Learn how to broadcast your live video feed to the big screen using Apple TV while turning it into a karaoke machine to sing your favorite songs.
Apple Music Sing separates the vocals of a song and lets you sing along with real-time, beat-by-beat, on-screen lyrics. This is similar to what Karaoke setups do, allowing you and your friends to jam out together.
Apple Music Sing on Apple TV includes a feature that uses your iPhone or iPad to stream live video of you singing. This lets you see yourself performing on the big screen for a more immersive experience. You can even enhance your performance by adding fun visual effects to your appearance.
What you need
You need to have an active Apple Music subscription and a supported device running the latest version of tvOS, iOS, or iPadOS:
- Apple TV 4K (3rd generation or later)
- iPhone SE (2nd generation or later), iPhone XR or newer
- iPad (8th generation or later), iPad Air (3rd generation or later), iPad mini (5th generation or later), iPad Pro 11-inch (all models), or iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later)
Set up Continuity Camera
Since Apple TV doesn’t have a camera (yet), it relies on your iPhone or iPad camera to capture live video when using Apple Music Sing or making FaceTime or Zoom calls. You just need to do the following:
- Use the same Apple Account on your Apple TV and your iPhone or iPad.
- Go to iPhone or iPad Settings > General > AirPlay & Continuity and make sure Continuity Camera is on.
- Enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your iPhone or iPad. Note that it works even if the iPhone/iPad isn’t connected to a Wi-Fi network.
- Keep the iPhone or iPad close to your Apple TV, like in the same room.
You can also use an iPhone or iPad belonging to accounts that are added to your Apple TV. Head to Apple TV Settings > Users and Accounts. Now, select a family member shown under the “Suggested Users” section, or hit Add New User and follow along. Once they are added, their iPhone or iPad should appear as a potential camera for use on your Apple TV.
See yourself on the television screen when using Karaoke on Apple TV
1) Open the Music app on your Apple TV.
2) Search for the song you want to sing along to and play it.
You should now see your selected song playing on the full screen. Since the setup takes a minute or two, you can pause the song, or restart it once you are up and running.
3) Select the Lyrics button in the bottom right corner.
4) Now select the video camera icon with three stars.
Note that this icon will be dimmed out and unselectable if on-screen effects are unavailable for this song. In this case, you’ll have to pick another track.
5) Select Connect iPhone or iPad.
6) You should see your name and that of other Apple TV users on the screen. Select one from here to use their iPhone or iPad as the video feeder.
After selecting the user, Apple TV sends a Continuity Camera request to the iPhone and iPad. Tap this alert and hit Accept. Next, your iPhone will ask you to position it in landscape orientation with the back cameras facing you. You can do as asked or tap Skip This Step (it works regardless of which orientation your phone is in).
You can hold your iPhone or iPad in hand when using Karaoke. However, it’s best to keep it on a stand so there is no shaking in the video feed and you don’t accidentally hit Pause or Disconnect on the screen. If you decide to keep your iPhone or iPad on a stand, use the real-time camera feed on your television screen to adjust it properly.
If you don’t see your name at the beginning of Step 7, click Other, scan the QR code using the Camera app on your iPhone or iPad, and tap Connect to Apple TV.
7) With video from iPhone or iPad set up, bring your attention back to your Apple TV.
You will notice four main actions here:
- Show Video: This lets you enable or disable video feed from your iPhone or iPad at will.
- Disconnect Camera: Ends the Continuity Camera session.
- Center Stage: It uses software to automatically pan the camera and keep you in the frame, even when you move around.
- Filters: If the standard video seems plain and boring, you can select Hazy, Stellar, Neon, Auro, and Sparkle effects for your live camera feed.
8) With the video part done, select the Apple Music Sing microphone icon and adjust the vocal volume accordingly by swiping up or down on the Siri Remote touchpad.
Finally, play the song from the beginning to start singing. You can change the volume using the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons.
End the session
You can disconnect the camera feed by tapping Disconnect on your iPhone/iPad or hitting Disconnect Camera on your Apple TV. If you want to also end the Karaoke session, unselect the Apple Music Sing icon to return to normal music playback.
Other tips for your Apple TV: