I’m on my tablet, it has no personal information on it like a phone number.
It look like the verification page when I sign in to my on line banking. Wanted to send a verification number to my phone
So I didn’t continue any further. Thought it was a little weird that a song book would need bank like security protocol and double verification features
Hi stitch, thanks for sharing this — totally understandable that it felt off!
Fretlist itself never asks for your phone number or sends verification codes. What you likely saw was Google’s own security check — when you sign in with Google on a new device, Google sometimes asks to verify your identity by sending a code to your phone. That’s Google Fretlist only offers two ways to sign in: Google Sign-In or a Magic Link sent to your email — no phone numbers, no passwords required. If you’d prefer to skip Google entirely, you can just enter your email and we’ll send you a sign-in link. No bank-level security needed for a songbook, I promise! 
Happy to answer any other questions.
Not to impreessed so far. Uploaded a song 3 time says it uploaded but doesn’t show up anywhere. The only song I can access is the test song.
So how do you access songs you’ve uploaded?
Hi stitch, sorry about the rough start! I looked into this and I think I know what happened.
When you select a file in the import area, it first appears as a tag — you then need to tap the Import button that shows up below it to actually process it. I know that’s not obvious enough, and I’m improving that flow based on your feedback.
There are a few ways to get songs into Fretlist:
- Import files — drop or browse for ChordPro, PDF, Word, OnSong, or text files in the import area on the dashboard, then tap Import
- Paste from clipboard — tap “paste from clipboard” below the import area, paste your ChordPro text, and it’ll create the song for you
- New Song — type or paste lyrics and chords manually (make sure to fill in the title at the top, or Save stays greyed out)
If you’re coming from SongBook, the easiest route is to export your songs as ChordPro files and import them via option 1 — Fretlist reads ChordPro natively.
Fretlist is still in early access so rough edges like this are exactly what I need to hear about. I’m a solo developer and I genuinely fix things fast — your feedback is already leading to improvements this week. Give it another shot and let me know how it goes!
OK, I’ll jump in. Just joined from the website on my iPad. Used my email (a gmail account). No phone number required.
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Thanks for jumping in, judi! Let me know if you need any help getting your songs in.
I like it.
Very elegant and intuitive.
The repsonsive design has good breakdown points
Editing is a breeze
love the instant transpose<->function (would be my main use actually)
My current setlist is a google sheet and no song sheets at all (because I memorize most)
I’m still working on some and this could become a good next level tool to have them loaded up quickly.
less hassle, more playing! 
Only thing I currently miss:
I learn chord structures before going into lyrics and i use my own song grids. A chord only export would be very useful for me but I understand, a very specific use case with little supporters
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Thanks Lieven! Really glad it clicks for you — hearing ‘elegant and intuitive’ from a JustinGuitar teacher means a lot.
Your chord grid approach is really interesting. Learning the structure first before diving into lyrics makes total sense — especially for memorising songs faster. Right now Fretlist is focused on chords-above-lyrics, but a chord-only view where you just see the structure without the lyrics is a cool idea. Noting that one down.
The transpose function being your main use — that’s great to hear. It’s one of those features that sounds simple but makes a huge difference when you need a different key in seconds.
Enjoy using it and keep the feedback coming!
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It’s great that you are responding quickly to feedback and are open to ideas, but can I make a suggestion… KISS.
One thing I really liked about your app was that (for me) it had zero learning curve. It was clear and simple and I could immediately start using it. I wouldn’t like to see it get bogged down with a lot of extra options and features.
Also don’t forget that everything new you add is another potential crash-point. And I assume you would still like a bit of free time to play the guitar as well. 
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Ha — couldn’t agree more. KISS is the whole point why I started Fretlist. Every feature I add has to pass one test: does this make the core experience better or does it just make the app more complicated?
And yes, I do still play guitar. Sometimes.
But for now it’s sleep first. My kids will probably wake me up early tomorrow, haha.
Small update for anyone following along.
Since bulk import went live a couple weeks ago, the platform has gone from just under 7,000 songs to over 10,000 imported. That’s wild to watch, and the really valuable part is what came with all those imports: real libraries, real edge cases, and a steady stream of feedback.
A lot of that feedback went straight into tightening the parser. If you tried import early on and hit something rough, it’s in much better shape now.
A few things worth mentioning:
Matching titles — when you bring in a messy library, duplicates are almost inevitable. There’s now a feature that spots them and helps you clean things up, so your collection stays tidy after a big import.
Transposable ASCII tabs — a few of you use tabs alongside chord sheets, and one thing that kept coming up was “the chords transpose but the tabs don’t.” Now they do. It came directly out of conversations here and over email.
Share a song, no signup needed — send any song as a link, and whoever opens it can view it and use Play Mode without creating an account. Good for sending a chord sheet to a bandmate before rehearsal, sharing with a student, or just firing a song at someone who wants to jam along.
Play Mode got quieter upgrades too — smoother auto-scroll, cleaner controls, a snappy editable metronome.
And to circle back to @telemann1’s KISS nudge from a couple weeks ago — I took it seriously. None of these are bolted-on extras. They’re the core experience getting sharper. The test every time: does this make the main flow better, or does it just add a button? If it’s the second one, it doesn’t ship.
Thanks again to everyone who’s been sending files, flagging bugs, and asking questions. @Mustela stress-testing with 4,224 songs, @dmisen pushing me deep into ChordPro, @mundeli for the UI-feedback, @LievenDV and @judi for jumping in, @stitch for catching the Google sign-in confusion, @telemann1 for the KISS reality check and spreading the word — this thread has genuinely shaped the product.
If you haven’t been back in a while, now’s a good moment. And if you’re reading this and haven’t tried it yet, it’s still free in Early Access and over here.
As always, you can always export everything to any format. No lock-in. What’s yours is yours.
Cheers,
DJ
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How do you export from SongbookPro so that I can import?
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Hey Stuart. I wrote migration guides for SongbookPro and OnSong. Let me know if you need any help!
Transposing tabs as well? Now that’s a feature!
I’ve been using it, for just a few song but usage is a BREEZE.
simple and intuitive library, slick transposing, …
The philophy to aim for a smooth, hassle free experience is really showing.
It transitions well from desktop to phone as well.
Ok, that must be quite te repertoire pyramid there 
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Thanks for that. I get to the Imports part but can’t see anywhere to de-select the songs I don’t want importing.
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Ha, cool huh? 
Have to say that @Mustela chased me multiple times for that haha.
Thanks so much! I really appreciate that. A lot of time’s gone into this 
. The core, a truly platform independent app, has always been the starting point.
Backups are migrated just as you exported them. But you can remove songs after the import. There’s a tool in Fretlist that checks for Matching Titles. That catches all potential duplicates and lets you delete them. Try it out!
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Oh, that’s interesting!
At the moment, I use the smartchord app on mobile which has lots of features and mainly get’s me the sheets from ultimate guitar users, is it the same for your chord sheets?
Good question! No, Fretlist doesn’t pull directly from Ultimate Guitar, it’s “bring your own songs” rather than search-and-find. Copy/pasting a sheet from UG takes about 5 seconds and from then on it’s yours to transpose, edit, and organise.
Honestly, Fretlist isn’t trying to be everything. SmartChord packs a lot in, and that works great for a lot of people. Fretlist is the opposite bet: a clean library that syncs across all your devices, transposes in a tap, and stays out of the way. Less app, more songs. If that’s the kind of tool you’re after, give it a spin.
Curious what you end up thinking!
Heck yeah on the transposable ascii tabs! One of those sneaky features that is truly helpful!
Ha! My wife and I share a song library and she uses the songbook from Jim’s Book (ozbcoz.com) in her uke jams a lot. What I play out of there is a tiny portion, and most of what I play I entered into our songbook myself.
I am currently out of town for the weekend so I won’t be able to play with it till I get home but I’m looking forward to it!
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