Three pieces. Understanding them takes two minutes and saves a lot of guessing later, because nearly every problem is one of them not doing its job.
It holds an open connection to your live chat and sends each gift, follow, like and message onward as it happens. It is the only part that can see your chat, which is why it has to stay open while you stream.
Where you set up what your alerts look like, what your automations do and what viewers can redeem. Change something mid-stream and it takes effect at once.
Each overlay is a web address you add as a browser source. It sits waiting and shows something when an event arrives.
Reading a live chat means holding an open connection to the platform from a real computer. A website cannot do that on your behalf, which is why every tool of this kind has a desktop component. It is not an extra step for its own sake.
Around ten minutes if your streaming software is already installed.
Free, no card. Mac and Windows builds are both available.
Copy it from your account page. You do this once and the app remembers it.
The app attaches to a broadcast that is already running, so start the stream first. No stream to test with? Demo mode invents viewers for you.
Copy its address, add it at 1920×1080, and drag it into place. Press Test and it appears on your stream.
Full step-by-step guides, with diagrams for OBS and TikTok LIVE Studio →
Demo mode makes the desktop app invent viewers, chat, gifts and follows. Everything downstream behaves exactly as it would live.
That your alerts are readable over your actual scene, your sounds are at a sensible volume, your overlays sit where you want, and your automations fire on the right triggers with the cooldowns you expect.
Whether your connection holds up on the night, how things read at real chat speed, or whether your viewers understand a reward. Some things only a real stream will tell you.