Help Center

Microphone & speech recognition issues

What to do when Offbook can’t hear you or your lines aren’t being detected.

First: check microphone permission

Offbook needs microphone access to hear your lines. If you see "Microphone Access Required":

  • Chrome: click the lock/tune icon in the address bar → Site settings → set Microphone to Allow, then reload.
  • Safari: after enabling access, click the microphone icon in the address bar and choose "Always Allow", otherwise Safari re-asks every session.
  • System level: on macOS check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone; on Windows check Settings → Privacy → Microphone. Your browser must be allowed.

"No speech was detected"

This means the session started but no audio activity arrived in time. Try again and start speaking a bit sooner after your cue. Also check that the correct input device is selected in your OS sound settings; headsets and external interfaces sometimes grab the default.

Lines aren't being picked up

  1. Speak at a natural volume, reasonably close to the mic. Whispering and shouting both hurt accuracy.
  2. Lower the strictness: switch Line Detection to Lenient and raise the leniency slider (see practice settings).
  3. Turn on auto-advance on silence so a missed match doesn't stall the scene.
  4. As a fallback, say "next line" or press Enter to advance manually.
Tip: Very short lines ("Yes.", "Oh?") are the hardest to detect. Recent updates improved short-line pickup significantly, so make sure you're not on an old cached version by doing a hard refresh (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+R).

Best environment for recognition

  • Use a desktop browser: we recommend Chrome. Mobile browsers have limited support (an iOS app is in the works).
  • Reduce background noise. Fans, music, and other voices can confuse detection.
  • Headphones help: they stop your scene partner's audio from being picked up by your mic.

Next steps

Still stuck?

We usually reply within a day.

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