Answers about your songbook, setlists, chord charts, how to remove vocals with stem separation, audio import, iCloud sync, and Pro.
Gig Songbook is an iOS songbook app built for gigging musicians, cover bands, and solo performers. Store lyrics and chords for every song in your library, attach backing tracks or reference audio, and perform full-screen on stage — offline-first, with optional iCloud sync and no account required.
Unlike a static PDF, your digital songbook stays searchable, filterable, and editable. Update a chord mid-gig from Performance mode, sync across devices via iCloud, attach audio and images per song, and pair lyrics with live chord charts and stem separation when you need to rehearse without vocals.
Open the Setlists tab, tap +, name your setlist, and add songs from your library. Drag to reorder, set date and venue, then tap Play Set for full-screen performance with corner-tap navigation between songs.
Yes. Lock any setlist before you walk on stage. While locked, songs cannot be reordered, deleted, or edited — preventing accidental changes during a live set.
Yes — via export. Tap ⊙ → Export Setlist to create a portable file with the setlist, all songs, audio, stems, and images. Share via AirDrop or Messages; your bandmate imports it into their Gig Songbook in one step.
Real-time shared setlists (live updates for the whole band) are planned for a future update.
Yes. In Performance or Rehearse mode, open the chord panel to see chord charts for every chord in the current song. Toggle between Guitar and Piano; tap any chord for a larger view with all voicings or inversions. Charts render on-device — no internet required.
Yes. Guitar and piano chord charts are free for all users. Live chord transposition (shift every chord up or down during a set) is a Pro feature.
Yes. Add images or PDF pages to any song — full scores, lyric sheets, or printed chord charts. In Performance mode, swipe through image pages instead of (or alongside) the text lyrics view.
Attach an audio file to the song, then run stem separation from the song editor, Rehearse, or Performance mode:
Switch playback to Stems, mute the Vocals stem, or listen to Instrumental only. Processing uses an on-device AI model — your audio is never uploaded to a server.
Every new install gets 30 days of full stem separation — including remove-vocals workflows — at no cost. After the trial, Pro is required to generate new stems; stems you already created keep playing back for free.
Yes. Mute vocals and keep instrumental stems for practice. You can also balance drums, bass, and other parts independently in the 4-stem layout. Import your own legally obtained audio (Files, iTunes purchases, Bandcamp downloads) — the app does not download from YouTube or Spotify.
Gig Songbook accepts MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, FLAC, OGG, AIFF, CAF, and any other audio format recognised by iOS. Import via Files or iCloud Drive in the song editor, or use Import Audio Files (Pro) for bulk import with metadata detection.
Open any song in the editor and scroll to the Audio section at the bottom. Tap Add from Files. The iOS Files picker opens — navigate to iCloud Drive, On My iPhone, or any connected storage provider and select your file.
The file is copied to the app immediately. The app also reads embedded metadata (title, artist, lyrics) and can auto-fetch timed lyrics via Shazam — no extra steps needed.
Yes — with Pro. Tap ⊙ → Import Audio Files in the Songs tab to select multiple files or an entire folder at once. Each track is detected, tagged, and shown in a review screen before any songs are created. You can edit titles and artists, run Shazam on unrecognised tracks, and confirm in one tap.
| Track source | Can import? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| iTunes Store purchase (post-2009, DRM-free) | ✓ Yes | No DRM — exports cleanly as M4A |
| CD rip synced from Finder / iTunes | ✓ Yes | Plain audio file — no restrictions |
| iTunes Store purchase (pre-2009, FairPlay) | ✗ No | FairPlay DRM — export fails |
| Apple Music subscription stream | ✗ No | No local file; assetURL is nil |
| Apple Music "Downloaded for offline" | ✗ No | Still FairPlay-encrypted on disk |
When you tap Add from Music Library and choose a protected track, you'll see the message "This track is not available (may be DRM-protected)" — that's Apple's DRM preventing export, not a bug in the app.
If the purchase is DRM-free (any purchase after April 2009): open a song in the editor, scroll to Audio, tap Add from Music Library, and select the track. The app exports it to M4A and attaches it automatically.
Alternatively, find the file in the Files app under On My iPhone → Music and use Add from Files instead.
The track you selected has FairPlay DRM. This is common for older iTunes Store purchases (before 2009) and all Apple Music subscription downloads. iOS blocks any app from exporting these files — there is no workaround.
No — and this is a hard platform limitation, not a missing feature. Spotify streams are encrypted with Widevine DRM and are decrypted in real-time inside Spotify's own process. The audio never exists as a plain file that another app can read. There is no official API to access the audio data.
Spotify's Terms of Service also explicitly prohibit copying or redirecting the audio stream. Any app that attempted this would be removed from the App Store.
Not directly inside the app — Gig Songbook's audio player uses its own attached audio files, not a streaming service. You can run Spotify in the background alongside Gig Songbook for lyrics reference, but the two apps play independently.
No. Downloading audio from YouTube videos violates YouTube's Terms of Service (section 5.H) and the rights of the content owners. Any app that offered this functionality would be rejected by Apple's App Store review and could face legal liability.
Yes, fully. Gig Songbook is offline-first. Your songs, setlists, audio files, and settings are stored locally on your device. You can create, edit, and perform without any internet connection. iCloud sync is entirely optional.
When you are signed into iCloud, the app stores songs and setlists in your private iCloud container — the same iCloud that stores your files in iCloud Drive. Nothing goes through our servers. Changes sync automatically across your devices when connectivity is available.
Each song and setlist carries a last-modified timestamp. When two devices both edit while offline and later reconnect, the most-recently-edited version of each item wins — independently of the others, so no edits are lost.
Your songs and setlists stored in iCloud are not deleted when you remove the app — they remain in your iCloud container. Reinstalling the app will restore everything automatically.
Data stored only on the device (if iCloud was disabled) is deleted with the app. Use Export All Songs (Pro) as a local backup before uninstalling.
Every new install gets 30 days of full stem separation — including remove-vocals and 4-stem mixing — with no purchase required. The window starts on first launch. After it expires, Pro is needed to generate new stems.
Stems you already separated before the trial ends continue to play back without Pro. See also Remove Vocals.
No. The AI model (~54 MB on iPhone, ~75 MB on iPad) runs entirely on your device. Your audio never leaves your phone. The model is downloaded once over Wi-Fi on first use.
Real-time playback (stems play as the song plays, no export step): iPhone 14 Pro and newer, iPad M1 generation and newer.
Offline export (separate the stems first, then play): all supported iPhones and iPads running iOS 17+. On older devices the player bar shows an Export Stems button — tap it once and stems are saved for instant playback from then on.
| Model | Identifier | Chip | Realtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone XS / XS Max | iPhone11,2 / 11,4 / 11,6 | A12 | ✗ |
| iPhone XR | iPhone11,8 | A12 | ✗ |
| iPhone 11 / Pro / Pro Max | iPhone12,1 / 12,3 / 12,5 | A13 | ✗ |
| iPhone SE (2nd gen) | iPhone12,8 | A13 | ✗ |
| iPhone 12 mini / 12 / Pro / Pro Max | iPhone13,1–4 | A14 | ✗ |
| iPhone 13 mini / 13 / Pro / Pro Max | iPhone14,2–5 | A15 | ✗ |
| iPhone SE (3rd gen) | iPhone14,6 | A15 | ✗ |
| iPhone 14 / 14 Plus | iPhone14,7 / 14,8 | A15 | ✗ |
| iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max | iPhone15,2 / 15,3 | A16 | ✓ |
| iPhone 15 / 15 Plus | iPhone16,1 / 16,2 | A16 | ✓ |
| iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max | iPhone16,3 / 16,4 | A17 Pro | ✓ |
| iPhone 16 / 16 Plus | iPhone17,1 / 17,2 | A18 | ✓ |
| iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max | iPhone17,3 / 17,4 | A18 Pro | ✓ |
| iPhone 16e | iPhone17,5 | A16 | ✓ |
| iPhone 17 series | iPhone18,* | A19 / A19 Pro | ✓ |
Note: hardware identifiers are always one generation ahead of the marketing name — the iPhone 16 product uses iPhone17,*, iPhone 17 uses iPhone18,*, and so on. The cutoff is major number ≥ 15, so all current and future iPhones are supported.
No. Pro is a one-time purchase. Pay once, own it forever — no monthly or annual fee. The exact price is shown in the App Store for your region.
Pro unlocks: live chord transposition, stem separation & mixer after the 30-day trial, Online Song Catalog, bulk audio import with review, improved TXT/PDF/MD import, Import PDF Score, and export songs & setlists as portable JSON backups.
Everything else — unlimited songs, setlists, audio tracks, chord diagrams, lyrics sync, performance mode, iCloud sync — is free.
Yes. Pro is tied to your Apple ID, not a single device. Sign into the App Store with the same Apple ID and tap Restore Purchase in Settings → About → Restore Purchase to activate Pro on any of your devices.
No. There is no account, no analytics, no advertising, and no tracking. Your songs and setlists stay on your device and in your private iCloud container — never on our servers.
All requests are user-initiated and send no personal data:
Email us at gigsongbook@gerov.com or open an issue on GitHub — we read everything.