PromptSmart Pro - Teleprompter 4+

The best- despite a few bugs.

It worked great until I upgraded to the subscription service. Then I started having all kinds of problems. At that point I gave it a one-star review. However, the company has been GREAT about communicating with me. I have found reasonable work-arounds for my main issues, and I have the impression that they are honestly working to correct the remaining bugs. When this thing works it is absolutely amazing. I have tried all the teleprompter apps I can find, and this one is hand-down the best- even with the bugs that remain. I am looking forward to upgrading to a five-star review when they fix my remaining issues.

Update- I have been using this for several months. They have still not improved the editing feature (it is very buggie). I payed for the extended version because I wanted the script assist feature which is supposed to allow you to place cues within <brackets> and have the script skip over these when reading. If this feature is enabled it causes many issues like randomly jumping to the top of the page. The extended version is just not worth it for my money. Still, it is the best teleprompter app out there.

Update- They fixed everything. Five stars! I am so happy with it now!!!!!

Developer Response ,

We're so glad that the updated app is working well for you! We appreciate the help you provided as we continue to improve the application going forward.

100% Worth It

I have been using PromptSmart Pro weekly for two years to give sermons at my church. I typically use an iPad, but have also used my iPhone and my MacBook Pro. This software is virtually flawless. It is by far the best speech recognition engine I have tried, it is easy to learn, and it has never let me down before a live audience. I am a good writer, but I have problems with memory when I try to give a speech live. PromptSmart Pro is a lifesaver for me. Every time I forget what I am going to say next, PromptSmart Pro has correctly moved the teleprompter to the correct next line in my sermon. This allows me to speak fluently and flawlessly while focusing my attention on my audience, not on my text. In my past career, I was a VP of Products in the software industry (I led the creation of Rosetta Stone language learnning software), so I know a great product when I see it and use it. PromptSmart Pro is a great product.

Nice, good, but falls well short of advertised

If you are looking for a good basic teleprompter, this fits the bill. I like its words over minute speed adjustment. But if you are looking for voice tracking, this falls far short of reliable. Maybe it works on short, under five minute scripts. I tried a 27 minute script and it was impossible to use the voice track. For example, if you repeat a phrase or point within a few paragraphs of where you are speaking it often doesn’t recognize the first one where you are actually at and will skip forward to the next one. The voice tracking works better, but still skips forward all too often, in a room with lots of sound deadening. But in a room with wood floors and windows, it freezes up like it can’t understand you. The instructions say stay within 5 feet of the iPad to get better voice tracking. I was within 4 feet in a wood floor room and it was extraordinarily glitchy. So I hooked a Bluetooth mic to the iPad and it wouldn’t recognize that at all. I am on iOS 13.3.1 on a 6th Gen iPad with lots of free memory. If I were buying this for a standard set the speed and go teleprompter, then I would give it a 4 star. Good, not great. But I bought it for the voice track so I could save time in production and it miserably fails in that regard.

Developer Response ,

Hi there. Thanks for your observations. You're correct that the environment can effect the scrolling accuracy. We recommend using a compatible microphone when there is lots of echo or reverberation, preferably one with a unidirectional polar pattern or noise cancellation so it picks up the speaker's voice and not the interference. For the time being wireless mics connected to the device via Bluetooth are not compatible. A mic with a wireless receiver that can connect to the device through one of the ports works. Or a wired microphone. Another option that works for many is to use an adapter cable from the audio out of a mounted XLR and to plug it into the iPad or iPhone. To mitigate the skipping forward, you can modify those repetitive phrases to a shorthand so that you know what to say but the app doesn't scroll forward. We test it internally for up to 45 minutes of continuous use. We're confident that with time we can help get the VoiceTrack feature working more in line with your expectations. Thanks again for your purchase! Contact support anytime: team@promptsmart.com