Magic Pie Support

Spin-Art Drawing and Carousel Animation for iPhone and iPad

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How to Use Magic Pie

🎡 1. The Big Picture — One Disc, Many Layers

A real disc painting is ONE disc that spins around its center — the rotation itself is the animation. In Magic Pie you build that single disc in stacked layers, then press play: every layer merges into the finished disc and rotates like a magic lantern.

Every stroke is autosaved to a local draft in real time. Close the app at any time; your work is exactly where you left it.

🎨 2. Drawing, Colors and Brush Width

• Painting palette — twelve painting colors keep your art bold. The toolbar shows four quick dots — blue, red, black and white — plus whichever color you last picked. Press and hold the palette (or tap its chevron) to open the full list.
• Brush width — slide the width knob next to the palette to set your brush from 1 pt to 12 pt.
• Apple Pencil pressure — with an Apple Pencil, pressure dynamically maps your stroke thickness within the 1–12 pt range. Press lightly for thin lines, press firmly for bold strokes. Finger drawing always uses the fixed default width.
• Turntable background — the Canvas picker offers twelve disc colors; press and hold it for the full list. Light tables glow with dark strokes; dark tables favor white and bright strokes.

🔄 3. Spinning Disc Drawing

On a real disc painting, the disc spins at constant speed while your pen barely moves — the rotation itself draws the pattern. Magic Pie reproduces exactly that: while the disc turns, every touch point is converted from screen space into the rotating disc's coordinate system, so what you draw is glued to the disc, not the screen.

• Rotation buttons — the CCW and CW buttons at the bottom-left of the canvas spin the disc at a constant 72° per second (one revolution every 5 seconds) for as long as you hold them.
• Auto rotation — tap Auto for hands-free constant spinning and draw with all your fingers free. Tap it again to stop.
• Manual twist — touch the canvas with two fingers and twist, exactly like rotating a photo, to position the disc precisely.
• The spiral technique — start the disc spinning, then touch near the center and slowly drag straight toward the edge. Because the disc rotates underneath your steady finger, the trace in disc space is an unfolding involute spiral. Drag faster for wider spacing, slower for a denser spiral.
• Multi-touch patterns — every finger is an independent pen. Rest two or three fingers at different distances from the center while the disc spins and you'll trace several interleaved spirals at once.

🗂️ 4. Layers (Partition Drawing)

Frames in Magic Pie are drawing layers, not separate discs. Each new layer stacks on top of everything you have drawn so far — use them to build your disc section by section: a center pattern on layer 1, petals on layer 2, decorations on layer 3.

• Adding layers — tap the dashed + button in the layer strip to insert a new empty layer above the current one. Lower layers show through as onion ghosts so you can align the new section.
• Managing layers — long-press (or right-click) a layer thumbnail to open its menu: Duplicate Layer, Move Layer Left / Right, Rotate Layer, Center Offset and Delete Layer. Deleting a layer always asks for confirmation first.
• Merged output — during playback and export, ALL layers are composited at full opacity into the one final disc — that single merged disc is what rotates.

✨ 5. Smart Copy & Object Tools

The symmetry group on the canvas toolbar works on the current layer:

• H-Mirror — a switch that flips the current layer left-to-right around the vertical center axis. Perfect for symmetric faces, butterflies and mandala halves.
• V-Mirror — flips the layer top-to-bottom around the horizontal center axis. Combine it with H-Mirror for four-way symmetry.
• Central — turns the layer 180° around the turntable center. Ideal for pinwheels and flowers.
• These three are on/off switches, not one-shot copies: turn one on before you draw and every stroke you add afterwards is mirrored too. The button stays lit while it is active — tap it again to switch it off.

Object mode is its own tool. Tap Object, then long-press (about 0.8 s) an object on the canvas — the app recognizes the strokes under your finger and opens a menu right next to it:

• Copy — a translucent copy floats on the canvas. Drag it anywhere and lift your finger to stamp it down as a real object; a simple tap drops it in place.
• Rotate / Move / Resize — each tool puts a single handle on the selection box. Press the handle and drag; the object itself is edited in place. Tap an empty area to leave the tool, keeping the change.
• Planets — step the copy count, watch the live preview, then tap Create. The copies spread evenly around the center, so a count of 5 gives 6 objects at 60° apart.
• Central — stamps the point-symmetric twin of the object: the same shape rotated 180° about the turntable center.
• Near By — builds a left/right symmetric row around the object. Step the copy count (always even — half on each side) and the angular gap between neighbours, then tap Create. A count of 4 at 30° adds pairs at ±30° and ±60°.

Every object edit and every batch is a single Undo step.

🧅 6. Onion Layers

While you edit a layer, all lower layers appear as translucent onion ghosts beneath your current strokes — so you can trace and align each new section of the disc precisely. Tap the Onion button to toggle the ghosts and adjust their opacity from 20% to 60% (light mode defaults to 35%, dark mode to 45%).

▶️ 7. Rotation Playback

• One disc, one rotation — tap Play and every layer merges into the single finished disc, which then rotates around its center point. That rotation is the whole animation, just like a real carousel lantern.
• Speed gears — three gears control rotation speed: Slow (2° per tick), Medium (5°) and Fast (8°), at 30 ticks per second.
• Loop or single cycle — in Loop mode the disc rotates forever; in Once mode it performs one smooth, eased 360° rotation and stops.
• Magic BGM sync — background music starts and pauses together with the rotation automatically.

🎵 8. Magic BGM

• Built-in tracks — four bundled loops are ready to play: Taiko Groove (the default — a festival drum pulse), Mystic Loop, Carousel Dream and Starlight Chimes. They are packaged with the app, so no network is needed.
• My BGM — import your own audio files from the Files app. Each imported file is copied into the app's private storage so it plays offline. Up to 20 tracks, 50 MB each.
• Volume & mute — adjust the volume from 0–100% or mute everything with one switch, independent of the system volume.
• Track switching — switch tracks any time, even mid-rotation; the music continues without a stutter. The tempo follows the rotation gear, so a faster disc gets a faster beat.

📤 9. Export & Share

• Export video — open Export from the canvas toolbar, choose MP4 and a resolution (720 / 1024 / 1440), and the app renders the merged single disc performing two full rotation cycles as an H.264 video — always watermark-free.
• Export image — choose PNG to export the merged disc as a crisp square image.
• Share — send exported videos and images straight to Messages, Mail, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and anything else installed; the native iOS share sheet handles it.
• Save to Photos — one tap saves your export to your photo library (the App only ever adds items; it never reads your library).
• My Works — save a permanent copy of an artwork in the gallery, reopen it later, or export it again at any time.

⚙️ 10. Settings & Appearance

• Light & dark — choose System, Light or Dark; your choice applies instantly across every page.
• Personal defaults — set your preferred turntable color, brush width, rotation speed, loop mode, onion opacity, BGM track and export resolution once — every new artwork starts with them.
• Guides — replay the welcome guide or the home screen tutorial at any time.
• Storage — the Cache section shows how much space your works use and lets you clear everything, with a confirmation first.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Magic Pie?

Magic Pie is a drawing studio for iPhone and iPad built around a rotating turntable. You paint on the spinning disc in layers, merge them into one disc, and play it back as a looping carousel animation with music — then export it as an MP4 video or PNG image.

Does Magic Pie require an internet connection?

No. Magic Pie works completely offline. Drawing, playback, music and export all run on your device, and the built-in music tracks are packaged inside the app. The only web pages it ever opens are the legal and App Store links you tap yourself in Settings or About.

Does Magic Pie require any device permissions?

Only one: the photo library, and only in "add" mode, requested the first time you tap Save to Photos. Magic Pie never asks for your microphone, camera, contacts or location, and it cannot read your existing photos.

What devices does Magic Pie support?

Magic Pie runs on iPhone and iPad, and requires iOS or iPadOS 17.6 or later. Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity works on any device that supports Apple Pencil; finger drawing works everywhere - on a phone the toolbars simply split into extra rows.

Where are my drawings stored?

Entirely on your device. Drafts autosave in real time and saved works live in the App's own storage folder, protected by iOS file protection. Nothing is uploaded. Uninstalling the app removes everything; you can also clear it from Settings → Cache → Clear All Local Data.

Can I use my own music?

Yes. In Settings, add audio files from the Files app under My BGM. Each file is copied into the app's private storage so it plays offline — up to 20 tracks, 50 MB each. Please make sure you have the right to use any music you import.

What is the difference between the layers and "frames"?

They are the same thing. Magic Pie is a single-disc model: layers are stacked sections of one disc, and playback composites every layer into that one disc and rotates it. There is no frame-by-frame switching.

Can I reorder layers?

Yes. Long-press a layer thumbnail to open its menu: Duplicate Layer, Move Layer Left / Right, Rotate Layer, Center Offset and Delete Layer. Each of these is a single Undo step.

Why does my exported video look different from the canvas?

Exports always use the merged disc at full opacity — onion ghosts and editing guides are never included. If you expected a ghost to be part of the artwork, add it to a layer as a real stroke first.

Does Magic Pie collect any personal data?

No. Magic Pie does not collect, store, or transmit any personal information. There are no accounts, no analytics, and no tracking. See our Privacy Policy for details.

The app crashed or isn't working properly. What should I do?

Try force-quitting and relaunching the app. If issues persist, please email us at daibou007@gmail.com with details about the problem and your device model & iOS or iPadOS version.

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Last Updated: September 10, 2026

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Studio name: Daibou007 Team