Questions and answers

Price and the trial, the beta, what runs where, the files, the license, updates.

Price and the trial

What does it cost?

A license is €139, one time, with a year of updates included; the launch price is €93 until 1 February 2027. The store shows the price in your currency — see the download page. The iPad, iPhone and Apple TV apps are free. A license covers two Macs (a studio Mac and a stage Mac).

Is there a trial?

This beta is free — no license until 1.0, when the 30-day trial starts. The trial starts at the first launch and counts on a clock that does not go back. The beta builds are free to run until 1.0.

What happens after the year of updates?

The version you have keeps working. Later versions are a paid upgrade.

Do I need the internet at a gig?

No. A paid license never stops a show for lack of a network: about once a day, when the Mac is online and the music is not playing, the app confirms the license in the background, and a refusal counts only when repeated twelve hours later. A Mac that never goes online activates offline with a device file. The show's own traffic — the Mac and the iPads — stays on your local network (network setup).

The beta

Why does the beta expire?

A beta stops starting 60 days after it was built, so the testers always have a recent build; two weeks before, the app says so at launch. Your setlists and songs are never touched, and the next build opens them. Check for Updates… brings it.

How do I report a problem?

Help ▸ Send Feedback… opens a new mail to support with your versions and the Diagnostics log attached; nothing leaves your Mac until you press Send. Or use the contact page.

What runs where

Which devices do I need?

• The Mac — BarBeatCue, macOS 14 or newer, Apple silicon or Intel. This is the rig: the audio, the clock, the files.
• The band's screens — each musician's iPad or iPhone (BarBeatCue Satellite, iPadOS / iOS 17 or newer) shows their chart, lyrics or score, and the stage Apple TV (BarBeatCue Display, tvOS 18 or newer) shows a screen for everyone. The Mac works alone too.
• An audio interface if you want more than a stereo pair — to send the click to the drummer and the stems to the front of house (audio setup).

Can the iPads play the audio?

No. The audio plays from the Mac; the iPads, iPhones and Apple TVs are displays that follow the Mac's clock over WiFi.

Does it work without WiFi?

The Mac plays a show on its own. The screens need the network; a router of your own, with nothing else on it, is all the rig needs.

Is there a Windows or Android version?

No. BarBeatCue is for the Mac, with the iPad, iPhone and Apple TV apps.

Is the iPad app on the App Store?

It is on TestFlight for now — ask at support@barbeatcue.live for an invitation.

Files and formats

Which audio files does it play?

WAV, AIFF and CAF stems; they play at the sample rate of the audio device (a stem at another rate is converted once at load). Anything else, convert first.

And charts and scores?

PDF parts and MusicXML scores (MusicXML is rendered by BarBeatCue itself and follows the song bar by bar; a PDF is shown as pages). Lyrics come in as LRC or plain text, can be searched online (Song ▸ Lanes ▸ Find Lyrics Online…), and chords can be written from MusicXML, a PDF, or a MIDI keyboard. MIDI files import their tempo map, markers and lyrics.

What is a show file?

A show folder: the show file (.bbcsetlist) and one folder per song, with its stems and its score/. It is an ordinary folder, so it moves, syncs and backs up like one. File ▸ Collect Show… copies everything the setlist uses into it, and File ▸ Archive Show… zips it. The app keeps the last versions of every song file and the show file in the folder's Backups.

Do my old files open?

Files from earlier builds with older names open, and are renamed to the new extensions on the first save.

The license

How do I activate?

BarBeatCue ▸ License… opens the license window; Activate… there opens the store in your browser and the Mac takes the license. There is no key to type.

And on a Mac without internet?

The same window offers Activate Offline: it saves a device file, which you upload at the store's offline page from any computer that is online; the license file you get back activates the Mac.

How do I move the license to another Mac?

Deactivate it on the old one (the same window), then activate the new one. A license holds two activations. A Mac that was activated offline keeps its seat taken until we release it: write to support@barbeatcue.live.

Where do I manage my purchase?

At the store, Moonbase, which is the merchant: barbeatcue.moonbase.sh.

Updates

How do updates work?

The app looks for a new version once a day and asks before installing it — never on the stage page or while the music plays. BarBeatCue ▸ Check for Updates… looks at once. Turn the daily check off in Settings › General. The current version and its notes are on the download page and the changelog.

What does the app send over the internet?

Update checks, a lyrics search when you ask for one, and the license check. The privacy page lists all of it; there is no analytics.