Control Room · 6 min read
Control your stream from your phone (without touching OBS)
During a stream, changing anything on screen means leaving your game, switching to OBS, adjusting a setting, then coming back. The Control Room does the opposite: you run the overlay from a second device, the way a TV show has a control room separate from the studio floor.
Before you start
- An overlay built in the Twools editor, on a computer
- That overlay displayed in your streaming software, through a Browser Source
- A phone or a tablet, on any network
Step by step
- 01
Open the Control Room on your phone
In the editor, the "Overlay link" button shows a QR code: scan it with your phone. You can also open twools.app/control_panel in your browser. Sign in with your Twools account. There is no app to install.
- 02
What you see: one card per widget
The Control Room shows a card for each widget in your overlay: timer, counter, quiz, random picker, sub goal. Each card shows the widget's state and carries its controls.
- 03
Run it during the stream
You add a point to a counter, start or pause a timer, launch a quiz question, show or hide a widget. The overlay updates in your streaming software, with nothing to do on your PC.
- 04
An example: launching a quiz mid-game
You are in a game and you want your chat to react. You pick up your phone, launch the question from the quiz card, and it shows on the overlay. You do not leave your game.
- 05
On different networks
The Control Room goes through the Twools servers: your phone does not need to be on the same network as your streaming PC. It can stay on mobile data while the PC broadcasts over a wired connection.
Widgets to put this guide into practice
Watch the demo
The full workflow in real conditions: building the overlay, adding it to the streaming software, running it live. The video is in French.
Tips
- Lock the Control Room with the padlock during the stream: cards can no longer be moved or deleted, and the controls stay active.
- The Control Room also opens on a tablet or on a second computer screen.
- Prepare your quiz questions before the stream. During the broadcast, all that is left is to launch them.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to install an app to run my stream?
No. The Control Room is a web page: it opens in the browser of a phone, a tablet or a second screen.
Does the Control Room work on 4G or 5G?
Yes. The phone and the PC do not need to be on the same network: the Control Room works over the Internet, not over the local network.
How long does an action take to reach the screen?
The action travels over the Internet and the overlay updates right after. Twools does not publish a measured delay: it depends on your connection and on your streaming PC's.
Can I create my widgets from my phone?
No. The editor requires a computer. The phone is for running widgets that already exist.