Listen mode (TTS)
How attendees turn on spoken captions, reduce lag, and choose clear voice vs device voice.
What listen mode does
By default, attendees read live translated captions on their phone. Listen mode reads those captions aloud in the language they picked: useful when eyes-free listening helps (worship, walking, low vision, or noisy rooms with headphones).
Listen mode is optional. Most people only need captions: turn on Listen only when you want the translation read aloud.
Audio reads translated captions, not a recording of the speaker's voice. It follows the same live text everyone else sees.
Turning it on
- 1Open the attendee link and choose a reading language from the bottom bar.
- 2Tap the headphones icon to hear the translation. Captions stay on screen.
- 3On first use, confirm the short consent sheet: or stay on read-only captions.
- 4Long-press headphones, or tap the Listening status, to switch modes or stop.
Welcome everyone. Today we gather as one community.
Let us open with a moment of prayer together.
Sunday Service
Listening · English
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Plug in headphones in shared spaces. Listen mode is designed for personal earbuds, not room speakers.
Tips for a good experience
- Stay on Wi‑Fi or strong cellular: audio queues behind the live captions if the network is slow.
- If you scroll far back, use Jump to live or switch catch-up to skip older lines and rejoin the speaker.
- Pause listening anytime without leaving the session; captions keep updating.
- Changing reading language while listening restarts playback in the new language.
- Try a short listen during rehearsal so you know how clear voice sounds on your phone.
Reducing listen-mode lag
Listen mode always follows the live caption feed. Each caption is read aloud one at a time, so audio can fall behind when captions arrive faster than they can be spoken: especially on a weak network or when the speaker talks for a long stretch without pauses.
- When a lag banner appears, tap Jump to live to skip the backlog and resume at the latest caption.
- In the gear menu, set catch-up to Jump to live if you prefer skipping older lines automatically once the queue grows.
- Use stable Wi‑Fi: clear voice fetches audio from the server, so a slow connection adds delay.
- Device voice can feel snappier on some phones when clear voice isn't available; captions always stay live.
- Avoid scrolling far back in the feed while listening; stay near the latest captions at the top.
- Speakers: short pauses between thoughts give the queue time to catch up and usually improve recognition too.
Organizers cannot dial in a global TTS speed, but accurate well-paced speech and only the translation languages you need reduce how fast the caption backlog grows: and listen mode queues behind that backlog.
Clear voice on every plan
You always get live captions in your chosen language. Listen mode reads those captions aloud with clear voice: the same natural reading engine on every plan. Included clear-voice hours match each plan's live audio allowance (Free trial 2 hours once, Starter 8, Pro 20 per month). On Event, clear voice is included in the language-hour rate.
Hear the difference
Same caption: clear voice is the default for listen mode on every plan. Device voice is the automatic fallback when the monthly allowance is used (Free trial 2 hrs once, Starter 8, Pro 20 hrs/mo).
“Welcome. Today we gather as one community under grace.”
Device voice preview is not supported in this browser.
You don't choose a voice in normal use: listen mode uses clear voice. Device voice appears only as a fallback. Quality varies by phone for the fallback.
- Captions: always available; no audio required.
- Clear voice: default for listen mode while your organization has allowance remaining.
- Device voice: automatic fallback when the monthly allowance is used or clear voice can't load.
You don't pick a voice engine in normal use: listen mode uses clear voice. Organizers see remaining clear-voice hours on Billing; attendees see status in Listen settings.