OBS plugin setup

With the TapCaster OBS plugin, the Streaming tab on your phone or tablet shows what OBS is sending out right now as moving video, and you can hear the stream audio when earphones are connected.

The plugin download is coming soon. Once the PC app is released, you can get it from the install button in the PC app or from this page.

What the plugin does

It hands the program output (PGM) and the stream audio from OBS to the TapCaster PC app on the same computer. The PC app compresses them and sends them, encrypted, only to phones and tablets you have allowed on the same network.

The Streaming tab works without the plugin too. You then see a still picture that updates twice a second, without sound.

It does not change your OBS settings, scenes or outputs. It only passes the picture on while a remote is looking at the Streaming tab, and rests when nobody is watching.

What you need

OBS Studio 30 or later (64-bit Windows or macOS)
The TapCaster PC app (Windows or macOS) on the same computer, connected to OBS (turn on the server in OBS under Tools → WebSocket Server Settings)
The TapCaster app on your phone or tablet (Android, iPhone, iPad)

Install with the PC app (recommended)

In the PC app settings, open Integrations → OBS.
Under Video & audio plugin, click Install plugin.
Quit OBS and start it again. If you are streaming or recording, you can restart it afterwards.
Check that video appears in the Streaming tab. When a new version is available, the same section shows Update plugin.

Install manually

If the PC app cannot write to the plugin folder or does not include the plugin (for example on ARM64 Windows), copy the downloaded files yourself. Do this while OBS is closed.

Windows

Unzip the download and copy the whole tapcaster-obs folder to C:\ProgramData\obs-studio\plugins\ (create the folder if it does not exist). Then start OBS.

macOS

Copy tapcaster-obs.plugin to ~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/plugins/ (create the folder if it does not exist). Then start OBS.

Uninstall

Click Remove under Video & audio plugin in the PC app, or delete tapcaster-obs from the folder above, then restart OBS. The Streaming tab keeps working with still pictures.

Privacy and security

The plugin passes the picture and sound to the PC app only through a local channel that just the same user on the same computer can open. It sends nothing to the internet or to XIUSoft servers, and stores nothing.

The PC app encrypts the video and audio with a key created when the remote connected, and sends them only to allowed devices on the same network.

Source code and license

The TapCaster OBS plugin is open source under GPL-2.0 or later. Its source code repository (XIUSoftKR/tapcaster-obs) will be published when the plugin is distributed. OBS Studio is software by the OBS Project; this plugin is an unofficial plugin made by XIUSoft.

Frequently asked questions

I installed it but only see still pictures.

Make sure you fully quit OBS and started it again. If the plugin section in the PC app shows Update plugin, click it. The plugin does not load in OBS versions older than 30.

There is no sound.

Stream audio plays only when earphones (wired, USB or Bluetooth) are connected, because playing it through a phone speaker in a church or venue can cause feedback. If you really need the speaker, long-press the sound button to turn it on just this once.

Which audio do I hear?

The audio track your OBS stream output uses (track 1 in Simple output mode, or the track selected for streaming in Advanced mode).

Will it slow OBS down?

It only passes a downscaled picture while a remote is watching the Streaming tab, and the PC app does the compression separately. When nobody is watching, the plugin does nothing.