Linotune is available for the following platforms:

go to App Store

linotune for iOS™go to App Store 5.1 - 16 recommended:  10.3 - 15

There is a small download fee. Has some issues on iOS 16 - avoid upgrading if possible! On iOS 5-9: must install & trust a configuration profile why needed - download profile - how to install & trust On small screens, turn horizontal to operate the controls. Multi-window & laser add-ons not supported on this platform.

22MB

linotune.zip22MB for Windows™ from XP (with SP3) to 11 recommended: Windows 7 Due to widespread abuse, the free trial period on Windows is now just one hour. Sorry!

You must "extract all" from the archive; it won't run zipped. On Windows 10/11: needs fast hardware to run well; avoid "upgrading" older Windows 7 machines if possible. Won't run on "Windows lite", however Microsoft calls it any given year (Windows CE, RT, Phone, UWP, S, ...). To make the hardware identification robust, please unplug as much removable hardware as possible for activation.

go to Play Store

linotune for Android™go to Play Store ARMv7a,  versions 5.0 - 11 recommended: 7.1.1 - 11

There is a small download fee. Trial is for one user on an umlimited number of devices. On small screens, turn horizontal to operate the controls. Multi-window & laser add-ons not supported on this platform.

21MB

linotune.dmg21MB for Mac™ 64bit Intel,  macOS 10.10 - 12 recommended: 10.12 - 10.14

Problems reported under macOS 10.15 & 11. macOS 10.11 & earlier: must install root certificate why needed - download certificate - how to install Open the disk image & drag linotune where you want it. Control-click the app to open it for the first time, so you can override the "unidentified developer" alert.

When you start linotune for the first time, you must be connected to the Internet in order to activate it. Except on Windows, you then get a two week trial period including (on Macs) the optional multi-window upgrade. Since linotune can be demanding of the computer hardware, you should use the trial period to confirm that it runs well on the intended machine. To run multiple strobes simultaneously you should have a recent Mac or capable Windows machine.

After your trial period is over, you can still use linotune for free occasionally. A few minutes of free time accrue for each day that you don't use linotune; after a hiatus of a month, for instance, you can use linotune for two hours. If you need linotune more often, please consider purchasing a license.

The English instruction manual for linotune is included in the above Windows and Mac packages (but not in the mobile apps). It can be downloaded separately here, along with translations into other languages:

User's GuidePDF, 1.2MB

欢迎使用 PDF, 1.3MB

(in preparation)

(need help!)

Heartfelt thanks to the volunteers who helped translate this manual! If you see an error in one of these translations, or want to help translate this guide into your language, please get in touch.

Which platform is better? Except for constraints imposed by the hardware, such as small phone screens or poor audio, linotune should work equally well on all platforms. In practice, however, the Android port seems to cause disproportionally much trouble, so I cannot recommend it at this point. On the other 3 platforms, you'll be fine as long as you avoid the slowest hardware (1st generation iPads, underpowered notebooks, and such). Linotune is natively developed on a Mac, then ported to the other platforms, so the Mac and iOS versions tend to look a bit more polished. Since the user interface has not been designed for touchscreens, it's useable but suboptimal on mobile devices.

I keep getting "network error" even though I'm online. Due to necessary changes in the SSL infrastructure, older versions of linotune cannot communicate with the license server anymore. Press the 'i' button on the rear panel - if the pop-up window says "version 1.11" or even lower, download and install the current version of linotune to fix the problem.

I need to move to another device but it says "key already in use". Before you can activate your license on a new device, you must deactivate it on the old one by entering '9999-9999-9999' as license key there while the old device is online.

Select your platform:   Windows macOS Android

Upcoming improvements:

• iOS: ability to split the screen with other apps
• Windows: no longer crashes when there is no audio output
• Windows: now compatible with Kapersky Internet Security
• Windows: strobe will no longer get stuck off-screen
  when an external monitor is removed between sessions
• Android: less confusing license entry (no automatic hyphens)
• Android: pausing the strobe display no longer blanks it
• paused strobe display will be indicated by blinking signal LED
• improved tooltip placement for better visibility on touchscreens

Known issues:

• logic to detect touchscreens needs improvement
• the real function of the map button is not obvious
• paused strobe advances, shows all cents/Hz when resized
• Windows 7: one user reports strange "foggy" rendering
• Android: cannot select audio output - "last plugged in" wins
• Android: control panel inoperable after suspend/resume
• Android 8 on OnePlus phones: uses an ugly all-caps font
• Android 4 & 5: SSL certificate issues prevent activation

If you experience a problem not listed here, please let me know!

1.12 (12 May 2017) - urgent SSL update.

• new root certificates, required for secure communication
• strobe sensitivity is now always remembered between sessions
• 'just' button now correctly converts large ratios to semitones & cents
• macOS 10.10+: fixed erratic strobing of activation window
• iOS: now keeps the screen alive while running (from 1.12.2)
• Android ≥5: improved drawing of activation key & button (from 1.12.2)
• Android ≥6: better handling of missing permissions (from 1.12.2)
• Android ≥7: fixed an issue with secure communication (from 1.12.4)

1.11 (6 Feb 2016) - platform improvements.

• new Android port (public beta test)
• fixes various security-related issues on all platforms
• macOS 10.10+, iOS 9: fixes font issues that caused misplaced labels
• macOS 10.9+: adresses laser attachment driver conflict with Apple's new driver
• Android ≥6: complains when needed permissions are denied (from 1.11.2)
• Android ≥5 on Samsung devices: draws ♯ and ♭ characters (from 1.11.4)

1.9 (21 Oct 2014) - maintenance.

• double-click first strobe band in the middle
  to turn averaging of cents/Hz deviation on/off
• click on input level LED to pause the strobe display
• iOS: reduced microphone gain and iPhone dialog font size
• iOS 8: does not crash on launch anymore
  (though still has issues with orientation changes)
• macOS 10.7+: activation key is remembered for all users
• Windows: activation key is pre-selected for fast editing

1.8 (22 Jan 2014) - bugfixes.

• Windows: fixes flaw in the new machine identification method
• iOS: fixes crash-on-launch on Asian iOS 7 devices (missing fonts)
• improved error reporting for unsuccessful deactivation attempts

1.7 (18 Dec 2013) - maintentance.

• Windows: machine identification has changed; you must be online
  on first launch after upgrade for your license to be converted over
• Mac: the obsolete PPC (PowerPC) architecture is no longer supported

Improvements:

• support for the new laser attachment, the iOS version, and macOS 10.9
• Hz/cents deviation from target is now averaged over entire measurement
• user interface now supports scrolling (mouse wheel, trackpad, etc.)
• Windows: improved, stable machine identification (serial number)
• Mac: more efficient graphics engine puts less load on the CPU

Bugs fixed:

• crashed with no audio output device on the machine
• terminated silently on launch with no audio input device
• crashed when changing to a scale that ends before the current note
• strobe band editing: '+' button duplicated top band if offset was not adjusted
• scales: the A♭ in the "Corrette" temperament was off by several cents
• macOS 10.8 & 10.9: required re-activation on each launch
  
  macOS 10.7 (Lion):
• note dial: initial double-click had to be aimed exactly at mode wheel
• frequent hang-ups on rapid resizing (e.g., maximizing)
  
  Windows:
• concert pitch button label was laways initialized to default value
• no network connection without Microsoft Visual C Runtime installed

1.6 (9 June 2012) - maintenance.

Miscellaneous improvements:

• tweaked the user interface for the colorblind
• lowered the attack threshold needed for pitch tracking
• allow strobe band to turn green for lower input levels
• added confirmation dialog for first-time transposition
• added a just intonation scale for the Integral Hang
• Windows: scale/temperament selection uses native file dialog
• Windows: made the machine identification more reliable

Bugs fixed:

• macOS 10.7 (Lion): required re-activation on each launch
• state of 'map' button was not saved between sessions
• 'map' function did not map pitch pipe along with strobe bands
• right strobe band mouse clicks accumulated cents without ever changing note

1.5 (1 Mar 2012) - user interface resdesign, scale/temperament library.

Redesigned user interface:

• takes up less space, easily scalable - more room for the strobe
• new pitch dial: every note reachable by a single click or drag
• incorporates transposition control & indicates auto-detected notes
• can also define (and transpose) a modal pattern of allowed notes
• note up/down keys and auto pitch detection skip disallowed notes

Scale/temperament library:

• scales/temperaments loaded from file in a standard format - easy to add your own
• 30 temperaments included; over 4000 scales & temperaments available online
• can optionally map each strobe band to the nearest note in the scale
• custom note names; supports scales with fewer or more than 12 notes
• support for accidentals in note names: half, full, and double flats/sharps
• note names in English, German, solfège, sargam, Byzantine, Russian, Japanese

Other improvements:

• strobe sensitivity (roll speed) adjustable from 0.1x to 10x normal
• separate control for the precision of conversion to just intonation
• extended standard note range by an octave on each end, now C₀-B₉
• temporarily drops out of retro mode to display peak spectrum
• mouse-controllable scroll speed for all rocker switches
• documentation updated and expanded

Bugs fixed:

• a subtle bias that could cause auto pitch to go a semitone too high
• strobe band turned green at 0 cents even when tolerance set to "off"
• pitch of freshly added strobe bands initially displayed as "C_-1"

1.4 (08 Jan 2012) - rewrote core audio processing routines.

Key improvements to the strobe:

• increased stability & clarity of strobe display for problematic (noisy, beating, etc.) inputs
• can accurately compute & display pitch deviations of hundreds of cents
• rolling direction is now far easier to read for large deviations
• much better automatic pitch detection (even handles missing fundamentals!)
• made triggers (for auto pitch, pitch pipe, and single-shot
  spectrum) more sensitive to tones, more robust against noise

Key improvements to the spectrum:

• quadrupled the frequency resolution
• selecting a strobe band zooms the spectrum onto that band
• peak-oriented spectrum suppresses the distracting noise floor
• peaks are placed precisely (not interpolated!), to within a cent

Other improvements:

• extended note range by an octave, up to B8
• increased the size of on-screen note name labels
• more efficient algorithms reduce the CPU load
• frames-per-second (fps) are only displayed when too low
• replaced * mark with a frame drawn around the selected strobe band
• pop-up notice when trying to open a second strobe without multi-window upgrade
• give a more helpful notice when the free trial has expired
• keyboard control: enter/return now sets note to C, octave to 4

Bugs fixed:

• deleting all strobe bands crashed the program
• unsigned & 8-bit audio input was not handled correctly
• initial two cents/Hz deviation measurements were incorrect
• state of the "slave" button was not remembered between sessions
• sporadic incorrect initialisation of octave dial for octaves 6 and above
• incorrect spectrum frequency range and label (on mouse hover)
  when the bottom strobe band was not set to the fundamental
• one-second window some time after a pitch detection
  during which another pitch detection could not be triggered

1.3 (10 Nov 2011) - bugfix.

Fixes crticial bug in 1.2 which caused auto pitch recognition to always be an octave too high.

1.2 (06 Nov 2011) - user interface improvements.

Main improvements:

• support for the multi-window upgrade
• strobe now remembers its configuration between sessions
• display note names on the strobe bands whenever pitch changes
• allow strobe bands below the fundamental (subharmonics)
• can specify relative pitch of strobe bands in semitones & cents as well as in
  just intonation frequency ratios; can mix & convert between the two modes

Other improvements:

• added direct keyboard shortcuts for all front panel controls
• the concert-A pitch standard is now adjustable in 0.1 Hz increments
• offer a new version (with one-hour free trial) even when the license is expired
• added option to show the list of changes when offering a new software version
• updated the user's guide to reflect all changes

Bugs fixed:

• push buttons on rear panel were not in keyboard focus chain
• return key did not reset strobe band edit and tolerance controls
• pitch pipe indicator got misplaced when adding strobe bands below
• clicking on the right of a strobe band did not work for weaker signals

1.1 (10 Oct 2011) - first release available for purchase.

Main improvements:

• single-shot mode added to automtic pitch recognition and power spectrum
• improved, robust triggers for pitch recognition, power spectrum and beep mode

Other improvements:

• various internal efficiency enhancements
• improved ability to run without network connection
• beep mode now triggers when changing strobe band
• replaced the input level meter with a simple LED indicator
• strobe band frequency ratio: increased maximum value of numerator
• decreased the dead margin around strobe display and controls
• added a window displaying useful information about linotune
• refuse activation if another key is active on the same machine
• updated the user's guide to reflect changes; included table of just intonation ratios

Bugs fixed:

• software version was reported incorrectly
• license and activation screen was not shown on first start-up
• a change of license key was registered only when the 'Quit' button was hit, not 'Activate'
• top of strobe display frame frame was drawn too wide when there are many strobe bands
• there were numerical issues on pitch detection from perfectly noise-free digital sources

1.0 (28 Sep 2011) - initial public release, after a year of development. Free trial.