rich made a brand-new underway account on 8 october, on his laptop, in a private window, and went through getting started the way a new founder would. step 1 and step 2 held up. step 3 did not. he pressed practice episode zero and a countdown started with his camera already on. there was no choice of camera or voice, no start button, and no way back. a few seconds later his co-host was talking, and because he happened to be saying something about the screen, it took that for his project. this is what changed, on the web and the phone.
both buttons open the same screen first
step 3 still has two buttons side by side: start episode zero and practice episode zero. both of them now open the practice-run screen first, the one that says have a go and see how it feels. it says, in short lines, that it is completely private, that there is a three-minute practice with your voice and one on camera if you want them, and that the real one is up to ten minutes and yours to keep, redo or delete.
under that, how this one is made: on camera or just my voice. it is already set from your answer in step 1, and one tap changes it. then two buttons. the one you pressed on today is the gold one. pressed practice episode zero? the gold button says start the practice, with start episode zero beside it. pressed start episode zero? the gold button says start episode zero, with practise first (3 minutes) beside it. not now sits under both and takes you back to today.
nothing asks for your camera or your microphone, and nothing counts down, until you press one of those buttons. that was always the promise on this screen. now it is true whichever button got you there.
a way back, at every moment
the 3, 2, 1 that covers the connection has a go back button beside it now, and it stays while your co-host is joining. press it and the call is called off, the camera and microphone are let go, and you are back on the practice-run screen as it was before you pressed start. nothing is kept.
during a practice there is also stop and go back, next to end the practice. it ends the call there and then, keeps nothing, and takes you back to the same screen. a practice stopped in its first few seconds does not count: you get it back, the same way you do when a practice never manages to connect. after that it counts as had, because it was.
the real episode zero keeps go back while it counts down and connects. once the call has started, finish and save is the way out, as before, and if the real one does not go well, have another go and delete it are on its page.
your co-host opens on your project, every time
episode zero now always opens on the same question, made from what you typed in step 1: the name of your series and your one line. if your series is called underway and your line is taking it to 1000 customers globally, your co-host says hello, says who it is, and asks: you said underway is about taking it to 1000 customers globally. tell me what you're building in a couple of sentences.
it asks that even if you are already talking when the call connects. people settle in, say something about the screen, ask if it can hear them. your co-host now acknowledges whatever you said in a few words and then asks its question, rather than treating your first sentence as the answer to a question it never asked. everyday co-host calls are unchanged: there, if you speak first, it follows you.
step 4: not ready yet? that's fine.
plenty of people reach episode zero and are not ready to film it. that is fine, and getting started now says so. under step 3 there is a fourth step, optional and never in the way: not ready yet? that's fine. open it and it says to play around and walk yourself round the app first, that your co-host can talk you through it if your talk me through it time is left, that we have emailed you, and that if you ticked the box when you signed up we have invited you to the underway community too.
and if you need a hand, it says where to ask: email hello@underway.life. we are around and we reply fast. opening the step ticks it, and got it folds it away. it never counts towards the progress at the top, which still says step 3 of 3.
the screen you see after a practice says the same thing in one short line, under its buttons, so the end of a practice is not a dead end either.
faqs
does practice episode zero still start the practice for me?
no. it opens the practice-run screen, with camera or voice already chosen from step 1 and start the practice in gold. nothing records until you press it.
if i stop a practice early, do i lose it?
not if you stop it in its first few seconds: it is given back, like a practice that never connected. stopped later, it counts as had. nothing from a practice is ever kept.
what does my co-host ask first in episode zero?
what you are building, in a couple of sentences, using your series name and your one line from step 1. it asks that even if you were already talking when it joined.
do i have to open step 4?
no. it is optional, it never blocks anything, and it is not counted in the progress at the top.
is this on the phone?
yes. the phone opens the same practice-run screen, with the same buttons and go back, and getting started on the phone has the same step 4.
start a series and film episode zero for free. start free.