openprompter.app / blog
notes from the prompter
how to record scripted video without fighting your tools. guides, workflows, and the occasional opinion about why teleprompters got so expensive.
- voice
a teleprompter app that follows your voice
yes, it exists. the page moves when you say the words, not when a timer says so. here are the 5 things to check before you trust one with a take.
- history
a short history of teleprompter rigs
from a paper roll beside a 1950 studio camera, to glass in front of the lens, to the phone in your hand. how the teleprompter rig actually got here.
- gear
how to hold a phone in front of a camera lens
a phone is 233 grams on the end of a lever. here's what actually holds one at lens height, and where each kind of mount gives up.
- open source
why a teleprompter should be open source
a teleprompter is text that scrolls, flipped left to right. that's the whole product. here's why the category charges rent for it, and what MIT changes.
- open gate
why open gate matters on iphone 17 (and how developers use it)
open gate records the full sensor instead of a cropped aspect. on iphone 17 that's a 3840x3840 square. perform once, crop every platform later.
- notes
what we've learned building an open-source teleprompter
a few honest things that became clear after shipping open prompter and listening to the people who use it.
- thank you
thank you. 500 downloads.
open prompter is about to pass 500 downloads. small number, big deal for a free, open-source app with no ads and no marketing budget. thank you.
- workflow
recordings that save back to your script folder
flip one toggle and your finished take writes to the same folder as the script you read. iCloud delivers it to your mac, right next to the .md.
- recording
recording settings decoded: bitrate, frame rate, open gate
a plain-language tour of open prompter's recording settings. what aspect ratio, bitrate, and frame rate to pick, and the good defaults to start from.
- how-to
how to record selfie video for social media
a practical setup for talking-head clips: eye-line near the lens, real framing and light, one take you can crop, and hands-free recording.
- readability
teleprompter fonts that stay readable: atkinson and lexend
a teleprompter font has one job: stay legible at a glance and at distance. the wrong one costs you flubbed lines.
- how-to
how to use the READ and FEATHER lines
voice tracking scrolls the script as you speak. the READ and FEATHER lines control how tight or smooth that feels. here's how to drag them.
- v2featured
open prompter v2: record through the script
v2 turns the teleprompter into the camera. record front-camera video while you read, and the take saves right back next to the script it came from.
- recording
one take, every aspect ratio
stop reshooting the same video for tiktok, then reels, then youtube. shoot once in open prompter, crop to every platform later.
- privacy
why your script never leaves your device
your script is your work. it shouldn't ride to someone's cloud so you can read it on camera. open prompter keeps it on the phone.
- obsidian
read your Obsidian vault notes on camera
you already write everything in Obsidian. your scripts are already there. point open prompter at the vault and read them, no export.
- mirror
Mirror mode explained: beam splitters and both axes
Why teleprompter text needs flipping for a beam-splitter rig, and when to use horizontal, vertical, or both axes in open prompter.
- markdown
the only markdown syntax you need for teleprompter scripts
markdown is just text. you can write a whole script with zero formatting and it reads fine. here's the small bit of syntax that helps on a prompter.
- llm-native
draft with ChatGPT or Claude, deliver with open prompter
prompt an llm for a script in markdown, save the file into your synced folder, and read it on camera. no copy-paste into a teleprompter app.
- icloud
your iCloud Drive folder is your teleprompter library
there's no separate library to manage. the folder where you already keep your scripts is the library, and open prompter reads it as is.
- under the hood
how on-device voice tracking works (and why it's private)
the page advances when you say the words, not when a timer says so. the recognition runs on the phone, so the audio never leaves it.
- scripting
writing hooks that survive the first 3 seconds
your first line decides whether anyone watches the rest. here are hook patterns that work, and how to put the hook first on the prompter so you nail it.
- how-to
google doc to teleprompter script in 30 seconds
you wrote the script in google docs, apple notes, or word. here's the fast way onto the prompter: a markdown file in a folder your phone can reach.
- eye contact
eye contact on camera: pip vs camera-behind-text
most teleprompter apps put the camera feed behind your scrolling words. that is the worst place for it. here's why a small tile near the lens wins.
- how-to
set up a bluetooth remote for hands-free prompting
when the phone is mounted and out of reach, a bluetooth remote runs play, pause, scroll, and jump-back without breaking your eye-line.
- beam splitter
How to use a teleprompter app with a beam-splitter rig
Run open prompter on a beam-splitter rig: mirror the text, go hands-free with a remote, and let voice tracking follow a wired lavalier across the room.
- gear
Beam-splitter teleprompter rig roundup
A beam-splitter rig and your iphone make a full teleprompter. here are the rigs i'd buy, at every price point, plus how to set up the phone as the source.
- workflow
how to batch a week of tiktok content
write seven scripts at once, shoot them in one sitting, edit later. batching is how solo creators keep a feed alive without filming every single day.
- agencies
getting influencers on-script without sounding stale
share a markdown folder with your talent. they read it on their own phone, at their own pace, and the take comes back to you. no accounts, no upload step.