Tide Support

Tide is an app for iPhone (iOS 17 or later). Answers to the most common questions are below; for anything else, email us.

The app follows your iPhone’s language (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, or Italian); the labels below are the English ones. The basic gestures are explained in the app: tap the icon at the top left to open the menu, then Help > Gestures.

1. I can’t hear anything

• When the app opens, the sound starts on its own. If it doesn’t, tap anywhere on the screen: the sound starts at that tap.
• If you see “Sound unavailable: tap Play again.”, tap Play again.
• After a phone call, or after you switch apps, the sound comes back on its own. If it doesn’t, tap the screen.
• Volume: turn it up with the buttons on the side of your iPhone. Silent mode doesn’t mute Tide.
• A Bluetooth device (headphones, earbuds, or a speaker) may be connected, in which case the sound goes there. Check the audio output in Control Center.
• Still nothing? Go to Menu > Offline and updates > Reset sound. If that doesn’t help, close the app (swipe it up in the App Switcher) and open it again.

The sound lags behind

Bluetooth headphones and speakers add a delay. For live playing, your iPhone’s speaker or wired headphones work better.

2. Using the Halloween theme

To turn it on, go to Menu > Settings > Appearance > Halloween. Every button turns into a 3D Halloween object, and a troupe of characters moves onto the pad: they squish under your finger, sing along, follow your finger with their eyes, and sometimes break into a dance. Night falls, and a moonlit graveyard appears around them.

• Choose the drum characters: under Appearance, tap one of the four boxes (Kick, Snare, Hat, Perc) to switch to the next character. The characters are Pumpkin, Voodoo, Ghost, Calavera, Mummy, Monster, and Skeleton.
• They take turns (off until you turn it on): every so often, one of them goes back to its grave and another one climbs out to take its place.
• Stop a dance: tap the character that’s dancing. With Reduce Motion on, the characters don’t dance.
• Switch back to the usual theme: Appearance > Dark or Light.

3. Exporting a song

Go to Menu > Export, or use the Export section in the Song view. The available formats:

• WAV mix: the song exactly as you hear it, effects and recorded tweaks (automation) included (24-bit, 48 kHz WAV)
• Separate tracks (ZIP): one WAV file per instrument (kick, snare, hat, perc, bass, lead) plus the mix
• MIDI: the drum, bass, and lead notes, to keep working in other music software
• Project file: to reopen the project in Tide

Separate tracks and MIDI require Tide Pro; the app tells you when you export (see section 7). If the arrangement is turned on (Song view), the export follows your sections; otherwise, you choose how many times the loop repeats. When the file is ready, tap Share to save it to Files or send it with AirDrop, Messages, Mail, or another app.

To capture what happens on screen (the pad, the ink, the characters), use the iOS screen recording from Control Center: the video lands in your photos. In the free version, it carries a watermark (see section 8).

4. Backing up and finding your projects

Your projects are saved automatically on your iPhone as you play. To find them, go to Menu > My projects. Tap a project to open it; its “…” button lets you rename, duplicate, export, or delete it.

Making a backup

Go to Menu > My projects > Back up all projects. This creates a single file, dated today, that holds all your projects. Save it to Files, ideally in iCloud Drive so it isn’t only on your iPhone. Do this from time to time, and always before deleting the app or switching to a new iPhone.

Restoring, or moving to a new iPhone

Install Tide, then go to Menu > My projects > Import and choose your backup. Your projects come right back. A single project file imports the same way, and you can also tap one in Files, Mail, or Messages to open it in Tide.

Good to know

• Deleting the app deletes its projects from your iPhone, so export a backup first.
• Backups hold your projects only. The WAV, ZIP, and MIDI files you’ve exported are already wherever you saved or sent them.
• Projects don’t sync between devices automatically. Use a backup to move them.
• Tide project files and backups are sealed: they only open in Tide, and a file that’s been altered is rejected. To use your music elsewhere, export it as WAV or MIDI.
• The free version keeps up to 5 projects in the app; Tide Pro removes that limit (see section 7).

5. Setting up haptics

Go to Menu > Settings > Sound & play > Haptics. There are three options:

• No (the default): no haptics
• While playing: your iPhone vibrates with the drum hits you play with your finger (and those a held finger repeats)
• Always: during playback too, without touching the screen

Your iPhone vibrates with the drums, each sound in its own way: Kick, a short, dull thump; Snare, drier and lighter; Perc, a soft tap; Hat, barely, only on its accents. Hits close together make one, never more than eight per second, and a track that’s muted in the Mix doesn’t vibrate. The Try it: Kick, then Snare button lets you feel the difference.

Not feeling anything? Make sure System Haptics is turned on in Settings > Sounds & Haptics.

6. Saving battery

The ink, glass, and characters are demanding on your iPhone’s graphics processor. To save battery, turn off Fluid under your fingers in Menu > Settings > Appearance > Effects.

7. Tide Pro: buying, restoring, managing, and canceling

Tide is free to download and needs no account. The free version includes 3 styles and a selection of the basic sounds, the default ink and glass (the other looks can be previewed), up to 5 projects, and screen recordings with a watermark. Tide Pro unlocks everything: all styles and sounds, the separate tracks and MIDI exports, unlimited projects, screen recordings without a watermark, and the sounds and features we add over time. The current offers and prices are shown on the Tide Pro screen in the app (Menu > Tide Pro). The terms are in our Terms of Use.

Buying

• With the App Store (every country): Tide Pro is available as a subscription (yearly or monthly) or as a one-time purchase that lasts forever. You choose on the Tide Pro screen; Apple handles the payment using the payment method on your Apple Account. We never see your payment details. If you have the one-time purchase, you don’t need a subscription.
• On the web (United States and European Union only): in the United States, the Tide Pro screen usually offers the web payment first, and Pay with the App Store stays available just below. In the European Union, each offer has two buttons side by side, App Store and On the web; before the payment page opens, iOS shows an information sheet from Apple. In other countries, Tide Pro is sold only with the App Store.
• How a web payment works: the payment page is Stripe’s, and Link, a Stripe service, sells Tide Pro to you and emails you the receipt. When you’ve paid, tap Back to Tide. The app shows “Confirming the payment…”, then “Thank you! Tide Pro is active.” as soon as Stripe has confirmed the payment, usually within seconds. The terms are in section 5 of our Terms of Use.
• In the European Union, buying on the web needs iOS 26.2 or later, isn’t offered under 13, and goes through a parental gate from 13 to 17. Otherwise, the App Store is always there.
• Introductory offer: if an introductory offer is shown on the App Store, each person can use it only once. On the web, the offer’s terms are shown on the payment page. When the offer period ends, the subscription renews at the standard price shown on the purchase screen.

New iPhone or reinstalled the app?

• Bought with the App Store: open the Tide Pro screen and tap Restore purchases. Make sure you’re signed in with the same Apple Account: your purchases belong to your Apple Account, not to one iPhone.
• Bought on the web, same iPhone: after you reinstall the app, Tide Pro usually comes back by itself.
• Bought on the web, another iPhone: there’s no account or password. On the Tide Pro screen, tap I bought on the web, type the email address you used to buy, then tap Get the link. If there’s a current purchase with that address, an email arrives within a few minutes. Tap its link on the iPhone where Tide is installed: Tide opens and Tide Pro comes back. The link works once, for one hour; if it has expired, ask for another one. Opening it on a computer doesn’t use it up.
• Up to 5 iPhones: a web purchase works on up to 5 iPhones. An iPhone that hasn’t checked in for 60 days frees its place by itself. If you see “This purchase is already used on 5 iPhones. Write to support@tidemusic.app.”, write to us and we’ll free the places of the iPhones you no longer use.
• “Payment not confirmed yet”: if you paid on the web but Tide Pro hasn’t turned on after a few minutes, tap I bought on the web and get the link by email. If that doesn’t work, write to us with the email address you used to buy.

Managing or canceling a subscription

• Bought with the App Store: open Settings on your iPhone, tap your name, then tap Subscriptions.
• Bought on the web: tap Manage subscription on the Tide Pro screen, or go to app.link.com and sign in with the email address you used to buy. The link in your Link receipt also works.
• If you cancel, you keep Tide Pro until the end of the current billing period. Deleting the app doesn’t cancel a subscription. A one-time purchase has nothing to cancel.

Refunds and receipts

• Bought with the App Store: refunds go through Apple. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple emails you a receipt after each purchase, and you can also find it in the purchase history of your Apple Account.
• Bought on the web: Link emails you a receipt for each payment, and your orders are in your Link account. For a refund, contact Link’s support (support.link.com) or write to us. In the European Union, you can withdraw within 14 days of receiving access (see our Terms of Use).

8. The free version’s watermark

In the free version, when you record your screen with iOS (Control Center > Screen Recording), a small Tide logo appears on the video as a watermark. With Tide Pro, there’s no watermark: your screen recordings come out clean.

9. Releasing or selling your music

Yes, you can. What you create with Tide is yours, and you can publish it and use it commercially, including with Tide’s built-in sounds and with videos of the app. The few reservations (don’t redistribute Tide’s sounds as such, and don’t use the Tide name as an endorsement) are in our Terms of Use.

10. Learning how we handle your data

Your projects, sounds, and settings stay on your iPhone. There’s no account, no ads, and no tracking. App Store purchases go through Apple; for purchases made on the web, Link (Stripe) handles the payment, and our purchase server keeps only what it needs to unlock Tide Pro on your iPhones. Read the full Privacy Policy.