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Songs require Apple TV app version 1.1 or later. Update the LightLoop app on your Apple TV before using this feature.
Songs are a purpose-built media type for displaying worship lyrics on screen. You create a song in LightLoop’s web-based Song Editor, linking lyric slides to an audio track with precise timing markers. On the Apple TV, lyrics appear and transition automatically in sync with the music.

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How Songs work

A Song item contains:
  • Lyric slides — one or more lines of text per slide (blank slides create intentional pauses for instrumentals)
  • Audio track — the backing music file (optional) (MP3, M4A, AAC, or WAV)
  • Background — an image or video that plays behind the lyrics (optional)
  • Markers — timestamps that map each slide to a moment in the audio track (optional)
  • Style settings — font, size, color, alignment, effects, and more (optional)
When the song plays on an Apple TV, the audio track plays from your device’s cache while lyrics cross-dissolve in time with each marker.

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Creating a Song

  1. In the Media Library, click the + Song button (or select Song from the upload menu)
  2. Give the song a name and click Create
  3. The Song Editor opens automatically
*Alternatively, click any Audio item card in your Media Library and click ‘Convert to Song’

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The Song Editor

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Lyrics panel

Type or paste your lyrics into the lyrics field. Slides are separated by line breaks: 
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now am found
Formatting rules:
  • A single blank line between two verses creates a new slide
  • Two consecutive blank lines create a blank (silent) slide — the screen goes empty
  • A blank line at the start or end creates a pause slide at the beginning or end of the song

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Audio track

Click the Audio slot to choose an audio file from your Media Library. The audio track is cached on the Apple TV for offline playback. Supported formats: MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV. If no audio track is selected, you can still manually control your lyrics.

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Background

Click the Background slot to choose an image or video from your Media Library. The background fills the screen behind the lyrics.
  • Images display statically for the duration of the song
  • Videos loop continuously

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Setting timing markers

Markers tell LightLoop exactly when each lyric slide should appear. You can set them in two ways.

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Record in real time

  1. Click ▶ Preview to open the full-screen preview
  2. Press Space to begin playback of the audio track
  3. Press M (or click Mark) at the moment you want each new slide to appear
  4. When finished, close the preview — your markers are saved automatically

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Edit markers manually

After recording, click Edit Markers to open the Marker Editor. This gives you a visual waveform timeline with precise control. In the Marker Editor you can:
  • Drag any marker handle to reposition it
  • Click a marker to select it and see its exact timestamp
  • Arrow keys nudge a selected marker by ¹⁄₃₀ of a second per press (~33 ms)
  • Zoom in/out with the − and + buttons (5 levels, from overview to sample-level detail)
  • Space to play/pause audio while watching markers
  • Clear All to start fresh
Changes in the Marker Editor are non-destructive — click Save Changes to apply or Cancel to discard.

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Style settings

Open the Style accordion in the editor to customize how lyrics appear on screen.
SettingOptionsDefault
FontFont FamiliesDM Sans
Size8–120 pt52 pt
WeightNormal / BoldNormal
StyleNormal / ItalicNormal
CaseNormal / ALL CAPSNormal
ColorColor pickerWhite (#ffffff)
AlignmentLeft / Center / RightCenter
Vertical alignTop / Center / BottomCenter
Shadow opacity0–100%55%
Stroke width0–20 pt0
Stroke colorColor pickerBlack (#000000)
Text background colorColor pickerBlack (#000000)
Text background opacity0–100%0% (off)
Slide transition0–2 s crossfade0.3 s
Text background adds a colored panel behind the lyric text — useful for readability over busy backgrounds. Set opacity to 0 to disable it.

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Adding a Song to a Playlist

From the Song Editor header, click + Add to Playlist to open the playlist picker. Playlists are listed newest first. Search by name, then click any playlist to add the song immediately. You can also add songs to playlists from the Media Library — click a Song card, then click Edit Song in the detail panel, or drag the card directly onto a playlist in the sidebar.

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Playback on Apple TV

Requires Apple TV app version 1.1+.
When a Song item plays on Apple TV:
  • The audio track (if assigned) begins from the locally cached file
  • The background image or video (if assigned) fills the screen. Videos loop continuously.
  • Lyrics appear and cross-dissolve at each marker timestamp
  • The song advances to the next playlist item when the audio track ends (or when Auto-advance is enabled on the playlist)
If no markers are set, all lyrics are displayed on the first slide with no automatic transitions. If no audio track is linked, the song displays each slide for the playlist’s configured Duration setting, advancing automatically like an image.

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Tips

Paste the chorus text each time it appears — LightLoop treats each occurrence as an independent slide with its own marker. If you want a chorus to display identically each time, just copy-paste the lyrics in the editor.
Check that markers have been recorded. Open Edit Markers to confirm marker count and positions. If there are no markers, lyrics stay on slide 1 for the full duration of the audio.
Yes. Select a video from your Media Library as the background. The video loops continuously behind the lyrics for the full duration of the song.
Yes — both the audio track and background media are cached to the Apple TV before playback. Once cached, no internet connection is needed during a service.
Without an audio track, the Apple TV treats each slide as a timed image, displaying it for the playlist’s configured duration before advancing. If no duration is set “0” - you can manually control the slides with your Apple TV remote.
Slide order is determined entirely by the order lyrics appear in the text editor. Reorder slides by editing the lyrics text directly.