Frequently asked questions

Music-Forte runs in any modern browser. The mobile shell at phone widths is a purpose-built mobile interface, not a shrunk desktop. We don't ship a native iOS / Android app yet; PWA install ("Add to Home Screen") works and gives you a chrome-less app-like experience.

Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari (desktop and iOS), Samsung Internet on the current and previous major version. The features that depend on browser APIs:

• Microphone — needs getUserMedia. Available everywhere modern.
• Practice recording — needs MediaRecorder with Opus support. Safari supports MediaRecorder since iOS 14.5.
• WASM polyphonic detector — needs WebAssembly. Universal.
• Pinch zoom on score — needs touch-action: pinch-zoom. Works on iOS Safari, Android Chrome, current desktop browsers.

The platform is built for it. The chat and notation editor work over standard 3G; the AI replies stream so you see progress. Practice mode runs almost entirely on-device (only the recording upload and the optional coaching call go over the network). FORTE Notation drafts cache locally when offline and sync when you reconnect.

Partially. Offline you can:

• Open and edit FORTE Notation drafts (cached locally).
• Run Practice mode on a piece you already loaded — pitch detection and the audit run on-device.
• Read sight-reading passages and set works that have already loaded.

Offline you cannot:

• Send chat messages (the AI gateway needs network).
• Upload practice recordings.
• Request an AI coaching narrative.
• Sync drafts across devices.

Three features need it: Practice (Follow), Hum capture, and voice input on the composer. None of them work without it. We don't open the mic until you trigger one of those features; we close it as soon as you stop.

For Practice, we record the session and upload it to your R2 bucket so you can replay it across devices. The recording is associated only with your account; we never share it with third parties (including the LLM that writes the coaching narrative — only the structured findings travel there).

For Hum and voice composer input, the audio stays on your device — pitch detection and transcription run in the browser. Nothing uploads.

In the browser's site settings for music-forte.pages.dev (or your custom domain). On Chrome: click the lock icon in the URL bar → Site settings → Microphone → Allow. Same idea on Safari (Settings → Safari → Camera & Microphone → Microphone → Allow). Reload the page after changing.

Visit /sign-up, enter your email and a password. We'll send a verification link. Click it and you're in.

Visit /forgot-password. We'll email a reset link. Links expire in 1 hour.

Sign in, go to /account → Danger, type your password to confirm. We delete your data per the schedule in the privacy policy: rows within 30 days, backups within 90 days. Action is irreversible.

One per person. If you teach at a school AND tutor privately, use the mode picker (Teacher vs Expert) on a single account; memory is mode-scoped so the contexts don't bleed.

Email support@music-forte.app. We can set up a school workspace, batch-create student accounts, and provide a data-processing agreement that names the school as the data controller for student records.

There's a free allocation that refreshes on a regular cadence — enough to plan a few lessons, drill a few times, sketch a few pieces. Pro plans (when offered) raise the allocation. Pricing is documented on the pricing page when published.

You don't pay per call directly; we meter via credits. Generative tools (lesson plans, music-gen) cost more credits than NLP calls (chat replies). The composer doesn't show per-call cost because it's noise; you'll see a friendly "running low" pill when you near your limit.

Yes. Email support with rough numbers (number of teachers, number of students, expected sessions per month). Quotes are bespoke until we publish a school plan publicly.

You own your content — lesson plans, scores, recordings. We have a non-exclusive licence to store and display it back to you (see /terms for the legal language). We don't use your content to train AI models, full stop.

Yes, with two responsibilities. First: review it for accuracy — AI output can be wrong. Second: disclose that AI was involved. Schools and exam boards generally expect this; UNEB and NCDC are no exception.

The Ugandan traditional entries are pedagogical reductions — structures (engalabi time-line, bul accent pattern, three-part interlocking amadinda) authored by Music-Forte from scholarly sources (Kyagambiddwa 1955, Cooke, Kubik). They're teaching outlines, not field-recorded transcriptions. Use them in lessons; cite the underlying tradition; don't pass them off as definitive ethnomusicological sources.

A downstream AI service is responding slowly or not at all. We retry on a fallback path when possible. Wait a minute and resend. If it persists, check our incident page (linked from the support email response) and email if you need follow-up.

Check the stats screen — there should be a "Saved · view detail" pill or a "not saved" warning. If the warning shows, you were either offline at the moment of save or signed out. The metric findings still rendered locally; the recording is in browser memory until you close the tab. Email support if you really need to recover it.

Cheap Android phones may struggle with the WASM detector under sustained load. Two options: (a) turn polyphonic mode off — the YIN cursor handles monophonic playing fine; (b) practise on a tablet or laptop instead. We're working on a lighter detector path for low-end devices.

Tap regenerate. The model occasionally produces a flat take; a fresh call usually catches a more specific finding. If it's consistently off-base for a particular kind of piece (e.g. always misjudges Acholi bwola tempo), email support with the session id — we'll iterate on the prompt.

Email support@music-forte.app. Include: which page, what you did, what you expected, what happened. A screenshot helps. We aim to respond within 5 business days.

Same email. We read every one. Especially welcome: feedback from teachers about NCDC alignment, and from students about what helps when they're actually preparing for UNEB.