# Textream: a free macOS teleprompter that highlights your script as you speak

> Textream is an MIT-licensed Swift teleprompter for macOS 15 and later, with a Dynamic Island overlay, three scroll modes and a browser-based remote view. Here is how it installs, what it does well, and where it stops.

**f/textream** — Textream is a free macOS teleprompter app for streamers, interviewers, and presenters. It highlights your script in real-time as you speak, displayed in a beautiful Dynamic Island overlay. With extensible features.

- Repository: https://github.com/f/textream
- Website: https://textream.net/
- Stars: 3,781 · Forks: 268
- Language: Swift
- License: MIT
- Published: 2026-09-23 · Updated: 2026-09-23 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/f-textream

## The problem Textream picks: reading a script without looking away

Presenters, streamers and interviewers all hit the same wall. The script has to stay in view, and the camera has to stay in view. A second monitor solves half of it and adds a cable, a stand and a reason to turn your head. Textream takes the opposite approach: it puts the script where the Mac already has dead space, in a Dynamic Island-shaped overlay pinned below the notch, in a draggable floating window, or fullscreen on a Sidecar iPad. The README describes the target audience directly: streamers, interviewers, presenters and podcasters. The three guidance modes are the actual product. Word Tracking highlights each word as macOS speech recognition hears it. Classic auto-scrolls at a constant speed with no microphone. Voice-Activated scrolls while you speak and pauses when you are silent or muted. The last two matter more than they sound. A constant-speed prompter drifts the moment you ad-lib, and voice activation removes the need to touch anything mid-sentence.

## How the overlay, the modes and the remote view fit together

The Mac app is a Swift project and the repository layout is a single Xcode workspace under Textream/ with docs/ holding the demo asset. The overlay is not a window that steals focus; the README calls it an overlay that "sits above all apps" when pinned to the notch, and the floating window is described as always on top. That is the mechanism that makes it usable next to OBS or Zoom. Word Tracking depends on macOS speech recognition, and the README is unusually honest about the boundary: depending on your Mac, language and system availability, recognition may happen on-device or Apple may process microphone audio. Classic mode needs no microphone at all, which makes it the only mode with no audio path. In Classic and Voice-Activated modes you can scroll with the mouse to jump ahead or back; the timer pauses while you scroll and resumes from the new position. The Remote feature starts a lightweight HTTP plus WebSocket server on the Mac. A QR code opens the prompter in any modern browser on a phone or tablet, and words highlight, the waveform animates and progress updates over the WebSocket. Per-device mirror mode is remembered, and ?mirror=1 or ?mirror=0 in the URL presets it. A Hide from screen share option removes the overlay from recordings and video calls.

## Installing Textream on macOS and running a first script

The README lists three install paths: the App Store listing, a .dmg from GitHub Releases, and Homebrew. The Homebrew formula is the shortest route on a Mac. Run it in a terminal:

```bash
brew install textream
```

After the install finishes, launch Textream from Applications or Spotlight. The README states the requirement plainly: macOS 15 Sequoia or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel. Once the app is open, paste a script into the editor, pick a guidance mode, and press play. For a first run, Classic is the safer choice because it needs no microphone permission. Set the scroll speed between 0.5 and 8 words per second, choose an overlay mode, and start reading. When you are done, the README says the overlay closes automatically. If you want to try the browser remote view, the README points to Settings then Remote, which starts the local HTTP and WebSocket server and generates a QR code. Scan that code from a phone on the same network and the prompt opens in the browser. The README gives no separate install step for the remote device, which is the point: it is a web page, not an app. For the iPhone and iPad companion, the same universal App Store listing covers Mac, iPhone and iPad, so there is nothing extra to install.

## Where Textream stops being the right tool

The first limitation is the platform. There is no Windows build documented, and the README only describes macOS 15 and later plus the iOS 26 companion. If your studio machine runs Windows or an older macOS release, this project is not an option, and no amount of configuration changes that. The second limitation is the audio path. Word Tracking and Voice-Activated both require the microphone, and the README says recognition may be processed by Apple rather than on-device depending on your Mac, language and system availability. For anyone prompting confidential material, that is a real constraint, and Classic mode is the only mode that avoids it. The third is the overlay itself. A notch-pinned overlay assumes a MacBook with a notch; on a desktop Mac with no notch the README's other two overlay modes are the fallback. The fourth is that the README documents no foot pedal or hardware controller input. Mouse scroll is the documented manual control, so presenters who rely on a pedal should check that before switching. Finally, the repository does not document an upgrade or rollback procedure, so version pinning behaviour is something you would have to confirm yourself.

## Textream against a browser teleprompter

The obvious alternative for a Mac user is a web-based teleprompter running in a browser tab. The difference is not cosmetic. A browser teleprompter is a page, so it cannot sit above other apps, cannot pin itself below the notch, and cannot hide itself from a screen share. Textream is a native app that renders its own overlay above the window stack, and the README's Hide from screen share option exists precisely because the overlay is a separate layer that can be excluded from capture. The second difference is input. Browser prompters generally scroll at a fixed rate, which maps to Textream's Classic mode, and some add voice detection through the Web Speech API. Textream's Word Tracking goes further by highlighting individual words as macOS speech recognition hears them, which is a different mechanism from scroll-while-speaking. The trade-off runs the other way too: a browser prompter works on any operating system, and Textream does not. If you present from Windows, or from a Mac that cannot run macOS 15, the browser route is the one that works.

## Licence, maintenance and upgrade cost

Textream is MIT licensed, and the repository includes a LICENSE file at the top level. MIT is permissive: it allows use, modification and redistribution with the copyright notice and permission notice retained, and it comes with no warranty. That matters less for the App Store build and more if you fork the Swift sources or ship the binary inside a product. This article is not legal advice, and anyone redistributing the app should read the LICENSE file directly rather than a summary. On maintenance, the last push to the master branch was on 2026-09-06, and the most recent tagged release, v1.7.1, was published the same day. That is recent enough that the project is not dormant. The upgrade path is the App Store or Homebrew, so the cost of staying current is low, but the README does not describe a rollback path if a new release regresses an overlay behaviour you depend on. The repository also carries a SECURITY.md, which suggests a defined channel for reporting issues, though the README does not describe a support commitment or a release cadence.

## Conclusion

Textream is worth installing if you present, stream or interview on a Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia or later and want a free overlay that tracks your script without a second monitor. Skip it if you work on Windows, need a prompter that runs fully offline in Word Tracking mode, or want a tool that scrolls from a foot pedal rather than your voice. Before you rely on it for a live show, verify three things: whether speech recognition runs on-device for your language and Mac, that the Remote server binds only to your local network, and that your chosen overlay mode survives a fullscreen app switch.

## FAQ

### What is the best teleprompter software for Mac?

That depends on whether you want a native overlay or a browser page. Textream is a free, MIT-licensed macOS teleprompter with three guidance modes, a Dynamic Island overlay and a browser-based remote view, and it requires macOS 15 Sequoia or later. If you need Windows support, a browser teleprompter is the alternative.

### How do I install Textream on a Mac?

The README gives three routes: the App Store listing for Mac, iPhone and iPad, a .dmg from GitHub Releases, or Homebrew with brew install textream. All of them require macOS 15 Sequoia or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel.

### Does Textream work on Windows?

The README describes only a macOS app and an iOS 26 companion for iPhone and iPad. No Windows build is documented, so a browser teleprompter is the workable alternative on that platform.

### Does Textream need microphone access?

Only for two of the three modes. Word Tracking and Voice-Activated require the microphone, and the README notes recognition may run on-device or be processed by Apple depending on your Mac, language and system availability. Classic auto-scroll needs no microphone.

### Can I view the Textream prompt on my phone without installing an app?

Yes. Enabling Remote in Settings starts a lightweight HTTP and WebSocket server on the Mac and generates a QR code, and the README states the prompt opens in any modern browser with no installation on the remote device.

## Sources

- [f/textream on GitHub](https://github.com/f/textream)
- [License: MIT](https://github.com/f/textream/blob/master/LICENSE)
- [Project website](https://textream.net/)
- [README](https://github.com/f/textream/blob/master/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/f/textream/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/f-textream