Audio rooms: live talks with a chat, like Clubhouse

Audio rooms let a community talk live: a Bible study, a Q&A with the principal, a town hall. See them with pictures on the Audio rooms page.

Who hosts: the owner, admins and moderators. On the community's Home, tap + Start a room, give it a name (Sunday Q&A, Midweek Bible study) and Go live. Members see it at the top of Home with Join. Audio rooms come with every community, free.

On stage: the host and up to 4 speakers at a time. A listener taps ✋ Raise hand to speak; the host sees the hand and taps Bring up. The host can also tap anyone and Invite to speak, or Move to listeners. A speaker can step down with Back to listening. A green ring shows who's talking; the mic button mutes and unmutes.

Listening: tap Join and you're listening; your mic stays off until you're brought up. Leave quietly whenever you like. Up to 20 listeners for now.

The room chat: while the room is on, everyone in it can type (up to 500 characters): questions, prayer points, amens, links. On a computer the chat sits beside the room; on a phone, tap 💬 Chat, where a red number shows what you missed. The host and speakers are marked. The host or a moderator can Remove a message.

Ending: End room ends it for everyone; the host leaving ends it too. Nothing is recorded, and the chat is deleted when the room ends.

How the sound travels: phone to phone. The people on stage connect straight to each other, and each listener connects to the host, whose phone sends everyone the mix; nothing passes through #NotesApp's servers. That's why a room holds 20 listeners for now, and why a host on Wi-Fi or strong 4G works best. Bigger rooms, for hundreds, come with our relay.

Can't hear? Check your phone isn't on silent and the browser has permission to play sound; on a speaker's phone, allow the microphone. If you joined on a weak network, leave and join again.