Simple congregational app
We worship in a building with a very low roof and at time it can be difficult to see the presentation from the back - especially true when everyone is standing and singing.
I'd like a simplified 'congregational' remote app with only basic functionality allowing the use of local Wifi to locate the presentation PC and simply display the current slide. (The ability to respond to polls would certainly be a bonus, but not an essential in our environment) Simplicity here is the keyword. Start the app and see the local presentation. Congregation should need NO knowledge at all to make the app work once downloaded. This means every member of a congregation with limited visibility will have local access to the content - Catering for disabilities is a key selling point! - especially as many congregations are aging.
The Proclaim Remote app should fit this use when used over local Wi-Fi.
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Tony C commented
Where's this "Proclaim Remote App"? The only app we're aware of would give viewers control. Plus, videos and PPT slides only show up as place-keepers; don't actually show content.
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free2worship commented
Yes. I've thought this would be helpful too. Just an app that lets others follow the screens on their phones. (It already exists for users with passwords, but we don't want the congregation "taking control".)
This would be helpful for:
*Churches with Small Screens or Seats far from the Screens
*People who are visually impaired.
*It could even serve as an optional confidence monitor for musicians. -
Scott Wallace commented
Yes, I second this as well!
I'm looking for a similar approach, a way to combine the mobile Faithlife Bible app so the congregation can use it during the sermon and such and still get the Signals which I think is a great and innovative feature so they can feel engaged and part of the church service. But having them the option to view the current and previous slides (in case the pastor goes too fast haha) all without having them log in if they want. An easy, simple straightforward app combining the best of both would be incredible. -
Peter June commented
Thanks for the feedback on the Remote. We're still in the process of re-styling and updating it, so your input is valuable and it's been forwarded to the developer in charge of that project.
There's a new feature on Faithlife that I think would actually satisfy all of your needs here. They're digital bulletins, and they can pull in your entire presentation (or part of it) into a mobile-friendly view.
Documentation: http://support.proclaimonline.com/hc/en-us/articles/210768906-Faithlife-Bulletins
A couple of benefits to this setup:
* No need for members of the congregation to have a Faithlife account - anyone with the URL can see it as long as your group's privacy is set to "Open".
* Automatically generated every week - you can publish your presentation as is, or remove slides form it (like blank slides between sections).
* You can add more to it - it's customizable, so if there's anything you want to add that isn't directly in the presentation that's also possible.
* Works over Wi-Fi.I'd love to hear if that works for you at the moment, or what improvements you'd like to see made to suit the needs of your congregation.
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Anonymous commented
Hi Peter,
Thanks for looking into this. I took a look at the remote app as an afterthought after posting this (we use a wireless keyboard,mouse and wired screen on the pulpit to control the presentation usually and haven't made great use of the remote app as yet)
When I tried using the remote app, I hit a couple of issues:
1) on landscape mode, the bottom half of the screen is covered by a semitransparent box which lists the slide name. This is not an issue in portrait mode, but then the slide on the tablet/phone is much smaller. An option to turn this off would be appreciated.
2) On connecting, the remote app offers 'control' and 'follow' - anyone who is only a follower of the presentation group yet selects 'control' hits an app crash (at least, on android)
3) As yet, i've only used internet connections not wifi (still in the process of testing) , but the screen change seems to lag by 2-5 seconds which is less than helpful if you're trying to follow song lyrics. - Maybe the option for the congregant to scan one slide ahead and one behind would be a useful feature?
The requirement for a faithlife account to log into the app is an unfortunate complication, but not a show-stopper (we could configure a single account and help each person who would need this with the first time setup)
A suggestion: As a windows user, it appears a certain amount of screen real-estate on the proclaim management screen could be reclaimed by using the app title line to report the number of followers rather than presenting that info in a separate line at the bottom (Not sure if this translates to the mac world)
I'd certainly love to see the autodetect for local wifi connectivity. Presently our church computer obtains its IP address via DHCP, To use local WIFI. we'd have to give it a fixed address if we got to a point of rolling this out.
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Peter June commented
Most of this can already be accomplished using the Proclaim Remote app. There are a couple of requests in the original posts I'd like to address one at a time:
* Visibility - we absolutely understand this. You can follow along with a presentation and see the slides on any mobile device without being part of the presentation group. Members of the congregation will need a free Faithlife account to log in when they start up the Proclaim Remote for the first time. After that, every time they start the app they will be able to tap once to follow the presentation.
* WiFi control - this is technically possible for followers. As you mention, some are older and may not be as familiar with technology, so we've been looking into a feature that would auto-detect the IP address of the machine running the presentation. Currently, they'd have to enter the IP address. Once this feature is implemented, though, they will be able to start the app and tap once to follow.
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Tony C commented
Great idea!! Broadcast via internet or local WiFi.
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Bill Ellis commented
I'd love to see this. Before moving to proclaim we would make live events in YouVersion and the congregation could see slides/scriptures/notes as well as share directly to social media. Our congregation loved this. This would not follow along like signals making it possible for people to go ahead of you in the sermon, but you had more options as far as content is concerned.