Use a Fire tablet as a teleprompter
Fire tablets are a cheap screen for a teleprompter rig, but they use Amazon's app store rather than Google Play, so many teleprompter apps aren't available. Reframely runs in the tablet's built-in Silk browser instead.
Step by step: set up a glass teleprompter rig
- Lay the screen under the glass. Put your phone or tablet face up in the tray, under the angled glass. The camera sits behind the glass and films straight through it.
- Pick your rig in Reframely. Open the sliders and choose Your rig. Tablet or Phone in a glass rig mirrors the text, so it reads the right way round in the glass.
- Turn the brightness all the way up. Beam-splitter glass passes only part of the light, so the reflection is dimmer than the screen. Full brightness and a darker room keep the words crisp.
- Check it through the camera. Look at the camera’s screen, not the tablet. If the hood’s edge shows in a wide shot, zoom in a little or widen the side margins. Then pair a clicker or your phone and press play.
Set it up
- Open the Silk browser on the Fire tablet and go to Reframely.
- Tap Open prompter, then the sliders icon, and choose Your rig → Tablet in a glass rig if it's going under glass.
- Turn brightness to maximum. Fire screens are dimmer than many tablets, and glass dims them further.
- Pair your phone as the remote with the 7-letter code.
What to expect
- Speed scrolling, mirroring, rig presets and the phone remote all work in the browser.
- Voice follow depends on the browser's speech support and may not be available in Silk; use speed scrolling or a phone remote instead.
- Fire tablets often fit 8- and 10-inch rigs such as the Desview T3 or Glide Gear TMP 100; check your rig's size limits.
Why a Fire tablet works well in a rig
A teleprompter tablet doesn't need a fast processor or a great camera. It needs a bright, evenly lit screen of the right size, and a battery that lasts a session. That's why inexpensive tablets are popular in glass rigs, and Fire tablets are among the cheapest. Running Reframely in the browser gets around the missing apps.
Sizing it to your rig
- Fire 7: small enough for some phone-and-small-tablet rigs. Text has to stay large, so keep sentences short.
- Fire HD 8: a good match for 8-inch rigs. Leave a little margin so the hood doesn't hide the edges.
- Fire HD 10 and Max 11: fit most 10 to 11-inch tablet rigs and allow larger text, which helps when you stand further back.
Measure the tablet with its case off: most rigs clamp the bare tablet, and a case can stop it sitting flat under the glass.
Tips for Fire OS
- Set the screen timeout to the longest option while recording, and turn off automatic brightness.
- Silk can add Reframely to the home screen from its menu, so it opens like an app.
- Download the latest Fire OS updates before a shoot, not on the day: updates can restart the tablet.
Questions
Can I use a Kindle Fire as a teleprompter?
Yes. Open a web teleprompter like Reframely in Silk and put the tablet in your rig.
Does voice follow work on Fire tablets?
It depends on Silk's speech support. Speed scrolling and the phone remote work regardless.
Last updated .