.0 18 Apr
** SET LISTS! **
• Add songs to a set list - add chords, lyrics or notes
• Arrange the songs as you need to
• Hit Perform, and see a full screen view of the first song with auto scroll - swipe to scroll through the set!
3.1.0 14 Apr
Freemium model - 15 songs for free with full functionality
3.0.0 14 Apr
** Autoscroll and variable font size for chords, lyrics and notes fields **
• Bug fixes and UI improvements
2.3.0 8 Apr
• Better iCloud sync
• Keep screen alive while app is open
• Fixed bugs with sharing songs and tags
• Guided tour to help you learn what each screen can do
2.2.0 3 Apr
** Automatic chord search **
** Tags screen for easy management of tags, setlists etc - share all songs in a tag with your friends! **
2.1.0 20 Mar
• Practice mode (inc. sync to other devices)
• Daily practice reminders
• Share songs
• Auto lyrics save
• Full screen notes
2.0.0 10 Mar
• Liquid Glass styling
• iCloud sync between devices - no login required!
• Sync log to keep track of what is being synced
• History of each song kept so you can roll back to old versions
• Bug fixes for tags, dropdowns and UX improvements
1.3.0 12 Feb
• Fix sorting bug with Last Updated
1.2.1 4 Jan
• New icon on list for songs with a URL saved
• Better fetching of lyrics
• Display of added and last updated
• Bug fix around last updated date
1.2.0 3 Jan
• Fixed a bug where apostrophes in tag names caused them not to be saved
1.1.1 05/11/2025
- Add URL to online lyrics, tab, chords or anything else for quick reference
1.1.0 05/11/2025
Straight to your songs on launch, a tuner that says what's wrong, and your sort always in reach.
Faster to your library:
• The app opens straight to your songs instead of waiting for iCloud to answer
• No more black gap on launch — the splash stays up until your library is ready
• Launching on a weak connection, or none at all, gets you there just as quickly
• A device still fetching from iCloud says so, instead of looking like an empty library
A tuner that explains itself:
• It now says why it isn't working — microphone access turned off, blocked in Settings, missing on the device, or simply nothing reaching the mic
• No more sitting on "Play a string…" with nothing happening and no reason given
Your sort, always on screen:
• The sort control sits under the search bar on the song list instead of hiding behind the filter icon
• You can see how your list is ordered, and change it, without opening anything first
• The filter icon is just for filters now — tapping it opens content, tag, tuning and capo filters below the sort row
Also in this release:
• A full iCloud is named as one, with where to go to free up space — and uploads stop retrying until there is room
• Upload my library offers its retry when an upload fails outright, instead of spinning on "uploading"
more Version 3.16.5 5 days ago
Data Not Collected The developer does not collect any data from this app.