Feature 3 of 6
Recitation and rhythm
Recitation is the same text in a different mode: not set for reading, but for reciting — in the rhythm it is actually recited in.
You press play and a beat begins: the wooden fish mõ, the ding or the bell, depending on what keeps time on that page. The text moves with the beat, line by line. You follow the rhythm instead of chasing the page.
Tempo, repeats and rests
Every page has its own base tempo. You can slow it down or speed it up — slow while you are learning, faster once you know the shape of it. Where a passage is read more than once, the app counts the rounds instead of leaving you to.
The base tempo is not invented: it was taken by ear from a recording of the temple's Sunday service, including what actually happens there — in some places the beat picks up, in others it slows down. So that you don't lose your place, the app highlights the sounding syllable, beat by beat.
Sound, but nothing from the network
The sounds are bundled with the app rather than streamed, and none of it continues in the background: the beat plays while the recitation screen is open. Put the phone down and it stops. Nothing is ever recorded — the app has no access to the microphone.
If you would rather understand what you are saying first, start at Reading and tracks — it is the same page, set differently.