User Guide

Quick Start

New to Arco? Here is the whole flow in four steps.

That is everything you need to get going. Want more on any step? Use the contents below.

Getting Started

Arco works on iPhone, iPad, and the desktop web app. Your lessons, uploaded audio, chats, Journal, and Spaces sync across devices. Sheet music photos stay on the device or browser where you added them; local audio availability can differ between devices.

To begin, create a free account or sign in with Apple, Google, or an email and password. Your free account works right away, and there is nothing to pay for to start using Arco.

From there you can start in two ways: record a new lesson, or open chat and ask a broader music question. Chat works from day one. Once you add lessons, Arco can also answer using your own lesson notes and recordings.

Recording and Importing

Tap Record, save when you are done, and Arco turns the audio into clear lesson notes with accurate music terminology.

Recording on iPhone or iPad

1. Open Arco and tap Record.
2. Choose a Space if this lesson belongs to one, or create a new Space while recording.
3. Set the device aside and focus on the lesson.
4. Tap Stop when the lesson is over, then save.

If you need a break, you can pause and resume during recording, or discard a take you do not want to keep.

You do not need to keep Arco open while recording. Lock the screen, switch apps, or read from another app on iPad; recording continues in the background.

You can record without internet on iPhone and iPad. The recording saves on the device and uploads when you reconnect. After stopping, let Arco finish saving and follow its upload status until it confirms that it is safe to leave. Once handed off, processing continues in the background.

Arco handles lessons in many languages automatically. Speak naturally; there is nothing to configure.

Recording on desktop web

Open Library, click Record, and allow microphone access when your browser asks. You can record into a Space from the web app too. Keep the recording tab open and the device awake during capture and until saving finishes. Browser recording does not have the background guarantees of the native iPhone/iPad app. After saving finishes, processing continues in the background.

If recording is interrupted, reopen Arco in the same browser and account. When Unsaved recording recovered appears, use Retry Save to upload the audio that was saved locally. Recovery may be incomplete and depends on the browser retaining the draft. Avoid clearing browser storage while recovering a recording.

Importing older lessons

Use Import to bring in older audio files or transcripts from the mobile app or desktop web app. Arco accepts common audio files such as .m4a, .mp3, and .wav (plus .webm on the web), up to 100 MB per file, along with transcripts you paste, type, or upload as text.

During import, set the lesson date and choose a Space if the lesson belongs in one. You can also create a new Space during the flow or move the lesson into a Space later.

On iPhone and iPad, another app may offer Open in Arco or Copy to Arcofor a supported audio file. This opens Arco's import form so you can confirm the date and Space. Available actions vary by source app; if Arco is not offered, save the audio to Files and choose Import inside Arco.

Have a backlog to bring in? On the web you can import several lessons at once, up to three audio files in a batch, and set the date and Space for each one before Arco processes them.

Reviewing Lessons

Each processed lesson gives you Lesson Notes, a transcript, audio player, and review tools in one place.

Lesson Notes

Arco creates structured Lesson Notes for what happened in the lesson: topics covered, advice given, exercises assigned, repertoire discussed, and moments worth revisiting. It is meant to feel like the notes you wish you had taken, with the musical detail preserved.

Lesson Notes remixes

You can generate optional Short, Youth, and Parent versions when another format would be more useful.

Translating Lesson Notes

1. Open the lesson and choose the Full, Short, Youth, or Parent version you want.
2. Open the language control and select an available language.
3. Choose Original to return to the source language.

Translation keeps the original notes and applies to the version you selected. Copying, sharing, or exporting Lesson Notes uses the version and language currently displayed. It does not translate the audio or transcript. After editing or reprocessing the original, Arco may need to generate a fresh remix or translation.

Transcript

The transcript is useful when you want the exact words, a specific explanation, or a detail that did not make it into the Lesson Notes. When the recording is available, tap any timestamp in the transcript to jump straight to that moment in the audio.

Audio player

Use the waveform to jump through the recording, zoom in on smaller passages, adjust speed from 0.5x to 2.5x, set A-B loops, and add bookmarks for important moments in Advanced Player. In Arco 1.2.20 or later on iPhone/iPad, Advanced Player requires a local audio download; ordinary online playback can stream. See Audio Storage and Offline Listening.

Editing

Lesson Notes and lesson details are editable. If Arco gets a piece name, fingering, assignment, or technical term wrong, edit it so your library stays accurate.

Chat with Arco

Arco can move naturally between broad musical questions and your own lessons. Just ask naturally. Sometimes Arco answers from its broader musical knowledge, and sometimes it brings in your lesson history when that is what matters most.

You can start using chat immediately, even before recording a lesson. As your library grows, Arco becomes more personal because it can bring in things your teacher said, patterns across students, and ideas that have come up over time.

Sheet music photos

Sheet music photos (beta) are available on every plan on current iPhone/iPad versions and the web. Choose Sheet music in chat. On iPhone or iPad, take a photo or upload one; on the web, upload or drag a photo into the new-chat area or composer. Crop or rotate it if needed, then press Send with an optional question. You can add a photo during an existing conversation too.

Arco first reads relevant notation, then uses those observations to answer under the chat's existing source rules. Free and Starter include 2 successful photo analyses per UTC calendar month. Pro, Studio, Studio Plus, and the Founder’s Circle include photo assistance subject to temporary usage limits. Errors and unreadable photos do not use your allowance. Text follow-ups use the saved observations and remain regular chat; sending a photo again starts a new analysis. Deep Dive remains optional and uses its usual credit. Credit top-ups do not increase your photo allowance.

Photos are saved only on the originating device or browser and are sent securely for analysis when you press Send. Arco saves the chat and musical observations, but does not keep a cloud photo library. To ask about details not captured earlier, open the thumbnail and choose Use this photo again. This attaches it for a new question; nothing is sent automatically.

On another device, after clearing photos, or if browser storage is lost, the photo will be unavailable, but the chat can continue from its saved observations. Reattach the photo when needed. Settings shows local usage and lets you clear saved photos; the limit is about 262 MB per account on each device. Clearing photos cannot be undone by downloading them from Arco; keep your own copy if you will need it again. Photos remain across ordinary sign-out and are removed locally when you delete their chat or account. PDFs, multiple photos in one message, and cloud photo synchronization are not supported.

Letting Arco choose the right context

Most of the time you can simply ask, and Arco decides whether your lesson history, broader musical knowledge, or both will help most. Open Ask Arco from a lesson or Space, or name the lesson, person, topic, or date range in your question. There is no manual lesson-attachment picker. To use an audio file, record or import it as a lesson first; chat uses its processed transcript and notes, not direct listening to the recording.

Ask “What did my teacher say about shifting?” to recall recorded advice. Follow with “What do you think of that approach?”to invite Arco's broader perspective. Arco distinguishes the lesson evidence from its own assessment. Say “Use only my lessons” to keep the answer within your history, or “Do not use my lessons” for broader musical advice. Deep Dive changes reasoning depth, not source access.

What Arco already knows

Arco has a broad understanding of technique, interpretation, repertoire, practice methods, and the teaching traditions behind them across instruments and voice. You can ask big musical questions, troubleshoot a technical problem, or ask for practice ideas even when the question is not tied to a specific lesson.

Try questions like:

• Technique on the violin — “My vibrato feels tight and mechanical. What should I adjust first?”
• Technique on the piano — “My hands tense up in fast passages. How do I stay relaxed?”
• Voice — “How do I keep my breath steady through long phrases?”
• Practice strategies — “How do I practice slow passages without them feeling boring?”
• Practice plans — “Create a 45-minute practice plan for my audition repertoire.”
• Exploring repertoire — “How should I approach a piece I've never heard before?”

These kinds of questions work from day one. Later, if you follow up with something like “What has my teacher said about this?”, Arco can bring your own lesson history into the same chat.

What Arco can find in your lessons

When your question is about something from your own teaching or practice history, Arco can look through your recorded lessons, transcripts, and Lesson Notes and answer from what was actually said.

To do that, Arco needs at least one processed recording or imported lesson in your library. If a student's lessons are organized in a Space, Arco can focus on that student's lesson history; you can also ask by date range or across the lesson history available to your plan.

Students might ask:

• Recalling specific advice — “What has my teacher said about improving my tone?”
• Reviewing assignments — “What pieces have we worked on in the last month?”
• Finding details — “What fingerings did my teacher recommend for the Brahms?”
• Planning practice — “Create a practice plan based on my recent lessons.”

Teachers might ask:

• Tracking a student over time — “What have I worked on with Sarah in the last three months?”
• Date-range review — “What did Sarah's lessons focus on between January and March?”
• Preparing for a lesson — “Recap where Alex left off last week and suggest what to cover next.”
• Spotting patterns across students — “Which students have I discussed sight-reading with recently?”

These answers can quote or paraphrase your own lesson history and point you back to the relevant passages, so it feels like searching your musical life without leaving the conversation.

A natural conversation

One of the best parts of chat is that you can stay in the same thread while the focus shifts. For example:

Deep Dive

Deep Dive gives Arco more room to reason through complex questions. It does not change what Arco can reference; it only changes the reasoning depth. Each Deep Dive message costs 1 credit. Regular chat does not use credits.

Library and Spaces

The Library is your full lesson archive. Spaces are how you group lessons around a real teaching or learning relationship.

A Space is a shared lesson notebook for you and a teacher or student. It keeps everything organized.

Your Library

In the Library, you can open lessons, search your archive, sort and filter by date, star important lessons, edit lesson details, export files, and see whether a lesson belongs to a Space. You can also select several lessons at once to act on them together.

Journal

Journal is for your own observations: what you noticed after a lesson, a practice reflection, or anything you want to remember. Type an entry or record a voice entry of up to 10 minutes, give it an optional title, and attach it to a lesson or Space when useful. Opening Journal from a Space starts it filtered to that Space; remove the filter to see every entry. You can search Journal, and filter it by Space, from the Library later.

Journal entries are private to your account and are never shared with Space members. On a My Lessons question, Arco can use a relevant Journal entry and will identify it as something you wrote rather than as a lesson transcript or Lesson Notes.

Lessons that are not in a Space still stay in your library. You can assign them to a Space whenever they become part of a teacher, student, family, ensemble, or studio history.

Creating a Space

Create a Space when you want lessons to stay together over time. Common examples are one Space per student, one Space for a teacher-student relationship, one Space for a family, or one Space for a studio or ensemble context.

When creating a Space, choose your role and add members as Teacher or Student. A member can be a named person who is not on Arco yet. When they are ready to join, send an invite link from that Space. If they already have Arco, they can join right away. If not, the link helps them get Arco first.

Viewing a Space and its members

Open a Space to see its lessons, member list, member roles, member status, and common actions. Once someone joins, their row shows an Arco member status. Until they join, the row is a saved name with an Invite action — so you can organize a Space around someone before they are on Arco.

Assigning and removing lessons

You can record directly into a Space, import directly into a Space, or choose Assign existing lesson to move an older lesson into that Space. If a lesson does not belong there anymore, remove it from the Space; the lesson can remain in your own library unless you choose to erase it.

Normal Space features

From a Space, you can review its lesson history, record or import new lessons for that context, assign older lessons, create lesson plans, generate progress reports, and ask Arco questions about that Space's history.

Sharing Through Spaces

Spaces are Arco's main sharing model. Instead of sharing lessons one at a time, you invite someone into a Space. Everyone has their own lesson copies and a private name for the Space.

How shared lessons are delivered

Once a member has joined the Space, original lessons recorded or added there are delivered to every joined member, including the Lesson Notes, transcript, and audio when available. What you record shows up in their library, and what they record shows up in yours — so only one of you needs to hit record. They also get the lessons already in the Space, and no one needs to download a file or manage a separate link. To share only future lessons, start with an empty Space. If earlier lessons cannot be queued, the Space shows a retry action and Arco also retries automatically.

If a member has not joined yet, the Space still works as an organizer for you. You can add the person by name, set their role, assign lessons, and invite them whenever they are ready to join.

Free accounts can receive up to 5 shared lessons. If you reach that limit, additional shared lessons appear as unavailable until you upgrade.

Invite links

An invite link belongs to the Space it was created from. The recipient can preview the invitation and join. If they already have Arco, they can join right away. If not, the link helps them get Arco first. Each link can be used once and expires after 30 days, so generate a fresh link if an invitation goes unused. A new link for the same saved member cancels earlier unused links. You can also cancel the link. Current members can reopen an old link to reach their Space. Anyone with a valid link can claim it.

Private names and personal notes

Your Space name is private. Invitations show who invited you. After joining, your default name comes from the other members, and you can rename it for yourself.

Editing Lesson Notes changes only your own copy. The exception is names: when a lesson names composers or mentions a piece Arco couldn't name, it shows a short list to check. Whoever reviews it first fixes those names in every copy of the lesson, except where someone already changed that spot. You can turn the list off in Settings. On iPhone and iPad, it arrives with the next app update.

Moving or removing a lesson changes your organization. Received lessons are not forwarded when you move them. Moving an original to another shared Space delivers copies to that new audience, while previously delivered copies remain with their owners.

Android phones cannot open Arco yet. Use the web app on a computer or tablet, or return when the forthcoming Android app is available.

Roles and member details

Space roles are Teacher and Student. Roles keep the relationship clear. The creator manages membership; anyone can leave regardless of role. You can update a member's display details or role when the Space changes.

Managing members

• Add members to include another teacher, student, parent, family member, or collaborator.
• Invite members with an invite link when they are ready to join Arco.
• Edit member details or roles when a name or role changes.
• Remove members when they should no longer be part of the Space.

Managing the Space

• Rename space when the title should be clearer for you.
• Close Space for everyone when a relationship ends. Sharing stops. Each remaining member keeps a separate personal Space they own, with their lessons and private name. You can choose whether to erase your own lessons.
• Leave Space whenever you no longer want to participate. Your lessons stay in My Lessons unless you choose to erase them. If the creator leaves, other members each keep their own personal Space, just as when the creator closes it.

Lesson Plans and Progress Reports

Spaces make longer-term teaching history useful. From a Space, you can generate lesson plans and progress reports grounded in that Space's lessons.

Lesson plans

Create a lesson plan when you want help preparing for the next session. Arco reviews the Space history and suggests what to focus on now, what to watch over the next few weeks, and what longer-term goals may matter.

Open the Space and choose Lesson Plan. When generation finishes, preview the plan, save it, or share the PDF. This action creates a document; it does not open a chat or send the plan to anyone automatically. You can separately ask ordinary practice-planning questions in Ask Arco.

Progress reports

Use Create Report to generate a progress report from a Space. Choose a time window, then Arco creates a parent- and family-friendly PDF covering progress, repertoire, technique, musical development, practice habits, focus areas, and next goals.

Reports download to your device. Arco does not automatically send them.

Exports

Exports are for user-controlled files. Use them when you want a document outside Arco.

• Lesson PDF export creates a polished lesson document from a processed lesson.
• Markdown export creates a plain-text lesson file that is easy to edit or archive elsewhere.
• Bulk download (on the web) lets you select several finished lessons and download their Lesson Notes and transcripts together, as PDFs in a single ZIP file or as individual Markdown files.
• Chat PDF export saves a web chat conversation as a PDF.
• Progress report PDF export downloads a report generated from Space history.

Exports are not automatically sent by Arco. You decide where the file goes.

Credits and Plans

Everyone starts with a free plan that includes 2 credits each month.

• Each lesson Arco processes — whether you record it, import audio, or import a transcript — costs 1 credit.
• Each Deep Dive message costs 1 credit.
• Regular chat does not use credits.
• Typed Journal entries are unlimited on every plan and do not use credits.
• Journal voice transcription includes 10 minutes total on Free, with no reset or refund when entries are deleted. Paid plans include unlimited Journal voice transcription. A single voice entry can run up to 10 minutes.
• Spaces and invite links are organization and sharing features, not credit-consuming AI actions.

Monthly plan credits are Free (2), Starter (8), Pro (30), Studio (80), and Studio Plus (215). A one-time Founder’s Circle membership is also available, with 1,200 non-expiring credits. One-time top-ups come in 5-credit and 15-credit packs and do not expire.

Studio Plus is $99/month or $990/year on the web, with 215 credits each month. Through Apple it is monthly only, with localized pricing. All subscribers can use both web and iOS. Higher plans also unlock Google Drive backup. See the Pricing page for full plan details, and Settings and Account for how to manage or cancel a subscription.

Audio Storage and Offline Listening

Free space while keeping your lessons

Removing local audio keeps the lesson in Arco. Lesson Notes, transcripts, bookmarks, verified cloud audio, and other people's copies remain. This is different from Delete Recordings, which deletes lessons from your library.

• One lesson: open its menu and choose Remove Audio from This iPhone/iPad.
• Selected lessons: use Library → Edit → More and choose the same removal action.
• All eligible local audio: open Settings → Data & Storage → Lesson audio → Free up space.

Review the space estimate before confirming. Arco verifies the cloud copy before removing local files and reports the space actually freed. Audio still uploading, in use, in a format that cannot stream on the device, or whose cloud copy cannot be verified is kept. Connect to the internet and finish uploads and playback before retrying.

Listen online or download for later

An online-only lesson can stream with internet access. Tap Download beside Online only · Internet required to keep its audio for offline listening. Downloads can be cancelled or retried. Download before travelling or practising without a connection. Advanced Player needs a local download for its loops, bookmarks, and offline playback. Downloads do not use processing credits.

Choose whether to keep new audio

Settings → Data & Storage → Lesson audio includes Keep new audio on this iPhone/iPad, on by default. Turn it off to remove new microphone recordings' local audio after it is safely saved online and Arco has confirmed processing can continue. Listening then needs internet unless you download the audio.

This preference applies to your account on this device only. Existing recordings, imports, restored lessons, and explicit offline downloads are kept. Turning it back on keeps future recordings; it does not download previously removed audio.

Audio, photos, and Google Drive are different

Cloud audio can be downloaded again. Sheet music photos stay on the originating device or browser, so clearing them cannot be undone by downloading them from Arco. Their chats and saved musical observations remain. Google Drive backup is an optional, separate copy on eligible plans; freeing device audio does not delete Drive backups. Sharing audio or backing it up to Drive may need internet to fetch an online-only recording.

Settings and Account

You will find Settings on every version of Arco, on iPhone and iPad and in the web app. It is where you manage your account, preferences, subscription, and backups.

Account

Set your preferred name, see your current plan and remaining credits, and sign out. Your plan badge and credit balance are always visible here.

Learning preferences

Tell Arco your instrument and genre so Lesson Notes and answers are tailored to what you play. You can change these any time.

Managing your subscription and credits

On iPhone and iPad, subscriptions are billed through the App Store and managed there; you can also restore purchases from the paywall. On the web, billing goes through Stripe and is managed from Settings. When you need more credits, buy a top-up; top-up credits do not expire. Arco shows the right billing options for your account automatically.

Google Drive backup

On Pro, Studio, and Studio Plus plans, and in the Founder’s Circle, you can connect your own Google Drive to keep a copy of your lessons. Arco backs up Lesson Notes and transcripts, plus audio if you turn that on. Once connected, backups run automatically about once a day; you can also back up on demand or disconnect Drive whenever you like.

Data & Storage

Check local score-photo usage and clear photos you no longer need. Arco 1.2.20 or later on iPhone/iPad includes lesson-audio usage, Free up space, and Keep new audio on this iPhone/iPad. See Audio Storage and Offline Listening for the steps and what each action keeps.

App preferences

Choose whether Arco opens on Chat or your Library, and whether chat starts with shorter, focused replies. On iPhone and iPad you can adjust haptics (the gentle taps you feel); on the web you can pick a light, dark, or system theme. You can also replay the welcome tour any time with Reset Quick Start.

Deleting your account

Account deletion lives in Settings → Account → Delete Account and asks you to type a confirmation. Deletion removes your lessons and data from Arco's cloud, with cleanup running in the background. On Apple devices you may need to confirm your identity first. Cancel any App Store or Stripe subscription separately, and remember that files already saved to your own Google Drive stay there until you remove them. See Privacy Policy for details.

Privacy and Sync

Sign in to the same account to access your lessons, uploaded audio, chats, Journal, and Spaces across devices. Audio must finish uploading before another device can play it. Local audio downloads and sheet music photos are separate from cloud sync. Photos stay on the originating device or browser, and the audio-retention preference in Arco 1.2.20 or later is specific to your account on each device.

Your lessons are private unless you share them through a Space or export a file yourself. Journal entries remain private to you even when attached to a shared Space or lesson. Your chat conversations are private too; sharing a Space does not share your chats with its members.

Arco uses lesson data to make the app work: transcripts, Lesson Notes, AI chat, search, Spaces, cloud sync, support, billing, and reliability. AI, cloud, payment, and support providers may process data as needed to operate Arco. Your content is not sold or shared for advertising.

If your plan includes Google Drive backup, backup files live in your own Drive (see Settings and Account to connect it). If you disconnect Drive or delete your Arco account, you may still need to remove files directly from Google Drive.

For the full policy, see the Privacy Policy.

Tips for Students

Tips for Teachers

For teachers, Spaces are the center of the workflow. Create a Space for each student or teaching relationship, then record or import lessons into that Space.

• Prepare faster by opening the student's Space before the next lesson.
• Share automatically by inviting the student or parent with an invite link.
• Keep history organized by assigning older lessons to the right Space.
• Create lesson plans from the Space before a session.
• Generate progress reports for families, studios, schools, or your own records.
• Ask Arco about patterns across one student, one Space, or your full teaching library.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

More questions? See the full FAQ on Support.

Sending Feedback

If something is broken, confusing, slow, or unclear, use Support to reach support chat or email.

When reporting an issue, include:

• What you were doing
• What happened
• What you expected
• A screenshot or short screen recording, if possible