Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know to get singing.
Getting Started
Karaoke Ichiban is a web-based karaoke platform. One person hosts a room and everyone else joins on their own device. Songs are sourced from YouTube and played through a shared queue so the whole group can follow along.
It depends on what you want to do:
Starting a room — Signing in is required to create and host a karaoke room.
Joining as a guest — No account needed. Enter your name and pick a color to jump straight in.
Joining as a signed-in singer — Sign in before or after joining to unlock the Favorites feature, letting you save and access your songs across sessions and devices.
Hosting a Room
To host, you will need a signed-in account and a device capable of running a modern web browser — a PC, Mac, or iPad works great. The host device is dedicated to displaying the karaoke videos for the room, so ideally it should not be the same device you are singing from.
Singers join from their own phones or tablets, leaving the host screen free to show the video full-screen for everyone to follow along.
Not sure which setup is right for you? See 🎤 Karaoke-dō — The Way of Karaoke for a guide to all the ways you can run a session.
There are a few ways to get the karaoke video up on a larger display:
Wireless casting — Cast the browser tab to a Chromecast, Apple TV, or any other screen-mirroring compatible device on your network.
Direct connection — Connect your host device to the TV or projector using HDMI or another compatible input. Most laptops and tablets support this with the right adapter.
For detailed diagrams and setup tips for each option — including microphone and speaker wiring — see 🎤 Karaoke-dō — The Way of Karaoke.
Microphones and audio equipment are not provided by the app — you will need to supply your own. A basic setup might be a Bluetooth or wired microphone feeding into your TV's sound system or a separate speaker. For larger gatherings, a mixer or karaoke amplifier that combines the mic and audio output from the host device works best.
See the 🎤 Karaoke-dō guide for diagrams showing how to connect a wireless microphone receiver between the TV and your speakers.
Joining a Room
There are three ways:
Room code — Enter the code in the "Join Existing Room" box on the home page and click Join Room.
QR code — Scan the QR code on the host's screen with your phone's camera.
Direct link — Open the join link shared by the host.
Enter any display name (up to 30 characters). Your name and chosen color identify your songs in the shared queue, so pick something the group will recognize. Your color preference is saved locally so it will be pre-filled next time you join from the same device.
Yes. If you had an active session in the same browser tab you will be taken straight back into the room automatically. Guests are also restored from local storage if they reopen the same browser on the same device. Signed-in users are recognized across devices.
You will see a "Room not found" error on the join screen. Double-check the code and try again, or ask the host to confirm it.
The Singer Room
Your singer room has four tabs and a My Songs panel below them:
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| Queue | Shows the full shared queue for the whole room, including who is currently singing. |
| Search | Search for songs by keyword or paste a YouTube URL to add a specific video. |
| Favorites | Sign-in required. Add any of your saved favorites directly to the queue. |
| Interact | Send a pop-up message to the room or trigger a quick reaction (applause, fire, party, and more) to cheer on the current singer. |
Tap the Search tab, type a song title or artist name, and press the search button (or Enter). Tap the button next to any result to add it to the queue.
Alternatively, paste a YouTube URL directly into the "Paste YouTube URL" field and tap the add button to queue that specific video.
No. If a song is already in the queue it shows an "In queue" badge instead of the add button, preventing duplicates.
When your song reaches the front of the queue a "Your Turn!" banner pops up on your screen with the song title. Tap anywhere on the banner to dismiss it. A "Now Playing" chip will also appear in your room header while your song is active.
Yes. In the Queue tab or the My Songs panel, tap the button next to any of your songs that are still waiting. Songs that are currently playing or have already played cannot be removed.
Yes. In the Queue tab, use the drag handle on the left of any row to move it to a different position.
The My Songs panel at the bottom of your singer room shows only your own queued songs and their current status (waiting, playing, or done). It is a quick way to see your personal queue without scrolling through everyone else's songs.
Favorites
Favorites are songs you have saved to your personal library. They are tied to your account and persist between sessions and across devices.
Tap the heart icon next to any song — in the Queue tab, the Search tab, or the My Songs panel. A filled red heart means the song is already saved. Tapping it again removes it from your favorites.
Open the Favorites page from the side menu (requires sign-in). From there you can:
Browse and filter your saved songs.
Remove songs you no longer want.
Search for new songs to add to your favorites library.
Yes. While you are in a singer room, the Favorites tab shows all your saved songs. Any song not already in the queue will have an add button so you can queue it immediately without searching.
Sign-In
Signing in gives you two benefits:
Favorites — Save songs to a personal library that persists across sessions and devices.
Auto-fill — Your name and color are pre-filled when rejoining a room on any device.
No. You can join as a guest without signing in. The Favorites tab will not be visible in guest mode.
Yes. The join page includes a Sign In button. Signing in there will pre-fill your name and unlock favorites before you enter the room.
Troubleshooting
Make sure you have typed the code exactly as shown. Rooms are only active while the host has the session open — if the host closed their browser the room will no longer exist.
Banners are delivered in real time via a live connection. Try refreshing the page to re-establish the connection. If the problem persists, ask the host to confirm the queue order.
Try different keywords — shorter phrases or just the artist name usually produce better results. You can always paste a direct YouTube URL if you know the specific video you want.
Favorites are stored per account. Make sure you signed in with the same account you used previously. If this is your first time signing in, your favorites list will start empty.
This is a common casting quirk. Try the following steps in order:
Stop and restart casting — Disconnect the cast session from your browser and reconnect. This often forces the stream to renegotiate at a higher quality.
Check your Wi-Fi signal — Both the host device and the casting receiver need a strong, stable connection. Move closer to the router or switch to the 5 GHz band if your router supports it, as it offers more bandwidth with less congestion.
Reduce network interference — Other devices streaming, downloading, or on video calls on the same network can steal bandwidth. Try pausing other heavy network activity while hosting.
Refresh the host page — Reload the stage page and begin casting again. YouTube sometimes needs a fresh session to serve the highest available quality to a cast device.
If your Chromecast, Apple TV, or smart TV does not show up when you try to cast:
Same network — Make sure the host device and the receiver are both on the same Wi-Fi network. Guest networks or separate VLANs will prevent discovery.
Restart the receiver — Unplug the Chromecast or Apple TV for 10 seconds and plug it back in, then try casting again.
Use Google Chrome — The cast option is most reliable from the Google Chrome browser. Other browsers may have limited or no casting support.
Audio-video sync issues when casting are usually caused by network latency or the TV's own audio processing. Try stopping and restarting the cast session first. If the problem persists, check if your TV has an audio delay or lip-sync setting in its sound menu and adjust it to compensate. Using an HDMI cable instead of casting is the most reliable way to eliminate sync issues entirely.
Intermittent drops during casting are almost always a network issue. Things to try:
Move the host device and the cast receiver closer to the Wi-Fi router.
Switch from the 2.4 GHz to the 5 GHz band — 5 GHz is faster and less likely to be congested by neighboring networks and household appliances like microwaves.
If possible, connect the host device to the router via an Ethernet cable. A wired host with a wireless cast receiver is significantly more stable than two wireless devices.
Restart your router if problems persist across multiple sessions.
Still stuck? Ask the host — they know how to get the party started! 🎤