Caller's Compendium

FAQ & troubleshooting

Quick answers to the questions that come up most, and fixes for the snags people hit along the way. If your question isn't here, the guide it belongs to probably has more — this page links out to each one.

Finding your way around these words. On-screen buttons and screens are written in bold — like Settings, General, and Collection. The first time a dance term appears it links to the Glossary, so you can get a plain-language definition without losing your place.

The basics

Do I need an account or an internet connection?

No account, and no connection for everyday use. Caller's Compendium is local-first: your collection, programs, and settings live on your own device, and the app works fully offline. The only time it reaches the internet is when you choose to import dances from an online source such as The Caller's Box or ContraDB.

Where is my data stored?

On your device, and only on your device. Nothing is uploaded to a server and there's no cloud sync happening behind the scenes. That's great for privacy and offline use — and it means you keep the safety copy. See Backup & portability for how.

What does it cost? Is it really open source?

It's free and open source, licensed under AGPL-3.0. You'll find the version, license, and a link to the source under Settings › About.

Which devices does it run on?

Desktop (Linux, macOS, Windows) and mobile (Android, iOS/iPadOS). Desktop and Android builds are on the Releases page; iPhone and iPad go out via TestFlight to invited testers. See the Installation guide for step-by-step instructions.

Everyday tasks

How do I move everything to a new phone or computer?

Export a backup on the old device, move the file across, and restore it on the new one. It's a clean round trip — see Backup & portability.

How do I change the role names (Larks/Robins, Leads/Follows, and so on)?

That's what a dialect is for. Pick or build one under Settings › Dialect, and the app shows your words everywhere. See Dialect.

How do I make the text bigger for calling on stage?

Perform mode sizes text to be read at arm's length. Leave Auto-size on to fit each card to the screen, or use A− / A+ to set the size yourself — which switches auto-size off and remembers your size for next time. See Perform mode, and Accessibility for more ways to adjust text, contrast, and input.

How do I share a single dance or a program?

Open the dance or program and use its share/export options — you can share as text or export a PDF. A program also offers Share (program + dances), which bundles the set list together with every dance it uses into one file — dances and all, not just a list of titles. The recipient can open that file directly (AirDrop, "Open with", or a share intent), which takes them to the import review screen already loaded with it, or they can import it from Settings › Import. Either way nothing lands in their collection until they confirm. This is separate from a full backup. See Share, print & export.

Where can I read these guides on my phone at the gig?

They're already in the app. Guide is one of the four destinations in the navigation, alongside Collection, Programs, and Settings, and it holds this whole set of guides — bundled in, so it works with no signal in a church hall. Links between guides work there just as they do here, and you can select text to copy. Images and the search box are the two things it doesn't have, so head for the guide list to find your way around.

How do I get updates?

The app can check for a newer version itself. Open Settings › Updates and choose Check for updates any time; on desktop it can download and install the update for you, and on phones and tablets it links you to the download. Nothing updates automatically unless you turn on Check automatically, and you can opt into pre-release builds with the Beta channel switch. See Settings.

Troubleshooting

Why can't I find a dance I imported?

A few things to check:

  • Clear your filters and search. An active filter or leftover search text in Collection & search can hide dances that are really there. Reset them and look again.
  • Check the wording. Your active dialect changes how role names and figures read, so a dance may not look exactly like the words you searched for.
  • Confirm the import finished. Imports add dances to your collection; if you didn't confirm the review step, nothing was added. Run it again from Settings › General › Import dances — see Imports & migration.
  • Sort by recently added. Change the collection sort order to bring your newest dances to the top.

I deleted a dance by accident — can I get it back?

Usually, yes. Deleted dances are kept for a while before they're removed for good — by default 30 days (adjustable under Settings › General › Keep deleted dances for). You can restore them within that window; see Collection & search. To avoid slips in the first place, turn on Confirm before delete under Settings › General.

An imported dance reads differently than I expected.

That's almost always your dialect at work — it rewords role names and phrasing to match your style. You can switch how a dance reads while it's open, or change your active dialect under Settings › Dialect. See Dialect.

On-screen movement is distracting or uncomfortable.

Turn on Reduce motion under Settings › General to dampen non-essential animation. More comfort options are covered in Accessibility.

I want to start over, or something looks wrong after an update.

Your data is safe across updates, and the app keeps its own recovery snapshot before major internal changes. If you need to reset a device deliberately, restoring a known-good backup replaces everything with that copy — see Backup & portability. (Restoring can't be undone, so export a fresh backup first if there's anything you haven't saved.)

Where to go next