LINE READER / IPHONE
Scriptmate is a line reader that plays every other part in the scene and waits until you have finished your line before it answers. Run sides the night before, rehearse a scene ten times over, and keep the reader off the mic when you tape.
4.1 on the App Store
HOW IT WORKS
01
Open a PDF, or scan the paper pages. Scriptmate works out who says what and marks your lines when you tap your character.
02
Every other character reads in a different voice, so you always know who is talking. Change any of them in Character Voices.
03
Say your line out loud. The reader comes in when you have finished it, not after a pause someone guessed in advance.
WHAT A READER IS FOR
A line reader has one job: say the other character's line clearly, at the moment you are ready for it, so you have something real to answer. It should not rush your pauses, talk over a line you are still finishing, or leave you standing in silence while it waits for a word you paraphrased.
That timing is the hard part for an app. Some line readers play the next line after a fixed gap, some wait for the last word of yours, and some follow the whole line as you say it. Scriptmate is the third kind, which is why it keeps up when you restart, change a word, or take a beat before the end.
THE READER
English scripts read in natural voices, ten American and British voices that Scriptmate makes on your iPhone once per script. Other languages read in the voices on your iPhone, including Apple's enhanced voices. Change any role's voice in Character Voices.
Long press any reader line to record it yourself, and rehearsal plays your take. On iOS 17 or later, a role can also read in your Personal Voice, the voice your iPhone builds from your own recordings.
The reader follows your whole line, not just the last word, and answers when you finish. Paraphrase, restart or stop to think, and it holds its place instead of cutting in.
Scriptmate hears your cue with speech recognition that runs on the iPhone itself, so what you say while you rehearse is not sent to a server.
SELF-TAPE
The usual trouble with a reader on a self-tape is sound: whoever reads the other lines is often closer to the microphone than you are. Scriptmate plays the reader only in your headphones, so you hear every cue and the recording keeps only your side of the scene. Recording is locked to landscape, and your own lines are hidden while you tape.
YOUR OPTIONS
There are three ways to get the other lines read: a person, a recording you make yourself, or a line reader app. Each one has a place, and we make the app in the first column, so weigh this with that in mind.
| Feature | Scriptmate | A human reader | Your own recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| Available | Any time, on your phone | When someone is free | Any time, once every other line is recorded |
| When the next line comes | When you finish your line | When they hear you finish | After the gap you left while recording, ready or not |
| Reacts to your read | No. It reads each line the same way every time | Yes. A good reader gives you something to play off | No. The read is fixed once recorded |
| On a self-tape | In your headphones only, off the camera mic | In the room, so on the recording too | On the recording if played aloud, and on its own timing either way |
| Cost | $69.99 a year or $9.99 a month, 7 days free | A favour, or a paid reader | Free, plus the time it takes to record |
FROM THE APP STORE
4.1 out of 5 on the App Store
“I drop my screenplay in, and a second later I'm running lines. That's pretty much it. No setup, no fiddling, no fifty menus to dig through.”
rusty.m. App Store review
“Importing screenplay PDFs is really straightforward, and the app doesn't try to do too much. It stays focused on what matters. I've been using it to rehearse with my movie sides and it's made the process so much easier.”
Ellilav. App Store review
A line reader app reads the other characters' lines out loud so you can rehearse a scene on your own. The useful ones listen for your line and answer when you finish, the way a scene partner would, rather than playing each line after a fixed gap. Scriptmate is one, for iPhone.
Each character gets its own voice. English scripts on iOS 17 or later use natural voices: ten American and British voices that Scriptmate makes on your iPhone after you import the script, which then play offline. Scripts in other languages use the voices built into your iPhone, including Apple's enhanced voices, and on iOS 17 or later your Personal Voice. You can change the voice for any role, and you can record any line yourself so the reader plays your take instead.
Yes. Scriptmate follows your speech word by word through the whole line and answers when you finish, not after a fixed gap and not on the last word alone. If you paraphrase, restart or stop to think, it holds its place instead of cutting in.
Yes. Record in the same app with headphones in, and the reader's lines play only in your ears, so the camera mic picks up your side of the scene and not the reader. Recording is locked to landscape, and your own lines are hidden while you tape.
For rehearsal, mostly. An app is there whenever you are, never loses patience and waits for your cue. What it cannot do is react to your read the way a good human reader does, so for a scene that lives on give and take, a person is still worth finding.
No. Scriptmate hears your cue with speech recognition that runs on the iPhone itself, so what you say while rehearsing is not uploaded. Importing a script does send the file to our parsing service, which splits it into lines and characters, and the file is not kept after that request.
English, Spanish, French, German and Korean. The reader picks voices for the language the script is written in, so a scene in Spanish is read with Spanish voices. English scripts also get natural voices made on the iPhone. The app itself is available in the same five languages.
A demo scene runs the moment you open the app, with no account. Your own scripts are free for seven days, then Scriptmate Pro is $69.99 a year or $9.99 a month. It is an iPhone app for iOS 16 or later, and there is no Android version yet.
Open the app and run the demo scene with the reader. Your own scripts are free for seven days.