48-hour trial and full version
Open Reaction Room → Trial & Purchase…, or click the trial badge in the main window. Choose Start 48-hour trial · Free and complete Apple's confirmation. Your trial begins when Apple confirms the free 2-day Trial. It lasts 48 elapsed hours, including time when the app is closed.
The full recording workflow is available during the trial. After it ends, starting a new take requires a one-time full-version unlock. A take already recording can finish and save, and your saved takes remain available. The full unlock is permanent, with no subscription. The trial does not automatically charge you; Apple asks you to confirm the full-version purchase separately at the price shown in the app.
Reaction Room has no separate account to create. Trial activation, purchases and restoration use your Apple Account through Apple's purchase window. Keep Trial & Purchase open while completing any Apple authorization. Starting or restoring a purchase may need an internet connection. Recording does not require a hosting account, recording server or separate licensing server.
Restore purchases
On a reinstalled app or another supported Mac, open Trial & Purchase and choose Restore purchases. Use the Apple Account associated with the original trial or full-version purchase. Restoring a trial keeps its original end time; it does not start a new 48-hour period.
If Apple cannot verify access or purchase options are unavailable, check your internet connection and use Retry in Trial & Purchase. For a completed purchase that has not appeared, use Restore purchases. Finish the current take or save before changing purchases. If the problem continues, describe what happened through Report a Bug.
TestFlight beta purchases
If you install Reaction Room through TestFlight, Apple's test purchases are free and apply to the beta only. They do not transfer to the App Store version. Apple may still show a purchase confirmation during the test flow. To unlock the App Store version, buy or restore its full-version purchase through Apple.
Try a sample video
These generated countdown clips are provided for practice. Download one, then select the saved file with Choose video in Reaction Room:
Download landscape countdown (MP4)
Download portrait countdown (MP4)
Try pausing, seeking, retaking and saving. To check timing, read the countdown aloud while recording, then compare your spoken numbers with the saved watched video. Speech has a natural reaction delay; the sample's flash and beep give a visual/audio reference. The portrait sample also lets you check vertical output.
Record your reaction
- Choose a local video. Wait until the app has opened and checked it.
- Select your camera, microphone, and microphone channel. Enable the camera or apply your devices. Allow macOS access when asked.
- Check the Save to destination. The default is Downloads → Reaction Room. Wear headphones to keep the watched clip out of your microphone.
- Choose Start reaction to record while the clip plays, or Start commentary to speak while the clip stays paused. Press Play or Space when you are ready for the clip.
- Pause, seek, or step through frames while your camera and microphone continue recording. When the clip ends, its last frame holds until you stop.
- Choose Stop & save. Wait for saving to finish. Your take folder contains Watched Video.mp4 and My Reaction.mp4, plus separate media for editing.
Playback and retakes
Space plays or pauses the watched clip. Left and Right Arrow move by one source frame; holding an arrow repeats the steps slowly. Retake discards the current take, returns the clip to the beginning, and leaves it paused. Stop & discard ends the current take without exporting it. Use Stop & save when you want to keep the take.
Use the saved videos in Final Cut Pro
Choose Send to Final Cut Pro after saving, or Open saved take… to choose an earlier take folder. Final Cut Pro must be installed separately. Choose a library if asked. The imported event contains a new Reaction project; double-click that project in the Final Cut browser to open its timeline. The watched video and reaction start together, and the reaction is an editable overlay. Keep the take folder in place until Final Cut has consolidated its referenced media.
Camera or microphone trouble
Check the selected devices and input channel, then apply them. Close another app that is using the camera. In macOS System Settings → Privacy & Security, check Reaction Room’s Camera and Microphone permission. If a device was unplugged, let it reconnect before enabling capture again. If a problem repeats, report the exact steps and device names rather than repeatedly clicking the same control.
Audio or timing trouble
Use headphones. Choose the isolated microphone channel when your audio interface offers one; its main mix may include the watched clip. Check the input meter and hardware gain. Settings → Commentary timing moves your recorded camera and microphone together relative to the watched video for new takes. It does not separately fix microphone-to-mouth sync. Report a persistent mismatch with where it occurs near the beginning and end of a take.
Saving trouble
Confirm the save folder is available and has free space. If saving reports a failure, keep the raw take folder and its original watched clip. File → Recover unfinished take… can retry a readable unfinished take. Recovery cannot guarantee restoration after a crash or disk failure. Send the error description through Report a Bug; do not send private recordings unless needed and you choose to share them.
Report a problem
Click Report a Bug beside Choose video, or choose Help → Report a Bug…. Describe what happened, how to repeat it, and what you expected. Include app and device details is optional and off by default. Open email draft lets you review and send the report in your email app. If the draft does not open, use Copy report and paste it into webmail addressed to help@reactionroom.studio. Nothing is sent automatically.
Useful details are the app/build version, macOS version, camera, microphone, selected channel, clip dimensions/format, exact steps, and whether the issue repeats. Do not include passwords or unrelated personal information. Please keep your original recordings until the issue is understood.
Privacy
Reaction Room processes and saves recordings locally. The Privacy Policy explains local files, remembered settings, and optional support email. Contact help@reactionroom.studio with privacy questions.