CastAway mirrors AutoCast's interface so it feels immediately familiar. The screen is divided into three columns.
The left column shows what's happening on the air right now and what's coming up.
Three player decks at the top show:
The play button on each deck glows when that deck is actively playing. You can click these buttons to start playback remotely.
Below the decks, the program log shows upcoming items in your station's schedule — times, artists, titles, and durations. This updates automatically as items play. You'll see up to 50 upcoming items.
Between the two button columns you'll see a pair of live VU meters. These are driven directly by the station monitoring audio that's already streaming to your browser — there's zero extra network overhead. They show you what's on the air in real time, with three color zones:
The meters are purely client-side (powered by the Web Audio API's AnalyserNode on the incoming WebRTC stream), so they respond instantly with no lag.
Six buttons across the top:
| Button | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Start | Starts playback of the next item in the queue |
| Auto | Toggles automation on/off — glows when active |
| Go Live | Opens your microphone and puts you on the air |
| Help | Shows quick-reference help text |
| Connect | Connects to AutoCast (also unlocks browser audio) |
| Settings | Opens the connection settings dialog |
To the right of the Six Pack: a live clock, weather icon, current conditions, and temperature — all synced from AutoCast's weather system.
Below the Six Pack, the ButtonPad grid shows your station's configured buttons. These are the same buttons that appear in AutoCast. See ButtonPad for details.
The station's logo or badge appears at the top of the right column.
The MessagePad fills the rest of the right column. It displays:
The program log isn't just a read-only list anymore — you can manage it directly from CastAway. Right-click any item to open a context menu with the following options:
| Command | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Make Next-to-Play | Moves the item to the top of the queue so it plays next |
| Skip Ahead to Here | Jumps the queue forward to this item, skipping everything in between |
| Cut | Removes the item from the program log entirely |
| Get Song Info | Shows detailed information about the item in the MessagePad |
| Refresh Program Log | Reloads the entire program log from AutoCast |
You can also drag and drop items to reorder the program log. Grab an item and drag it to a new position — you'll see a visual ghost of the item as you drag, and a green drop indicator showing where it will land. Release to confirm the move.
All changes — whether from the context menu or drag-and-drop — take effect immediately in AutoCast. There's no "save" step. If you move a song, it's moved. If you cut one, it's gone. You're editing the live program log in real time.
These are the same operations available in AutoCast itself. You're not doing anything you couldn't do at the station — you're just doing it from wherever you happen to be.
Hover over any element in CastAway and a one-line description appears in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. This is a quick way to learn what things do without leaving the page.
For more detail, right-click any major element (a deck, a button, the program log, the MessagePad) and select "Detailed Help" from the context menu. A full explanation appears in the MessagePad — no need to open the help system separately.
The status bar at the very bottom of the screen has been redesigned for quick readability: