Livescribe 3, Symphony and Aegir in 2026: Apps, Paper and What Still Works

Your Livescribe 3, Symphony or Aegir still works with the free Livescribe+ app for iPhone, iPad and Android, and the Symphony and Aegir can also use Livescribe+ Desktop on Windows or Mac. Buying new gear is harder. At our October 1, 2026 check, Livescribe's US store listed none of the three pens and showed their refills as sold out, though several dot paper notebooks were in stock.

We make Ophaya smart pens, so we have a stake in what you buy next. This guide relies on Livescribe's own help center and store, and its most useful step costs nothing: export your pencasts while everything still works.

Which app each pen uses now

The Livescribe 3 runs on the Livescribe+ mobile app. Livescribe's App Store listing says the app "pairs with your Livescribe 3 or Aegir smartpen," and at our check its latest version dated from April 2024.

The Symphony and Aegir share most of their help articles, titled "Symphony/Aegir." Both use Livescribe+ on a phone or tablet, and Livescribe's desktop setup guide lists "Livescribe Aegir and Symphony Smartpens" for Livescribe+ Desktop on Windows 7 or 10, or macOS 10.14 and above. The Livescribe 3 isn't on that list; it syncs through the phone or tablet app.

Connecting a Symphony or Aegir to a computer

Tap the "Device Pairing" icon in a Livescribe notebook, or hold the pen tip down for 3 seconds on ordinary paper, until the LED blinks blue. In Livescribe+ Desktop, open Pen Manager, click Search, pick your pen and click Pair. A micro-USB cable also works, and Livescribe recommends it when the pen holds more than 5MB. The pen won't capture new writing while it's plugged in.

One caution: the desktop installers linked from us.livescribe.com are hosted on www.livescribe.com, which didn't load for us on October 1, 2026. Keep a copy of any installer you have, so a site outage never stops you from reinstalling.

Echo, Echo 2 and Pulse

These pens have a built-in microphone. The Echo 2 uses Livescribe+, while the original Echo and Pulse rely on the older Echo Desktop. Our Echo 2 owner's guide covers that family.

How to reset a Livescribe 3, Symphony or Aegir

Livescribe 3

Livescribe's hard reset "will not affect the data already stored on your smartpen." Take the capacitive tip off the top of the pen. Next to the USB connector is a small hole with a button inside. Press it with a pin or the end of a staple and release, and the pen should beep once. Turn the pen off, check that the LED goes off too, and turn it back on. If the pen is stuck to an old phone, open Livescribe+ on that device, tap the smartpen icon in the upper right and tap "Forget this Device."

Symphony and Aegir

These resets happen in the app. Connect over Bluetooth and tap the smartpen icon in the upper right of Livescribe+ to find Master Reset and Clean Memory. Both erase what's stored on the pen, and Livescribe says a Master Reset loses "all your data, written data and Bluetooth device data." Sync first.

If the pen beeps nonstop with the cap on, Livescribe says the refill may be stuck, so pull it out and reinsert it. If it beeps whenever you write, update the firmware to version 2.3.4 or later with at least 50% battery.

Ink refills and paper

All three pens take the same refill size: 67 mm by 2.35 mm, which Livescribe calls "standard D1 style." Its LivePen / Symphony 5-packs say they also fit "LS3 and Aegir smart pens," but both colors were sold out at our check. The help center names two third-party refills that passed preliminary testing, without a guarantee: the Cross Mini Ball-Point Refill (part 8518-4) and the Monteverde USA Mini D-1 Ballpoint Refill (D132BK), both black medium. The Echo cartridges still in stock won't fit these pens.

For paper, the help center says "All Livescribe dot-paper notebooks are supported by all of our smartpens," though newer notebooks may need a firmware update. At our check, the Letter Size 3-Subject Notebooks, the A5 Spiral Smart Ruled 4-pack and the pocket Pink Flip Notepad 4-pack were in stock, and the Letter Size 1-Subject 4-pack was sold out. The A5 listing names the Echo 2, Symphony and Aegir but not the Livescribe 3.

You can also print your own. Livescribe offers four free 25-page notebook PDFs for the Echo 2, Symphony, Aegir and Livescribe 3, plus a controls bookmark with a Device Pairing button. Use a color laser printer that prints above 600 DPI, Letter paper and "Actual Size" scaling. Our Livescribe paper guide compares formats.

Audio, and how to export notes before anything breaks

None of these three pens has a microphone. Livescribe says "there is not a microphone inside the Livescribe 3 smartpen," and its Symphony and Aegir articles say the same. Livescribe+ records through your phone or tablet, and the pencasts are "stored on the iOS/Android device."

So a semester of lecture recordings can sit on one phone with a cracked screen. Handwriting doesn't sync through a cloud either: the Symphony/Aegir FAQ says "Using your smartpen is the only way to transfer your handwritten notes to all of your devices."

• In Livescribe+ on iPhone or Android, open Pencasts and share each one as a Livescribe PDF, which keeps the page and its audio together.
• Save important pencasts as video as well. The iPhone guide lists MOV and MP4, and a video plays without Livescribe software.
• Export full pages or pencasts, because snippets can't carry audio.
• In Livescribe+ Desktop, export pages as PDF or PNG, or auto-send them to Evernote, Google Drive or Dropbox.

Why the video copy? Livescribe says a computer plays Livescribe PDF audio through Echo Desktop or its Livescribe Player web page, and that page didn't load for us at our check. A plain video file doesn't depend on either. Copy everything to a folder you control, then open one file on another device and press play. Our guide to backing up smart pen notes has a simple routine.

Livescribe 3, Symphony, Aegir and Echo at a glance

Store status is from us.livescribe.com on October 1, 2026.

When it's time to replace your pen

A working pen doesn't need replacing because a store page changed. Trouble usually starts small, like the last refill running dry or a new phone that won't run the app. Livescribe lists the Symphony's battery as non-removable, so a worn-out battery generally means a new pen.

inq is Anoto's newer line, launched in April 2025. Its FAQ says the inq app works with "all inq and all LivePen pens and notebooks," and older Livescribe notebooks that don't work with LivePen won't work with inq. The Livescribe 3, Symphony and Aegir aren't mentioned, so plan on new hardware and ask which notebooks carry over. Our inq explainer has more.

A used pen of the same model keeps your paper and app. Ask the seller to sync and run a Master Reset before shipping, test pairing and recording inside the return window, and buy refills early.

Ophaya is the third route. Our pen has an infrared camera that reads a printed dot pattern, and it captures handwriting only on Ophaya dot-code paper or the Ophaya 10-inch LCD writing tablet. Livescribe notebooks won't work with an Ophaya pen, and Ophaya paper won't work with a Livescribe pen. Handwriting syncs live over Bluetooth to the free Ophaya Pro+ app on iPhone, iPad or Android, and the pen stores about 1,000 pages offline. Audio works like your Livescribe 3 or Symphony: the app records on your phone or tablet and links each recording to what you wrote. Exports include PDF, Word, PNG, GIF and MP4 (with audio), and syncing, OCR and recording need no subscription.

If you rely on Livescribe+ Desktop on a computer, weigh that before you switch.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Livescribe 3 discontinued?

Livescribe's US store didn't list it at our October 1, 2026 check, but we found no official discontinuation notice, and Livescribe+ was still downloadable. Anoto's May 2026 press release still names "Livescribe retail products" among its core business lines. Our Livescribe status check follows the company side.

Do the Livescribe 3 and Symphony use the same refills and paper?

Yes. Livescribe lists its LivePen / Symphony refill as fitting the Livescribe 3 and Aegir, and says all its dot paper notebooks work with all its smartpens.

Does resetting my pen delete my notes?

The Livescribe 3 pinhole reset doesn't. On a Symphony or Aegir, Master Reset and Clean Memory both erase the pen's stored data.

Livescribe 3 vs Echo: what's the difference?

The main one is where the audio comes from. Echo pens have a microphone built in, while the Livescribe 3 records through your phone or tablet in Livescribe+.