# BeatByte — Free Rhythm Game for Your Own Music > BeatByte is a free, open-source (MIT) five-lane rhythm game for macOS, Windows and Linux, written in Rust. It turns the player's own music files into playable charts in four difficulties, shows karaoke lyrics, runs on a 3D concert stage, and plays with a keyboard, gamepads or a guitar controller, for one to four local players. No song ships with the game; nothing is uploaded. This is the Markdown version of https://beatbyte.celox.io/ for agents and text tools. A short summary with every link lives at https://beatbyte.celox.io/llms.txt. ## Download - **Newest release:** https://beatbyte.celox.io/download (picks the file for your platform; always the current release) - **Current version:** 0.18.18 · released 2026-09-24 - **Release data as JSON:** https://beatbyte.celox.io/latest.json - **Requirements:** macOS (Apple silicon): macOS 11+ · Apple silicon; macOS (Intel): macOS 11+ · Intel; Windows: Windows 10/11 · 64-bit · portable zip; Linux AppImage: Linux · x86_64 Files in the current release: - macOS (Apple silicon): https://beatbyte.celox.io/download/macos (BeatByte-0.18.18-aarch64-apple-darwin.dmg, 38.8 MB) - macOS (Intel): https://beatbyte.celox.io/download/macos-intel (BeatByte-0.18.18-x86_64-apple-darwin.dmg, 42.8 MB) - Windows: https://beatbyte.celox.io/download/windows (beatbyte-v0.18.18-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip, 38.7 MB) - Linux AppImage: https://beatbyte.celox.io/download/linux-appimage (BeatByte-0.18.18-x86_64.AppImage, 33.9 MB) ## Features - **Your songs become charts** — MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG or WAV: BeatByte analyses tempo, beats and onsets and builds a playable chart in Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert. Drop a folder on the window and it watches it for new tracks. - **Karaoke on the highway** — Press `L` and BeatByte fetches synced lyrics from lrclib’s open catalogue, or drop your own `.lrc`. The words fill in on the same clock the notes fall on; an optional local aligner times them word by word. - **A stage, not a backdrop** — A 3D concert venue with moving heads, PA stacks, fog and a crowd that dances to the song. Land a star-power phrase and lightning strikes the fret. - **Keyboard, gamepad or guitar** — Every input is remappable in the game. Gamepads work through the system, and a built-in driver reads the wired Guitar Hero X-plorer directly. Two to four players share the screen. - **Timing you can trust** — Judgment runs on input timestamps against a clock reconciled with the audio device, not on frames. Calibrate latency in the game, slow any section to 50 % and loop it in practice mode. - **Edit, track, improve** — A built-in chart editor fixes what the generator got wrong and playtests it in the real highway. A local roster files every run under its player, with statistics and three hundred achievements. ## Install 1. **Download your build** — The button above picks your platform: a DMG for Apple silicon or Intel Macs, a portable zip for Windows, an AppImage for Linux. 2. **Start it** — macOS: drag it to Applications, then right-click → *Open* the first time (the build is not notarized). Windows: unzip and run `beatbyte.exe`. Linux: `chmod +x` the AppImage and run it. 3. **Bring your music** — Drop an audio file or a whole folder onto the window. BeatByte charts it in the background and it appears in the song browser. ## Verify - `BeatByte-0.18.18-aarch64-apple-darwin.dmg` — SHA-256 `9e32185a524613aa9426292a9372348a8eae141c63194b8462ff4c41e5359cc9` - `BeatByte-0.18.18-x86_64-apple-darwin.dmg` — SHA-256 `0f783628c82388ccb30be74b56c66e7628da2151a8f916dd3c32d374bd060157` - `beatbyte-v0.18.18-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` — SHA-256 `207283abca363936427e1ebda61f5e274cca7e2ad286e06a94aaea79356d69d6` - `BeatByte-0.18.18-x86_64.AppImage` — SHA-256 `13796d9c224854c4d483680a8dd6376f0b5c1d3d5aec9c4cec45ee380072672b` - The checksums are the ones GitHub computed for the release files. Compare with `shasum -a 256` on macOS and Linux or `Get-FileHash` on Windows. ## FAQ **Is BeatByte free?** Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT licence, with no ads, no account and no in-game purchases. **Which songs can I play?** Your own: MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG and WAV files. No song ships with the game. With `yt-dlp` installed you can also add a song by typing its name. **What do I need to run it?** macOS 11 or later on Apple silicon or Intel, 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, or 64-bit Linux, with a GPU that runs Metal, DirectX 12 or Vulkan. A keyboard is enough to play. **Why does macOS warn me the first time?** The macOS builds are signed ad hoc but not notarized by Apple. Right-click the app and choose *Open* once; after that it starts normally. **How do I update?** Download the newest build from this page and replace the old one. Your songs, charts, scores, players and settings live in your user data folder and stay where they are. **Is the download genuine?** Every file comes straight from the project’s GitHub Releases, built by its release workflow. The SHA-256 of each file is listed on this page; compare it with the file you downloaded. ## Limits - No songs ship with the game; you bring your own music - Generated charts are playable, not hand-authored; the editor is the correction pass - No online multiplayer - No mobile or web version - The macOS builds are not notarized: open them once with right-click → Open - Xbox 360 wireless guitars are not supported on macOS ## Links - Source code: https://github.com/pepperonas/beatbyte - Changelog: https://beatbyte.celox.io/changelog.md - Licence (MIT): https://github.com/pepperonas/beatbyte/blob/main/LICENSE - Support the project: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=martin.pfeffer@celox.io¤cy_code=EUR&item_name=BeatByte - Author: Martin Pfeffer, https://celox.io — Imprint https://celox.io/impressum/ · Privacy https://celox.io/datenschutz/