Party voice, captions, and camera

A watch party can talk out loud from the moment it opens. Voice is on when the party starts and every microphone is muted, so nobody is heard until they choose to be. Everyone in the party can listen, anyone holding a mic seat can speak, and the video quietly steps back under whoever is talking. Nothing said in a party is recorded or stored.

Listening

Listening never asks for anything. When voice is on, the party's voice section offers you one tap to connect, and no permission prompt appears, because listening does not touch your microphone at all.

While you listen you can see who is speaking, how many mics are live, and a leave button. Faces glow while their person talks, so you can follow the conversation without reading names.

Speaking

Speaking needs two things: a mic seat, and your browser's permission to use your microphone.

Once you hold a seat, an unmute button appears. The first time you tap it, your browser asks whether Vid Receipts may use your microphone. Allow it once and unmute works directly from then on. If your browser has the microphone blocked, the card says so plainly instead of asking again, and you can change it in your browser's site settings.

The first four people in a party, the host included, get a mic seat on arrival without anyone handing it to them. Past the fourth, ask in the party chat: the host gives out seats from the same room, up to ten in a party, and the count is the same on every plan. Seats are not held for good either. When someone with one leaves the party, their seat goes back, and the next person to arrive can pick it up.

Someone watching without an account is never given a seat automatically, though a host can still hand them one by name. A teen age band is the same on this point: no seat on arrival, but a host can hand one out by name. What it still blocks is turning voice on for a party you host. And a seat a host has taken back does not return by leaving and rejoining; only the host giving it back returns it.

Voice starts on by itself in a private, unlisted or invite-only party, whatever your plan. On a public or discoverable party it takes a paid plan, because a public party is a broadcast anyone can walk into: a free host's public party opens with voice off and a line in the voice room saying so, and everything else about the party works as usual. Joining, listening and speaking are free for everyone, whatever the party.

The video steps back while people talk

While someone is speaking, the video's volume drops so you can hear them, then returns to exactly where you had it when they stop. The video keeps playing throughout. Nothing about voice pauses or restarts what the party is watching.

Live captions

Turn captions on to read along while people talk. You choose for yourself and your choice is remembered, so captions stay on the next time.

Captions come from the speaker's own browser turning their speech into text, which means they appear for the speakers whose browser can do that. Nothing anyone says is recorded or stored, and a line disappears after about half a minute. In public parties captions pass the same automated safety check as chat, and a removed line reads as removed.

The stage

The Voice room puts one large tile at the top that follows whoever is talking, so you can see who has the floor at a glance. Pin anyone to keep them there, then unpin to go back to following the conversation.

Every speaker tile has its own volume, so you can turn a quiet friend up or a loud one down just for yourself. It changes nothing for anyone else. A host can also put someone on stage or make them a describer, each marked with a plain label.

Camera in a private party

In a private party, a speaker can turn their camera on so a small group can see each other while they watch. A party is private when you set Who can join to Followers, Friends or A group before you start it, which is the same choice that puts a door on the party. The camera button sits beside the mic and appears only when it is available to you: it takes a paid plan, it needs an adult answer to the age question, and it works only in a private party, never an invite-only, unlisted or public one.

When someone turns their camera on, their video fills their tile with a clear "Camera is on" note. Turning it off returns to their avatar. Video goes straight between the people in the party and is never recorded or stored, the same as voice.

The one-time age check

The first time you unmute as a speaker, or turn your camera on, we ask for your birth month and year. We ask once and remember the answer. If you are old enough, you carry straight on with what you were doing.

Live hosting and camera stay off for younger teens, and camera is for adults. There is no age question anywhere else on the site, and nothing changes for people who have already answered.

Reporting a speaker

If someone crosses a line out loud, you can report them from the party. Pick a reason, add a note if you want, and you get an on-screen reference to keep. Automatic checks also run on what speakers say in public parties, and a speaker who trips them is muted. Reports are reviewed, and you will not get a personal reply.

When voice ends

Voice lives for the length of the party. When the host turns it off, or the party ends, the audio layer goes with it. There is no recording, no transcript kept, and no trace of a voice room on your account.

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