ExcerptDraw

Getting started

Building a list

Make a list and give it a name, then add the excerpts you are preparing. You can type them one at a time, or paste several at once with one excerpt per line. Blank lines are ignored, spare spaces around a label are trimmed, and the app shows you how many cards it read from what you pasted before anything is added.

Each card needs a title. A reminder is optional and stays hidden during a round until you ask to see it.

Starting a round

Choose how many cards the round should hold. If you want to begin on a particular excerpt, pick it as the opener. The opener counts toward the number you chose, so a round of eight with an opener is the opener plus seven drawn cards, not eight drawn cards after it.

The rest are drawn at random from that list without repeating inside the round. If you shorten the list later, the round settings adjust visibly rather than silently.

During a round

Why can I not see what is coming

Because seeing it would defeat the exercise. The cards ahead of you are concealed until you advance, and they are not exposed to VoiceOver either.

I tapped Played by mistake

Step back. You return to the previous card, and the round does not end up with that card counted twice.

What does the flag do

It marks the card as one you want to come back to. It does nothing else: it does not repeat the card later in the same round, it does not change the order, and it is not a score. It is your own note to yourself.

Can I stop in the middle

Yes. You can leave the app, lock the phone or close it entirely, and the round is waiting exactly as you left it, on the same card, in the same order, with the same flags. If you deliberately end a round early it is recorded as a partial round with the number of cards you actually played, and the ones you never saw are not counted as played.

I edited my list while a round was running

The round is unaffected. It took its own copy of the labels and their order when it started, so editing or even deleting the list does not change a round in progress or a round already in your history.

After a round

The review

When the last card is played you get a review of the round: what you played, in order, and which cards you flagged. You can add a short note to the round.

The revisit round

From the review you can start a revisit round built only from the cards you flagged. It is a new round in its own right, so the original stays in your history as it was played. Nothing is retried inside the old round.

Sharing a summary

You can hand a plain-text summary of a round to the standard iOS share sheet and send it wherever you like. Nothing is sent automatically and nothing is sent to us. Once it has gone, it is in the hands of whatever app or person you sent it to.

History

Recent rounds stay on the device and you can reopen a review whenever you want. Deleting one asks you to confirm first. The app does not quietly discard old rounds to save space.

Questions people ask

Does it come with orchestral excerpts?

No. You supply the labels. That is deliberate: it keeps the app usable for any instrument and any audition list, and it means nobody's edition or published excerpt book is being copied.

Two of my cards have the same title. Is that a problem?

No. They are two separate cards and the app treats them that way. It does not try to decide whether two labels mean the same piece.

Does it listen to me play, or record anything?

No. There is no microphone use, no recording and no audio of any kind. The app never asks for microphone permission because it has no use for one.

Does it tell me how I did?

No. There is no score, no percentage and no assessment. It shows what you played and what you flagged, and the judgement is yours.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Creating lists and running rounds needs no network connection and no account.

Is there a subscription?

No. One purchase, everything included, no in-app purchases and no advertising.

Where are my lists stored?

On the device. See the privacy page.

Requirements and refunds

iPhone, iOS 17 or later. It is an iPhone app and works in portrait and landscape, with Dynamic Type and VoiceOver.

Purchases are handled by Apple, not by us, so refunds go through Apple: Request a refund for apps or content that you bought from Apple.