Teleprompter Second Screen and Remote Control Setup

Decide what the second screen is for

Before any configuration, answer this: is the extra device for the person reading, or the person running the shoot?

For the presenter it is a prompt display — a clean full-screen script, ideally as close to the lens as possible, often behind teleprompter glass. Nothing on it but the words.
For the crew it is a controller — pause, resume, jump, adjust. It never needs to be readable from where the presenter stands.

Trying to make one device do both is the usual mistake. A screen with controls on it is a worse screen to read from, and a remote you have to squint at is a worse remote.

The presenter's prompt display

As close to the lens as you can get it. The whole point is reducing the angle between your eyes and the camera. A screen off to one side is barely better than a printed page taped to a stand.
Mirror mode goes here, and only here. If the screen sits behind teleprompter glass, the text has to be flipped on that device. Setting mirror mode on the host by mistake is the classic ten-minute confusion.
Full brightness, and watch the battery. A prompt display at maximum brightness drains faster than anything else in the setup.
Bigger is not automatically better. A large screen close to the lens makes your eyes travel visibly across it. A smaller screen nearer the lens often reads better on camera.

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The crew's controller

The remote's job is letting somebody stop the take without stepping into frame or reaching across the presenter. In practice it gets used for three things: pausing when something goes wrong off-camera, jumping back to restart a paragraph, and adjusting when the presenter asks between takes.

One thing worth planning: agree in advance who holds it. A shoot where two people both think they are driving produces a script that jumps twice for every instruction.

Which device should do which job

With Voice Sync AI any platform can take any role — iPhone, iPad, Mac or Android — so the decision is practical rather than technical:

Host: the device nearest the speaker, because voice tracking runs there and it needs to hear you clearly.
Prompt display: whatever fits your rig. Often a phone, on the glass.
Controller: whatever the producer already has in their hand.

Mixed platforms are fine in any combination, which is covered in more detail in running an iPhone and an Android in one session.

The wifi mistake that breaks most setups

If the devices will not find each other, it is nearly always a captive portal — venue or hotel wifi that shows a login page before passing traffic. Devices can be on the same network name and still not see each other until each one has signed in.

The reliable fix on location is a phone hotspot. It does not need to have working internet; it only needs to put the devices on the same local network. This also means multi-device works in buildings with no signal at all, as long as one phone can create a hotspot.

A setup order that works

Get every device on the same network first, and confirm they can see each other before anything is mounted.
Start the session on the host, nearest the speaker.
Join the prompt display and set mirror mode on it if it is going behind glass.
Join the controller last and confirm pause works before the first take, not during it.
Check battery on all three.

Two minutes of this order saves the take where the remote turns out to be controlling nothing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a second phone as a teleprompter screen?

Yes. In Voice Sync AI a second device can join a session as a prompt display, showing a clean full-screen script that follows the host device. It works across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android in any combination, so the second screen does not have to match the first.

Should mirror mode be set on the host or the second screen?

On the second screen, if that is the one going behind teleprompter glass. Mirror mode flips the text for the reflection, so it belongs on the device the presenter reads from, not the one hosting the session. Setting it on the wrong device is the most common setup confusion.

Why can my teleprompter devices not see each other?

Almost always a captive portal on venue or hotel wifi, which shows a login page before passing local traffic. Sign in on every device, or use a phone hotspot instead. The hotspot does not need working internet, it only needs to put the devices on one local network.

Can one device be both the reading screen and the remote?

It can, but it works badly. A screen with controls on it is harder to read from, and a remote you have to look closely at is harder to operate blind. If you have a third device available, separate the two jobs.

Does a second screen need its own internet connection?

No. The devices communicate over a shared local network, which does not need to reach the internet. A venue router with a dead uplink or a phone hotspot with no data both work.