Read along: the words light up as they are said
Read while you listen: the part being said is marked, the rest of the page rests, and the page moves with the recording.
On this page
Read along lights up the words as the recording says them, so you can read and listen at once. The part being said is marked, the rest of the page rests a little dimmer, and the page glides to keep that part in view.
Where it works
Read along works on a recording that has been timed against its text: each part of the text is matched to the moment it is said. It follows VGR’s texts, the ones their recordings are read from. When a sermon has it, Read along shows in the open player; if you do not see it, that sermon is not timed yet.
Sermons are timed gradually, in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, so more of them have it over time. There is no date for any particular sermon.
While the recording plays
- The part being said carries a soft wash. It is a sentence, or a piece of a long sentence.
- While the recording plays, the rest of the page is dimmed. Paused, nothing is dimmed and the last part stays marked.
- The page glides to keep the part being said a little above the middle of the screen, so the text rises as it is read.
- Side by side, the sentences of the other text that say the same thing are tinted too, so your eye finds the same words in the translation.
Turn it on and off
Read along is on by default. Its button is in the open player, which stands at the foot once a recording has started, or on a phone once you open it from the round button. The choice is kept on this browser or phone, so set it again on another device.
- Start the recording, so that the open player stands at the foot of the page. On a phone, swipe up on the round button to open it.
- Choose Read along, the button at the left of the controls, next to the speed.
- Choose it again to bring it back. The button is shaded while it is on.
When you scroll yourself
If you scroll, drag the page or use the arrow and page keys, the page stops following. While the recording plays and the words being said are out of sight, a small round arrow appears at the left of the text, halfway down, pointing up or down to them. Choose it to go back to the voice.
If the words are still on screen, the page takes up the voice again by itself a few seconds after you stop. Pressing play brings it back too.
Start from a passage or another language
Play from a passage
Rather than moving through the bar, you can choose the place to start. This works on a text that is timed.
Web
- Open a sermon whose recording has Read along.
- Click or tap a sentence, or drag across several with the mouse, to select them.
- Press the small round play button that appears beside your selection, Play from here.
App
- Open a sermon whose recording has Read along.
- Tap a sentence, or hold one for a moment and drag across several, to select them.
- Tap the small round play button that appears beside your selection, Play from here.
The first time, the app asks whether to stream the recording or download it.
The recording starts at the last sentence you selected, and the page follows it from there.
Listen in another language
Choose the language code in the open player, then Listen in a language. That language’s text comes on screen, beside the one you were reading when the screen is wide enough, and in its place on a phone. When both texts are timed, the recording starts at the passage you were hearing, so you keep your place.
Choose how the words stand out
By default the part being said has a navy wash. You can choose another colour, or Lit, which uses no colour and only dims the rest of the page.
- Open a sermon and choose ☰ at the top of the page.
- Choose Read along, the row under Look and feel.
- Choose Lit, or a colour: Navy, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Pink or Purple.
The colour is kept on this browser or phone too.
I can’t see the Read along button. Why?
It shows only when the recording playing belongs to a timed text that is on screen. Not every sermon is timed yet. And the text of the recording has to be on screen: if you read the French text while the English recording plays, there is nothing to follow. Choose the language code, then Listen in English, to bring the English text on screen.
The page stopped following the recording. How do I get it back?
Scrolling pauses it. Choose the small round arrow at the left of the text, or wait a few seconds: if the words being said are still on screen, the page takes up the voice again. Pressing play brings it back as well.
Does Read along work in French, Spanish and Portuguese?
Yes, where a sermon has been timed in that language. Sermons are timed in all four languages, but not every sermon yet.
Does it work in Projection Mode?
Yes. In Projection Mode the words still light up as they are said, and its settings have the same Read along page for the colour. See Projection Mode.
Why doesn’t my iPhone screen lock while I listen?
In the app, the screen stays on while the words are being followed, so it does not go dark in the middle of a sermon. Pause, turn Read along off or leave the sermon, and it locks as usual.
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Related articles
- Play a recording and use the playerListen to a sermon, pause, skip, change the speed or the language, and keep it playing while you read or move to another page.
- Read in another language or versionSwitch a sermon between English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese at the same sentence, and learn what the codes VGR, SHP, MH and MH-B mean.
- Change the text size, colours and light or darkMake the sermon’s text larger or smaller, narrower or wider, choose reading colours, a typeface and light or dark, and see each change as you make it.