Auto-Key Mobile Help Page

Searching for a Musical Key

Make sure the music playing in the background is reasonably loud and clear. From the main screen, tap the Auto-Key logo to start audio listening (the colored Circle of Fifth wheel will spin). The app will capture 3 to 10 seconds of audio, then display the detected key.
 

Getting Results

After successfully listening to a music sample the app returns the most likely musical key in large colored fonts in the app result screen.
 

Most Likely Key and Alternate (Relative) Key

The most likely key is displayed in its circle of fifth color. In addition the app displays the relative key (for example A minor is the relative key for C major as they share the same scale).
 

No Results

If the audio capture is not loud or clear enough, or if the app algorithm is unable to identify a key, a “no result” screen is shown. You can retry the key search by tapping the “try again” button in the “no result” screen. You can retry as many times as necessary.
 

Verifying the result with the in-app keyboard

You can check the result by playing the in-app piano keyboard. To launch the keyboard, tap the small keyboard icon at the bottom of the result screen. 

The keyboard will appear and display colored dots on each of the piano keys in the detected scale. To dismiss the keyboard, tap the “x” button on the top right corner.
 

Sending the key to an Auto-Tune plug-in

If you have a DAW on your computer and you’ve purchased an Auto-Tune license or subscription, you can send the musical key from  the Auto-Key Mobile app to an Auto-Tune plug-in running on your DAW. This allows Auto-Tune to use the key found by the mobile app for pitch correction.

To send the key, you must be logged into your Auto-Tune account on the Auto-Key mobile app on your phone (see the account management section below). 

Once you’re signed in, tap the “send to Auto-Tune” text on top of the result screen. A window will pop up displaying the available computers linked to your Auto-Tune account. 

Select the computer that you want to send the key to and tap “confirm.” The key will be sent and you’ll see a confirmation message. The key is sent over the internet and takes a fraction of a second to appear in your Auto-Tune plug-in. 

If you’re logged in but have no active Auto-Tune licenses, you will not be able to send the key. Similarly if there is no Auto-Tune instance running on your computer, the key will not be received.
 

Account Management

The Auto-Key mobile app is free, but we ask you to log in or create an Auto-Tune account to use it. No purchase is required. 

To log in, tap the user icon on the top right corner of the app home screen and enter your email address and password. Or tap onto the “create an account” link to create an account. 

Once you authenticate with your email and password you’ll see the account welcome screen displaying your active Auto-Tune subscription(s) if any. On this screen you can also see the computer names associated with your subscription.

You can also tap on the “manage my account” link to view your other products and other info related to your Auto-Tune products.
 

Compatibility

New! Auto-Key Mobile is now supported on iOS and Android devices.

On Windows, the "Send to Auto-Tune" feature requires that your computer be running the latest version of Auto-Tune Central ( Antares Central version 1.4.7 or later).  MacOS users will need Auto-Tune Central or Antares Central 1.4.4 or later to use the "Send to Auto-Tune" feature.

To update the Windows version of Auto-Tune Central, please download the Auto-Tune Central standalone installer here. For macOS users, please download and install the latest version of your plug-in to update Auto-Tune Central. 

For more information, please see our compatibility page here. 

FAQs

 
Q: What is the Auto-Key Mobile App for?
A: Auto-Key allows you to find the key of music playing around you wherever you are.
Tap on the Auto-Key logo in the home screen to find the key. The app also lets you share the musical key with an instance of the Auto-Tune plug-in running on your DAW on your computer.
 
Q: Is the app free?
A: Yes, the app is free. We only ask you to create an account with Auto-Tune. No purchase required.
 
Q: What is the gray-colored key shown on the right of the main key result?
A: That is the relative key associated with the main detected key. For instance if C major is the main result A minor is the relative (or alternate) key. Since the detected and relative keys share the same scale, either of the two might be the desired result.
 
Q: Why do I get a “No result” screen?
A: This happens when the volume of the music is too low, or when the environment is noisy or when the music changes key rapidly. Some music does not lend itself easily to key detection, for example music with dominant percussion or drums, or without much harmonic content.
 
Q: What is the "Send to Auto-Tune" feature?
A: This feature lets you share the musical key with an instance of an Auto-Tune plug-in running on your computer's DAW. On Windows, this feature requires that you have the latest version of Auto-Tune Central or Antares Central (version 1.4.7) running on your computer. To update, please download and install Auto-Tune Central here. 

MacOS users will need Auto-Tune Central or Antares Central 1.4.4 or later to use the "Send to Auto-Tune" feature. On Mac, Auto-Tune Central can be updated by installing the latest version here.
 
Q: Where can I purchase an Auto-Tune subscription?
A: You can pick one up here. 
 
 

Troubleshooting

 
Q: The key returned by the app is not right
A: Try increasing the music volume (without clipping the audio) and reducing ambient noise.

Also remember the musical key may change in the course of a song, so if you capture different portions of the same track you may get different results. Make sure you’re capturing the section of the song you are interested in.
 
Q: I keep getting a "No result" screen
A: Try increasing the music volume, bringing the device closer to the music source, or reducing the background noise. Some music genres don’t lend themselves easily to key detection - such as music with prevalent percussion and drums, or without a lot of harmonic content.
 
Q: The Auto-Tune plug-in does not show the key I sent with my phone
A: Please double check the following:

• Both your phone and your computer have a stable internet connection
• You’ve installed the latest version of Auto-Tune onto your computer
• Make sure you have sent the key to the correct computer name (the list of available computers appears in the app welcome screen after logging in).

 
Q: I can't login using my Auto-Tune email and password
A: Please click on “Forgot Password” to receive a password reset link via email