Review Insights · App Store
PromptSmart Pro - Teleprompter
PromptSmart · 10,955 ratings · ★ 4.6
4.6
★★★★★
10,955 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 66 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"voice"
20 negative reviews mention this · 30% of all complaints
★★★★★ "More bugs than a roach motel. I bought this app to narrate a documentary in Malaysia. I tested it briefly on my iPhone 17 Pro Max before leaving, and it appeared fine. However, once on location, the app struggled to switch the dialogue box to landscape, froze multiple t…" - cbitss
2
"work"
17 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Horrible. I have spent weeks just trying to get it to work. Very poorly designed. I’ve contacted support, worked with ai . Over and over the same problem. Horrible app" - Jacklyn’s
3
"subscription"
16 negative reviews mention this · 24% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Billing issues. I signed up last month for the first time. Paid for a year subscription $29.99 plus fees came out to $32.39. One month later it charged me $34.99 plus fees for another year subscription. On top of that the app is promoting me to get a 7 day…" - Kendal G.O
4
"paid"
12 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Broken app. App keeps crashing no matter what I click. I paid for sub and everything. Very disappointed" - K.f1lthy
5
"doesn"
10 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Keeps Crashing. I just purchased the app and will now need to contact Custer support. The app keeps crashing. I even deleted and reinstalled the app and it still doesn’t work. It’s frustrating." - mteramura
6
"crashes"
9 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Crashes. I can’t believe that I paid $30 for an app that crashes. Won’t even load a 4 minute speech. Insanely terrible" - JRME
7
"frustrating"
9 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Keeps Crashing. I just purchased the app and will now need to contact Custer support. The app keeps crashing. I even deleted and reinstalled the app and it still doesn’t work. It’s frustrating." - mteramura
8
"script"
9 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "More bugs than a roach motel. I bought this app to narrate a documentary in Malaysia. I tested it briefly on my iPhone 17 Pro Max before leaving, and it appeared fine. However, once on location, the app struggled to switch the dialogue box to landscape, froze multiple t…" - cbitss
9
"features"
9 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ripoff and misleading features. Not clear what features you get without the “optional” subscription, really no better than the lite version of the app. The advertised vocal tracking is locked behind an additional paywall. The software is also really buggy and some buttons…" - Bimmynjimmy
10
"buggy"
9 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ripoff and misleading features. Not clear what features you get without the “optional” subscription, really no better than the lite version of the app. The advertised vocal tracking is locked behind an additional paywall. The software is also really buggy and some buttons…" - Bimmynjimmy
11
"every"
9 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Broken app. App keeps crashing no matter what I click. I paid for sub and everything. Very disappointed" - K.f1lthy
12
"help"
9 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "More bugs than a roach motel. I bought this app to narrate a documentary in Malaysia. I tested it briefly on my iPhone 17 Pro Max before leaving, and it appeared fine. However, once on location, the app struggled to switch the dialogue box to landscape, froze multiple t…" - cbitss
📋 All 66 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Horrible
I have spent weeks just trying to get it to work. Very poorly designed. I’ve contacted support, worked with ai . Over and over the same problem. Horrible app
Broken app
App keeps crashing no matter what I click. I paid for sub and everything. Very disappointed
Crashes
I can’t believe that I paid $30 for an app that crashes. Won’t even load a 4 minute speech. Insanely terrible
Keeps Crashing
I just purchased the app and will now need to contact Custer support. The app keeps crashing. I even deleted and reinstalled the app and it still doesn’t work. It’s frustrating.
Crashes!!!
Paid for this and as soon as I hit play the app keeps crashing
Used it once. Then it stopped
What a piece of junk. Stopped working and they charged me 59.99. Which is the wrong price
More bugs than a roach motel
I bought this app to narrate a documentary in Malaysia. I tested it briefly on my iPhone 17 Pro Max before leaving, and it appeared fine. However, once on location, the app struggled to switch the dialogue box to landscape, froze multiple times, and crashed repeatedly. My main issue was that the voice-activated scrolling didn't work at all. I tried using the iPhone’s built-in mic and a DJI Mic 2 paired with the phone, but the script either would scroll just one line before freezing or wouldn't start altogether. I performed several hard and soft resets of the phone, but nothing helped. In all, it was a complete failure and set back our production while I found another teleprompter app that did work.
Billing issues
I signed up last month for the first time. Paid for a year subscription $29.99 plus fees came out to $32.39. One month later it charged me $34.99 plus fees for another year subscription. On top of that the app is promoting me to get a 7 day trail, deleted my uploaded scripts, and is acting as if I don’t have a subscription, even though I paid for an annual subscription in back to back months. Very disappointed!
Waste of money
I bought this thinking I was going to get a scrolling prompter. But alas no they put that feature behind a paywall. You cannot turn the video off so you can just read the script and because of this the script is hard to read. The color of the font won't change. Neither will the size. It's a madly frustrating app. I hope I saved you some money bc my money was wasted. 0/10 stars
iPhone bug unusable
I have an iPhone, and in all the demo videos in selfie mode, half the screen is selfie, other half the screen is a background with text. The background doesn't work. There's no fix for it. It's just an issue. So you can't read the script.
Ripoff and misleading features
Not clear what features you get without the “optional” subscription, really no better than the lite version of the app. The advertised vocal tracking is locked behind an additional paywall. The software is also really buggy and some buttons only work in landscape mode. Don’t waste your money on this corpo trash.
Do not buy this app.
This app crashes constantly, making it useless. Save your money.
This used to be a one time purchase
Purchased the Pro version of this app back in 2023 for some TV work. Now, they want me to subscribe to use it. It’s a shame that the devs got so greedy. I’ll never use or recommend this app again.
Complete failure
This app is flawed, deeply. It doesn’t work in any relevant way to record video, it’s buggy. Exceedingly dissatisfied, don’t pay the $30, it’s a rip off.
Rip off - Do NOT buy!!!
I paid for the full app and now they want me to pay a subscription to use my remote control to scroll because their voice scrolling fails most of the time. Save your money.
Crashes incessantly
Far too many times I’ve been part way through a lengthy recording only for it to fail, losing all the work I’d put into it so far. I’m sick to death of having to log in again every time I turn around. I detest the fact you have zero control over camera resolution when recording. I have lost scripts because I entered them on one device, told it to sync, and it’s not there because it crashed during sync losing all the work I put into it so far. This is a great app to lose valuable work with.
Constant freezing and crashing
It has been working well now all of a sudden the voice activated prompter doesn’t adjust with my voice, it is constantly freezing and crashing… HELP.. i didn’t pay for this not to be working
Don’t waste your time
App doesn’t work well. Can’t get speech recognition to work. Help center is poor
Crashes Immediately
I was hesitant about spending $30 on an app just to see if the voice scrolling works. I can’t test it because the app doesn’t work at all. I added a script containing a small paragraph, left the settings at default, press play and….app crashes. Every…single…time. Running a fully updated iPhone 16 pro.
1 Star for voice tracking
I have been using this app for a few years now and it seems to be getting more glitchy. The voice tracking is no longer working. I’ve done the typical troubleshooting deleting the app re-installing updating my phone,Reached out to support for help, but nothing has worked. Unfortunately I am now on the hunt for a better app.
Very buggy and they fool you into paying way more.
The app does not perform as advertised. I paid for the full version, but core features did not work at all, including text color, background color, and basic recording functions. After purchasing the app, it required an additional subscription to unlock features that were implied to be included. Even after paying for the subscription, the app remained unusable and extremely buggy. The purchase flow was misleading, and the product did not function as described.
Scam - no longer able to use
I purchased this years ago, now I’m no longer able to use it - they’ve made it a subscription. I don’t care about new “advanced features” I just want what I paid for.
THE SCROLLING LAGS
Eight out of 10 times, the scrolling will lag forcing me to stop recording and having to re-record
Every time I press record, I have to pray that this is one of those times that the script will go all the way through. I’m only recording one to three minute scripts for reels.
Every time I press record, I have to pray that this is one of those times that the script will go all the way through. I’m only recording one to three minute scripts for reels.
Crashes on Edit Settings
Never really worked well. Crashes while trying to configure settings. Not worth the money.
Makes You Pay Twice
First it charges you $30 for the app, then you have to pay another monthly fee on top to actually use it. There are better products out there that don’t mislead customers.
Dismal voice tracking
If you thought you were going to get actual voice tracking on your prompt, think again. It will move then just stop whenever it pleases. Complete waste of time.
Poor customer service
I can’t stand communicating with their customer service. Good luck if you have a problem or need assistance with billing. I am so disappointed.
Buggy & Overpriced
The app initially crashed repeatedly, but restarting my iPad resolved the issue. I’m hopeful this fix will hold, though only time will tell. *update* it started happening again.
My main concern is the pricing structure. I paid $30 upfront for this app, only to discover that accessing all features requires an additional subscription fee. This feels misleading and frustrating-I’ve already made a significant purchase, and being asked to pay more for full functionality seems like a bait-and-switch tactic.
My main concern is the pricing structure. I paid $30 upfront for this app, only to discover that accessing all features requires an additional subscription fee. This feels misleading and frustrating-I’ve already made a significant purchase, and being asked to pay more for full functionality seems like a bait-and-switch tactic.
No option to restore purchase. Unable to login
I took a few months away from using the app so it’s telling me to start a free trial even though I already purchased the app for 29.99 on April 25th of this year. I see the receipt in the App Store. The app wasn’t registering my voice past the first page of text so I tried to use my phone as a remote. There was no option to restore purchase so I tried to log in. That’s when I learned that my Apple ID email for this iPad will not let me log in. I searched through every one of my email accounts and the only one with any record of PromptSmart Pro is my Apple ID email. I feel like I got ripped off.
Utterly Bewildering Interface
Not sure I’ve ever encountered an interface that was less intuitive and more frustrating than this one. It’s just a terrible, terrible UX/UI effort here. What window do I go to get the hours of my life back that I’ve spent trying to make this thing do what it claims to do?
The glitchiest app ever
When you’re doing a Self Tape or a project make sure you give yourself at least an hour to figure out every glitch that this awful app throws at you every five seconds, when you’re in the creative flow and you’re having to deal with so many glitches and technical problems with this app it’s just not worth it. Find something better.
No funciona en español. Pésimo
Muy malo
Needless AI
Stop adding AI to everything.
Wish it worked consistently.
Works great when it works (I think it worked better when I first downloaded it) But now it stops following my voice the vast majority of the time. Especially on longer scripts (which is when you need it the most) Useless.
Used to work…
I loved this app for about a year but now it just doesn’t work. It rarely follows the sound of my voice. Basically a useless app.
Rip Off Charged but Not Activated
Charged by App Store but not delivered. Apple is useless in getting any help.
So confusing
I have to say that obtaining this app is the most confusing experience I have ever had. In the description it talks about the price being 1.99 monthly or 19.99 and that you will see the charge after your trial period is over. When I downloaded it said 29.99 and I suppose that is for a year? I open the app and it asks me to activate it and then says it is 3.99 or 39.99, how much is this thing? I am concerned that I won’t be able to read the font at the largest available size. And I am concerned about whether or not I can live with the minimal lighting and other camera effects. I Definately need a trial. I see no way to communicate other than here. How would you ever actually cancel the trial-with no way to communicate with support. It is to bad, the review are great and I was hopeful. I am going to delete the app and I hope I don’t see a charge that I will have to spend time chasing down for a refund.
Text is too small
The text on this app has a maximum of “10”. Even the maximum size is small. When I’m speaking in public while looking at the audience and back down again to quickly see the next words in the speech, I need larger text. This lack of text size makes it useful for me. I had hope for a good teleprompter app, but this is a major design flaw. I have requested a refund from Apple.
Scam
I bought this program years ago for full price. Just needed the basic features. Used it a few times and now I’m in a situation that needs it again and it’s not giving me access to it? Why do i have to pay a subscription for a product i already bought? I don’t care about any new options added to the latest version, i want what i paid for. Why do i need to continue paying you for the use of what i already bought? How can i trust you won’t change things again to get more money from me?
Voice track is very buggy.
The voice track barely works. It doesn’t track my subjects voice at all in a quiet room with good vocal volume. Wastes a lot of time and frustrates everyone on set. Hopefully it’s just a bug and they fix it. The remote option is also laggy. Overall really disappointed unfortunately. I know it has worked for others, not sure what’s wrong with mine.
Scammy tactics
I saw in the lite version there is a remote feature. I clicked it. It said “get access to all features with promptsmart pro” and linked to the App Store. I clicked it, bought it, and lo and behold the remote feature IS NOT INCLUDED. YOU HAVE TO PAY MORE! How is this allowed? I see now that it is labeled “ext” not “pro” but that wasn’t clear when the link said get access to all features. Want my money back.
Needs Some Love
For an app with a subscription like this, I would expect a lot of the bugs to be worked out, plus some good QoL updates.
As a couple examples:
-My app kept crashing. It took me a while to realize that it couldn’t handle a question mark in the title of my script.
-Perhaps even more frustrating is that the text very often stops scrolling when using voice tracking.
-When creating a script, it asks for a story title, but does not auto select the box or bring up your keyboard. If you click the script box, it will skip naming your script.
As far as QoL, settings should save between videos. Every time I open a new script to film, I have to find a text color that shows up over my camera footage. Alternatively, I’d love to see a separate setting for text background color. I can often see myself squinting to read in my footage.
Finally, it was not apparent anywhere that this app would not support external mics. It turns out, iPhone often has capability issues between apps and external mics. Guess I should chalk that up to an iOS issue.
However, quite frustrating that I had to discover this for myself. I had reached out to customer service who made me feel like I was to blame for the technical difficulties. Then, they ghosted me before I went off to discover this problem on my own.
Guess I’d just like to see more transparency since this is in fact an app to help with recording.
As a couple examples:
-My app kept crashing. It took me a while to realize that it couldn’t handle a question mark in the title of my script.
-Perhaps even more frustrating is that the text very often stops scrolling when using voice tracking.
-When creating a script, it asks for a story title, but does not auto select the box or bring up your keyboard. If you click the script box, it will skip naming your script.
As far as QoL, settings should save between videos. Every time I open a new script to film, I have to find a text color that shows up over my camera footage. Alternatively, I’d love to see a separate setting for text background color. I can often see myself squinting to read in my footage.
Finally, it was not apparent anywhere that this app would not support external mics. It turns out, iPhone often has capability issues between apps and external mics. Guess I should chalk that up to an iOS issue.
However, quite frustrating that I had to discover this for myself. I had reached out to customer service who made me feel like I was to blame for the technical difficulties. Then, they ghosted me before I went off to discover this problem on my own.
Guess I’d just like to see more transparency since this is in fact an app to help with recording.
Terrible support
I paid for the subscription and can’t get any help. Used to be able to upload scripts from google drive but after the update I only get errors. (Even scripts that I was able to update a few days ago.)
Getting in touch with anyone for help is impossible. It’s such a shame because this app has so much potential.
As of now I’d recommend looking for a different app. This one has been way too buggy.
Getting in touch with anyone for help is impossible. It’s such a shame because this app has so much potential.
As of now I’d recommend looking for a different app. This one has been way too buggy.
What happened? Not working!
This app used to work great. Now over the past few weeks, it just doesn’t work at all. It stops in the middle of a sentence, and won’t continue… very, very frustrating…
Always A Glitch
I’ve had this app for close to a year now and it’s always something. Voice assist goes too fast frequently or won’t even work at all. Like today. Super frustrating and, honestly, ridiculous.
Used to be great…
Used to be great - now deeply disappointed
I purchased PromptSmart Pro specifically for the VoiceTrack feature, which was fully included at the time. I recommended it often. Now that this key functionality has been moved behind a subscription, I feel misled and disappointed. This is not how you treat loyal customers. Integrity matters.
I purchased PromptSmart Pro specifically for the VoiceTrack feature, which was fully included at the time. I recommended it often. Now that this key functionality has been moved behind a subscription, I feel misled and disappointed. This is not how you treat loyal customers. Integrity matters.
Voice track abruptly stopped working
Ver disappointed that this feature no longer works.
constant glitches, resets settings, crashes
i still use it because i need to find something new, but man this thing glitches hard, so frustrating
2025 Update: App Now Unusable
I’ve been using this app for years. Today I opened it up prior to filming to find a new UI. Now when I import a script, I get a “file not converted” error message every time. There is also no way to delete these scripts with errors. Now the app is completely unusable. I wish the dev could have just left the app as-is. I don’t mind a dated UI; I just want it to work when I need it.
Decent features, buggy and greedy
The suite of features is good at a glace, but the app crashes frequently and many features are locked behind a subscription on an app you’ve already shelled out $30 for. Absolutely absurd. The pay until you die model needs to vanish ASAP.
+ 16 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
91%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
7%
Negative (1-2★)