Listen to the sermon
FlowCast listens through the microphone and sends each verse that the preacher names to the screen.
How listening operates
FlowCast listens to the preacher through the microphone. When the preacher gives a reference, such as “Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 3”, FlowCast shows the verse in the preview and sends it live. The verse goes live less than one second after the preacher says the reference.
The speech recognition and the verse search operate on the computer. Listening operates on a Mac with Apple silicon and on a Windows PC.
Start and stop listening
- In the top bar, click Listen.
- If macOS asks for access to the microphone, click Allow.
- To stop, click Stop listening.
If Windows does not let FlowCast use the microphone, do these steps:
- In Windows, open Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone.
- Turn on Microphone access.
- Turn on Let desktop apps access your microphone.
The speech model
The first time you click Listen, FlowCast downloads the speech model before it starts to listen. The speech model is approximately 600 MB on a Mac and 670 MB on Windows. Click Listen one time before the first service, so that the download is complete.
After the download, FlowCast loads the speech model when FlowCast starts. Thus, FlowCast listens immediately when you click Listen.
On a Mac, the speech model operates on the Neural Engine. On Windows, the speech model operates on the CPU, and it uses more CPU than on a Mac.
On Windows, if the connection stops during the download, FlowCast tries again from the last byte that it saved. If FlowCast receives no data in three tries, FlowCast stops the download and shows a message. When the internet connection operates again, click Listen to continue the download.
Keep verses off the screen
The Auto go live switch is in the top bar, adjacent to Listen. It is on at first.
To keep named references off the screen, turn off Auto go live. FlowCast then shows each named verse in the preview only. To send the verse live, click Go live, or push Enter.
How FlowCast reads references
- After a reference, the preacher can give “verse 18” alone. FlowCast then uses the chapter of the last reference.
- Before the first reference, FlowCast uses the chapter of the selected verses. Thus, “go back to verse 1” shows the first verse of the chapter.
- A chapter alone, such as “Psalm 92” or “Ezekiel chapter 1”, goes live at its first verse.
- If the preacher stops for a moment after a chapter, such as “John chapter 3”, FlowCast sends John 3:1 live. Then FlowCast sends the verse live when the preacher gives it.
The Transcript panel
The Transcript panel shows the words that FlowCast hears, with each reference identified. The Detected panel shows the verses that the preacher quotes or retells. Refer to Detected passages.
The preacher can also tell FlowCast what to show. Refer to Voice commands.
While usage data is on, FlowCast records the audio and the transcript of each listening. Refer to the privacy policy.