A teleprompter for iPad
The bigger the screen, the further back you can read. Prop the iPad beside your camera, size the text large, and keep your eyes on the lens from across the room.
By Prompter · Updated
An iPad makes a better teleprompter for one simple reason: more glass. The same 24–120 pt text that fills a phone at arm’s length is legible from a few steps back on an iPad, which is exactly what you want when the recording camera is not the iPad itself.
Prompter runs on iPhone and iPad from the same download, so the setup you learn on one carries straight to the other.
Read from further away
On a phone, reading from more than arm’s length means pushing the font size and slowing the scroll. An iPad buys you distance: at 80–120 pt the text is comfortable from across a small room, so you can set the recording camera where the shot looks right and still read the script behind it.
That extra distance is what makes the eyes look natural. When the words sit close to the lens and large enough to read without scanning, there is no flick-down to give the read away.
| Setup | Scroll speed | Font size |
|---|---|---|
| iPad in hand / on desk | 1.0× – 1.3× | 48 – 72 pt |
| iPad on a stand, few steps back | 0.8× – 1.1× | 80 – 120 pt |
| Reading to a room | 0.7× – 1.0× | 96 – 120 pt |
iPad as the prompter, camera as the camera
The most common iPad setup is prompter-only: the iPad stands beside or beneath your main camera in Rehearse mode, scrolling the script with its own camera off, while a separate phone, mirrorless or webcam does the filming. Nothing is recorded on the iPad — it is purely the reading surface.
Keep the iPad’s screen as close to the recording lens as the frame allows. The further the words drift from the lens, the more your eyes have to travel to reach them.
Or record on the iPad itself
For a talking-head clip you can also record on the iPad’s own camera with the script scrolling over the frame, front or back, with a 3, 5 or 10 second countdown. The three high-contrast themes matter more on a large, bright screen — white on black keeps a big block of text crisp.
iPadOS 16.4 or later is required, the same as on iPhone. Scripts and recordings stay on the device; there is no account and nothing syncs between them.
Questions
Does Prompter work on iPad?
Yes. Prompter runs on both iPhone and iPad from the same App Store download, and needs iPadOS 16.4 or later. Because iPad and iPhone don’t sync, scripts you want on both are added on each device.
Can I use an iPad as a teleprompter for a separate camera?
Yes. Use Rehearse mode so the iPad scrolls the script with its own camera off, and stand it beside or below your recording camera. Nothing is recorded on the iPad in this mode.
How large can the text be on iPad?
Up to 120 pt, the same range as on iPhone, but far more usable on the larger screen — 80–120 pt is readable from several steps back, which is where the iPad has the edge.
More screen, more distance
Read from across the room on iPad, or record on it directly.
iOS 16.4 or later · iPhone and iPad