Recorder help · article 1 of 9

Getting started

Afinar records your practice, so you can hear yourself get better. It needs a Mac with Apple silicon, running macOS 26 or later. The first time you open it, the recorder window opens on Let’s set up your studio, which walks you through three steps.

1. How Afinar records you

The first step says Choose the input that you want to record. Choose what you play through, such as an audio interface, or the Mac’s own microphone for an acoustic instrument or your voice. Then press Allow. Your Mac asks for the microphone at that moment, and an interface needs it too. New to interfaces? Using an audio interface starts from the beginning.

Next, setup asks What do you play? Choose Guitar, Bass, Voice, Keys, Strings, or Other. Afinar loads the pedal for that instrument, and you can change it any time on the Tone tab. Play, and watch the meter beside Play to check your signal. Continue works once you’ve chosen and your sound has loaded.

If nothing reaches Afinar, setup says No sound yet. and Check your cable and input. If no input is connected at all, it says No input found. and Connect an audio input to continue.

If you chose Don’t Allow, setup says Switch Afinar on in System Settings, under Microphone. Press Open System Settings, or go to System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Microphone yourself. Setup picks up where you left off.

Afinar listens only when you’ve asked it to, such as while its window is on screen. When Afinar listens has the full list. The rest of the time no input or song is open, and the menu-bar icon is dark.

Some lines end in an ⓘ. Hold the pointer over it for a short explanation, or click it to open the help page about that step.

2. How Afinar records your backing audio

Afinar records the song straight from the app it plays in, not through a microphone. Setup says Afinar needs your permission to record audio from your apps. Press Allow. Afinar plays a short sound, then your Mac asks for System Audio Recording.

If you use the Mac’s own microphone, setup adds Wear headphones, or the song lands in your take twice.

If nothing comes through, setup says Nothing came through. Switch Afinar on in System Settings, under System Audio Recording Only. Press Open System Settings, or go to System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ System Audio Recording Only. Your Mac may ask for your password and restart Afinar.

3. What Afinar sends us

If you share, Afinar sends us how you use it and any errors or crashes, tied to a random ID for this Mac, never your name or email. We use it to fix and improve Afinar and to see how the launch is going. Afinar never sends your takes, your videos, or the songs you play along to. Setup asks you to choose Share usage data or Don’t share, and nothing is sent until you do. You can change this any time in Settings.

The privacy page says exactly what is collected.

Your first take

When all three steps are done, setup says Next, choose the app your song plays in. Press Continue to go to the Record tab.

Until your first take, the Record tab shows a short hint at its top. Before you choose an app, it says Afinar is here in your menu bar. Open a song in your music app or browser and pause it. After that, it says Ten seconds is enough for your first take.

Press × to close the hints for good. They also go away once you record a take.

Then choose the app your song plays in, press Record, and start the song. Recording along has the rest.

Settings

Settings is the last tab along the top of the window. You can also right-click the menu-bar icon and choose Settings….

Open at login comes first. Show in Dock is on until you turn it off, and with it off, Afinar lives in the menu bar only. Appearance sets Light, Dark, or Auto, which follows your Mac. Takes shows the folder your takes are kept in, and Reveal in Finder opens it. Send feedback opens a page for writing to us. Diagnostics holds Send usage data, and its ⓘ opens the privacy page.

The ··· button at the top right of the Settings tab holds Help, Send Feedback…, and Quit Afinar. The menu-bar icon’s menu holds them too.

Send feedback

Send feedback in Settings opens a page for telling us about an idea, a problem, or anything else. Send Feedback… in the menu-bar icon’s menu opens the same page. Choose Idea, Problem, or Something else, then write in the box under it, up to 5,000 characters.

Your email is optional. Add it if you’d like a reply. For a Problem, Include Afinar’s recent log sends Afinar’s log with your message, so we can find the fault. It starts ticked, and you can untick it. The page says what the log can hold, such as app and device names, tone names, take titles, file paths, and error details.

Every message goes with Afinar’s version and build, your macOS version, your Mac’s model, a random install ID, and the date. Press Send, and the page says Sent. Thank you, we read every one. If your Mac is offline, it says Saved. Afinar will send it when you’re back online.

After your fifth take, the line under Take saved asks Got an idea for Afinar? once. Tell us. opens this page, and its × closes the line.

Open at login

Open at login is the first switch in Settings. It starts off. Turn it on, and Afinar starts in your menu bar each time you log in to your Mac, with its window hidden. Click the menu-bar icon to show it.

The switch shows what your Mac says. If your Mac wants your approval first, Settings says Allow Afinar in System Settings ▸ General ▸ Login Items. Press Open System Settings… to go there. If the change doesn’t work, Settings says Afinar couldn’t be added to your login items. or Afinar couldn’t be removed from your login items.

Set up later

Set up later skips setup without asking for anything. Until you allow the microphone, the Record tab says Afinar needs the microphone to hear you. Press Allow… in the You card to open setup again. Until you choose what you play, the Tone tab says Choose what you play to finish setup.

Pressing Record before setup is finished opens setup at the step that’s still missing.