You've been invited

Someone's recording a podcast with podsink and sent you a link so you can join. This page walks you through what happens when you open it, what podsink needs from your browser, and what to keep in mind while you're recording. You don't need an account for any of this, only the host has one.

If the link came in a calendar invitation, the date is when you're meeting. The room's open before that too, so you can try the link ahead of time.

Before you join¶

Please open the link in Chrome or Edge on a computer. podsink records right on your device, and that takes a browser that can do it at full quality. Safari and Firefox can't do that yet, and neither can any browser on an iPhone or iPad (here's why).

If you've got headphones, please put them on. The waiting room asks whether you're wearing them and sets echo cancellation based on your answer. With headphones it stays off, and your mic goes into the recording untouched. Without them podsink turns it on, so the others' voices coming out of your speakers don't end up in your track. That keeps the recording usable, but it costs your voice a little quality.

The waiting room also shows your camera preview and lets you pick your microphone, speaker and camera. Type your name the way it should appear on your track, and then you're in.

The session is recorded¶

Joining the session means being recorded, and podsink tells you so in the waiting room first. The privacy notice covers what happens with the recording. In short, the host gets your track as a file, and podsink only keeps it for as long as the host's plan allows.

While the recording runs¶

podsink records your microphone and, if the session records video, your camera right on your device, and it uploads the recording in small pieces while you talk. You'll see the REC pill whenever a take is running. The host starts and stops the recordings, so there's nothing you need to do.

Please keep the tab open while the session runs, because your recording lives in your browser until it's uploaded. Even after a stop, the last few seconds take a moment to arrive.

If you need to leave early, use Leave in the control bar. Your recording stops there, and the next page finishes uploading what's left. Once the green check shows up, you can close the tab.

You can mute yourself or turn off your camera any time. Your track then has silence or a placeholder frame for that stretch, and everyone else keeps recording as normal.

If something goes wrong¶

A crashed browser or a tab you closed by accident doesn't mean your recording is lost (how the upload works). Just open the link again. As long as the session hasn't ended, podsink picks up uploading whatever's still on your device, and your recording continues on a new track so nothing overlaps.

If a bad connection makes you sound rough to the others live, your recording won't notice. You'll find more cases in Troubleshooting.

Chat and markers¶

There's a chat for anything that shouldn't go on the audio, like a link or a quick heads-up. The host gets it as a text file with the download. With markers, you can flag a chapter start or a spot to cut while the recording runs, and they end up in the download too, so the host can find those moments in the edit. A spot to cut is visible only to you during the session, so it won't throw anyone off. There's more on both in In the session.