Score a game from your phone

The scoring phone is the one in your hand at the scorer's table or in the bleachers. It runs the match the same way the web dashboard does, and it works whether you stream from a second phone, from OBS, or both. This guide covers how to start scoring, how the app fits with the web dashboard and OBS, and what to set up on the website first.

Before game day: set up on the website

The app scores matches you've already set up. Do this part on the website ahead of time:

1. Create the match, with team names, scorebug names and logos. See Create your first match.
2. Pick the graphics template and colors. The streaming phone uses the match's own template and colors. See Switch graphics templates.
3. Check the match counts against your plan's active match limit, the same as any match. See Plans explained.

The app is free during the beta. Your ScoreCastr plan still decides which templates and graphics the match can use.

Start scoring

1. Install the app from TestFlight. See Join the iPhone app beta.
2. Open ScoreCastr and sign in with your ScoreCastr account.
3. Pick the match from your list.
4. Tap Score.

The app scores all twelve ScoreCastr sports: football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, ice hockey, field hockey, baseball, softball, tennis, pickleball, MMA and swimming. The controls follow the sport's rules, the same as on the web dashboard. For what each sport tracks, see that sport's dashboard guide, for example Run a football game.

Who can score

Scoring needs a ScoreCastr account, and the server only accepts scoring from the account that owns the match. A different account can't score it. Sign in with the owner's account on the scoring phone.

The streaming phone is different: it doesn't need an account. See Pair the streaming phone.

How the phone, the dashboard and OBS fit together

Every ScoreCastr screen on a match is connected to the same live match. A change from the scoring phone goes to the server, and the server sends it to everything watching that match:

• The streaming phone: the scorebug on the video updates.
• OBS: any overlay link you've added as a browser source updates, the same as if you'd scored on the website. See Add your scorebug overlay to OBS.
• The web dashboard: if it's open on the match, it updates too.

So the scoring phone works as a remote for an OBS setup you already run, with or without a streaming phone.

Use the website for the rest

Some jobs are still done on the website:

• Creating and editing matches, teams and rosters.
• Graphics template colors. There are no color controls in the app.
• Anything your plan adds on the web dashboard, such as the Customization sub-tab. See Dashboard tour.

When the game ends

End the match when the game is over. After a match is ended, the server stops accepting score changes from any device, phone or web. See End a match.

Fix common problems

• My taps don't change anything. Check you're signed in with the account that owns the match, and that the match hasn't been ended.
• The match isn't in my list. It was made under a different account. Sign in with that one.
• The scorebug looks wrong on the stream. Template, colors, names and logos come from the match's settings on the website. Fix them there.
• The screen locks mid-game. Set a longer auto-lock time in the iPhone's Display & Brightness settings before the game.

Checklist

• Match created on the website, with names, logos and template set
• Scoring phone signed in with the account that owns the match
• Match opened and Score tapped
• One test change checked on the stream or in OBS, then put back
• Auto-lock set long enough for a full game