iSingWorship

Using iSingWorship on a Mac

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Using iSingWorship on a Mac
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Setting up a Mac for iSingWorship

Firstly make sure you have the latest version of iSingWorship installed. The latest version is available here.

It is best to have a two-screen setup. One to show the operator specific information, such as the iSingWorship control screen or your presentation software. The other screen will show what the congregation will see.

Examples include:

  • MacBook at front with projector attached.
  • Mac in a sound desk with its own screen and also connected to the church projector or TV screen(s).

Sometimes MacBooks and Macs are set to mirror the same information on both screens. Whilst this is simple to understand it is not the best for the congregation. Instead we recommend "extending" the screens to show two different screens.

Once you have the two screens physically connected and turned on, try the following:

  1. Press and hold the "Command" key.
  2. Press the F1 key.
  3. Check that the displays are showing different screens.
  4. If not press F1 again to revert.
(These instructions are for macOS 12. Other versions should be similar).

You will also need to connect your Mac to your church speakers or sound desk. This should be a case of using the appropriate audio leads from the Mac.

Setting up iSingWorship alongside your presentation software.

Here are some instructions on how to use Apple's KeyNote software. If you use other software then you can use some of the information below as a pointer.

Setting up iSingWorship alongside KeyNote

Once you have the two screens connected:

  1. Start iSingWorship.
  2. Select the small "TV" icon at the bottom.
  3. Select "Advanced Settings".
  4. Change "Show screen" to "Always".
  5. Press "Back" and then "Done".

  1. Start KeyNote.
  2. Create a blank presentation.
  3. Select "Play".

You should see the iSingWorship and KeyNote windows on the first screen and now the blank presentation (or the iSingWorship blank screen) on the second screen.

Switching between iSingWorship and KeyNote

Seamlessly switching between iSingWorship and KeyNote is important for the best congregation experience.

You can use the keyboard to switch directly between iSingWorship and KeyNote by doing the following:

  1. Press and hold the Command key and then press the "Tab" key once and keeping holding the "Command" key.
  2. Check through the thumbnails of software that is currently running.
  3. Pressing the "Tab" key once cycles through each window of the software.
  4. Once you have highlighted the correct window, let go of the "Command" key.

You should now be able to switch directly between iSingWorship and KeyNote or any other software.

We recommend you try practising controlling both programs so that you can do this in a live situation.

Further ideas

It is probably easiest to use the Playlists feature in iSingWorship to organize the songs in advance. This will save time during the service. We also recommend downloading any songs familiar to your congregation that you may want to use.

iSingWorship does itself have the ability to display picture slides in playlists. This may make it easier for you rather than switching to/from PowerPoint. Simply take screenshots of what is needed and add them as pictures into iSingWorship.

Also you may find it easier to insert "Pauses" into the playlist. This means iSingWorship will automatically stop after a song.

Other options include using iSingWorship by changing the advanced display setting to "Show when playing" may be better since the external screen will automatically close.

Conclusion

We hope these instructions were useful. However you will probably need to adapt these instructions to your own needs. Again we recommend setting up, testing, and practising this technology in advance. Please let us know your feedback. We would be very interested to hear your experiences and how we can improve iSingWorship for you.