Support
Help with Pianeer
Connecting your piano
How do I connect a MIDI keyboard over Bluetooth?
Put your keyboard into Bluetooth MIDI pairing mode — how you do that is in its manual, and is usually a dedicated button or a menu item. Then in Pianeer, tap the MIDI chip in the bottom-right of the start screen. Apple’s own pairing sheet opens and lists nearby devices; tap yours and give it a few seconds.
Once it is paired, the chip shows the device name instead of “press to connect”, and Pianeer starts reacting to keys straight away.
How do I connect over USB?
Plug the keyboard into your iPhone or iPad with the appropriate cable or adapter — usually USB-C to USB-B for a digital piano, or a Lightning to USB adapter on older devices. Pianeer picks up every connected MIDI source automatically, so there is nothing to configure: play a key and it should respond.
If nothing happens, the usual cause is a charge-only cable. A cable that carries data is required.
My keyboard is connected but no notes register.
Work through these in order:
- Check the MIDI chip on the start screen actually names your device. If it still says “press to connect”, the connection has not been made yet.
- Make sure the keyboard is not in local off mode or set to a MIDI channel your other gear is filtering.
- Close and reopen Pianeer. Core MIDI occasionally needs the app to re-scan after a device is plugged in mid-session.
- On USB, try a different cable — charge-only cables are the most common culprit.
- If your piano offers both USB and Bluetooth, try the other one. Some models only send MIDI over one of them.
Do I need a MIDI piano at all?
No. Pianeer has a built-in on-screen keyboard, and every mode works with it — lessons, songs, drills, scales and randomized practice. You can turn it on or off under Settings → Show virtual keyboard.
For the best experience it is however recommended to use a MIDI piano as input.
Using the app
Can I practise my own sheet music?
Yes, with Pianeer Pro. Open Song Practice and tap
Import Song. Pianeer reads standard MIDI files
(.mid) and MusicXML (.musicxml and compressed
.mxl). Imported pieces behave exactly like the bundled
ones — same notation, same feedback, same statistics.
MusicXML generally gives the better result, because it carries the engraving information — beaming, spelling of accidentals, note groupings — which has to be inferred from a MIDI file.
Why does the app want me to play, not press ▶?
Open a piece and just start playing and the playhead follows you. The play button is for timed practice, where the music moves at a fixed tempo whether or not you keep up.
How do I loop a passage I keep getting wrong?
In the control bar under the staff, drag across the bars you want. The selection is highlighted, and the repeat button then loops just that range. Drag again anywhere to clear it.
Can I practise one hand at a time?
Yes. The clef toggles in the control bar — the treble and bass clef buttons — turn each staff on and off. Switch one off and Pianeer stops expecting notes from that hand, so you can drill the other one on its own. This works in songs, drills, lessons and scale practice.
The notation is too small (or too cramped).
Open Settings and adjust Staff scaling and Staff density. Scaling changes how large the notation is drawn; density changes how much music is packed into each system. There are also three display modes at the top of Settings — Sheet, Scrolling and Falling notes — that fits different screen sizes.
Where does my practice history live?
On your device, and nowhere else. Pianeer has no accounts and no servers, so nothing syncs and nothing is uploaded. Your history is included in an encrypted iPhone or iPad backup, which is how it survives moving to a new device.
Deleting the app deletes the history with it. See the privacy policy for the details.
Purchases
Is Pianeer Pro a subscription?
No. Pianeer Pro is a single, one-time in-app purchase — there is nothing to renew and nothing to cancel. Buy it once and it stays unlocked, including on your other devices signed in to the same Apple Account.
I bought Pro but a new device shows it locked.
Open Settings in Pianeer, scroll to the Pianeer Pro section, and tap Restore Purchase. Make sure the device is signed in to the same Apple Account you bought with.
If it still does not unlock, send me the date of the purchase and I will help sort it out.
How do I get a refund?
Refunds for App Store purchases are handled by Apple. Go to reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in, and choose the purchase.
What is free without buying anything?
The first twelve guided lessons, randomized practice, chord reference, ten of the bundled songs, Hanon exercises 1–5, scale practice in C, G and F, a week of practice statistics.
Music & credits
Every piece bundled with Pianeer is in the public domain, and the Hanon exercises are from The Virtuoso Pianist by Charles-Louis Hanon. Notation is engraved with the Bravura music font by Steinberg, licensed under the SIL Open Font License.
Still stuck?
Send me the details and I will take a look.