Solutions for common RheoCast issues with audio, transcription, display, and network connectivity.

This guide covers the most common issues media teams encounter with RheoCast and how to resolve them.

Audio Issues

No audio signal in the monitor

Open Settings → Audio and confirm the correct microphone is selected.
Check that your audio interface or mixer is connected and the pastor's channel is unmuted.
Adjust Microphone Volume. Try boosting above 100% if the signal is quiet.
Unplug and reconnect USB audio devices, then reselect the device in settings.

Audio works but transcription doesn't start

Confirm you clicked Start below the Live Transcript (header should show the red transcription timer).
Check Settings → Subscription. You may have exhausted your monthly transcription minutes.
Verify internet connectivity. Transcription is processed in the cloud and needs an active connection on every platform.

Changing microphone mid-session causes a brief pause

This is expected. The audio engine restarts when you switch devices. Change microphones before starting transcription whenever possible.

Transcription Issues

Transcription is slow or delayed

Ensure a stable internet connection, transcription is cloud-processed and needs one.
Close other heavy applications on the broadcast computer.
Use a wired Ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi during services.

Transcription stops when internet drops

Transcription pauses until the connection returns, on every platform. The app stays fully usable meanwhile: manual search, the bundled translations, song lyrics, notes, the display output, and the whole Broadcast console including local recording all work offline.

Minutes already used are queued and reported once you are back online, so nothing is lost.

Detected references seem wrong

Speech-to-text occasionally mishears book names. Use manual search as a fallback, type the correct reference and press Enter.

Review the live transcript to see what was actually transcribed. Unusual pronunciations or strong room echo can affect accuracy.

Detection Issues

Pastor quotes scripture but nothing appears in Detections

Confirm Start is active (red transcription timer in header).
Try speaking more clearly: "John chapter three verse sixteen" detects reliably.
Check the Detections panel on the right, detections appear here even when Go Live is off.
Use manual search if detection misses a reference.

Detections appear but not on the projector

Turn Go Live ON on the Display Preview panel.
Click Display on a detection chip, or enable Auto Display in the header.
Verify your output mode in Settings → Output (Windowed, Fullscreen, NDI, or Web Overlay).

Too many false detections

Turn off Auto Display in the header and manually approve each detection with Display.
Ensure the microphone feed is the pastor's mic only, room noise and music can trigger false matches.
Dismiss unwanted detections with X, or click Clear all.

Display & Output Issues

Verse doesn't appear on projector

Check Settings → Output. Confirm the correct mode (Windowed or Fullscreen).
For fullscreen: ensure a second display/projector is connected before launching RheoCast.
Turn Go Live ON on the Display Preview panel.
Click Display on a detection or search result to send a verse to the output.
Press Escape may have cleared it, select a verse again.

NDI source not visible in OBS / vMix

Confirm NDI Source is enabled in Settings → Output.
Ensure RheoCast and production software are on the same local network.
Use wired Ethernet, Wi-Fi often blocks NDI discovery.
Restart the NDI source after enabling it in RheoCast.
Only one NDI feed runs at a time. If External Output is on in the Broadcast tab, the Present tab's NDI Source refuses to start and says so; switch one off.

Meeting app (Zoom, Meet, Teams) shows no NDI camera, a black picture, backwards text, or no sound

RheoCast reaches a meeting app through the free NDI Tools; each symptom has one cause.

No NDI camera in the list. NDI Virtual Input is not running, or on macOS its camera extension is not approved yet (System Settings, General, Login Items & Extensions, Camera Extensions). It needs NDI Tools 6 or later; older versions used a plug-in that recent macOS versions no longer load, so update NDI Tools if no camera appears. Restart the meeting app once after installing.
Camera listed but black. Nothing is being sent: External Output is off in the Broadcast tab (it is off after every launch), or NDI Virtual Input is pointed at a different source. Choose "RheoCast Program" in its menu.
Text reads backwards. Only in your own preview: meeting apps mirror your self-view. Everyone else, and a recording, sees it the right way round. Untick "Mirror my video" in the meeting app if it bothers you.
Picture but no sound. Choose "NDI Audio" as the meeting app's microphone. Only the Broadcast tab's External Output carries sound; the Present tab's NDI Source is picture only.

See Use RheoCast as a webcam for the full setup.

Browser overlay shows blank in OBS

Copy the overlay URL from Settings → Output → Web Overlay again.
Set browser source dimensions to match your stream resolution (1920×1080).
Enable Refresh browser when scene becomes active in OBS.
Display a verse in RheoCast first. The overlay is transparent when empty.

Check internet connectivity.
Try again, browser authentication may have timed out.
Ensure pop-ups aren't blocked for the sign-in window.

License key rejected

Verify the key was typed correctly (no extra spaces).
Confirm the key hasn't already been activated on another device.
Contact support with your church name and key prefix.

"No Internet Connection" on launch

Only a device with no saved session is blocked by this screen — the first sign-in needs the internet. (A device that has just updated to this version and has not been online once since will also see it, once.) The app retries automatically every few seconds.

If you have signed in before, RheoCast now launches offline on your last saved plan and shows an OFFLINE badge in the header. Everything local works: projection, the Broadcast console, songs, notes, the bundled Bibles and local recording. Transcription and AI features wait for the connection. After 7 days without reaching the server the app still launches, on Free-plan features, until it can check in again.

"Incorrect Date & Time" blocking screen

RheoCast requires your device's clock to be accurate. If your system clock is incorrect, the app will display a full-screen message asking you to fix it.

Why this happens: RheoCast signs every API request with a timestamp for security. If your device clock is off by more than 2 minutes, the server rejects the request.

How to fix:

Windows: Open Settings → Time & Language → Date & Time → Enable "Set time automatically" and "Set time zone automatically"
macOS: Open System Preferences → Date & Time → Check "Set date and time automatically"

After correcting your clock, click the Retry button in the app.

If this happens during a live transcription session, don't worry, transcription continues in the background while the warning is displayed.

Symptom: You sign in with Google successfully, but the app immediately shows errors or redirects you back to an onboarding form that also fails.

Cause: Your device's system clock is incorrect. Sign-in works (it uses a different authentication method), but all other requests fail because of the timestamp mismatch.

Fix: Correct your system date and time (see steps above), then restart the app. You do not need to reinstall or re-sign-up.

Broadcast, Streaming & Recording Issues

A camera or microphone does not appear

On macOS, RheoCast needs permission. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Camera (and Microphone) and make sure RheoCast is allowed, then restart the app. Screen and window capture needs Screen Recording in the same place.

If a USB camera was unplugged and plugged back in, RheoCast tracks it across re-enumeration, but if it still does not show, remove and re-add the source.

Go Live fails the pre-flight check

The check reports which condition failed:

No destination. Add a stream key in Stream Settings and switch the destination on.
No scene on Program. Take a scene to Program first.
No hardware encoder. On macOS this needs 13.3 or later.

Dropped frames climbing while live

Almost always upload bandwidth. Lower the video bitrate in Stream Settings: roughly 4500 kbps at 1080p, 2500 kbps at 720p, and test your upload at the time of day you actually stream.

If the stat cards say you are encoding in software, CPU is the bottleneck instead. Close other applications, drop the streaming resolution, and reduce the number of active sources.

The stream stopped but the service is still going

Recording runs independently and keeps going, so you will still have the file. Press Go Live again, most platforms accept a reconnection to the same stream key.

The recording is one enormous file

Turn on auto-split in Recording Settings before your next service. It starts a new file every N minutes, which makes the recording far easier to move and much safer if something fails late in the service.

Lyrics or scripture do not appear in the broadcast

The scene needs the matching source. Add Scripture (Live), Scripture Lower Third or Lyrics (Live) to the scene, or turn on the equivalent overlay. Once it is in the scene, it follows Present automatically.

The web remote will not open on my phone

The phone must be on the same Wi-Fi network as the computer. The remote is local only and is not reachable from the internet. Guest networks on church Wi-Fi often isolate clients from each other. Try the main network.

Creator Studio Issues

Can't switch to Creator Studio

Click Stop below the Live Transcript first. Creator Studio is disabled while transcription is active or starting.

AI generation fails or times out

Check remaining AI credits in Settings → Subscription.
Verify internet connection (cloud AI requires connectivity).
Try again with a shorter transcript section.
If using local AI, ensure your machine meets recommended hardware specs.

Generated content has errors

AI-generated summaries, notes, and devotionals should always be reviewed and edited before publishing. RheoCast assists your team. It does not replace pastoral review.

Performance Tips

Dedicated broadcast computer. Avoid running RheoCast on the same machine as heavy video editing or gaming workloads during live services.
Close unused apps. Free RAM and CPU for transcription and display.
Rehearse weekly. A 5-minute pre-service test catches most issues before they matter.
Keep RheoCast updated. The app tells you when a new version is ready; see below.

Updates

RheoCast checks for a new version each time it starts. When one is ready, a small notice appears with an Update button: press it, the download runs in the background, and the app restarts on the new version by itself. Nothing else changes: your settings, translations, songs and scenes are untouched. To check by hand, open Settings → About → Check for updates. The automatic check can be turned off in Settings if you prefer to update on your own schedule.

Occasionally a version is required, for example after a security fix. The app then shows a full-screen notice with the same Update button and waits until the update is installed.

If an update ever fails, the app opens the download page so you can install the new version by hand; the failure is safe, the running version is not touched. Please tell us if that happens, with the version shown in Settings → About.

Sending feedback

Settings → Feedback sends a note straight to the RheoCast team, with an optional screenshot. If the app has crashed recently, the form offers to attach its crash report, which helps us far more than a description; nothing is sent without your say.

Now and then, after a longer service, RheoCast may also ask "How did that session go?" in a small card. One tap on the stars is enough, and a line of text is welcome. It never appears mid-service, never in your first week, and never more than once a month. Not now waits a month; Don't ask again ends it for good.

Still Need Help?

Contact our support team. We're here to help your media team succeed:

Include your operating system, RheoCast version (Settings → About has a copy button that includes your platform), subscription plan, and a description of the issue for the fastest response.

Troubleshooting