You don’t need a karaoke machine to host an unforgettable karaoke night. With your iPhone, a speaker, and a few minutes of setup, you can play backing tracks and sing live through the same speaker. Here’s the simplest way to do it.
The idea
A karaoke setup needs two things playing through one speaker: the backing track (the music) and your live vocals (the microphone). Your iPhone can handle both — the music app plays the track, and a live-microphone app like ShareMic streams your voice to the same speaker.
Step 1: Pick your speaker
Any Bluetooth speaker works. For a living-room party, a louder portable speaker or a soundbar gives you more presence. If you have a HomePod or Apple TV, you can use AirPlay instead and even put the lyrics on your TV.
Step 2: Queue up your karaoke tracks
Search “[song name] karaoke” on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Music. Karaoke versions remove the lead vocals so you can take over. Build a queue so the night keeps flowing.
Step 3: Go live with your voice
Open ShareMic and tap the microphone button. Start your backing track, and sing — both the music and your voice come out of the same speaker, so the whole room hears the performance. No mixer or PA system required.
Step 4: Have fun with effects
This is where it gets entertaining. Add a hall or cave reverb for that stage sound, or switch to Robot, Alien, or Chipmunk for comedy rounds. Switching effects mid-song always gets a laugh. (Effects are part of ShareMic Pro.)
Tips for great-sounding karaoke
- Mind the feedback. Keep your iPhone a little away from the speaker. ShareMic’s noise gate and feedback suppression handle most of it, but distance helps.
- Match the volume. Balance the backing track and your voice so neither drowns the other.
- Take turns smoothly. Pass the phone around — it’s your wireless mic.
Want to record the performance?
With ShareMic Pro you can record your take — effects and all — to an audio file and replay it later from your recordings gallery. Great for capturing those once-in-a-night performances.
Get started
A full karaoke night, powered by the phone in your pocket. Download ShareMic free and turn any speaker into a karaoke stage.