Teleprompter for iPhone: free, and it scrolls with your voice

You do not need a paid app to read a script on your iPhone. Best Free Teleprompter runs in Safari, or as a free App Store app, and its auto-scroll follows your voice: it speeds up when you do, and waits when you pause.

Why the App Store app has a different name

In the App Store the app is called Teleprompter with Auto Scroll. Apple does not allow the word "free" in an app name, so the name had to change there. Everything else is identical: it is the same teleprompter as this website, built by the same person, with no account, no ads and no in-app purchases. More about the app.

Voice tracking on the iPhone

Turn on the microphone, start reading, and the text scrolls at the pace you speak. If you stop to think, it stops with you. If you skip a sentence, it catches up. It does this by listening for the words you are reading and moving the reading line to match, so you never have to guess a scroll speed again.

• Languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. The language is detected from your script text when you turn the microphone on, and you can pick it by hand in the settings.
• In Safari: voice tracking works with the browser's built-in speech recognition. Tap the microphone button once and allow access.
• In the app: speech recognition runs through Apple's speech framework, the same one your iPhone uses for dictation: on the device where iOS supports it for your language, otherwise through Apple's speech service. Nothing is sent to us.
• Manual mode: if you prefer a fixed speed, switch voice tracking off and use the slider. The play button starts and pauses; with a keyboard, the space bar does the same.

Setting the iPhone up next to the camera

The one thing a teleprompter has to get right is your eye line. Viewers notice when your eyes drift away from the lens. Three setups work well:

1. The iPhone is the camera and the teleprompter

Film with the front camera and read the script from the same screen. Keep the text narrow and close to the top of the screen, right under the camera. Set the reading line near the top in the settings, and make the text large enough to read from arm's length. Your eyes stay within a centimetre of the lens, which is invisible on video.

2. A second iPhone or iPad next to the camera

Put the prompter device as close to the lens as you can, directly above or below it, and step back. The further you are from the camera, the less your eye movement shows. At two metres, a phone right under the lens looks like eye contact. This also works with a phone mounted on a light stand or on a camera cage.

3. A beam-splitter rig

If you use a rig with a mirror in front of the lens, turn on mirror horizontally in the settings. The text reads correctly through the glass and you look straight into the camera. Both the website and the app have mirror mode, horizontally and vertically.

Settings that matter on a small screen

• Text size: bigger than feels natural. If you can read it without squinting from where you stand, it is right.
• Text width: narrow. Short lines keep your eyes from scanning left to right, which is the movement viewers notice most.
• Reading line: move it towards the camera. Top of the screen when the camera is above, bottom when it is below.
• Line height: a little more space between lines makes it easier to keep your place when you look away and back.
• Countdown: optional three-second countdown before the scroll starts, so you can settle before the first line.

Getting your script onto the phone

Paste it, or use Import script files to load .txt or .md files. AirDrop the files from your Mac, or save them to Files and pick them from there. Each file becomes a script with the file name as its title, and you can keep as many as you want. Between takes, the ‹ › buttons or a sideways swipe jump to the previous or next script, with voice tracking still on.

Works offline, keeps your scripts on the phone

Add the website to your Home Screen from Safari's share menu and it works without internet, on a shoot, in a studio, in a basement. The app works offline as well. Your scripts are saved on the device only. There is no account, no cloud, no cookies and no ads.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work in Safari on iPhone?

Yes. Everything works in Safari, including voice tracking. For the smoothest voice tracking, or if you want the app icon on your Home Screen without going through the browser, use the free App Store app.

Which iPhone or iOS version do I need?

The app needs iOS 15 or later, and it also runs on iPad and on Macs with Apple silicon. The website runs in any current browser.

Is voice tracking really free?

Yes. There is no premium tier. Voice tracking, mirror mode, unlimited scripts and offline use are all included, on the website and in the app.

Can I use it with a teleprompter rig or an external prompter monitor?

Yes. Mirror mode covers beam-splitter rigs. Prompter monitors that work as an external display, like the Elgato Prompter over USB-C, can show the website from a Mac. See the step by step guide.