iSingWorship

Using iSingWorship on an iPhone/iPad

Facebook Twitter Instagram
Using iSingWorship on an iPhone/iPad
Support

Setting up an iPhone/iPad for iSingWorship

Firstly if you do not have automatic updates on your iPhone/iPad 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:

  • iPad at front with projector attached.
  • iPad/iPhone at front connected via AirPlay to Apple TV in turn connected to the church projector or TV screen(s).

Connecting iPad/iPhone to an external screen.

An iPad or iPhone can be connected to a screen via an HDMI connector or using AirPlay to an Apple TV (or similar AirPlay receiver). AirPlay also requires a WiFi connection within the building.

We do recommend that you connect if possible via an HDMI adapter and cable. The reason is that information sent via AirPlay can be afected by interference which can cause glitches in the audio during a live service.

Connecting using HDMI

There are many HDMI cables available, some to very long lengths. To plug the HDMI cable into the iPad or iPhone you will need the appropriate HDMI adapter for your device. We recommend getting Apple's own "Apple digital av adapter" for this. We have found that other third-party makes only mirror the screens and not correctly show a separate external screen.

Also when connecting HDMI to a projector (or device without any speakers) then you will also need an "HMDI audio extractor". This allows you to plug audio leads into some speakers. These "extractors" are available at most on-line electrical retailers.

Connecting using AirPlay

If this is not possible and you would prefer to use a wireless connection then you will need an AirPlay receiver, most probably an Apple TV. You will need to connect the Apple TV into your church projector and speakers. Once setup then try the following to connect your device to the Apple TV:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204289

To make sure to check that the connection is good enough for a live service.

The first thing to try is turning off the smooth lyric changes within the iSingWorship app. (Technically this will make the video encoding smaller and hence quicker over AirPlay). Within the iSingWorship app can you:

  1. Go to the display settings (TV button at the bottom left of the screen),
  2. Select "Advanced Settings" and
  3. Turn "Smooth lyric changes" off.

After that the points we found, in importance order, are:

  1. Try and have the WiFi router (or access point) in the same room as and close to the device running iSingWorship as possible,
  2. Connect the AppleTV directly to the WiFi router (or access point) using an Ethernet cable (This halves the amount of information going over the airwaves.),
  3. If available try to use the newer 802.11a/n WiFi.

Here are also some recommendations from Apple:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204291#network

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.

  1. Start iSingWorship.

You should see the iSingWorship blank background on the external screen.

  1. Return to the home screen.
  2. Start KeyNote.
  3. Create a blank presentation.
  4. Select "Play".

You should see the KeyNote blank presentation on the external screen.

Switching between iSingWorship and KeyNote

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

To switch between apps on your iPad please see the following:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/ipad/ipad619935ea/ipados

To switch between apps on your iPhone please see the following:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iph1a1f981ad/ios

We recommend you try practising controlling both apps 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 also 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 PowerPoint without the presenter view which you may prefer. Or maybe with iSingWorship 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.