A Song Seed groups lyric ideas and recordings, with the original notes still available.
Project overview
I built a free native iPhone app for lyric ideas and voice notes. You can group them into Song Seeds and share them with Kordra Studio.
My role
Founder, designer and developer
Platform
Native iPhone application
Built with
Swift, SwiftUI, AVFoundation, App Intents
The problem
An idea for a song can arrive away from your desk. Separate notes and recordings make it harder to find the pieces again.
My approach
I built text and voice capture around local storage, with Song Seeds to group related ideas and exports for Studio.
Current result
You can download the free iPhone app, save text and voice notes, and share a collection when you’re ready to develop it.
Decisions
I designed Capture for saving a line or recording a melody on the iPhone, away from a full writing session.
You can collect fragments in Capture and group them into a Song Seed. When you’re ready, you can share them with Studio on the Mac.
Start with a note or recording
I made text and voice the entry points. You can save the idea first and add context later.
Keep related ideas together
I added Song Seeds so you can put related fragments in order while keeping the original notes and recordings.
Show the sharing status
I used shareable packages and a local Outbox to show what you’ve prepared to send. Preparing an export doesn’t count as a confirmed import.
The work
Notes and recordings in a Song Seed.
Capture and find ideas
I built the interface in SwiftUI, with search and Song Seeds alongside capture. App Intents and a Share Extension provide other ways to add text and audio.
Save recordings on the phone
I used AVFoundation for recording and added a local staging step to keep the audio safe while the app saves it to the collection.
Share a collection
You can use standard exports or a package for Studio. The original notes and recordings stay on your device.
Current result
Text, voice and Song Seeds
You can save text and voice notes, group them into Song Seeds and share them from the iPhone app.
From iPhone ideas to a Mac project
I built Capture for collecting ideas on the phone and Studio for developing the song on a Mac, with an export between them.
App Store release
I designed, built and released Capture as a free iPhone app. You can download it from the App Store.
Limitations, lessons and next steps
Limitations
Capture stores ideas locally and stays free, without an account or generative AI.
Full song editing belongs in Studio. Capture exports ideas for import into the Mac app.
Reflections and next steps
I developed Song Seeds and the Studio export while keeping full song editing in the Mac app.
I had to decide which app held each file and how to show sharing progress across iPhone and Mac.
Keeping Capture focused on notes and recordings helped me keep the entry screens short.
