Getting started
Install, sign in, connect a streaming service, capture your first track, classify it. From zero to the loop in ten minutes.
What you need
- A Mac. CatchIt! macOS is the main home of curation — the Inbox, the Wishlist, imports. The app isn't on the Mac App Store; you download it from your catchit.io dashboard.
- A CatchIt! account. Sign up at catchit.io and start the 14-day free trial — card required, never charged automatically.
- An Apple Music or Spotify subscription for playback. You can capture and classify without one, but you won't be able to listen before deciding.
- An iPhone (optional but recommended). The free iOS app is your capture tool at the club — and it can also play your tracklists through Apple Music and classify them green or red on the go.
Install and sign in
Download the macOS app
Sign in at catchit.io, open your dashboard, and download the macOS app. Drag it to Applications and launch it. Updates install themselves automatically from then on.
Sign in
On first launch, sign in with the same account you used on the web. Once your trial or subscription is active, the app unlocks automatically — access is re-checked whenever the app comes back to the foreground.
Get the iOS app
Install CatchIt! from the App Store on your iPhone and sign in with the same account. It's free — it captures tracks for your Mac, and it can play and classify your tracklists away from the desk (see Tracklists on iPhone).
Connect a streaming service
Playback needs one connected streaming service. Apple Music is the recommended path — it's a one-click connect and its track matching is deterministic:
- Open Settings → Player Settings → Apple Music.
- Click Connect and grant the system permission once. Done.
Spotify works too, but requires a one-time setup with your own Spotify Developer Client ID — the full walkthrough is in Playback & streaming services. You can come back to it later.
Capture your first track
Shazam something
Open the iOS app and tap the Shazam button while any music is playing nearby. The track lands on your Mac within seconds.
No iPhone handy? On the Mac, open Settings → iOS & Shortcuts and install the ready-made macOS Shortcut (see Capturing tracks) — or just paste a Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / SoundCloud track URL into the Inbox with Cmd+V.
Research it
On the Mac, your capture appears in the Inbox under Mobile Shazams. Click the Research button to look it up on your connected streaming service — this is the step that makes the track playable. Research is always manual; CatchIt! never spends API calls without you asking.
Classify it
Select the track and listen. Press Enter if you'd play it in a set — that's a green. Press Space if it's not for you — that's a red. The app auto-advances to the next track. That's the loop the whole product is built around.
Founder note
The moment a Shazam from your phone shows up on your Mac, ready to listen-and-judge, was the magic that made me realize curation could be fast and frictionless. Do step 1 and watch.
A 30-second tour
The macOS app is one window with three tabs — four if Rekordbox Library is enabled on your account. The music player sits at the bottom of every tab.
| Tab | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Inbox | Everything waiting for a decision. A sidebar on the left holds your Mobile Shazams and your Tracklists; the main pane is the keyboard-driven review surface. You'll live here. |
| Wishlist | The Greens | Every track you've classified green. Re-listen, export, save to a playlist, and mark tracks Done once you've bought them. |
| Rekordbox Library | Early feature, enabled per-account. If it isn't enabled on yours, the tab doesn't appear. |
| Settings | Your account, subscription and referrals, sync, the player, Shortcuts, recognition and search tuning, updates. Full tour in Settings. |
Where to go next
- Core concepts — the six words the rest of the manual is built on. Five minutes, worth it.
- Capturing tracks — every way to get a single track into CatchIt!.
- Importing tracklists & playlists — batch capture: DJ sets, recordings, 1001tracklists pages, and Spotify / Apple Music playlists.
- The Inbox — the full review workflow, filters, and every keyboard shortcut.