Hi — I'm Steve. I'm a working actor, and I built Off Book! for myself because I
was tired of scribbling on scripts and recording lines into voice memos I could
never find again. Turns out a bunch of other actors wanted it too. So here it is,
made by an actor, for actors.
THE GIST
Record your script line by line, then play it back to run your scenes anywhere —
on the bus, at the gym, pacing your kitchen at 1am the night before opening.
It's dead simple:
• Make a Work (your play), add your Scenes, drop in your Characters, and Record
your Lines.
• Recorded a 30-line scene and one line's out of order? Don't you dare start over.
Tap the "+" to slip a new line in, or just press-and-hold a line and drag it
where it belongs. Voilà.
• Scenes out of order too? Same deal — long-press and drag. Fixed.
NOW REHEARSE
Tap the Rehearse icon and you're in. Play the whole scene, or pick the character
YOU'RE playing and flip on "Mute My Line" — the scene plays right up to your cue,
then pauses just long enough for you to nail the line before your next cue rolls
in. Want a little nudge? "Cue My Line" gives you a friendly *ding* right before
it's your turn.
And here's the good part for runaround rehearsing: playback keeps going when your
screen locks or you switch apps. Lock-screen, Control Center, and headphone
controls all work — so you can run lines completely hands-free. Speed it up, slow
it down, loop a scene till it sticks.
LINESYNC — RUN LINES WITH YOUR CAST
Doing a show with other people? LineSync lets a director share a show's lines and
recordings with the whole cast across phones. Invite your actors by email; they
sync everything to their own phone for FREE. As castmates record their lines, the
director hears them show up automatically — no nagging. LineSync is a small
monthly subscription per show, paid by the director. The cast never pays a dime.
BUILT FOR EVERY ACTOR
Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, and Dark Mode work throughout — because the stage is for
everybody.
Off Book! is free with ads. If the ads cramp your style, there's a one-time
"Remove Ads" tap and they're gone forever.
Got a slick feature idea, or (gasp!) found a bug? Hit the support link and there's
an email box waiting at the bottom — I read them myself.
Now go get off book. Break a leg.
— Steve
——— PRO TIPS ———
• "It won't save my lines!" → You probably skipped the microphone permission.
Reinstall and tap YES when it asks, or go to iPhone Settings → Off Book! →
switch Microphone ON.
• To DELETE a Line, Character, Scene, or Work: swipe right-to-left and tap Delete.
Careful — deleting a Character also deletes its Lines.
• Long scene, phone left unattended? Set Auto-Lock to a long time (or Never) so it
doesn't nap mid-rehearsal.
Privacy Policy: https://thelyonessgroup.com/offbook/privacy
Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
This is one of those apps that is extremely useful if you can figure out how to use it. Like other reviewers, I have had problems finding scenes, getting characters to show up in the scene menu, recording, etc. Turns out it’s all about the initial set up of the scene in the “Works” tab. Not only do you need to create your scene and add your characters but you also need to toggle on the switches for each character. Only then can you record lines- or even mute them (which makes no sense). Anyhow, the app works well – it’s just not intuitive which can be frustrating.If the developer would update the app with a smoother interface, I would happily pay for it (once I know it works, of course!).
Great app for the working actor!
Hipichic1971
I want to tell you about this awesome app I found while trying to learn lines to 15 mini scripts. It was created by an actor faced with the same dilemmas I was facing with no one to rehearse with. It has a very simple interface. I didn’t need to view the videos to figure out how to use it. With a few learning lessons after my lines were not saved, it becomes second nature. For those not technologically inclined, I highly recommend the videos. You don’t have to do the traditional upload of a paper script like other apps do. It’s a bit tedious at firs, as you have to record every characters’ line with your voice. You tell it which character you are reading for, then you can have it run all the lines (even yours) so you can recite with it or you can tell it to mute your lines. It can also ding every time to prompt your turn to read your line. This way your brain learns when it’s your turn to speak. When I had a tough few sentences to memorize, I ran it in the car on my way to set & had it repeat my line over & over until I kept in sync with my own voice recording. When I nailed it, I went on to the next line. It has been very handy for my most recent gig. There is a fee, if you want to back up your data in case you lose your phone or something happens to it. I am able to log in from my phone or iPad after syncing it to the cloud. You can also collaborate with your other cast members when they subscribe as well. Steven, the creator, is very responsive to emails, so compliments are very appreciated on his end. Try it today. You will wish you had tried it a long time ago!!!!
Very useful
NathanD1313
Overall this app is a godsend. As it has been said by many others, it is definitely clunky to set up. There has to be a better way, but since I’m not a designer I’m not gonna complain too much. I haven’t searched around for similar products, I just had this app recommended to me by a fellow actor in my show… And I’m finding it extremely useful. Please continue to improve and refine it. Even if eventually you have to charge a little for it… Please make it easier and smoother to use. But thank you for your hard work so far.
An essential tool for actors
Pun_Machine
I’ll get the bad stuff out of the way because there isn’t much. The interface is a bit of a mess. It’s not very appealing and usability is pretty poor. That’s it. Everything else about the app is great once you learn your way around. You have to record your lines and your cues which takes a bit of time but once that’s out of the way it’s well worth it. There are several configurable playback settings and you organize your sides in works (play, show, etc.) and scenes. This tool cuts my prep time in half and I don’t need to bug friends to read for me. I highly recommend this app.
Curtain up on Script Import!
Typing a whole play in by hand? No longer. Now you hand Off Book! a script and it does the reading — scenes, characters, and every last
line — while you go warm up.
• Import a whole script. Feed it a PDF or a text file and Off Book! pulls out
the scenes, characters, and lines for you. No more thumb cramps.
• .fdx & Fountain get the VIP treatment. Final Draft and Fountain files take the
express lane and map almost perfectly — no guessing, no notes.
• A dress rehearsal before you commit. Everything lands in a preview first:
rename, merge or split scenes, cut what you don't want, tidy up character
names. Everything is in preview until you save.
• Hear it before you record. Imported lines you haven't recorded yet get read
aloud in their own per-character voices — so a brand-new show is rehearsable
by ear from minute one.
• Fluff a line? Insert it mid-scene. Tap the + right where it belongs and drop
it in. No more tacking it on the end and dragging it up the pecking order.
• A brand-new how-to guide. More → Help & Tutorials now has plain-English,
step-by-step walkthroughs for the whole app — importing, rehearsing, sharing
with your cast, the works.
Your shows, scenes, lines, and recordings all carry over when you update.
Nothing to re-do.
Found a bug or just want to say hi? The support link's right there. I read every
single message.
Now go learn your lines.
Break a leg!
— Steve
Version 5.1
The developer, Steve LUGOVSKY, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
Identifiers
Usage Data
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Contact Info
User Content
Identifiers
Usage Data
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Purchases
Location
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Steve LUGOVSKY
Size
10.5 MB
Category
Entertainment
Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
