OwnScore

Overview

No scoreboard?
No Problem.

OwnScore solves the problem at sports venues with no scoreboard or a scoreboard with limited visibility by turning everyone's phones into their OwnScore board.

All it takes is one device running as Caster and one or more devices running as Viewers. OwnScore operates in a server-client(s) manner on the local WiFi network (no server on the internet is involved). It tests the WiFi network on its own and configures itself to use whatever the network allows, so there is nothing for you to choose.

If the network turns out to be unusable, or there is no WiFi at all, OwnScore can still fully function using Bluetooth.

Quick Start

To use OwnScore, you must have at least two devices with OwnScore installed.
If available, connect both devices to the same WiFi network.
Start OwnScore on both devices — the Select Mode screen appears.

On the Caster device:

1. Select 'Caster'.
2. Push OK.
3. Modify Location, Team Names, and Team Colors, as necessary.
4. Check 'Unlink Viewers' to start with a new Lock.
5. Push 'Start New Game'.
6. The network is tested — another device scans the code shown, and the Caster picks how it will send scores.
7. The Caster's score screen appears with the game's Key QR Code already showing.

On the Viewer device:

8. Select 'Viewer'.
9. Push OK.
10. If the QR scanner does not appear, push 'Scan'.
11. Scan the Key QR Code on the Caster's score screen.
12. The Viewer's score screen appears, and the score follows the Caster from then on.

Controls

Score Controls:

The following controls work on teams for which a device was granted control (does not have a lock icon next to its name). You can control the score of a locked team by tapping and holding the locked team name, which will undim the team score and name and allow you to change its score.

• Swipe up on a score: +1
• Two-finger swipe up: +2
• Three-finger swipe up: +3
• Swipe down on a score: -1
• Two-finger swipe down: -2
• Three-finger swipe down: -3
• Horizontal swipe left: Undo
• Horizontal swipe right: Redo

Buttons:

• Save (tap): Save current set, advance to next
• Save (long press): Mark match as Final
• Zero (tap): Zero the game score, keeping completed sets
• Zero (long press): Zero the game score and every completed set
• Stop: Stop broadcasting

Swap Button:

• Tap: Local swap (switches sides on this device only)
• Long press: Global swap (switches sides on all devices)

QR Code:

• Tap QR code: Enlarge for easy scanning

Screen Lock:

• Long press both scores simultaneously: Toggle screen lock
• When locked: screen dims after 5 seconds
• Tap anywhere: Wake screen for 5 seconds

Lock/Key

Every game broadcast carries a Lock, and its Key is handed out as a Key QR Code.

A viewer scans the Key QR Code to find the game and follow it.

The Lock decides which games a viewer shows you, not who can overhear them: scores are broadcast openly, so treat them as public within radio range. What the Lock protects is control — a viewer holding the Key can ask to change the score, and only the Caster can grant that.

Once a viewer has scanned a Key QR Code, it is displayed on its score screen so other viewers can scan it.

A Key QR Code does not have to be scanned in person. Long press it to send it as an image — by Messages, AirDrop or Mail — and the viewer receiving it reads it with the Photo button on its list screen.

A lock can be shared amongst casters by copying the Lock QR Code, allowing viewers with the matching key to unlock games from multiple casters using the same lock.

A viewer can scan multiple Key QR Codes, allowing them to access several groups of games, each group under its own lock.

Lock QR

Normally each Caster makes its own Lock, so a viewer needs a separate Key for each game it wants to follow. Sharing one Lock across several Casters replaces all of those with a single Key: every game under that Lock appears in the same viewer's list.

This is what you want when one event runs several courts or fields at once — scorekeepers on each court, and spectators, coaches or a front desk who should see all of them without scanning a code per court.

Finding the controls

The Lock QR controls are on the home screen, hidden until you ask for them: tick the Lock QR box. It reveals the current Lock and four buttons — Share, Scan, Gen and Clr.

Sharing a Lock between Casters

Pick one device to be the source. Every other Caster copies from it, so it does not matter which one you choose, only that you use the same one throughout.

1. On the source Caster, tick Lock QR. If it has no Lock yet, press Gen to make one — that is immediate and needs no network and no second device.
2. Press Share. The source displays its Lock QR Code.
3. On the second Caster, tick Lock QR and press Scan, then read the code off the source's screen. That Caster now uses the same Lock.
4. Repeat step 3 on every other Caster. All of them scan the one source, not each other in a chain.

The Casters do not have to be near each other. Long press the Lock QR Code to send it as an image by Messages, AirDrop or Mail, and the receiving Caster reads it with the Photo button rather than the camera.

Handing out the Key

The Lock QR Code is for Casters. A viewer never scans it — it takes the Key QR Code, which any Caster under the Lock can show, and one Key opens every game under that Lock. So hand out the Key from whichever Caster is convenient.

A viewer can also hold Keys to more than one Lock at a time, each Lock bringing its own group of games into the list. Two events sharing a venue can run on separate Locks without either having to see the other.

Changing or undoing it

Gen is disabled while a Lock exists, because a second Lock would silently cut off every Key already handed out. Clr removes the Lock first, and it is the same break by intent: viewers holding the old Key lose access and have to scan again.

The Lock shown beside the buttons is a dropdown of every Lock this device has used. Tap one to switch back to it — useful when a venue reuses the same Lock week to week. The bin removes an entry, and removing the one in use means the next game generates a fresh Lock.

What a Lock does not do

A shared Lock groups games; it does not hide them. Scores, team names and location are broadcast in the clear, so treat them as public within radio range. What the Lock governs is which games a viewer lists, and who may ask to change a score — and only the Caster can grant that.

WiFi

OwnScore is designed to work optimally on the local WiFi network. But many public WiFi networks have settings that inhibit OwnScore from functioning optimally. To get around these network configuration issues, OwnScore automatically tests the network and configures itself to use whatever the network allows, so there is nothing for you to choose. If nothing works, OwnScore resorts to using Bluetooth instead of WiFi. If Bluetooth's distance and environmental limitations make OwnScore unusable, there are several changes that can be done to make WiFi work with OwnScore.

Bluetooth

If WiFi is not available or its settings make it unusable by OwnScore, OwnScore resorts to using Bluetooth. But Bluetooth has distance limitations depending on the environment (how many Bluetooth and WiFi devices are active in your vicinity). Indoors that distance is usually 10-30 meters. Outdoors it is farther.

If OwnScore is using Bluetooth, if the delay value shown in the lower right corner of the Viewer score screen is greater than 5 seconds, there is too much interference from Bluetooth and WiFi devices or the Viewer is just too far away from the Caster and the Viewer needs to move closer to the Caster.

VPN

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) on any device can prevent OwnScore from working over WiFi.

VPNs route network traffic through a remote server, which can stop devices on the same WiFi network from communicating directly with each other. When that happens the network compatibility test fails and OwnScore falls back to Bluetooth.

If OwnScore is not working as expected:

1. Check if a VPN is active on your device (look for a VPN icon in the status bar or check Settings > General > VPN & Device Management).

2. Disable the VPN on all devices running OwnScore.

3. If you must use a VPN, check if it has an "Allow Local Network Access" or "Split Tunneling" option that lets local network traffic bypass the VPN.

Note: iCloud Private Relay (in Settings > Apple Account > iCloud) can also interfere. Try disabling it if you experience issues.

Watch

OwnScore has an Apple Watch app, also called OwnScore. Install it from the Watch app on your iPhone: scroll to Available Apps and tap Install.

The watch is a remote, not a second scoreboard. Every swipe is sent to the phone, the phone applies it exactly as if you had swiped there, and the phone sends the score back. The watch never keeps a score of its own, so the two can never disagree.

Scoring

Swipe up on a team to add a point, down to take one away. Swipe left anywhere to undo. A Redo button appears for a few seconds after an undo.

Swipes are deliberately hard to trigger by accident: they must be long enough, fast enough and straight enough, and the edges and the middle of the screen are ignored. A flick that does nothing was rejected on purpose — make it longer and faster.

Long-press the divider in the middle to swap the sides. That changes only that watch, not the phone or anyone else, and it resets when a new game starts.

What a Viewer sees

A Viewer's watch shows the score as it changes but cannot change it — both teams are dimmed with a padlock. Only a Caster's watch can score.

The phone must be awake

OwnScore must be open and on screen on the phone. The watch cannot keep the phone working in the background, and while the phone is in another app the watch will not update and its swipes will not arrive. Bring OwnScore back to the front and the watch catches up on its own.

The watch stays on when you lower your wrist, dimmed rather than returning to the clock face. Touches are ignored while it is dimmed so a sleeve cannot score a point.

If the watch says it is waiting

“Waiting for game” means the phone is connected but no game has started. “Open OwnScore on your iPhone” means the phone cannot be reached — open the app, and check Bluetooth is on.

Download

OwnScore is a free download from the App Store.

Get OwnScore on the App Store

Everyone at the game needs the app: one person Casts the score and everyone else watches it. In the app this section shows a QR code, so the others can install it by scanning your screen.

FAQ