Help

How to play

Every round has three steps.

1. Listen. Play the puzzle: a phrase, played backwards. Hear it as often as you like.
2. Say it back. Copy the sounds you heard, backwards and all. Tap the big button to start and tap again to stop, or hold it while you speak and let go. A take can be up to 10 seconds. Garble flips your take, so you hear yourself say the phrase forwards. Not happy with it? Re-record.
3. Guess. Type what you think the phrase is. Close counts. Stuck? Play the puzzle or your take again, or tap Give up to see the answer.

The reveal then plays the original phrase and shows the answer.

Playing with a keyboard

On a computer: Space records (tap it, or hold it and let go), Enter moves on, Esc leaves the round (your progress on it is kept) and Tab moves between buttons.

The daily and your streak

The daily is one puzzle, the same for every player. You’ll find it on the Play tab. When you’re done, Share results shows your friends how you did.

• Your streak grows by one for each day you do at least one of these: solve the daily, send a garble, or decode a garble someone sent you. Doing more than one on the same day still counts once.
• Freezes. You have two. Each one automatically covers a day you miss completely, and they refill at the start of every month.
• Lost a streak? If you miss more days than your freezes cover, the streak is lost. With Garble Plus you can repair it within 24 hours.
• The archive of past dailies comes with Garble Plus.

Packs and Garble Plus

Packs are themed sets of garbles you play through at your own pace. Your progress in each pack is saved, and when you finish one you can restart it. Some packs are free; premium packs come with Garble Plus.

To see the options and price, tap any locked pack or the archive. In the iPhone app you buy Plus through the App Store. On garbl.app, if the Plus screen says it’s available in the iOS app, it isn’t on sale in the browser yet.

Send a garble to a friend

1. Open the Studio tab and record a phrase. You’ll hear it backwards.
2. Tap Send this garble.
3. Add the phrase you said, if you like. With it, your friend can type a guess and have it checked. Without it, they hear the reveal and say whether they got it.
4. Preview it, add your name (your friend sees it with the garble) and tap Create link.
5. Share the link, or copy it and paste it anywhere.

Your friend doesn’t need the app or an account. The link opens Garble in their browser, or in the app if they have it on iPhone.

Anyone who has the link can play your garble, so only share it with people you mean to.

Your inbox

The Inbox tab keeps the garbles you’ve received and sent. A sent garble shows as waiting until your friend reveals it, then as decoded. From there you can listen again, hear the original, or resend the link. After decoding a garble from a friend, you can reply with one of your own.

Party mode

One phone, a room of friends, 2 to 6 players.

1. Open the Party tab, add everyone’s names, choose your packs and 3, 5 or 10 rounds, then tap Start game.
2. Everyone listens to the garble together.
3. Pass the phone: each player says it back in turn.
4. The reveal plays every take and scores how close each one sounds to the original. After the last round, see the final scores.

Premium packs need Garble Plus. Player names and takes stay on the phone.

Reaction videos (iPhone)

In the iPhone app, Garble can film your face with the front camera while you play a round, from your first listen to the reveal. A REC badge shows while it’s filming. Afterwards you can save the clip to Photos, share it, or discard it. Clips stay on your phone unless you share them.

Turn filming off at any time with the Camera chip on the round screen. Clips made without Garble Plus carry a Garble watermark. Reaction videos aren’t available on the web.

Microphone problems

Your takes are recorded and reversed on your device. They’re only uploaded if you send one as a garble.

On the web (garbl.app)

• Allow the microphone for garbl.app. The first time you record, your browser asks; choose Allow. If you blocked it earlier, change it in the browser’s site settings, then reload the page:
  • Chrome on a computer: click the icon at the left of the address bar and turn on Microphone.
  • Safari on a Mac: Safari, then Settings, then Websites, then Microphone, and set garbl.app to Allow.
  • Safari on iPhone or iPad: tap the page settings button in the address bar, then Website Settings, and set Microphone to Allow.
• Check your computer’s privacy settings. On a Mac, open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Microphone, and make sure your browser is allowed. Windows has a similar setting under Privacy.
• Check the microphone itself. Make sure one is connected and not in use by another app, such as a video call.
• Try another browser. An up-to-date Chrome or Safari is the best bet.
• Headphones are optional. If Bluetooth earbuds stop a take from starting or make it sound wrong, try your device’s built-in microphone and speaker.

In the iPhone app

Open the iPhone Settings app, find Garble, and turn on Microphone. Then try recording again.

Still stuck? Email us and tell us your device and browser.

Account and sync

You don’t need an account to play. Signing in lets your streak, daily results, pack progress, inbox, display name and Garble Plus follow you between devices, on iPhone and on the web.

• Sign in: tap the account button at the top of the screen. Choose Email me a code and enter the code from the email (or tap the link in it), or use Sign in with Apple on iPhone. What you’ve already done on this device is kept and merged into your account.
• In a browser, progress made while signed out lives only in that browser. Safari may clear stored data for sites you haven’t visited in a while, so sign in to keep your streak safe.
• Change your name: when you’re signed in, tap your name in the account screen.
• Sign out or delete your account from the same screen. Deleting removes your account, the garbles you’ve sent and your synced progress. See the privacy policy for details.

Restore or cancel Garble Plus

On iPhone

Tap a locked pack or the archive to open Garble Plus, then tap Restore purchases, using the same Apple ID you bought it with. Signing in with the same Garble account brings Plus back too.

To cancel, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, and choose Garble. Cancel at least 24 hours before the current period ends to avoid the next charge.

On the web

Plus follows your account, not your browser. Sign in with the same account you used when you bought it; the Plus screen’s “Purchased before? Sign in with the same account.” link does the same. If the Plus screen says Plus is available in the iOS app, the browser can’t sell or restore Plus yet. For help with a web subscription, email us.

Contact

Questions, bug reports, or a garble to report: email support@garbl.app. If something isn’t working, tell us your device and browser.

Read our privacy policy and terms of use.