Android App for formatting guitar tab
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2026 1:21 pm
Hi everyone,
I've always been annoyed by the way guitar tab music is formatted on a tablet screen. Most tab is formatted in two, maybe 3 bars, which might be fine for a phone, but leaves a lot of wasted space on tablet screen.
I wrote this app for personal use, but I think this might useful for a wider audience. When you load a tab /txt file, the app attempts to parse the tab, and format it in a way that makes full use of the width of whatever device you are on. This layout will change dynamically when you increase / decrease the font, and each tab can have independent font sizes.
The lack of a defined standard for tab layouts make this really difficult task, but I think I have the beginnings of a really good parsing engine which works for 90% of my own 9,000+ library of guitar tab files.
It currently supports:
Formatting tabs for easier reading
Multiple page tabs open at the same time
Favourites for frequently used tabs
Reordering and managing favourites
Adjustable tab font size
Customisable display settings
Restoring your open tabs when you return to the app
No advertising
No account required
Your tab files remain on your device
I'm looking for a few guitarists/tab users to try it before I release it publicly.
I'm particularly interested in people who already have a collection of text-based tabs and can try the app with their own files. I'm interested in finding out how well it handles different tab formats and whether there are any annoying little usability issues I've missed. I'm hoping to gradually increase functionality, such as setlists, automatic scrolling, shared setlists etc
You don't need to be technically minded — I'd simply like you to use it normally and tell me what you think.
The app is currently available through a Google Play closed test, so if you'd like to try it, reply here or send me a message and I'll send you the test link.
I'm not looking for a review or a recommendation — honest feedback, including things that don't work well, is much more useful to me.
Thanks!
I've always been annoyed by the way guitar tab music is formatted on a tablet screen. Most tab is formatted in two, maybe 3 bars, which might be fine for a phone, but leaves a lot of wasted space on tablet screen.
I wrote this app for personal use, but I think this might useful for a wider audience. When you load a tab /txt file, the app attempts to parse the tab, and format it in a way that makes full use of the width of whatever device you are on. This layout will change dynamically when you increase / decrease the font, and each tab can have independent font sizes.
The lack of a defined standard for tab layouts make this really difficult task, but I think I have the beginnings of a really good parsing engine which works for 90% of my own 9,000+ library of guitar tab files.
It currently supports:
Formatting tabs for easier reading
Multiple page tabs open at the same time
Favourites for frequently used tabs
Reordering and managing favourites
Adjustable tab font size
Customisable display settings
Restoring your open tabs when you return to the app
No advertising
No account required
Your tab files remain on your device
I'm looking for a few guitarists/tab users to try it before I release it publicly.
I'm particularly interested in people who already have a collection of text-based tabs and can try the app with their own files. I'm interested in finding out how well it handles different tab formats and whether there are any annoying little usability issues I've missed. I'm hoping to gradually increase functionality, such as setlists, automatic scrolling, shared setlists etc
You don't need to be technically minded — I'd simply like you to use it normally and tell me what you think.
The app is currently available through a Google Play closed test, so if you'd like to try it, reply here or send me a message and I'll send you the test link.
I'm not looking for a review or a recommendation — honest feedback, including things that don't work well, is much more useful to me.
Thanks!