Song Cage Desktop is the same writing canvas this manual describes, packaged as a native app for macOS and Windows. It installs locally and works fully offline. This chapter covers installing it, the trial and license, and the few places where it behaves differently from the browser.
What you'll learn
- What the desktop app is, and how it differs from using Song Cage in a browser
- System requirements and where to download
- How to install on a Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel)
- How to install on Windows, including the SmartScreen prompt you may see
- How the 14-day trial and the license work
- What works offline, what sign-in adds, and the usage statistics question
- How auto-updates work
Everything in the previous eighteen chapters applies to the desktop app unchanged. The chord palette, the modulation panel, the word tools, playback, export: it is the same canvas. What the desktop app changes is where Song Cage lives (your dock or taskbar instead of a browser tab) and what it needs to run (nothing, not even a network connection).
Song Cage Desktop reached 1.0 in August 2026, after a long public beta. It is stable for daily writing, and updates land often (see §19.8).
19.1 What the desktop app is
Song Cage Desktop is a native application for macOS and Windows. Compared to running Song Cage in a browser, the differences are at the operating-system level:
- It lives in your dock or taskbar. One click opens it, no browser session or tab hunting involved.
- It works fully offline. Songs are stored locally on your machine. The word tools (rhymes, slant rhymes, synonyms, associations) ship inside the app, so even a rhyme lookup needs no network call.
- It has real menus. File, Edit, View, Settings and Help sit at the top of the window as they do in the web app, and on a Mac in the system menu bar too, with standard keyboard shortcuts for things like creating a song, opening a song file, and exporting MIDI or PDF. In the Mac menu bar, Settings holds every setting as a menu of its own, with a tick beside the one in use (see Keyboard Shortcuts & Tips).
- It remembers its window. Size and position persist across launches.
- It can read your folders. Point it at a folder of voice memos or notes and it walks the whole tree, subfolders included, and remembers the permission between launches. A browser can only take what you hand it each time. See The Ideas Inbox.
- It is small. About 95 MB installed on a Mac.
If you only ever write at a desk with good Wi-Fi, the web app at app.songcage.com gives you nearly the identical experience; importing a whole folder of recordings in one grant, and opening a song file, are the main things it cannot do. The desktop app earns its place when you write on planes, in rehearsal spaces, or anywhere you want Song Cage to open instantly next to your DAW.
19.2 System requirements and downloads
| Build | Requirement |
|---|---|
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | macOS 12 or later, M1 or newer |
| macOS (Intel) | macOS 12 or later, Intel x86_64 |
| Windows | Windows 10 or later, 64-bit |
All three installers are on the desktop page. Download the build that matches your machine; on a Mac, that means choosing between the Apple Silicon and Intel installers.
19.3 Installing on a Mac
- Download the
.dmgfor your chip (Apple Silicon or Intel) from the desktop page. - Open the
.dmgand drag Song Cage into your Applications folder. - Launch it from Applications (or Spotlight). The app is signed and notarized, so macOS opens it without security warnings.
19.4 Installing on Windows
- Download the Windows installer from the desktop page.
- Run the setup
.exeand follow the prompts.
The "Windows protected your PC" prompt
On a newly released version, Microsoft Defender SmartScreen may show a blue "Windows protected your PC" screen. This appears for any recently published app until enough people have installed it to build a reputation with Microsoft; it is not a verdict on the software. The installer is code-signed by Digital Candy LLC, the company behind Song Cage.
To continue: click More info, confirm the publisher reads Digital Candy LLC, then click Run anyway. The prompt disappears on its own as more people install each version.
19.5 The trial and the license
The desktop app starts with a 14-day free trial of everything the licence includes, no card required. Sign in once to start it; from then on it runs offline. The trial belongs to your account, so the desktop app and the plugin share one 14-day window and reinstalling does not restart it. There is one trial per computer too: a new account signed in on a computer that has already run the trial picks up that trial instead of starting a fresh 14 days. After that, there is one way to keep using it:
- The Song Cage licence. One license covers both macOS and Windows, on all desktop computers you personally use. It includes free updates for the v1.x line, and the same license also unlocks the Song Cage plugin (AU and VST3 for your DAW): one purchase covers both native apps. See The Plugin for what it does. The same purchase also brings song sync between this app and the web app, the full web app on your account (unlimited songs, PDF and MIDI export), your phone captures in the Ideas Inbox, and inviting collaborators; see Account & Licence.
See the shop for the current price.
19.6 Working offline
Offline is the desktop app's natural state, not a degraded mode. With no network connection you can:
- Create and edit songs (they save to a local database on your machine)
- Use every chord, melody, and modulation tool
- Look up rhymes, slant rhymes, synonyms, and associations (the word data ships inside the app)
- Record audio and use melody detection
- Play back and arrange
Beyond the one sign-in that starts the trial or unlocks a license, no account activity is required for any of this. Your songs are saved on this machine first, and while you're signed in they also sync with your account whenever there's a connection (see 19.7).
To keep a copy of a song on your own drive, or to carry one to another computer or a DAW session as a file, use File > Export Song File…. File > Open Song File… brings the file back as a new song, and the plugin opens the same file from its own File menu. The file holds the song's sections, chords, lyrics and melody notes (recorded takes stay in the app). See Exporting for the details.
Once your license is active, the app caches your entitlement locally so it keeps working offline between check-ins; you don't need to be online every time you launch.
The first time you use the app, a strip at the top asks whether you'll share which features you use. It never includes your songs or audio, and nothing is sent unless you choose Share. No thanks keeps it off, and What we send opens the list in the privacy policy. To change your answer later, use Share Usage Stats at the bottom of the Settings menu.
19.7 Signing in
You sign in once, with the same Song Cage account you use on the web, to start the trial or unlock your license. With the license, or during the trial, your songs sync with the web app in the background, and captures from the phone app arrive in the desktop app's Ideas Inbox.
File > Sign In… opens a sign-in box. Its Sign in with browser button opens a Song Cage page in your default browser, where you sign in as usual, and the browser hands the session back to the app. That is the way to use Google or Apple, and it keeps your password out of the app. If you'd rather not leave the app, the same box also takes your email and password directly. Either way, the box closes by itself once you're signed in.
Signing out doesn't lock anything. The app keeps working offline with your local songs, and sync pauses until you sign in again.
19.8 Updates
When a new version is available, a small banner appears at the top of the app. What's new shows what changed in that version, taken from the changelog, with a link to the full changelog. Install and restart downloads the update, verifies its signature, and restarts on the new version. From version 1.0.17 on, if the connection drops partway through, the download starts over by itself; if it still can't finish, the banner says the download was interrupted and offers Try again.
Nothing installs on its own: the new version is applied only when you click to install and restart. You can dismiss the banner to update later, or check for updates yourself anytime with Check for Updates…, in the Song Cage menu on a Mac and the Help menu on Windows.