Manual

PowerCue User Guide

Everything from the first line of script to a finished recording. PowerCue listens on your Mac, never records or uploads audio, and keeps every surface of the prompter perfectly in sync.

Getting started

Requirements. An Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, and a microphone for voice following (the built-in mic works fine; any USB mic or audio interface works better). On first Follow, macOS asks for microphone and speech recognition permission; both are used only to track your place in the script, on-device.

The idea. PowerCue is a teleprompter with the operator built in. You write or import a script, style the prompter, and then either speak (Follow mode listens and scrolls with you) or let it roll on a timer (Play mode). The spoken words light up karaoke-style, an on-screen timer keeps you honest, and the whole prompter can flip for beam-splitter glass.

Take the tour. On first launch PowerCue offers a one-minute guided tour: coach marks that point at the real controls, from the script editor to voice following to mirror output. Skip it any time, and replay it whenever you like from Help → Take the Tour. The rest of this manual is the long version.

The layout. The main window has two modes, switched at the top: Edit shows the script editor on the left and a live prompter preview on the right (the divider between them drags). Prompter fills the window with the prompter itself. The Open Prompter Window button in the toolbar detaches a separate prompter window you can move to any display; it opens automatically on first launch so you can see both sides at once.

Everything stays in sync. The editor preview, the main window's prompter mode and the detached window are the same prompter: scroll any of them and the others follow, start following or playing anywhere and every surface moves in lock-step.

Settings (⌘,) holds the app-level choices: the microphone voice following listens to, automatic update checks, and your license. Everything about how the prompter looks lives inline under the preview, where you can watch it change.

Projects & autosave

PowerCue autosaves your script from the first word, even before you save a project file. To keep scripts organized:

Two copies of the same script. If another app or another Mac (a shared or synced folder) changes a script while PowerCue has it open, PowerCue never writes over those changes. Your version goes into a copy beside it, named like "Show (PowerCue copy 2026-09-26 11.04)", PowerCue carries on in the copy, and a note says so. If a save fails (the folder went offline, the disk is full), PowerCue keeps your changes in Revert to Version, tries again every few seconds, and asks before you quit or open another project while the file is still behind.

Formatting travels with the project. A PowerCue project stores the script with all styling, colors, markers and screen directions inside one file you can move, back up, or send to another Mac running PowerCue.

Writing & formatting

The editor is a real dark-mode word processor built for scripts:

Screen directions

Camera notes, b-roll cues, wardrobe reminders: anything the reader should not read out loud. Select the text and press ⌘D (or the eye button in the formatting bar). The text turns teal in the editor and is treated specially everywhere else:

Press ⌘D on a direction again to turn it back into spoken script.

Jump markers

Markers are numbered flags you drop through the script to move around it fast, mid-take.

The prompter

Three surfaces, one prompter:

Scrolling is always manual too. Scroll, drag or swipe any surface at any time, even mid-follow: every other surface moves with it, and Play pauses while you drag. The Back to Top button returns the script to the beginning.

Text settings (under the prompter) set the font, the size, the column width or a target of words per line, brightness and color. Paragraph gap has a switch: off, the prompter keeps the script's own spacing and blank lines; on, the slider alone decides the space between paragraphs, from none at all (blank lines and the lines screen directions sit on collapse) to two lines' worth. The companion matches it.

The settings under the prompter are grouped in cards: Text, Marker, Karaoke, Follow, Timer, Video Feed and Framing Guides. Click a card's title to open or fold it. They all start folded, so the one you want is easy to find; Option-click any title to open or fold them all at once.

Put the cards in your order. Drag a card by the grip at the left of its title to move it, for example Video Feed to the top, or right-click the title for Move to Top, Move Up, Move Down and Move to Bottom. Reset Card Order, at the bottom of the panel or in the same menu, brings back the original order.

Voice following

Press Follow (the mic button under any prompter surface) and start reading. PowerCue listens through the selected microphone, matches your words against the script, and scrolls so the line you are speaking sits at the position marker.

Private by design. Speech recognition runs entirely on your Mac using Apple's on-device engine. Audio is analyzed live and discarded: nothing is recorded, stored, or uploaded, and Follow works with the network unplugged. On macOS 26 and later PowerCue uses Apple's newer on-device engine, which needs only the microphone permission, so no Speech Recognition dialog appears at all. On macOS 14 and 15 the first Follow asks for Speech Recognition, and macOS adds its own sentence about speech data being sent to Apple: that is Apple's standard notice, shown to every app that asks; PowerCue requests the on-device engine only and refuses to run any other way, so nothing is sent.

Play mode

Prefer a classic scroll, or recording without speaking? Press Play (or the Space bar) and the script rolls on its own:

Karaoke highlight

The karaoke settings (highlight button under the prompter) control how spoken text lights up. The highlight and the fade are independent: use either, both, or neither.

The position marker

The marker shows where your current line sits. In the marker settings (under the prompter):

Display, mirror & rigs

Text settings (Aa under the prompter) control the reading experience: font family (curated list or the full font panel), size, text and background brightness, column width, and a words per line setting that caps how many words each line carries, the way broadcast prompters do.

Beam-splitter rigs. The flip buttons under the preview flip the detached prompter window horizontally, vertically, or both. The entire window flips, controls included, so it reads correctly through mirror glass, while the editor preview stays unflipped for the operator. Drag the window to the display feeding your rig and take it fullscreen.

Second displays. The prompter window is a normal Mac window: a second monitor, a projector, or an iPad via Sidecar all work. Scrolling stays lock-step everywhere. The display menu under the preview (the screens icon) moves the window onto any display in one click.

Small prompter monitors. The prompter window goes down to 360 by 240 points, so it fits a dedicated prompter screen such as Elgato's 1024 by 600 display, and its controls wrap onto more rows as the window narrows. The chevron in the window's bottom right corner hides the controls altogether, so the whole screen is text; the main window keeps a full set. Both are remembered.

Video feed (beta)

Show a live camera behind the prompter text, so you can see your framing, a guest, or a program feed while you read. It is off until you turn it on, nothing is recorded, and nothing leaves your Mac.

Beta. The video feed is new. If a camera or a virtual camera misbehaves, Help, Report a Problem reaches us with your version details filled in.

iPhone & iPad companion

PowerCue Companion is a free app that turns an iPhone or iPad on the same Wi-Fi network into a wireless prompter screen, in lock-step with the Mac: the same line breaks, styling, karaoke highlight, and on-screen timer, word for word. Mount the device at the lens, in a beam-splitter rig, or prop it next to the camera.

Download PowerCue Companion on the App Store Free · iPhone and iPad · iOS 16 or later

Setting up.

  1. On the Mac, open PowerCue's Settings (⌘,), Companion tab, and turn on Serve the prompter to companion devices. The panel says "Waiting for devices" until one connects.
  2. Install PowerCue Companion from the App Store and open it on a device on the same Wi-Fi network as the Mac. It looks for Macs running PowerCue and connects automatically when it finds one; with several Macs, tap the one you want.
  3. Your script appears on the device, with the marker and timer. Every scroll, style change, jump, and karaoke highlight on the Mac shows up on the device the moment it happens.

On the device. Tap the screen to show the controls. The top row runs the prompter: Follow on and off, Play and pause, Back to Top, and previous and next marker; the bottom row shows the name of the connected Mac, horizontal and vertical flip toggles for mirror glass, and an X to leave the session. Scroll the script with a finger and the Mac follows: the position moves on every surface, and voice following picks up again from where you stopped. Pinch to resize the text; the line breaks never change, so you and the Mac always read the same lines. Rotate freely: portrait and landscape both keep the exact wrap. The screen stays awake for as long as it is the prompter.

The phone as your microphone. In the microphone menu under the prompter, pick iPhone/iPad Microphone. Press Follow and the device in front of you does the listening, with speech recognized on the device itself, in the language set on the Mac; only the recognized words travel to the Mac. On iOS 26 the device uses Apple's newer on-device engine and needs only the microphone permission, with no Speech Recognition dialog. The device shows a badge while it drives the prompter, and explains itself when it cannot listen. If a call or Siri takes the microphone, the Mac is told and listening resumes on its own when the microphone is free. If no device is connected when you press Follow, PowerCue falls back to the Mac's own microphone and says so in the status bar.

Finding the right device. With several devices connected, the display menu under the prompter lists them and offers Ping iPhone & iPad: the screens flash a teal border and buzz, so you know which one you are looking at.

Reconnecting. Closing the app on the device or letting the Mac sleep drops the connection; open the app again and it reconnects on its own. Leaving with the X keeps it disconnected until you pick the Mac from the list again.

Privacy. Everything travels over your local network only: the companion never contacts a server, and nothing is uploaded. Turn the setting off on the Mac when you are done and no device can view the script.

If the device cannot find the Mac: confirm both are on the same Wi-Fi network (guest networks and some office networks block device discovery), that the setting is on in PowerCue, and that macOS allowed PowerCue to use the local network (System Settings, Privacy & Security, Local Network).

The on-screen timer

The timer card floats over the prompter (and, if you like, the editor). In the timer settings:

Run time & estimates

Give the script a target length in the timer settings. Typing digits is enough: 11625 becomes 1:16:25, 500 becomes 5:00.

Word import & export

Write the script in Word if that is where you write, mark it up with the conventions below, and it arrives in PowerCue ready to prompt. Export writes the same conventions back, so a script can go to Word for a client's edits and come home with everything in place.

Import (File → Import Script…, the import button in the formatting bar, or simply drag the file onto the editor) reads .docx, RTF and plain text. A sheet shows what was found in the document, with a checkbox for each conversion. The imported script replaces the current one; a version snapshot is taken first.

Paste works the same way. Paste text into the editor (⌘V) and its [square brackets] become screen directions and its lines starting with ### or #3 become named markers, in the style at the cursor. ⌘Z takes the whole paste back, and ⌘D on a selected direction turns it back into script text. To paste without converting (citations like [1], or a line such as "#1 rule"), use Edit → Paste and Match Style.

Export (File → Export to Word…, ⌘E) writes a real .docx:

Working with a writer or client in Word. Agree on three habits: brackets for anything not read aloud, Word's Heading style for section starts, and the highlighter for words to stress. Export, let them edit, import: nothing has to be marked up twice.

Keyboard shortcuts

The same list is in the app, offline: Help, Keyboard Shortcuts (also a button on the Help tab of Settings). Settings has four tabs, Follow, Companion, Updates & License and Help; the gear at the bottom right of the edit window opens and closes it. Space, the numbers and the arrows stay out of the way while you are typing in the script or a text field.

KeyDoes
SpaceStart / stop the prompter (Play), from anywhere but a text field
1 to 9Jump to that marker; the editor shows the spot too
↑ / ↓Scroll the prompter: a tap glides a little, hold to scroll steadily
← / →Step the prompter back / forward one line
⌘FFind in the current view (editor and prompter search separately)
⌘B / ⌘I / ⌘UBold / italic / underline
⌘TFonts panel for the selection
⇧⌘FFollow / stop following (Prompter menu)
⇧⌘PPlay / pause
⇧⌘↑Back to Top
⌘] / ⌘[Next / previous marker
⇧⌘T / ⇧⌘RShow or hide the timer / reset it
⇧⌘VShow or hide the video feed
⌘MInsert a numbered jump marker at the cursor
⌘DMark / unmark the selection as a screen direction
⌘− / ⌘=Zoom the editor page out / in (no reflow)
⌘N / ⌘ONew project / open project
⌘S / ⇧⌘SSave / save as
⌘EExport to Word
⇧⌘LEnter / manage license
⌘?Open this user guide

Stream Deck & automation

Every prompter command can be driven from outside PowerCue: an Elgato Stream Deck, Apple's Shortcuts, Keyboard Maestro, Raycast, or a script from a control room. Two ways, and they can be mixed on one deck.

Copy and paste links

Select a link, copy it, and paste it into the URL field of a Website action. Each row shows every form the command takes.

CommandLinks
Follow on / off / togglepowercue://follow/on   powercue://follow/off   powercue://follow/toggle
Play on / off / togglepowercue://play/on   powercue://play/off   powercue://play/toggle
Pausepowercue://pause
Back to toppowercue://top
Previous / next markerpowercue://marker/prev   powercue://marker/next
Jump to marker 1, 2, 3 ...powercue://marker/1   powercue://marker/2   powercue://marker/3
Scroll one line up / downpowercue://scroll/up   powercue://scroll/down
Timer on / off / resetpowercue://timer/on   powercue://timer/off   powercue://timer/reset
Video feed on / off / togglepowercue://video/on   powercue://video/off   powercue://video/toggle
Prompter window open / closepowercue://window/open   powercue://window/close
Size the prompter window (width x height)powercue://window/1024x600
On-screen controls hide / showpowercue://controls/hide   powercue://controls/show
A starter deck. Six keys cover a shoot: Follow (powercue://follow/toggle), Play/Pause (powercue://play/toggle), Back to Top (powercue://top), Previous and Next marker (powercue://marker/prev, powercue://marker/next), and Reset Timer (powercue://timer/reset). Use the Website action for each, so the deck keeps working while you are in your camera or streaming software.

License & trial

Updates & ownership. Your license is permanent. Every update through version 1.x is free, including macOS compatibility fixes. A future major version will be a paid upgrade, always discounted for existing owners. If this product is ever retired I will say so rather than go quiet: the final version stays downloadable and your license keeps working.

PowerCue is a one-time purchase, no subscription. New installs get 7 days fully functional, every feature included. When the trial ends the app locks until a license key is entered; your scripts and projects are kept safe and are all there the moment you unlock. The key arrives by email from Payhip after purchase: enter it under the app menu → Enter License Key (⇧⌘L).

Updates arrive through the built-in updater (app menu → Check for Updates), signed and verified.

Uninstalling

PowerCue is a single, self-contained app. To uninstall, quit PowerCue and drag PowerCue.app from your Applications folder to the Trash.

Optional: remove support files

For a completely clean sweep, in Finder choose Go → Go to Folder and remove:

Project files you saved yourself are yours and live wherever you put them; deleting the app never touches them. Keep them and any future install picks the scripts right back up.

Your license is not lost by uninstalling: the key from your Payhip receipt activates any future install. If you are leaving because something did not work, one email might fix it: apps@rafaelludwig.com.

Troubleshooting