How audio works during a Nearo session

Audio in Nearo is live and two-way. Your microphone sends audio to the other participant, and your speakers or headphones play their audio back to you.

Adjusting your audio before you enter a session

Before anyone can hear you, you can check your microphone and choose your devices from the preview.

In a web browser or on an iPad

Open the room link the tutor sent. A card shows a live preview of your camera.
Click the round Mic button over the bottom right of the preview to mute or unmute yourself. It turns red while you are muted.
Speak and watch the small bars at the bottom left of the preview. They light up green while your microphone is picking up your voice.
Choose your microphone from the Mic dropdown below the preview.
Click Play test sound, in the line right under the preview, to check that you can hear it.
To choose a speaker, tap Advanced, the small line under the Mic and Camera dropdowns, and use the Speaker dropdown. After you click Join Room, Advanced also includes Play test sound.
Click Join Room when you are done to enter the Room.

ℹ️ Some browsers, including Safari on iPad, do not offer a Speaker dropdown, so Advanced is not shown. They may also list devices only by number, such as "Microphone 1." Pick one and speak to see which one lights up the bars.

Nearo remembers your microphone choice and whether it was on or off, and uses them the next time you join from the same browser.

In the Nearo desktop app

As a host, open the Nearo desktop app and click Open my room, the blue button at the bottom of the My room card on the home screen. While you wait for a guest, your own tile is on the left of the room window. Click the Mic button at the left of the controls bar along the bottom of that window to mute or unmute yourself, or click the small arrow beside it to choose your microphone.
As a guest, open the Nearo desktop app and enter the room code. The card where you enter your name shows your camera in a tile below Join Room and Cancel, and the waiting screen shows it too. Both have the round Mic button on the tile and a full-width Mic: [device] button beneath it. Click the Mic button to mute or unmute yourself, and click Mic: [device] to choose your microphone.
A green ring appears around your tile while you are speaking.
Your microphone choice takes effect when the session starts.

Direct calls start with your microphone and camera on.

Adjusting audio during a session

The Mic button is in the controls bar, the dark gray strip along the bottom of the call window. On the desktop apps it sits at the left. On the guest web app it sits in the middle, next to Camera. While the tutor shares their screen with the video tiles on the left or right, the guest web app moves the controls into a panel under the video tiles, and Mic is the first button there.

Click Mute to mute yourself and Unmute to unmute. The icon shows a slashed microphone while you are muted.
Click the small arrow next to the microphone icon to open the device menu, then pick a device under Select a microphone or Select a speaker. The current device has a check mark on the guest web app and is highlighted in blue on the desktop apps.
A new microphone takes effect right away without interrupting the session, and so does a new speaker on the desktop apps. On the guest web app, a speaker chosen during a session does not change where the call sound plays. If you plug in headphones or a microphone during a session, it appears in the list on its own.

In the Nearo desktop apps, if your microphone or speaker stops during a session, Nearo reopens it on its own and shows a message at the top center of the window for about 4 seconds, such as "Your microphone stopped. Plug it back in or pick another one from the mic menu." The guest web app shows no such message.

ℹ️ In Safari, including on iPad, the speaker section shows "No speakers found" because the browser does not list speakers. Sound plays through the device's own speaker or headphones.

The Nearo desktop app remembers the last microphone and speaker you used and picks them again next time. In a web browser, only the choices you made in the preview before joining are remembered; a device picked during a session is not saved.

Noise reduction

Noise reduction is always on. Background noise such as a fan, a keyboard, or a TV in the next room is filtered out before your voice is sent. Students cannot change it. Tutors in the Nearo desktop app can ease part of it with Phonics mode, described below.

💡 Using a headset can further help reduce echo and background noise during sessions.

Nearo has no volume control for the other person's voice. Use your device's volume instead.

Using Phonics mode

Tutors in the Nearo desktop app can turn on Phonics mode so students hear soft sounds such as th, s and f clearly. Students never see this option.

In your room or during a session, click the small arrow on the right of the Mic button in the controls bar, at the left of the call window.
In the menu, click Phonics mode (keeps soft sounds like th, s, f), the last row, below Select a speaker and after a divider. A check mark shows while it is on.
In the floating window, open the menu beside Mic. Phonics mode is the last item.
Click it again to turn it off.
It takes effect right away during a call, and it stays on in later calls until you turn it off.

ℹ️ Phonics mode turns off only the extra noise filter on your own microphone. Echo cancellation and regular noise filtering stay on, and your student's microphone does not change.

Sharing your computer's audio

When you share your screen, you can also share your computer's audio, so the other person can hear the sound from a video playing on your end.

Share your screen from the Nearo desktop app by clicking Share Screen, the monitor button in the controls bar. In the host app it is dimmed until a student is in the room.
In the Select a Screen window that opens, the box next to Share system audio is checked by default.
Uncheck it before choosing a screen if you do not want your computer's audio shared.

For the full steps, see Using screen sharing in Nearo.

When to check your audio settings

You may want to review your audio settings if:

The other person cannot hear you.
You cannot hear the other person.
You are using a new microphone, headset, or speaker.

If audio issues continue after checking your settings, a device permission or connection issue may be the cause, and troubleshooting may be needed.

How audio works in Nearo