Your MuseScore scores on your phone or tablet. Read them, play them, practise your part.
- Opens the
.msczfiles you make in MuseScore. - Plays them with the same sounds as MuseScore on your computer.
- Turn any part up, down, off or solo it. Slow it down, or loop a passage.
- Write on the score with your finger or a stylus.
- Free, no account, no ads, and it works offline.
No app store needed.
iPad / iPhone
- Open the link above in Safari or Chrome.
- Tap Share: in Safari it's under ••• at the bottom (on iPad, at the top right); in Chrome it's beside the address.
- Tap View More → Add to Home Screen (further down the list) → Add.
- Open PocketScore from your home screen.
Android
- Open the link above in Chrome.
- Tap Install PocketScore → Install. No button? Tap Chrome's ⋮ menu → Add to Home screen → Install.
- Open PocketScore from your home screen.
Computer: open the link in Chrome, Edge or Safari.
The first score you open downloads the instrument sounds (about 50 MB), so use Wi-Fi. After that, PocketScore works without internet.
- Your notes and saved settings stay on this device only. They are not in the
.msczfile. People you share the score with won't see them, and you won't see them on your other devices. - Removing PocketScore deletes them. So does clearing Safari's or Chrome's website data. There is no backup or export yet.
- Nothing is uploaded. Your scores are opened on your device and never sent anywhere. PocketScore keeps a short log of how playback went (times, score names, how the device kept up; never your notes or files), on this device too: it leaves only if you send it yourself (see Playback report in Settings). (The app itself is downloaded from GitHub's website hosting, which sees visits like any website. PocketScore has no accounts, ads or tracking.)
- The music pauses when you leave the app (another app, home screen, screen locked), and goes quiet at once. Tap Play when you're back. To keep it playing instead, turn on Keep playing when I leave PocketScore in Settings (the gear at the top).
- It updates itself. With internet, it checks for a new version when you open it, when you come back to it, and every 30 minutes. If a score is open, it restarts into the new version when you switch away, or after 20 seconds without a touch while the music is stopped. It never restarts while music plays or while the mixer, speed, loop or notes are open. Your score comes back where you were (page, view, zoom, speed and loop), with unsaved changes kept. The version number is on the start screen.
- On a version older than 1.0.8? Those don't update while a score is open. Once, with internet, close PocketScore completely (swipe it away in your recent apps, or close the browser tab) and open it again. If the start screen still shows the old number, wait a moment and do it once more. After that it updates by itself.
Not sure what a button does? Tap ? at the top for a one-minute tour of the controls.
| To… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Open a score | Tap Open score, choose a .mscz file |
| Open a score from another app (Android) | In Files, tap ⋮ beside the score, then Share, PocketScore |
| Play / pause | Tap ▶ / ❚❚ |
| Start from a note | Tap the note |
| Hear one note | While stopped, tap it |
| Jump around | Drag the position slider |
| Go to a bar | Tap the bar number under the slider, type the bar, and press Go (or Enter). Bars are numbered as printed on the score |
| Go to a section | Pick it from the menu beside the bar number (Intro, Verse 1, Chorus…). It only appears when the score has section marks (MuseScore's rehearsal marks) |
| Back to the start | Tap ⏮ |
| Zoom | Pinch, or use − and + |
| Scroll | Drag with one or two fingers |
| Move quickly through a long score | Start scrolling, then drag the handle that appears at the right edge (along the bottom in Continuous (horizontal)). It shows the page, or in the continuous views the time in the music, and fades away when you stop |
| Change the layout | Menu at the top right: Page view, Page by page or Continuous |
| Read one page at a time | Choose Page by page: each page fills the screen whole; swipe left or right (or use the arrow keys) to turn one page. The page turns by itself as the music reaches the next one. You can zoom in (pinch, or +), but never out past the whole page; zoomed in, drag to move around the page, and keep swiping past its edge to turn. In notes mode, use two fingers |
| Read with nothing in the way | Tap ⛶ (Focus) at the top |
| Change how PocketScore works | Tap the gear (Settings) at the top. See Settings |
| Close a panel | Tap Done, or your phone's Back |
A blue line shows where you are, and the page follows it.
More about opening scores
- iPad and iPhone: save your scores to the Files app first (AirDrop them, or save them from email or a cloud drive). Open score goes straight to Files.
- Android: the file list shows all your files, not only scores. Scores end in
.mscz. - Android, from another app: share the score to PocketScore (in Files: ⋮, Share, PocketScore)
and it opens straight away. PocketScore is in the Share list once it is installed from Chrome. It isn't
in Open with, which Android keeps for apps from the Play Store. From Telegram, save the file
first (⋮, Save to Downloads) and share it from Files: Telegram's own Share finds no app for
scores. Because Android doesn't recognise
.msczas a type, PocketScore also appears when sharing other unknown files; it says so if a file isn't a score. - PocketScore opens
.msczand.mscxfiles. Not PDF, MusicXML or MIDI. - Opening another score stops the music.
- If you scroll away while it plays, the page waits a moment before following the music again. To turn the page yourself instead, turn off Follow the music in Settings.
- Focus hides everything but the music and a play button. On Android, a computer or an iPad it also goes full screen (no browser bars); an iPhone's Safari doesn't allow that, so there it hides PocketScore's own bars. Tapping a note still plays from it. To bring the controls back, tap anywhere off the music (a margin, the title, the white space between staves or lines, around the page), or use your phone's Back or Esc.
- Focus also starts by itself when you leave the screen alone: after 4 seconds while the music plays, 10 seconds while it's stopped (both can be changed, or this turned off, in Settings). Not while a panel (mixer, speed, loop, settings) or notes are open. It hides PocketScore's bars but doesn't go full screen (browsers only allow that after your own tap).
Two round buttons next to Mixer: speed (the dial) and loop (the arrows).
| To… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Slow down / speed up | Tap the speed button, then − / + (5% steps) or the slider (10% to 300%) |
| Play at an exact tempo | In the same panel, type a number next to ♩ = |
| Loop a passage | Tap the loop button. Tap Set loop marker left, then tap the passage's first note. Tap Set loop marker right, then tap its last note |
| Loop on / off | Loop playback (with no markers, the whole score loops) |
| Remove the loop | Clear loop markers |
- The markers show on the score as blue lines with a flag: ▶ where the loop starts, ◀ where it ends. A blue band under the position slider marks the loop too.
- ♩ = shows the tempo where the music is now (in quarter notes per minute, as MuseScore shows it), with your speed applied. It follows tempo changes in the score as it plays.
- A marker button turns blue while it waits for your tap; tap it again to cancel. Tapping a note for a marker doesn't move the music or play the note.
- Once you change the speed, the speed button shows the tempo (for example 103). The loop button turns blue while looping.
- Speed and loop are not saved: the next score you open starts at 100%, with no loop.
- On phones, the position slider sits on its own row above the buttons.
Tap Mixer.
| To… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Make a part louder or softer | Its slider. 100% = as saved in the score |
| Silence a part | M (mute) |
| Hear only some parts | S (solo), on one or more parts |
| Change a part's instrument | Tap the sound under its name (e.g. Grand Piano) |
| Change several parts at once | In that list, tap Several parts |
| Hear a click | Unmute Metronome at the bottom (it's muted every time a score opens, unless you turn on Metronome on when a score opens in Settings) |
| Room echo | Tap Reverb at the top |
| Overall volume | Master |
More about the mixer
- The mixer works as soon as the score is open; you don't need to press Play first.
- It starts with the volume, mute and solo settings saved in your score, as MuseScore does. If a score opens silent, its parts may have been saved muted.
- 50% sounds about half as loud, 200% about twice as loud.
- In the sound list, In score marks the sound the score uses, and Each part's sound in the score puts every part back.
- Mixer changes are kept when you tap Save.
Tap the pencil at the top, then tap Done when finished.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pen / Highlight | Write or mark with a stylus or finger |
| Text | Double-tap the score to add a text box. Tap outside it when done |
| Erase | Tap or rub over a mark or text box |
| Colours | Black is the default. + for more |
| Size (dots) | How thick the pen, highlighter or eraser is |
| Undo / Clear | Clear removes everything on this score |
More about notes
- Draw with finger: when on, one finger draws and two fingers scroll. Turn it off to scroll with one finger and draw only with a stylus (then tapping a note with your finger plays it). It turns off by itself the first time you use a stylus; you can turn it back on.
- Text boxes: tap a box to change it, drag the arrows on its left to move it, drag its bottom corner to resize it (the text grows with it), tap × to delete it. While you're typing, a new colour changes that box.
- Notes follow the music: a note written in one view shows in the others on the same notes (Page view and Page by page show the same page). Marks away from the music, such as in a margin or by the title, stay in the view they were written in. A text box from another view can be erased here but is changed in the view it was written in. Clear removes your notes from every view.
Save (top bar) keeps your notes and mixer changes for this score, on this device.
- It turns blue when there's something to save.
- Opening another score with unsaved changes asks: Save, Don't save or Cancel.
- If the app closes before you save, nothing is lost: the changes come back next time, still unsaved.
- Your
.msczfile is never changed.
More about saving
- The score is recognised by its contents: a renamed copy shows your notes too, but a version you edited and re-saved in MuseScore counts as a different score.
- On a keyboard, Ctrl+S (or ⌘S) saves.
- If the device's storage is full, PocketScore tells you the changes could not be saved.
Tap the gear at the top. On a phone, Settings opens as a page of its own; ‹ Back (or your phone's Back) returns to the score. Each setting works straight away and is kept on this device, for every score. Until you change them, PocketScore works as described above.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Keep playing when I leave PocketScore | The music goes on in another app, on the home screen or with the screen locked, for listening on the go. Off: it pauses. On Android, PocketScore then shows in your notifications while it plays, with play and pause there. On iPhone and iPad the system may still stop it |
| Metronome on when a score opens | Every score opens with the click on. Off: it starts muted |
| Tap a note to hear it | While stopped, a tap on a note plays it. Off: the tap only moves to that note |
| Start focus by itself | Hides the bars when you leave the screen alone |
| Wait while playing / while stopped | How long before focus starts by itself (4 and 10 seconds at first) |
| Full screen with the Focus button | The phone's or browser's own bars go too. Not on iPhone, which doesn't allow it |
| Open scores in | The view every score opens in: Page view, Page by page or Continuous |
| Follow the music | The score moves along as it plays. Off: it stays where you put it |
| Keep the screen on while playing | The screen doesn't dim or lock in the middle of a piece |
| Playback report, Send | If the music stutters or lags, tap Send soon after (or tap the "sound stuttered" message when it shows). Your phone's share menu opens, and the report is also copied, so you can paste it into a GitHub issue or a message. It tells how the device kept up during your recent plays: times, score names and the device's own figures, never your notes or files. It works offline and later too: the log stays on the device after the app is closed. Please add what you were doing and whether battery saver was on or the phone was warm, which apps can't see |
PocketScore is free. If it helps you, you can leave a tip, any amount, by PayNow or card. In the app, tap the ♥ at the top, or Tip PocketScore on the start screen.
- It's optional, and nothing in the app is locked.
- Where tips go: paying UI designers to make PocketScore nicer to use and, in future, the fees for putting it on Apple's App Store and Google Play.
- PayNow is best: almost all of your tip reaches PocketScore. Card payments lose more to fees, especially small ones.
- Tips go through Stripe, a payment company. The page is on
buy.stripe.comand says PocketScore; only use the link here or in the app. - PayNow on the same phone: take a screenshot of the QR code, then open it from your banking app's "scan from photos" option.
Does it sound like MuseScore on my computer?
Yes, with MuseScore's standard MS Basic sounds: PocketScore uses the same sound engine and sounds as MuseScore 4.7.5. In side-by-side tests the volume, timing and tone matched desktop MuseScore.
What about Muse Sounds or other sound libraries?
Those only work in desktop MuseScore. Parts that use them play with the nearest MS Basic sound, and the mixer tells you which ones.
Does the page look exactly like MuseScore?
Very nearly. PocketScore lays scores out with MuseScore's own code, so pages and page breaks match. Spacing can differ very slightly, because phones measure text a little differently.
Can I edit scores?
No. PocketScore is for reading, playing and practising. Make changes in MuseScore.
| Problem | Try this |
|---|---|
| No sound on iPhone / iPad | Check the volume buttons, and that Bluetooth isn't playing the sound elsewhere |
| "Audio could not start" | Close PocketScore completely, reopen it, tap Play |
| Drawing scrolls the page (or it won't scroll) | Check Draw with finger in the notes bar |
| Choppy sound | Check you have the latest version (start screen). PocketScore also adjusts itself: if the sound stutters, it prepares more sound ahead and tells you once. If it keeps happening, send a playback report (Settings > Playback report > Send) soon after, even days later is fine |
| A score won't open | It must be a .mscz file saved by MuseScore |
| The music stops a few minutes after leaving the app, with Keep playing on (Android) | A known problem, being fixed (#28). Until then, keep PocketScore on screen while you listen |
| A light grey strip under the bottom bar (Android, installed before version 1.0.17) | It's only cosmetic. Android paints it with the colours the app had when it was installed. Chrome is meant to update them by itself, but it can take days or never happen. To hurry it, go to chrome://webapks in Chrome, find PocketScore, tap Request update, then swipe PocketScore away and open it again. If the strip is still there, reinstall. First open the PocketScore address in a normal Chrome tab and check your notes and settings show up (then they are kept). Then remove the app from the home screen without deleting its data, and add it again from Chrome |
| A light strip under the bottom bar (iPhone or iPad, added to the home screen before version 1.0.3) | It's only cosmetic. To remove it, open PocketScore in Safari or Chrome until the start screen says 1.0.3 or later, then add it to your home screen again. The new icon starts without your notes and settings (each icon keeps its own), so keep the old one until you no longer need them |
Report a problem: open an issue or message the developer. Say which device and system version, which score, what you did and what happened. A screenshot or screen recording helps a lot.
PocketScore is free and open source (GPL-3.0). It uses code from MuseScore Studio and the MS Basic sound font: see credits and licences. PocketScore is not affiliated with or endorsed by MuseScore Ltd. "MuseScore" is a trademark of MuseScore Ltd.
Developers: see docs/DEVELOPMENT.md.