# Settings reference

Every setting — account, accessibility, performance, Follow, assistant, iCloud backup and storage — with what each control actually changes.

> Type: Reference · Status: Stable · Platforms: iPadOS 17+, iPadOS 17+ · Last reviewed: 2026-07-18

## How Settings is organized

Settings is divided into segmented sections at the top of the screen: `General`, `Assistant`, `Sync`, and `Dev`. Controls that you adjust while reading — page-turn hardware, keyboard shortcuts, themes, and per-score actions — live in the reader's `Toolbox` instead, so you can change them beside the open score.

## Open Settings

From the library:

1. Tap the `Settings` button (gear icon) in the library toolbar.

From an open score:

1. Open `Toolbox`.
2. Scroll to `Sync & Support` and tap `Settings`.

## General

### Apple Account

`Apple Account` signs you in with Sign in with Apple. It is separate from the iCloud backup in the `Sync` section — signing out here does not affect your backup.

Signing in unlocks PDF → Smart Score conversion beyond the anonymous free allowance, and the contribute-to-public-library flow. Without an account, free conversions run anonymously when available; quota-based features require signing in.

### Accessibility

| Control | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| `Hide status bar` | Hides the time, date, and battery row at the top so it never covers the reader's buttons |
| `Draw with Apple Pencil anytime` | Touch the score with the Pencil to write directly, without opening annotation mode; your finger still turns pages |
| `Recognize handwritten fingerings` | Write a number 1–5 on a note and it becomes a fingering; scribble over a fingering to erase it; scribble over a Roman-numeral analysis to change or delete it. Turn off to draw freely without the score reacting to your strokes |

> **Note** Hands-free page turning — `Bluetooth page pedal` and `Face gesture page turning` — and hardware-keyboard `Shortcuts` are not in Settings. They live in the reader's `Toolbox` under `Accessibility` (see below).

### Performance

For older iPads when Follow, playback, or tab switching feels late. Full features remain available when these are off.

| Control | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| `Performance mode` | Caps open tabs and skips optional background work while reading |
| `Open tab limit` | How many open tabs stay live at once; `Use recommended` applies the suggested cap for your device |
| `Disable the Lab` | Turns off the live Lab (real-time signal processing and graphics) — the heaviest optional surface. Tracker and reader are unaffected |
| `Limit movement menus` | Skips per-tab movement dropdown scans in the reader chrome |
| `Background duplicate scan` | Off keeps duplicate matching from competing with Follow and playback |

### Following

| Control | Default | What is sent |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `Share anonymous follow data` | On | Piece ID, tick count, lost-tracking duration — never audio, never identity |
| `Share follow audio for model training` | Off | Up to 5 minutes of session audio per Follow session, anonymous |

Both are separate from the audio a live Follow session itself needs. See [Data and audio](/docs/privacy/data-and-audio) before turning training audio on.

### Pitch

`Reference pitch` sets the A reference the follower and tuner listen against (default A = 440 Hz), so tracking matches the room's true pitch.

1. Tap `Reference pitch`.
2. Play and hold your instrument's A — the app reads the frequency for you.

## Assistant

The `Assistant` section holds every AI helper. Each one can be turned off individually. `Ask our server when a page is too hard` is the control that sends score pages off the device; `Find the lines of music automatically` and `Apple Intelligence (on-device)` run on your iPad.

| Control | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| `Metadata formatter` | Detects the composer, cleans titles, and groups by composer on import. Off = files are added exactly as named |
| `Find the lines of music automatically` | Locates each line of music on the page so live following knows where to track. Runs on your iPad. Off = the layout is estimated from the page shape, which is less precise |
| `Ask our server when a page is too hard` | When your iPad can't map a tricky page on its own, that page is sent to the analysis service to finish the job. Off = you place the tracking bands yourself on those pages |
| `Apple Intelligence (on-device)` | Prefers Apple's on-device model for the assistant when your device supports it. Free — it runs entirely on your iPad, with no account or usage limits |

`Ask the Score` opens the assistant's own preferences: workflow, specialists, Vault and Deep Research answer paths, Apple Intelligence, and suggested questions. The same screen opens from inside Ask the Score.

## Sync and storage

The `Sync` section is the single home for backup, export, and disk use.

### iCloud backup

`iCloud Backup & Sync` keeps your whole package — scores, metadata, annotations, anchors, calibration, versions, and recordings — in your own iCloud.

> **Note** This backup is not a browsable folder. To see your scores in the Files app, use the iCloud Drive folder below.

With backup on:

- `Send to iCloud now` uploads your new scores, recordings, and changes.
- `Import from iCloud` downloads anything in your backup that isn't on this device. It uploads nothing.
- `Routine sync` backs up on a schedule (weekly, every 2 weeks, or monthly; off by default). It runs the next time you open the app after the interval elapses — never while the app is closed. When a cadence is set, you can also pick the time of day it aims for.
- `Delete iCloud backup` permanently deletes the copy in your iCloud and turns backup off. Your local library is not touched.

### Files-app copy and portable export

- `iCloud Drive folder (visible in Files)` makes a real, browsable copy of your scores in an `Page Turner` folder in iCloud Drive. It uses additional iCloud storage — roughly the size of your library. `Folder organization` changes how it is sorted; `Update now` refreshes it. Turning it off removes the copy.
- `Export my library (.zip)` saves a portable copy to Files: PDFs, versions, annotations, anchors, system maps, recordings, and a metadata manifest. The export is a snapshot — later edits need a fresh export.

### Storage

- `Free up space now` merges duplicate re-imported scores and removes files no score in your library points to. It runs only when you tap it and confirm with `Clean up now`, then reports what it cleaned. Your scores, annotations, and recordings stay.
- `Clear cache` removes cloud-score copies, thumbnails, and temporary files the app can re-download or rebuild. It never touches your scores, recordings, or annotations. `Clear automatically` schedules this on a cadence.

## Reader Toolbox

Open `Toolbox` from the reader for the controls that belong beside the score:

- `Live tracker`: `Trainer`, `Lab`, and `Follow preset`. `Lab` is greyed out when `Performance mode` and `Disable the Lab` are both on in Settings.
- `Practice`: `Analysis`, `Auto-fingering`, `Transpose`, `Focus Mode`, `Metronome`, `Tuner`, and `Piano`. `Transpose` needs a MusicXML or MEI version; `Metronome`, `Tuner`, and `Transpose` open in place instead of navigating away.
- `Edit This Score`: `Convert to Smart Score` and `Fix a Wrong Conversion` are mutually exclusive — both rows stay visible and the one that does not apply is greyed out. `Rearrange pages`, `Crop`, and `Dewarp & Clean` need a PDF version (a scanned or photographed score); `Share` and `Print` need a PDF or MusicXML version. `Table of Contents` appears in this section on iPhone; on iPad it is a button in the reader toolbar instead.
- `Accessibility`: `Bluetooth page pedal`, `Face gesture page turning`, and `Shortcuts` — every reader action has a default hardware-keyboard shortcut you can rebind here.
- `Interface`: app theme and score-paper theme.
- `Sync & Support`: `Assistant`, `Sync now` (pushes your latest changes to iCloud and pulls anything new from your other devices), `Report a problem`, `Support`, and `Settings`.

> **Limit** Score-action availability depends on the active version's format. A Smart Score without a PDF underneath does not show the PDF-only rows, and a PDF that was never converted does not show Smart Score tools.

## Diagnostics

The `Dev` section shows service status and an in-app console; it is not needed for normal use. One control there matters for privacy: `Send diagnostics` (on by default) sends anonymous crash, hang, and performance reports with no personal data. Turning it off stops reporting immediately.

> **Limit** The iPad layout is the reference for this guide. The compact iPhone layout can place the same control in a menu or omit a feature; platform listing does not promise identical controls.

For microphone, camera, and notification permissions controlled by iPadOS or iOS, see [Permissions](/docs/start/permissions).