Voice, video and screen sharing
Voice in tavrn is always end-to-end encrypted: the node passes the encrypted audio and video on, but cannot listen or watch. Because of that, there are no recordings on the server.
Joining a voice channel
Section titled “Joining a voice channel”Click a voice channel to join it. The channel list shows who is in which channel, with icons for muted, deafened, camera and screen sharing. While you are connected, the voice bar at the bottom of the sidebar keeps the buttons to mute, deafen and leave at hand, and shows the connection quality, also while you read text channels.
If your connection drops, tavrn reconnects by itself; the others see a small plug on your avatar meanwhile.
To switch to another voice channel, click it, or drag your own name from the channel list onto it. A channel you may not join shows a red outline and refuses the drop.
The header of a voice channel shows how long the current session has been running, the same for everyone, also for those who join late, and a status line under the channel’s name, such as “Raid at nine”. Members with the permission Set voice channel status click the line (or its pencil) to change it: Enter saves, Escape cancels. The channel list shows both when you point at a voice channel.
Microphone, push-to-talk and noise suppression
Section titled “Microphone, push-to-talk and noise suppression”Everything is under Settings → Voice & video, saved for each device:
- Input mode: voice activation, or push-to-talk with a key you choose. In the browser the key works while the tab has the focus; in the desktop app it also works while a game is in front.
- Noise suppression: off, your browser’s own, or a noise filter that runs on your device. Echo cancellation, automatic gain and a noise gate are there too.
- Tests: “Hear yourself” plays your microphone back as others hear it, “Record and play back” records five seconds.
- Remind me when I talk while muted (on by default): when you speak while your microphone is muted, tavrn plays a soft double tap, the microphone button pulses and a short notice says so. Nothing is sent while you are muted; your microphone is only listened to on your device. A released push-to-talk key does not count as muted.
- Notification sounds: the sounds for people joining and leaving, mute, deafen, streams and the connection, each with its own switch and a button to play it, and their volume.
A right-click on the microphone or headphones button opens a quick menu with your devices and volume sliders. You can also set the volume of each person from their menu.
Mute for you, in a person’s menu, silences their voice and their stream on your device only; nobody is told. Their tile and their entry in the member list show a crossed speaker (a click on it lifts the mute), and the call header counts how many people you muted this way. Reloading the page makes everybody audible again.
Camera and screen sharing
Section titled “Camera and screen sharing”Turn the camera on from the call controls; the settings offer background blur or an image behind you. On phones and tablets, a long press on the camera button switches between the front and the back camera.
Share screen first asks for the resolution, the frame rate and the sound, then your browser asks which screen, window or tab to share. The node decides the highest resolution and frame rate. For the sound you choose No sound or Whole system (everything your computer plays); a line under the choice says what works where you are. Chrome and Edge 141 or newer on Windows and macOS, and the Windows app, leave the call itself out of the shared sound, so nobody hears themselves. Where that is not possible, sharing starts without sound and warns you: use headphones if you turn it on. Firefox, Safari, the Linux app and the macOS app share no sound with a screen; the Android app can share the sound of other apps.
Nobody receives a stream until they join it: a shared screen shows as a tile with the name and Join stream, and Leave stream stops watching again. The whiteboard is a tile of its own in the same way.
Soundboard
Section titled “Soundboard”Rooms can have a soundboard: short clips that members with the permission play into the call from the call controls. Room owners add clips under Room settings → Soundboard.
Calls in direct messages
Section titled “Calls in direct messages”The call button in the header of a direct message or group rings the others on all their devices, also on other nodes. A call nobody answers within 45 seconds is listed as a missed call.
