ShowDeck Guide

Getting started

1. Add songs to your library. Open the Library tab and tap +. Give the song a name, artist, key, and tempo. These details appear on the performance screen.
2. Add audio and MIDI tracks. Inside a song, tap Add audio track or Add MIDI track to import your files. ShowDeck reads each audio file's length at import and uses it for the setlist total. Mono files, like a click or cue track, are automatically set to play out a single channel.
3. Build a setlist. In the Library tab, create a setlist and add songs. Drag to reorder. Each song can start immediately, after a countdown, or wait for you to press Play (a manual pause).
4. Go to the Performance tab. Tap the setlist name to load it. On iPad and Mac, the right panel shows the current song in large text with your transport controls.

Getting files in

Besides importing from inside a song, you can send files to ShowDeck from anywhere:

• AirDrop audio, MIDI, or video files to your iPad or iPhone and choose ShowDeck.
• Open in ShowDeck from another app's share sheet.
• From a Mac: connect your iPad or iPhone, select it in Finder, and drag files onto ShowDeck under the Files tab.

They land in the Inbox. A banner at the top of the Library shows how many files are waiting. Tap a file to make a new song from it, or add it to an existing song; ShowDeck works out whether it's an audio, MIDI, or video track. Adding a file moves it out of the Inbox, so nothing is stored twice. Swipe to delete anything you don't want.

Audio routing

Each audio track can go to a specific output and channel on your audio interface. Assign it once and ShowDeck remembers it.

• Assign an output: in the song editor, tap an audio track and choose from the Output device picker. Connected interfaces appear automatically.
• Set the channel: choose which stereo pair or mono channel the track plays from. The picker shows every channel your interface has.

Stereo vs. mono: a track set to a stereo pair (for example "Ch 3-4") plays across both channels of the pair; a mono file on a stereo pair is centered across both. A track set to Mono plays out exactly one channel. Use Mono for clicks and cue tracks.

Set up before you plug in: in Settings > Track Defaults, set a minimum channel count. The channel picker then stays available even when your interface isn't connected, so you can do your routing at home.

Tip: Outputs ShowDeck has seen before appear in the picker with a status dot, even when offline. Your routing is saved and reactivates the moment you plug back in.

The mixer

Open the Mixer from the song editor for a channel strip per track with volume, pan, solo, and mute.

• Faders grab from the thumb. Touching near a fader does nothing; put your finger on the handle and drag. No more yanking a level to 100% while trying to scroll.
• Master fader. Pinned to the right edge, it controls overall output across all interface channels, applies live during playback, and is remembered between launches.

MIDI

ShowDeck can play a MIDI file with each song and send program changes when a song starts. MIDI runs on the same clock as the audio, so they stay together from the first bar to the last.

• Add a MIDI track: tap Add MIDI track in the song editor and choose a standard MIDI file (.mid). Set the destination device, channel, and transpose if needed.
• Program changes: set an outgoing program change in the song editor and ShowDeck sends it the moment the song starts. You can also set an incoming trigger to jump to a song from external hardware.
• MIDI sources: in Settings > MIDI Routing, each connected source has an enable toggle. Turn one off when a controller on stage shouldn't be able to trigger anything.
• Preferred destination: tap the star next to a destination to make it the default for new MIDI tracks.
• MIDI Learn: assign Play/Stop, Next, and Previous to your hardware. Tap LEARN on an action, then press a button on your controller. Note On, CC, and Program Change messages are supported.
• Offline destinations: MIDI devices ShowDeck has seen appear with a grey dot when disconnected. Assignments are restored when they reconnect.

Video

Each song can carry one video, such as lyrics, visuals, or a backdrop for the screen behind the band.

• Add it: in the song editor, under Video, tap Import video.
• Mute video audio is on by default, because your sound comes from the audio tracks. Turn it off if the video's own soundtrack should play.
• Loop repeats the video until the song stops, which is useful for short background clips.
• Start Offset skips into the video before it plays, up to five minutes.
• Fit Mode: Fit shows the whole frame, Fill crops to fill the screen, and Stretch fills it without cropping.

On stage: on iPad and Mac, the video takes the place of the stage panel while a song with video is playing. Tap the expand button for full screen. On iPhone, a small video bar sits above the setlist; you can hide it or go full screen from there.

Projector or TV: on iPad or iPhone, connect an HDMI adapter or use the AirPlay button on the video panel. The video goes to the big screen while your controls stay on the device, and an External badge confirms it.

Band Sync

Band Sync connects the band's iPads, iPhones, and Macs over local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. No internet required. One device hosts; the others follow along.

1. Host: in the Performance tab, tap ⋯ > Band Sync > Host session.
2. Join: on each other device, open Band Sync > Join session and tap the host when it appears.
3. Set permissions: on the host, each member has Play/Stop and Next/Previous controls. Presets (Viewer, Performer, Band Leader) set a common configuration in one tap. The host's playback settings govern the whole session.
4. Share the set: tap Push setlist to all to send the current setlist to everyone connected.

Band Memory: save your band as a named configuration, such as "Church Group" or "Cover Band." While it's active, members who join are remembered with their name and permissions, and get them back automatically next time. Switching bands re-applies that band's roles. Swipe a remembered member to remove them.

Automatic reconnection: if a member switches to another app mid-session, iOS drops the connection, but ShowDeck reconnects as soon as they come back. A "Reconnecting…" pill shows on the Perform screen while it happens.

The performance screen

On iPad, and on Mac with the window wide enough, the setlist sits on the left and a large stage panel on the right. Drag the divider to set your own balance.

• Now Playing at the top in the largest text that fits, with artist and key beneath it.
• Up Next directly below, in the second-largest text.
• Play/Stop is blue when ready and red while playing. There's no pause: stopping and restarting always begins a song from the top.
• The setlist scrolls automatically to keep the active song in view.

On iPhone, the transport bar spans the bottom of the screen, with large, widely spaced buttons.

Manual pauses: when the next song is set to wait, it loads and holds until you press Play. While it's holding you can skip ahead or pick a different song, which makes trimming the set on the fly painless.

Playback settings (Settings > Performance):

• Tapping a song starts playback (off by default). When off, tapping a song only loads it, so a mis-tap mid-show can't start the wrong song.
• Next/Previous starts playback (on by default). The Next and Previous buttons start the song they land on.
• Keep screen awake stops the screen dimming or locking while ShowDeck is open. Normal auto-lock returns when you switch apps. It uses more battery, so run on power for a full set.

Setlist length: the header shows the total of song lengths plus countdowns. If the set has open-ended manual pauses, the total shows a "+" (for example "47:30+").

Backup, restore, and sharing

A ShowDeck backup is a single .showdeck file holding your songs, setlists, every audio, MIDI, and video file, and your settings: routing, known outputs and MIDI devices, MIDI Learn assignments, saved bands, playback preferences, and master volume. It's how you move your whole rig to a new iPad or restore after a reinstall.

• Back up: in the Library, tap the share menu at the top right and choose Back Up Everything…. Save the file to Files, AirDrop it, or send it wherever you keep backups.
• Restore: choose Restore From Backup… from the same menu and pick the file. You can also AirDrop a .showdeck file to the device and tap it in the Inbox. ShowDeck shows how many songs and setlists it found; tap Add to Library to bring them in.
• Share one setlist: in the Setlists list, swipe right on a setlist and tap Export. You get a .showdeck file with that setlist, its songs, and their media, ready to send to a bandmate. It doesn't include your settings.

Each device keeps its own Band Sync identity, so restoring a backup on a second device doesn't make the two look like the same device to the band.

Soundcheck and diagnostics

Both live in Settings > Diagnostics.

• Output Channel Test: a numbered pad with one button per output channel. Tap a channel to play a test tone on that output, perfect for "which jack is this?" at soundcheck. Tap again to stop.
• Diagnostics log: a record of routing decisions, Band Sync events, and errors. Use the copy or share buttons to include it when you report a problem.

Still stuck? Get support.