Getting Started

Create your account

Open SteadyCue on your tablet and tap "Create Account." You can sign up with an email and password, or use "Sign in with Google" for a faster setup. Use the same account when you sign into the web companion at deadscroll.web.app — this is how your scripts stay in sync between devices.

Change your password

If you signed up with email and password, you can change your password in Settings → Account. This option doesn't appear for Google sign-in users since your password is managed by Google.

Your first script

The quickest way to get started: open the web companion on your computer, sign in, and paste a script into the editor. It appears on your tablet within seconds. You can also create scripts directly on the tablet — tap the + button and choose "Write / Paste."

If you have scripts saved as .txt or .docx files, you can import them from the + menu on either the app or the web companion. Google Drive import is also available if your scripts live there.

Launch your first presentation

From the tablet: Open a script, tap "Prompt" from the detail view, then choose Voice or Scroll from the playback bar at the bottom.

From your computer: Open the same script in the web companion, click "Start Presentation," choose Voice or Manual mode, and click Launch. The tablet switches to the prompter automatically — you don't need to touch it.

When you start Voice mode, you'll see a 3-2-1 countdown. This gives the speech recognition a moment to warm up so it catches your first words. Start speaking when "GO" appears.

Scripts

Creating scripts

Tap the + button on the scripts screen and choose "Write / Paste." Give your script a title, type or paste your text, and tap Save. On the web companion, click "New Script" in the sidebar.

Importing scripts

SteadyCue accepts .txt and .docx files. Tap + and choose "Import File," or drag and drop files onto the web companion. Formatting is stripped to plain text — the prompter handles all display styling.

Google Drive

Both the app and web companion can import directly from Google Drive. The first time you use it, you'll be asked to grant permission. After that, it works without re-authentication. You can browse your Drive folders and "Shared with me" files, and import .txt, .docx, or native Google Docs.

Organising with status

Every script starts as "To Do." After you've filmed it, tap the checkbox on the script card (or use "Mark Filmed" in the detail view) to move it to "Completed." This keeps your scripts list focused on what's left to shoot.

Use "Clear Completed" to bulk-delete finished scripts when you're done with a project.

Search and sort

The search bar filters scripts by title and body text. The sort button cycles through: date modified, name, recently used, and word count. Your preferred sort order is saved.

Folders

Folders let you group scripts by project, shoot day, or however you like to organise. They appear as a scrollable row of pills at the top of the scripts list.

Creating a folder: Tap the + pill at the end of the folder row and give it a name.

Assigning scripts to folders: Open a script's detail view and tap the folder chip below the title to pick a folder. In the editor, use the folder dropdown. To move multiple scripts at once, enter select mode and use the "Move" action.

Filtering: Tap a folder pill to show only scripts in that folder. Tap "All" to see everything. The filter applies to both To Do and Completed sections.

Managing folders: Tap the gear icon on the folder row to rename or delete folders. Deleting a folder doesn't delete the scripts inside it — they simply become unfiled and appear under "All."

Scripts you create while a folder is active are automatically assigned to that folder.

How sync works

Your tablet stores all scripts locally — it's the source of truth. When you're online, changes sync automatically to the cloud and appear on the web companion (and vice versa). If you're offline, everything keeps working. Changes sync when you reconnect. You never need to think about it.

Prompter Screen

Layout overview

The prompter is a full-screen reading view designed to be distraction-free. Your script scrolls vertically with a track line showing where you should be reading. The edges of the screen fade to transparent, drawing your eye to the centre. A thin progress bar at the top shows how far through the script you are, with a percentage and estimated time remaining in the top corner.

The playback bar at the bottom gives you controls for voice mode, manual scroll, and reset. It auto-hides after 4 seconds so it doesn't distract you while presenting. Tap anywhere on the script text to bring it back.

Estimated read time

The top-right corner of the prompter shows an estimated read time for your script based on an average speaking pace. This updates as you progress — it shows how long is left, not total length. Cue text (in angle brackets) is excluded from the calculation since you don't read it aloud.

Resume position

If the app is interrupted — a notification pops up, you accidentally tap the home button, or you switch to another app — SteadyCue remembers exactly where you were. When you return to the app, the script is in the same position. You won't lose your place.

Settings panel

Tap the gear icon in the playback bar to open the settings panel. It slides in from the right and every change takes effect immediately — no need to close and reopen.

Text: Choose your font (including OpenDyslexic for improved readability), adjust font size with the slider, set side margins, and fine-tune line spacing and paragraph spacing independently. If your script uses section markers, you can switch between displaying them as inline labels or edge tabs here.

Reading Guide: Adjust where the track line sits on screen (higher or lower), control the edge fade intensity, and change the track line's colour and thickness.

Colours: Pick your background and text colours from the swatch palettes. Common choices: light text on dark background for studio use, or dark text on a light background for outdoor shoots where screen glare is a factor.

Display: Toggle Mirror mode (horizontal flip for beam-splitter teleprompter rigs) and Flip mode (vertical inversion for under-camera rigs). These can be combined.

Remote: Connect a Neewer RT113 BLE remote or check its connection status.

Pinch-to-zoom

Pinch two fingers apart on the prompter screen to increase the font size, or pinch together to decrease it. This works during voice tracking without interrupting the scroll. The font size slider in settings stays in sync.

Mirror and flip

Mirror flips the text horizontally — used when your tablet faces a beam-splitter glass and you read the reflection. Flip inverts the screen vertically — used for under-camera rig setups where the tablet is mounted upside-down. Both can be enabled at the same time. Progress indicators and controls flip with the text so everything stays readable.

Voice Tracking

How it works

SteadyCue listens through your tablet's microphone and matches what you say to the words in your script. As it recognises your speech, the script scrolls forward to keep pace. You don't need to set a speed — just read naturally and the app follows you.

Starting voice mode

Tap the Voice button in the playback bar. A 3-2-1 countdown appears, then "GO." Start speaking when you see GO. The countdown isn't just decorative — it gives the speech recognition engine time to initialise so it catches your very first words.

To pause, tap the pause button or use a connected remote. To resume, tap play — you'll get another countdown and tracking picks up from where you left off.

Tips for best results

Mic distance is the single biggest factor. The built-in tablet microphone is designed for arm's length use (roughly 0.5–1 metre). At 1.5 metres or more, recognition quality drops significantly — not because of the app, but because the microphone can't pick up your voice clearly enough. If your tablet is mounted further away on a rig, plug a lapel mic or wireless Bluetooth microphone into the tablet. This makes a dramatic difference.

Speak at your natural pace. The scroll adapts to your speed in real time. If you speed up, it speeds up. If you slow down or pause, it slows down and waits. During pauses, you may notice the text drifting forward very gently — this is intentional and prevents the screen from feeling frozen.

Ad-libs and pauses are fine. If you go off-script, the engine waits. When you return to the scripted words, it catches up. You don't need to read every word perfectly — the matching is fuzzy enough to handle natural speech variations.

You don't need to be online. Voice tracking uses your device's built-in speech recognition, which works offline on almost all modern Android devices. See the Offline Mode section for details.

Keyboard and physical controls work during voice tracking. If you have a Bluetooth remote or keyboard connected, you can scroll manually at any time. Voice tracking pauses briefly while you scroll, then resumes automatically after 2 seconds.

Mic distance

This is worth repeating because it's the most common reason voice tracking underperforms. Testing across multiple devices showed that a tablet at arm's length (0.5–1m) achieves near-perfect tracking, while the same tablet at 1.5–2 metres produced significantly worse results — more restarts, longer gaps, and incomplete script coverage. The fix is simple: use an external microphone. A clip-on lapel mic or a Bluetooth mic routed to the tablet works perfectly.

Cue text

Wrap stage directions in angle brackets: <look at camera 2> or <hold up product>. Cues appear in the script in a distinct peach colour and italic style so you can see them while reading, but the voice engine completely ignores them. You don't need to read cues aloud — they won't affect scroll position.

Section markers

Wrap section names in square brackets on their own line: [Intro], [Sponsor Read], [Outro]. These create navigation points you can jump to during filming — essential for retakes. If you fluff a paragraph, jump back to the section marker and go again without scrolling through the entire script.

Section markers appear in two display modes (changeable in the prompter settings):

• In Script: section names appear inline as small grey labels in the script flow.
• On Controls: section names appear as small tabs in the left margin, visible only when the controls are showing. Zero impact on scroll timing.

To jump to a section: tap the "Sections" button in the playback bar and tap the section name, or tap an edge tab directly.

The segmented progress bar at the top reflects your sections — each segment represents one section and fills as you progress through it.

Manual Scroll

When to use manual mode

Manual scroll runs the text at a fixed speed you control. Use it when you're in a noisy environment where voice tracking would struggle, when you're recording a voiceover rather than speaking to camera, or simply if you prefer a fixed pace.

Speed control

Tap the Scroll button in the playback bar to start. A speed slider appears above the controls. Drag it to adjust speed — changes take effect immediately without stopping the scroll. Tap pause to stop, play to resume at the same speed. The slider is only visible while manual scroll is active.

Web Companion

What it is

The web companion is a script management tool that runs in any browser at deadscroll.web.app. It's how you write, organise, and launch scripts from your computer. No install needed — it works on any PC, Mac, or laptop with a browser.

Start Presentation

This is the core of the SteadyCue workflow. Open a script in the web companion, click "Start Presentation," choose Voice or Manual mode, and click Launch. Your tablet — which just needs to be open with the app in the foreground — switches to that script in full-screen prompter mode automatically. You never need to walk over and touch it.

If Voice mode is selected, the tablet shows the same 3-2-1 countdown as a local voice start.

Stop Presenting

While a presentation is running, a "Stop Presenting" button appears in the web companion. Click it to stop voice tracking on the tablet and return it to the script detail view. Useful for ending a take remotely.

File import

The web companion supports the same import options as the app: drag and drop .txt or .docx files onto the editor area, use the file picker, or import from Google Drive. Imported scripts sync to your tablet automatically.

Remote Controls

Bluetooth HID remotes

Standard Bluetooth presentation remotes (like the Logitech R500s, Kensington Presenter, or similar clickers) work with SteadyCue out of the box. Pair the remote with your tablet via Android's Bluetooth settings — no in-app setup needed.

Button mapping:

• Page Down / Right arrow → scroll down
• Page Up / Left arrow → scroll up
• Enter / Space / F5 → toggle voice tracking on/off
• Volume Up → increase font size
• Volume Down → decrease font size

When you scroll with the remote, voice tracking pauses briefly (2 seconds) to let you find your place, then resumes automatically.

Neewer RT113

The Neewer RT113 is a compact BLE remote designed for content creators. Connect it from the prompter settings panel — tap "Connect Remote" in the Remote section and select the RT113 when it appears.

Button mapping:

• Centre button → play/pause voice tracking
• A+ → increase font size
• A- → decrease font size
• Up arrow → scroll up
• Down arrow → scroll down

The RT113 disconnects automatically when you leave the prompter. If you're using both an HID remote and the RT113 at the same time, both work independently.

Offline Mode

How offline works

SteadyCue is designed to work without an internet connection. Your scripts are stored locally on the tablet — they're always available regardless of network status. Voice tracking uses your device's built-in speech recognition, which runs on-device on virtually all modern Android tablets.

This means you can confidently enable airplane mode during shoots to prevent notifications from interrupting your filming. Everything keeps working.

Offline speech model

On rare occasions (roughly 2% of devices, typically older models), the offline speech recognition model may not be pre-installed. If this happens, you'll know because voice tracking won't respond to your speech while offline. The app detects this automatically after about 10 seconds and shows instructions for downloading the speech model from your device's settings.

To download it manually: go to your Android device Settings, search for "offline speech recognition" or "speech," and download the English language pack. Once installed, voice tracking works fully offline.

When you're connected to the internet, voice tracking uses Google's cloud speech recognition, which is even more accurate. The app switches between cloud and on-device automatically — you don't need to manage it.

Troubleshooting

Voice tracking not scrolling

Check your distance from the tablet. This is the most common cause. Move closer (within 1 metre) or connect an external microphone to the tablet. See the Voice Tracking section for details.

Make sure you're reading the script. The engine needs to hear words that match what's in the script. Ad-libs are fine, but if you're speaking entirely off-script, the scroll won't advance. When you return to the scripted text, tracking resumes.

If you're offline, the device may not have the offline speech model installed. The app will show instructions if this is the case. See the Offline Mode section.

Try pausing and resuming. Tap pause, wait a moment, then tap play. This restarts the speech recognition session and often clears up temporary issues.

Scripts not syncing

Check you're signed in with the same account on both the tablet and the web companion. Different accounts means different script libraries.

Check your internet connection on both devices. Sync requires an active connection on both ends.

Pull to refresh on the scripts list in the app. This forces a check for new changes.

Web companion issues

"Start Presentation" not working: The tablet app must be open and in the foreground (on the scripts list or a script detail view — not already in the prompter). Both devices need to be online and signed into the same account.

Scripts not appearing: Refresh the web companion page. Check that you're signed in. If you just created a script on the tablet while offline, it will sync when the tablet reconnects.

Google Drive import not loading

Sign out of the app or web companion and sign back in to refresh your Google permissions. If you're using email/password login (not Google sign-in), you may need to re-authorise Google Drive access — the app will prompt you.

Reporting an issue

Both the app and web companion have a built-in Report Issue tool in Settings. It walks you through a short wizard: pick a category (voice tracking, script sync, display, crash, etc.), optionally attach a recent telemetry session if the issue is about voice tracking or a crash, and add a note describing what happened. Your report goes directly to the SteadyCue support team.

Including a telemetry session helps us diagnose voice tracking issues much faster — it contains a detailed log of what the engine was doing, with no audio or personal data.

Developer mode

For advanced troubleshooting, SteadyCue has a hidden developer mode. To activate it, go to Settings → About and tap the app name or version number 7 times (the same pattern as enabling Android developer options). This unlocks a Developer section in the prompter settings panel with a debug bar showing live engine stats and a test mic button. Developer mode persists until you clear app data. You don't need developer mode for normal use — it's there if the support team asks you to check something specific.

Contact us

If something isn't working and the steps above haven't helped, email us at support@steadycue.com. Include your tablet model and Android version (found in your device's Settings → About Tablet) so we can investigate.

Pro Tips

Mic placement

Mount your tablet at eye level, near or just above the camera lens. This keeps your eye line natural — viewers won't notice you're reading.

Use an external microphone for voice tracking when the tablet is more than a metre away. A £10 lapel mic plugged into the tablet makes a significant difference to tracking reliability. Keep your web companion open on your editing workstation between takes — tweak script text on your PC and changes appear on the tablet in seconds.

Section markers for retakes

Add [Intro], [Main], [Sponsor], [Outro] markers to your script. When you need to redo a section, jump straight to the marker instead of scrolling through the entire script. Use "Start Presentation" from the web companion to launch each take without leaving your desk.

Cue text for stage directions

Wrap non-spoken instructions in angle brackets: <hold up product>, <pause for B-roll>, <look at camera 2>. They'll appear on screen in peach italic so you can see them, but won't affect voice tracking or scroll position.

Set paragraph spacing to 0.4–0.6 for a tighter layout that still clearly separates paragraphs. Combined with line spacing of 1.5, this gives comfortable reading density.

Airplane mode

Enable airplane mode during filming. This prevents phone calls, notifications, and other interruptions from breaking your flow. SteadyCue works fully offline — scripts, voice tracking, and all settings remain available.

For multi-person shoots, each presenter can sign into their own SteadyCue account and load their scripts on separate tablets — or pass one tablet between presenters and switch scripts from the web companion.

Your Privacy

SteadyCue is a tool for reading scripts — it doesn't record audio, video, or anything you say. Here's what we do and don't collect:

Voice tracking data stays on your device

The speech recognition runs on your tablet's built-in engine (Google's on-device speech recognition). Your spoken words are processed locally to match against the script and are never sent to SteadyCue's servers. When online, Android may route speech through Google's cloud service for better accuracy — this is standard Android behaviour, not something SteadyCue controls.

Telemetry logs engine performance, not your speech

When you use voice tracking, the app logs technical data: which word positions were matched, scroll distances, recognition restarts, and timing. This helps us diagnose issues when you submit a Report Issue. Telemetry contains no audio, no transcript of what you said, and no script content.

Scripts sync via your account

Your scripts are stored locally on the tablet and synced to the cloud via your SteadyCue account so they appear on the web companion. Scripts are stored under your user ID and are only accessible to you.

We don't sell your data

SteadyCue doesn't serve ads, doesn't share data with third parties, and doesn't track your behaviour for marketing purposes.