How to use your phone as a teleprompter

A phone makes a surprisingly good teleprompter. It's small enough to sit right next to a camera lens, bright enough to read in daylight, and you already carry it. A tablet does the same job with bigger text, which helps for speeches and for reading from further away.

You don't even need to download a teleprompter app. EasyPrompter runs in the browser you already have, Safari on iPhone and iPad or Chrome on Android, and it's free with no account. On iPhone and iPad you can also get it as a free app from the App Store: see the teleprompter app for iPhone. This guide covers setup, placement, the realistic ways to record while you read, mirror rigs and remotes.

In the browser, or as an app

EasyPrompter is a web app: open the address, paste your script and start. There's nothing to install and no account to create. The free teleprompter includes everything you need to read on camera: scrolling from 40 to 320 words per minute, the amber reading line, a 3-2-1 countdown, loop, mirror and flip for rigs, six fonts, your own colors and sizes, Bluetooth remote control, and eye contact with the front camera. It holds one script at a time and doesn't save it, so the script is gone when the page closes.

With EasyPrompter Pro you can also add it to your home screen as an app, so it opens full screen like anything else on your phone, and your scripts are saved and synced between your phone, tablet and computer. See pricing for the plans.

Quick start on iPhone or Android

1. Open studio.easyprompter.app in Safari or Chrome on your phone.
2. Replace the sample text with your script. Copy it from wherever you wrote it, such as Notes, Google Docs or an email, and tap Paste.
3. Tap Look to set the speed, text size and colors. On a phone, start around 44 to 56 px with side margins narrow, so each line still holds a few words.
4. Tap Start prompter, then tap the text. After the countdown, the script scrolls past the reading line.
5. Tap to pause, drag to go back a line, and use the pencil button to return to the editor.

While the prompter is open, the speed and text size steppers sit in the control bar, so you can fix both without leaving it. The complete user guide explains every button.

Where to put the phone

The closer the text is to the lens you're looking into, the less you look like you're reading.

• Right under or beside the lens. Mount the phone on a small clamp on your tripod, a light stand or the top of a monitor, as close to the camera as you can without it entering the shot.
• Reading line toward the camera. If the phone sits below the lens, move the reading line position up to 10 to 25%, so the line you read is the one nearest the camera.
• Portrait or landscape. Portrait gives a narrow column, which keeps eye movement small. Landscape gives longer lines and fewer line changes. Roboto Condensed fits more words in a narrow line.
• Distance. Step back a little and raise the font size. At a distance, small eye movements disappear.

For reading technique, see how to use a teleprompter naturally, and to pick a speed, teleprompter reading speed.

Recording while you read

You can read and record on the same phone with EasyPrompter, or film with another camera and use a second device as the prompter. Here are the options.

The same phone, with Start camera

Tap Start camera, next to Start prompter. The front camera turns on and the lines you're reading move into a narrow island right under the lens: under the Dynamic Island in the iPhone app, and at the top of the window in a browser. Your eyes stay on the camera while you read. Eye contact and the camera are free.

With Pro, tap the red Record button in the top-left corner: after the countdown, the recording and the scrolling start together. The script stays out of the video, and the video stays on your phone: save it to Photos or share it in the app, or use the share sheet in the browser. See teleprompter with camera and eye contact for the details.

A second device as the prompter

Record on one phone and read from another device. Film with the phone's rear camera, which is usually the best camera on the phone, and put a tablet, an old phone or a laptop running EasyPrompter right under it. The prompter screen is free to show only your script, nothing gets in the camera app's way, and you can check your framing on the recording phone. It's the setup to choose when you want the rear camera's picture, and it's covered in detail in teleprompter for YouTube.

A tablet as prompter, a phone as camera

A popular variation: lay or stand a tablet just below the phone on the same tripod or desk. The tablet's larger text lets you stand further back, which makes your eye movement smaller still. With Pro you can run the tablet's prompter from your phone or computer with remote control, so you don't need to reach for it between takes.

Another camera app on the same phone

Reading in the browser while another camera app records on the same phone is possible but awkward. On most phones the camera app takes over the whole screen, so you can't see a browser page at the same time. Some Android phones offer split screen, and iPad offers Split View and Stage Manager, which can put the browser beside another app, but not every camera app supports it, and those that do leave you with half a screen of text that may not sit near the lens. If you try it, keep the text in the half of the screen closest to the front camera and test a short clip first. Switching away from EasyPrompter to a full-screen app pauses the scrolling, so you won't lose your place.

Some recording apps have a script feature built in, which is fine for quick clips. For anything longer, Start camera in EasyPrompter or a second device is simpler.

iPhone and iPad notes

• Address bar. In a normal Safari or Chrome tab, iPhone keeps the address bar visible, so the prompter can't go fully full screen. With Pro, use Share, then Add to Home Screen, and open EasyPrompter from your home screen to run it full screen. The install steps in the user guide show where to tap.
• Screen stays on. EasyPrompter asks the browser to keep the screen awake while the prompter is open. Low Power Mode can interfere, so turn it off for a shoot, or raise Auto-Lock in Settings, Display & Brightness.
• Focus mode. Turn on Do Not Disturb or a Focus so a notification banner doesn't cover your next line.
• The app. The free EasyPrompter app for iPhone and iPad opens full screen with no address bar, keeps the screen awake, and adds an external display or AirPlay, with the same account and scripts as the web.
• iPad for longer scripts. An iPad is a comfortable size for speeches and for sitting further from the camera. Use a larger font and wider side margins.

Android notes

• Use Chrome. EasyPrompter switches to full screen when you start the prompter, hiding the browser bars. If you swipe out of full screen, the next tap on play brings it back.
• Screen timeout and battery saver. The screen stays awake while the prompter is open, but battery saver modes can override that. Turn battery saver off during a take, or lengthen the screen timeout in Display settings.
• Install (Pro). With Pro, tap Install app or use Chrome's menu to add EasyPrompter to your home screen.

Mirror rigs for phones and tablets

For the most natural eye contact, use a beam-splitter rig: a small hood with angled glass that sits in front of the camera lens. The prompter phone or tablet lies underneath, its screen reflects in the glass toward you, and the camera films straight through. You look directly into the lens while you read.

The reflection reverses the text, so turn on Mirror in EasyPrompter (or press M on a keyboard). Some rigs also need Flip upside down. Phone-sized rigs work with a camera or a second phone filming through the glass; tablet rigs give bigger text for reading from further back. Light text on a black background reflects best. Our guide to teleprompter mirror mode and beam splitters walks through the setup.

Remotes for a phone teleprompter

Reaching for the phone between takes can knock your framing. Two ways to avoid it:

• A Bluetooth clicker or keyboard. Pair it in your phone's Bluetooth settings, open the prompter and tap the screen once. Most clickers send Page Up and Page Down, which move to the previous or next paragraph; a button that sends Space or Enter plays and pauses. Remotes that only send volume or media keys won't work.
• Another device (Pro). With Pro, sign in on both devices with the same account. On the controlling device, press Remote control and pick the phone, then press Start. You can pause, change the speed and text size, jump and switch scripts without touching the phone. Or open Remote control on the prompter screen and scan its QR code with any phone: it becomes the remote with no sign-in on the phone.

Phone teleprompter checklist

• Script pasted, read through in Preview, original kept elsewhere
• Speed tested aloud; check the length with the speech time calculator
• Phone as close to the lens as possible, reading line toward the camera
• Font large enough from where you stand; side margins narrow the column
• Low Power Mode or battery saver off; Do Not Disturb on
• Phone charged or plugged in
• Mirror on if you use a beam-splitter rig
• Clicker paired and tested, or remote control set up (Pro)
• Test clip recorded and watched back

Frequently asked questions