A better read starts here.

Your first read

Start with a short practice script, then adjust the reading view to suit you. You do not need a camera to use the prompter.

1. Open the prompter, choose New script, paste a few sentences and save.
2. Select the script and choose Open prompter.
3. Choose Listen, allow microphone access and read aloud. Pause stops listening. The Pro mode beside Listen shows Quick or Thinking; these choices apply to VoiceFollow Pro, not Basic.

Next: choose a voice engine · record a take · customize reading · solve a problem.

Before your first real take: read a few sentences, pause, and start again. Check that the current-word marker follows your place. If it does not, check your microphone and engine before changing the scroll settings.

Make the workspace yours

Start with New script, Upload scripts, or a starter template. Select a script and choose Open prompter. The script opens in the same window. Choose Customize for reading settings; close it to return to an unobstructed reading screen.

Use Find a setting to search across every category. Focus hides the settings while keeping the reading controls available. Choose it again to return.

Dark and light mode

Dark is the default. Open Workspace settings from the library, or the Workspace & devices category while prompting, and choose Light. This preference is saved on your device. For the website, use Account → Account settings → Appearance. Visitors who are signed out can use the mode switch in the footer. Neither switch changes your reading window colors.

Text and canvas

In the editor, open Text & canvas to adjust writing size, line spacing and canvas width. While prompting, the Text & layout category includes alignment, letter spacing, word spacing, paragraph spacing and weight alongside the existing font and margin controls. The Workspace & devices category controls interface density.

Saved reading setups

Use Saved setups to name and save your reading appearance for another session. Apply a setup without replacing the script. Export a setup to take it to another device, or import one and choose when to apply it. These files contain reading settings and colors, not account credentials or microphone selections.

Reading on a phone

The Android app opens the script full-screen, with a single Listen/Pause button. The small settings button returns to the workspace; Prompter returns to reading. The phone stays awake while its reading screen is visible. Basic browser speech recognition is unavailable inside Android WebView; voice following there uses VoiceFollow Pro and your account's available minutes. Auto and manual scrolling also work.

Use another phone as a controller

In Customize → Workspace & devices → Phone controller, sign in and choose Pair another phone. Open the private pairing link on your second phone. Keep the reading phone open and allow its microphone there once before trying remote Listen. The controller can listen/play, pause, restart and nudge the script. Only commands and reading status pass through this connection; the script and microphone stay on the reading device. Both phones need an internet connection. Use End pairing when finished; pairing links expire after two hours.

Library backups

Open Library tools to back up your scripts as one file or restore a previous backup. Restore keeps existing scripts and skips exact duplicates. Keep backup files somewhere private: they contain the full text of your scripts.

Welcome

This guide covers everything in Wordtandem: getting a script in, setting up the prompter, how voice tracking behaves, recording, the desktop app, your account and plan, and what to do when something is off.

If you only read three things, read these:

Stuck with something? Use the search box at the top of this guide, or write to us and a person will reply. Support questions go to support@wordtandem.com.

Install Wordtandem

Wordtandem runs in your browser, so on most devices there is nothing to install: sign in at wordtandem.com/app and your scripts follow you.

Desktop app Mac Windows

The desktop app puts the prompter in its own window above your slides or video call, keeps the screen awake while you read, and saves recordings straight to disk. Download it here for Apple silicon Macs, Intel Macs, and Windows. It uses your Wordtandem account, and the free plan works in it.

The installers are not yet code-signed, so macOS and Windows each show a warning the first time you open the app. The download page walks through exactly what appears and what to click. It looks alarming and it is expected.

Phones and tablets

Open wordtandem.com/app in your phone's browser. Use the library and editor there; voice tracking and recording depend on browser support and device permissions. Start with a short test. The Android app is prepared for release but is not in the Play Store yet.

Requirements

A close-talk microphone (a lavalier or a headset) makes every voice engine noticeably better than a laptop mic, because it hears you instead of the room.

What is Wordtandem?

Wordtandem is a teleprompter that follows your voice instead of scrolling at a fixed speed. Slow down to land a point and it waits. Stop to think and nothing moves. Go off script to answer a question and your line is still there when you come back. Nobody has to sit off camera driving the scroll, and you never have to match somebody else's speed.

It is used for recording video lessons and sermons, presenting to a camera alone, podcasts and voice-over, sales and demo videos, and anything else where you read long text on camera without a crew. It records too, with your camera behind the script so you read at the lens.

Create a script

In the library, choose New script. The editor opens with a name field, a small formatting toolbar and the text area. Type or paste your text, give it a name, and choose Save. It appears in the library straight away.

Paragraph breaks matter: the prompter keeps them, and voice tracking uses them to tell where one phrase ends and the next begins. Write the way you will speak.

Choose Try a sample to drop in a short sample script if you want to try the prompter before writing your own.

Import a document

Choose Upload scripts in the library, or drag files anywhere onto the page. You can select several at once and each becomes its own script, named after the file.

From Apple Pages, Google Docs, or an old .doc

Wordtandem does not import these formats directly yet. A Google .gdoc file is only a link to the online document, while Pages and old .doc files use formats the browser's Word reader does not understand.

For now, export first: in Pages choose File › Export To › Word (or PDF); in Google Docs choose File › Download › Microsoft Word (or PDF); or save an old .doc as .docx in Word. Then upload the exported file. You can also copy the text and paste it into New script.

Check the result before reading

Open the imported script in the editor. Check paragraph breaks, headings, names and any text copied from page headers or footers. PDF layout may not reflect the order you would read aloud; correct the script before opening the prompter. If a document does not import as expected, copy its text into New script instead.

Managing scripts

The library lists every script with its word count. Each row has edit, export and delete. Delete asks twice so a slip can't lose a script. Export saves the plain text as a .txt file. Once you have a few scripts, a search box appears above the list.

On your other devices. When you are signed in, scripts sync to your account, on every plan including Free. Open the app on another computer or phone and sign in, and the library is there. Scripts you make while signed out stay on that device; after you sign in, the app asks whether to add them to your account.

Editing while prompting. Choose Edit text in the control panel to change the live script without leaving the session.

Back up before a big edit

1. In the library, open Library tools and choose Back up.
2. Keep the downloaded JSON file somewhere private. It contains your script text.
3. To bring it back, choose Restore and select the backup. Existing scripts are kept and exact duplicates are skipped. Backup files must be smaller than 20 MB.

A library backup contains scripts, not recordings or reading setups. Export those separately. See recording storage and saved setups.

Formatting and cue points

The editor supports bold, italic, underline, two heading sizes, paragraphs and bullet lists, and a Clear button that strips formatting from the selection. Formatting shows in the prompter, so you can make a cue stand out from the words you are meant to say.

Headings become cue points

Every heading in a script is a cue point. While prompting, a section menu appears in the control panel, and the [ and ] keys (or the shoulder buttons on a game controller) jump to the previous or next one. Use headings for the sections of a talk and you can move between them without scrolling.

Stage directions

Anything in parentheses, like (pause here) or (look at camera), is treated as a stage direction. Voice tracking always skips past it, so it can neither be matched nor stall the follower. Turn on Dim stage directions under Customize → Playback and it also reads as a note instead of script.

Main interface

Select a script in the library and choose Open prompter. The script fills the reading workspace, with document controls above and playback controls below. Choose Customize to open settings. On a phone, settings open as a sheet; close it to return to reading. Choose Pop out when you want the script on a separate display, then Read here to bring it back.

The control panel

• Listen / Pause starts and stops the session. In Auto mode the button says Play; in Manual mode it says Manual.
• Restart jumps back to the top. Edit text opens the live script in the editor. Pop out moves the reader to a separate window. Library ends the session.
• The readout shows time elapsed, your words per minute, and time left at your current pace.
• Scroll the reader to move through the script, click any word to jump there, or press R to resync to the current word.
• The section menu appears when the script has headings.

Using a separate display

After choosing Pop out, the separate window remembers which screen it was on and what size you left it at, and opens there next time. If your browser asks to manage windows on all displays, allow it, so the window can reopen on the right monitor. If the window does not appear at all, your browser's pop-up blocker has it; allow pop-ups for wordtandem.com.

Settings

Choose Customize to browse seven categories: Start here, Text & layout, Colors & reading aids, Playback, Microphone & camera, Workspace & devices and Saved setups. Everything applies immediately, and Save as my default under Colors & reading aids keeps your setup for next time.

Start here

• Mode. Voice follows your speech. Auto scrolls at a fixed speed. Manual means you scroll it yourself.
• Auto speed in pixels per second, and Timed scroll: give it a target time for the whole script and the speed is worked out for you, recomputed each time you press play so it adapts to your text size.
• Text size. Bigger is easier to read from further away. ↑ and ↓ change it while prompting.
• Color scheme. Pick a saved scheme, or edit the five colors under Colors & reading aids and save your own.

Text & layout

• Layout. Line spacing, side margins, and where the reading line sits vertically (the eye-line height).
• Safe area top and bottom keeps the script clear of a phone notch, a tablet bezel, or the crop of a beam-splitter rig.
• Motion. Glide is how quickly the scroll catches up to you; Lead is how many words ahead it keeps in reserve. See Tuning the follow.
• Font. Sans is clearest at a distance; serif suits long-form reading; mono is there if you want it.

Colors & reading aids

• Theme colors. Text, the current-word marker, background, already-read text, and the reading line. Edit with the picker or paste a hex value. Changing any of them switches the scheme to Custom; save it under a name to keep it.
• Display. Mirror flips the text horizontally for beam-splitter glass, Flip reverses it vertically, CAPS shows everything uppercase.
• Reading aids. Dim what you have already said, highlight the current word, and draw a reading line at the eye-line.
• Tight paragraphs removes the blank space between paragraphs so more fits on screen.
• My defaults. Save the way the prompter looks right now, restore it any time, or factory-reset everything.

Playback

• Pre-roll cue. A 3- or 5-second countdown before scrolling begins, so you can get composed after pressing record. Nobody says "action" when you film alone.
• Loop restarts from the top when Auto mode reaches the end.
• Game controller. See Remote control.
• Smooth follow glides through recognition that arrives in bursts instead of jumping. Dim stage directions is described under Formatting.

Microphone & camera

• Voice recognition. Auto (VoiceFollow Pro when you have minutes, otherwise Basic), or pin one. See Basic and VoiceFollow Pro.
• Microphone. Which mic the prompter listens to. Most browsers feed Basic recognition from the system-default mic, so set your device in the operating system if the picker seems to have no effect.
• Camera. Shows your camera behind the script so you read at the lens. The browser asks permission the first time.
• Recording. See Recording.

Workspace & devices

Choose workspace theme and control spacing. Under Phone controller, choose Pair another phone to create the private link on the reading device.

Saved setups

Save, apply, import or export a reading setup. Setups contain reading appearance, not scripts or account credentials.

Read without voice tracking

Use Customize → Start here → Mode to choose how the script moves. Auto and Manual do not need speech recognition.

Auto: keep a steady pace

1. Choose Auto, then set Auto speed or a target duration with Timed scroll.
2. Choose Play and rehearse a few lines. Adjust the speed to your speaking pace.
3. Pause when you need a break. With Timed scroll, the speed is recomputed when you press play so it reflects the current text size.

Manual: move it yourself

Choose Manual and scroll the reader yourself. Use Page Down / Page Up to nudge, or use a keyboard-style remote. See the shortcut list.

If voice recognition is unavailable during a session, Auto or Manual lets you continue reading. Camera recording is a separate control; check its recording indicator before leaving the session.

Remote control

Everything in the prompter has a key, and anything that sends keys can drive it.

Presentation clickers and foot pedals

Most remotes and pedals present themselves as keyboards and send Page Down and Page Up, so they nudge the script forward and back with no setup. With voice tracking on, a nudge moves you and the follower carries on from there.

Game controllers

Turn on Game controller under Customize → Playback and plug in or pair a controller. A or X plays and pauses, the D-pad nudges up and down, and the shoulder buttons jump between cue points.

Desktop shortcuts Desktop

In the desktop app the keys above work in the prompter window, and these work from any window on macOS (or from the main window on Windows). Mod is ⌘ on a Mac and Ctrl on Windows.

Recording

Open a script and choose ● Record in the reader toolbar. In the recording studio, turn on a camera, choose a microphone and frame your shot. Choose Start recording, then read your script. Listening and recording are independent: choose Listen when you want voice following. The red recording control shows elapsed time; press it to stop and save.

• Clean video. The script and mirrored preview are not burned into the recording. There is no watermark.
• Your recordings. Choose Recordings beside Your scripts to preview, download, search, rename or delete local takes. Import an existing video up to 128 MB. Videos stay on this device and do not sync to your account.
• Long takes. The library writes chunks as they arrive and splits long takes into parts around 128 MB. For a continuous file, choose Choose a file / device export; supported desktop browsers and the desktop app stream to disk. Other environments export bounded parts. Very long takes are saved as separate part files; recording continues across parts without a pause.
• Formats and quality. The camera requests up to 1080p; actual resolution is shown in setup. MP4 or WebM is selected based on your browser. Downloads preserve the original format.
• External cameras. Choose a USB webcam or capture-card source for video capture. CamBridge camera controls are available in the desktop app and are separate from capture: a camera recording to its card does not automatically add a downloadable file to Wordtandem.

Download important takes before clearing browser or app data. Local storage has capacity limits and is not cloud backup. If a take was interrupted, check the recovered file before relying on it. A desktop file saved outside the library can be imported for preview.

A reliable recording routine

1. Choose ● Record, turn on the camera and check the setup's camera, microphone and save destination.
2. Make a short test. Stop it, open Recordings, and play it back to check both picture and sound.
3. Start the real take. Choose Listen separately if you want voice following; pausing speech tracking does not stop recording.
4. Stop recording before leaving the session. Check the saved take and download important files, including every part of a long take.

Script sync does not include video. To use a take on another device, download or export it and transfer the file yourself. Deleting a local library copy does not delete files you exported outside the app.

CamBridge camera controlsDesktop

CamBridge camera controls are in the Wordtandem desktop app from version 1.4.1. Sony camera support needs Sony's camera software, which the current public installers do not include yet. The website and browser prompter do not expose these controls. Browser recording still works with a webcam or capture-card input.

Open Camera settings → Configure cameras… in the desktop app to configure a supported camera or connect to a camera-control server. Use Camera controls… to open the camera panel. Start with a short test and check the camera’s reported state after sending a command. A sent command is not proof that recording started.

Compatibility depends on the camera model, firmware, connection and installed camera software. Sony SDK features require the matching supported runtime. A camera may offer only some controls; Wordtandem shows capabilities reported by the connected system.

Recordings made on a camera’s memory card stay there. A monitoring preview does not add a video to your Wordtandem library. To record directly into the local library, select a USB webcam or capture-card source in the recording studio.

Desktop appDesktop

The desktop app is the same prompter, pulled from the web on every build, plus the things a browser cannot do:

• A window that stays on top. Keep the prompter above your slides, your Zoom or Meet window, or a recording app, so the script is in front of you while you present. Toggle it from the Window menu.
• Keep-awake. Your screen will not sleep or dim while a session is running.
• Native saving. Recordings go where you choose, with a normal save dialog.
• Menus and app-wide shortcuts. Session, Window and Help menus, and the Mod+Shift shortcuts listed under Remote control. Help › Keyboard Shortcuts shows the same list inside the app.

First run

The first time you open it, a short setup walks you through signing in, choosing a microphone and camera, the library, settings, placing the prompter window, and a thirty-second practice read. Every step can be skipped, and Help › Run Setup Again brings it back.

Signing in

Sign in with your Wordtandem email and password. The app keeps a device key in the operating system's secure storage, not your password. You can see and revoke device keys from your account page, which is the thing to do if a laptop goes missing. Changing your password also signs every device out.

Updates

On a Mac the app updates itself: a new version is fetched in the background and applies the next time you launch. On Windows there is no auto-update yet; come back to the download page for new versions.

Closing

Closing the main window quits the app. Closing the prompter window only hides it; Reopen window brings it back.

Diagnostics

Help › Show Diagnostics Log opens the app's log folder, which is what to send us if something misbehaves.

Beam-splitter rigs and mirrors

On a beam-splitter rig the script is reflected in glass in front of the lens, so it has to be shown backwards. Turn on Mirror under Customize → Colors & reading aids (or press M), and Flip if your rig also inverts vertically. Use the Safe area sliders to keep the text inside the part of the screen the glass actually shows.

Put the prompter window on the rig's monitor and keep the control panel and preview on your own screen; the preview is never mirrored, so you can still read it.

How voice tracking works

With Mode set to Voice, choose Listen. The prompter turns your speech into text and matches it against the script, word by word, and moves the scroll to keep the word you are on at the reading line.

• Slow down and it waits. The scroll is paced to you, not to a timer.
• Stop and it stops. Silence does not move the script.
• Go off script and it holds your place. Answer a question from the room, ad-lib a story, and your line is still there when you come back to it.
• Lost your place or skipped ahead? Keep reading and it catches up, or click the word you're on (or press R when it offers a jump). The matcher checks nearby text first and moves further only on a long, consistent run of your words, so a short phrase you happen to repeat from later in the script cannot throw you far forward.
• Stage directions are skipped. Text in parentheses is never matched, so a note to yourself cannot stall the follower.

Putting it back on track

If it loses you, press R to resync the scroll to the current word, click the word you are actually on in the preview, or scroll the preview to the right place. The follower carries on from there.

Basic and VoiceFollow Pro

Auto, the default, tries VoiceFollow Pro first and uses Basic if Pro is unavailable when you start. If your minutes run out during a session, Wordtandem tells you and switches to Basic automatically where your browser supports it; otherwise it says so rather than showing you as still on air.

What counts against your minutes

Only the time VoiceFollow Pro is actually listening. Pause and the clock stops. Basic never counts. On a paid plan, your allowance renews monthly on your billing date (a yearly plan gives twelve monthly allowances, one per monthly anniversary of your purchase); the free allowance renews on the first day of each month (UTC). If your account was opened before these terms were published on October 15, 2026, a paid allowance keeps renewing on the 1st of each month (UTC) until your first billing date on or after November 5, 2026. Unused time does not roll over. When it runs out, Pro stops until it renews. Basic can keep going without a minutes limit where your browser supports it; Auto or Manual scrolling is another option.

Names and jargon

Before each connection, VoiceFollow Pro reads the names, capitalised terms and unusual words from the part of the script you are about to read and tells the engine to expect them. This gives the recognizer useful vocabulary; it does not guarantee that every word will be recognized. It refreshes as you move through a long script.

Tuning the follow

Two sliders under Customize → Text & layout › Motion shape how the scroll moves, and one switch under Playback.

• Glide is how quickly the scroll catches up to where you are. Snappy catches up fastest; Gentle is smoother and lags a touch more.
• Lead is how many words ahead of the current word the follower keeps in reserve, so the next line is already in view.
• Smooth follow glides through recognition that arrives in bursts instead of jumping. Turn it off if you prefer the scroll to snap to each matched word.

If the prompter feels a beat behind you, raise Glide toward Snappy and raise Lead. If it feels twitchy, lower Glide toward Gentle. A close-talk microphone helps more than any slider.

Quick or Thinking?

Use Pro mode beside Listen, or Customize → Microphone & camera → VoiceFollow Pro mode. Thinking is the default: it waits for more reliable recognition before moving, which adds some delay. Quick follows early results sooner, but may move on words the recognizer later corrects. You can switch while listening; the choice is saved on this device. These modes do not change Basic recognition.

Change one thing at a time

1. Read the same short passage with your usual microphone. Check the active engine in the badge.
2. If the matched word is behind, try Quick or improve microphone placement. Glide changes the display motion, not the words the engine hears.
3. If the word marker is right but the scroll feels slow or abrupt, adjust Glide or Smooth follow. Adjust Lead to show more text ahead.
4. If the follower has the wrong place, click the correct word in the preview. Resync (R) brings the display to its current tracked word.

Where your audio goes

Basic uses the speech recognition built into your browser. The audio never reaches us; how your browser handles it is covered by your browser vendor's own privacy policy.

VoiceFollow Pro sends your microphone audio to Deepgram, our speech-to-text provider, for one purpose: turning speech into text so the prompter can follow your place. Every request is opted out of Deepgram's model-improvement program, the audio is processed only for that request, and we do not keep a recording of it. The privacy policy has the full detail.

Your account

Your account page shows your plan, the VoiceFollow Pro minutes used this month, and your device keys. Account settings let you:

• Change your name, which is only used to address you in email.
• Change your email. A six-digit code goes to the new address; enter it to confirm.
• Change your password. This signs you out on every other browser and device, and revokes desktop device keys, so a lost laptop is locked out.
• Download your data as a file.
• Delete your account. This cancels any paid plan first and then removes your scripts and account. If billing cannot be reached, nothing is deleted; try again or contact us.

Forgot your password?

Use the reset link. The email you receive works once and signs out your other devices when you set the new password.

Device keysDesktop

The desktop app signs in once with your email and password and then keeps a device key, stored in the operating system's secure storage, so it never has to hold your password. Each installed copy gets its own key.

Your account page lists every active key with its device name. Revoke one and that copy is signed out the next time it talks to us. Changing your password revokes them all. You do not need a device key for the web prompter.

Plans and billing

Basic voice tracking, recording, the editor and script sync are free on every plan and never expire. Using your own scripts needs a free account (no card); without one you can try the demo script. Paid plans add VoiceFollow Pro minutes.

The allowance renews monthly on your billing date; a yearly plan includes twelve monthly allowances. If your account was opened before these terms were published on October 15, 2026, a paid allowance keeps renewing on the 1st of each month (UTC) until your first billing date on or after November 5, 2026. A subscription bought before these allowances took effect keeps the allowance it was bought with.

Paying yearly saves about two months. Organizations, registered 501(c)(3)s, K-12 schools and teachers: get in touch for a discount or a custom allowance with invoicing.

Changing or cancelling

Choose a plan on the pricing page; you see the amount due before you confirm, and if tax or a discount means Stripe works out the final figure, the confirmation says it is an estimate. A larger-allowance upgrade applies immediately: on the same billing interval you pay the prorated difference; changing the interval as part of that upgrade starts a new period, less credit for unused time. A monthly/yearly switch on the same plan is scheduled for the end of the current paid period, with nothing charged when scheduled. The confirmation shows its effective date and amount due now. See the billing terms and applicable revision dates. If a payment needs your bank's confirmation or fails, your account page says so. Downgrades take effect at the end of the period you have paid for. Cancel any time from your account page: you keep the plan until the period ends, then move to Free and keep all your scripts. Stripe handles payment, so your card details never touch our servers.

Refunds

If it is your first payment and Wordtandem is not for you, tell us within 14 days and we will refund it. Beyond that, cancelling keeps your access until the period ends rather than refunding the remainder. The terms spell this out.

Zoom, Meet and video callsDesktop

Reading notes on a call is what the desktop app's always-on-top window is for. Open the prompter window, size it to a band just under your camera, and turn on keep above from the Window menu. Your call stays full screen underneath and the script floats over it, close to the lens, so you look at the person rather than off to one side.

Two things to know. The prompter window is a normal window, so if you share your whole screen, participants can see it; share the application window you mean instead. And with voice tracking on, your microphone is used by both the call and the prompter, which can depend on your device, permissions and other apps. Test both together before the call; if the mic is unavailable, pause the prompter and use Auto or Manual mode.

A second screen or a tablet as the prompter

The prompter window is designed to live on a different display from the control panel. Drag it to the second screen, size it, and it will open there next time. On a rig with a tablet, open wordtandem.com/app on the tablet and sign in; your library is there. Voice tracking listens on whichever device you press Listen on, so pick the one with the better microphone.

Recording a long lesson or sermon

For a complete first recording, use the online lesson guide and free script template.

• Use headings for each section so you can jump with [ and ] if you restart a take.
• Put pauses and reminders in parentheses; they will never be matched or stall the scroll.
• Turn on the pre-roll cue so you have three seconds to settle after pressing Record.
• Check your VoiceFollow Pro minutes on the account page before a long session. If they run out while you are reading, switch the voice engine to Basic.
• Use a lavalier or headset. Room echo is the most common reason tracking lags.
• On the desktop app, keep-awake means the screen will not dim halfway through.

On a phone or tablet

Open wordtandem.com/app in Safari or Chrome and sign in. The layout adapts to the screen: the library, editor, and settings all work, and you can hide or show the prompter while you read. Upload from the phone's files app or write in the editor. The Android app is prepared for release but is not in the Play Store yet.

Set up for a read

1. Open your script and choose Open prompter. Set a comfortable text size in Customize, then close the settings sheet.
2. Place the phone securely and test microphone permission on the device doing the reading.
3. Choose Listen and read a short passage. If Basic is unavailable, use VoiceFollow Pro with available account minutes, or Auto or Manual mode.
4. For remote control, pair the second phone from Customize → Workspace & devices → Phone controller on the reading device. Keep the private pairing link private.

For video, make and play back a short test in this browser first. Download important takes before clearing site data; recordings stay on the device where they were captured.

Troubleshooting

It doesn't hear me

Check the microphone chosen under Customize → Microphone & camera, and that the browser has permission (the lock icon in the address bar). Most browsers feed Basic recognition from the system-default mic regardless of the picker, so set the device in your operating system's sound settings too.

"speech engine offline" or "reconnecting…"

Basic recognition in Chrome and Edge uses an online service; if it cannot be reached the prompter says so and stops. Check your connection, or switch the engine to VoiceFollow Pro. In Edge, also check Windows Settings → Privacy & security › Speech › Online speech recognition is on. With VoiceFollow Pro, "reconnecting…" means the connection dropped and is being retried; scrolling continues manually meanwhile and picks up again on its own.

It's behind me, or it jumps

Raise Glide toward Snappy and raise Lead under Text & layout → Motion. If it has the wrong place, click the right word in the preview. Press R to bring the display to the current tracked word. See Quick, Thinking and motion settings to distinguish recognition delay from scroll motion. Read clearly for a few words after resuming from an ad-lib so it can find you.

The prompter window never opened

Reading in the workspace does not require a pop-up. If Pop out is blocked, allow pop-ups for wordtandem.com and try again. If it opens on the wrong screen, drag it once; the position is remembered. Allow "manage windows on all displays" if the browser asks.

No camera in the list

Choose Allow camera access, then accept the browser's prompt. If another app has the camera open, close it first.

"Recording is not supported in this browser"

Make sure the browser has permission to use both the camera and microphone, then reload the page. If it still fails, try the current version of Chrome, Edge, or Safari.

My scripts aren't on my other device

Sign in on both devices with the same email. Without an account the prompter is a preview with the demo script; scripts saved in a browser while signed out stay on that device, and you can add them to your account after signing in there.

The desktop app says it can't be opened

That is the unsigned-app warning. The download page shows the exact steps for macOS (System Settings → Privacy & Security › Open Anyway) and Windows (More info › Run anyway).

Recording saved, but I cannot find it on another device

Recordings are local to the device and browser where you made them. Open Recordings there, then download the take. For a long take, check every saved part. Account script sync does not transfer videos.

The library says it could not sync

Check your connection and that you are signed in to the right account. Keep the current device's scripts backed up through Library tools → Back up before clearing site data or trying another browser. If the error persists, send support the exact message.

The camera preview works, but the saved take has no sound

Check the microphone selected in the recording studio, then record and play back a short test. Listening and camera recording are independent; successful voice following is not proof that the saved video has audio.

Frequently asked questions

Does the free plan expire?

No. Free is free, with no card and no clock. It includes Basic, with no Wordtandem usage cap where your browser supports it, and Up to 15 trial minutes of VoiceFollow Pro each month, subject to available trial capacity.

Is there a watermark?

Never, on any plan. Recordings are clean on every plan. The camera requests up to 1080p; the actual resolution depends on your camera and browser and is shown in setup.

Can two people share one account?

One sign-in belongs to one person. If several people in an organization use Wordtandem, each needs their own; talk to us about a team arrangement.

Does it work offline?

The prompter, the editor and Basic tracking in a browser that does recognition locally can work without a connection; Basic in Chrome and Edge, and VoiceFollow Pro, need one.

Which languages?

English today.

Can it read a Google Doc directly?

Not yet. Download it as Word or PDF and upload that, or paste the text.

How does it compare to other teleprompters?

We wrote honest, row-by-row comparisons with Speakflow, Teleprompter.com and ShareSpeak, including the rows where they win.

Contact us

Something not covered here, or not working the way this guide says it should? Write to us and a person will reply. For support, email support@wordtandem.com. If it is a bug, the diagnostics from Help › Show Diagnostics Log (desktop) or the browser and operating system you are on save a round trip.

What to include in a bug report

• The browser or desktop app, its version, and your operating system.
• The action you tried, what happened, and what you expected.
• For tracking: the active engine, Quick or Thinking if using Pro, and whether recording was running.
• The exact error text and the approximate time it happened. A short example of the affected script can help if you are comfortable sharing it.

Review diagnostics before sending them. Do not include passwords, device keys, payment details or private script text you do not want to share.