For churches
Run your church's ATEM switcher from a phone or tablet
Updated
Short answer
ProSwitcher, the Android control app for ATEM switchers, lets a volunteer switch your church's Blackmagic ATEM from a phone or tablet anywhere in the room, instead of from the booth laptop. Program and preview, tally, Cut, Auto, the T-bar and Fade to Black are free, and the built-in demo switcher lets new volunteers practise mid-week without touching the real system.
Get it on Google Play Free for switching · Android phones and tablets · iPhone and iPad coming soon
Out of the booth
If your ATEM is run from a laptop in the back with ATEM Software Control open, the person switching is tied to one seat, often behind the congregation and away from the stage they are trying to follow. A phone or tablet on the same network lets them stand where they can see.
Keep the laptop. ATEM Software Control and ProSwitcher can be connected at the same time, so the booth stays as your fallback.
Sunday switching is free
The core of switching a service is in the free app: program and preview with live tally, Cut, Auto, the T-bar and Fade to Black, plus saved switchers and automatic reconnect. No purchase, no account, nothing to set up per volunteer.
Train volunteers mid-week on the demo switcher
Tap “Try the demo switcher” and ProSwitcher runs a simulated ATEM with eight cameras on the phone itself, with no switcher or network needed. New volunteers can learn where Cut, Auto and the T-bar are at home, and walk in on Sunday knowing the surface. Every panel opens in the demo with no purchase and no trial, so the graphics, audio and streaming volunteers can practise too, and its ON AIR and REC go nowhere. More about the demo switcher →
Pro for the graphics, audio and stream seat
ProSwitcher Pro, a one-time US$39.99, adds the panels a graphics, audio or streaming volunteer uses: upstream and downstream keyers for lower thirds and lyrics, picture-in-picture for the speaker beside the slides, media players with still upload from the phone for announcement slides, transitions, macros and the audio mixer, classic or Fairlight, with the Fairlight EQ and dynamics. The 14-day free trial lets you try it on a real service first.
On switchers that stream and record, Pro also goes on air and off from the switcher's own encoder, with the duration, bitrate and cache in view, and starts and stops the recording, so the person running the service can start the stream from the same phone.
One Pro purchase covers every device signed in to the same Google Play account, such as church-owned tablets signed in to the church's account. It does not carry over to volunteers' own personal accounts.
Nothing to sign up for
No account, no analytics, no tracking. Switcher addresses and control traffic stay on your network, and the only outside call is Google Play's own purchase check, which keeps things simple for church IT and for volunteers' own phones.
Setup checklist
- The ATEM wired by Ethernet to a router or access point in the building. See the Wi-Fi setup guide.
- A network the volunteers' devices can join: not a guest network that isolates devices.
- ProSwitcher installed from Google Play on each phone or tablet (Android 7.0 or later).
- A fallback within reach: the switcher's own buttons or ATEM Software Control.
- Your model checked on Supported ATEM switchers.
Questions
Is it safe to use for a live service?
Live production always carries some risk, so keep the switcher's own buttons or ATEM Software Control within reach. ProSwitcher locks its controls and shows a reconnecting overlay while the connection is down, so nobody can fire a cut that will not arrive, and it reconnects automatically.
Can several volunteers use it at once?
Yes. The switcher accepts several control connections at the same time, so a switching volunteer and a graphics volunteer can each use their own device.
Do volunteers need accounts?
No. There is no ProSwitcher account of any kind. Pro belongs to the Google Play account the device is signed in to.
How much does ProSwitcher cost?
Switching is free forever: discovery, program and preview, live tally, Cut, Auto, the T-bar, Fade to Black and the demo switcher. ProSwitcher Pro is a one-time US$39.99 in-app purchase that adds keyers and picture-in-picture, transitions, media players, the audio mixer, SuperSource, streaming, recording, multiview, macros, aux routing and the colour generators.
Set it up before Sunday.
Free on Google Play for Android phones and tablets. Try the demo switcher with your volunteers this week.
Related
Demo switcher (ATEM simulator)
A simulated eight-camera ATEM on your phone, for practice and training.
Wi-Fi setup guide
The ATEM has no Wi-Fi. How to wire it so your phone can still run the show.
Supported switchers
Every ATEM family, what each model has, and what we have tested.
ATEM Mini on Android
Control an ATEM Mini, Mini Pro or Mini Extreme from your phone, in three steps.