← RacketTap

Support

RacketTap is a personal side-project app, maintained by one person. Bug reports, suggestions, and questions are welcome.

Contact

Email: matan504@gmail.com

For bug reports, please include your iPhone and Apple Watch model + their OS versions. A screenshot or the details of the match where the problem happened helps a lot.

Frequently asked

How do I get the watch app installed?

If you've installed RacketTap on your iPhone and you have a paired Apple Watch, the watch app installs automatically within a minute or two. If it doesn't appear: open the Watch app on your iPhone → scroll to "Available Apps" → tap "Install" next to RacketTap.

How do I start scoring on the watch?

The watch home screen has a small sport switcher at the top. Pick your sport, and the Start buttons underneath fire a match of that type. Single tap for your team, double tap for the opponents, long-press to undo the last point.

What sports does RacketTap support?

Padel (the original), tennis (added in v5), badminton (added in v6), and pickleball (added in v7). All four sports share the same scoring system; the difference is in the format options. Padel has five formats — Normal (full padel scoring), Mixing (rotating partners, running games), Training (workout-only), Americano (point-based rounds), and Tiebreak (single standalone tiebreak). Tennis has singles + doubles, best-of-3 or best-of-5, optional final-set match tiebreak to 7 / 10 / 12, and Advantage or No-Ad deuce. Badminton has singles + doubles, best of 1/3/5 games, real BWF rally scoring, and three point formats (21, 15, or 11).

How do I configure the tennis format?

On the watch: Settings → Tennis. Pick best-of-3 or best-of-5, toggle "Final-set match tiebreak" on (and choose 7 / 10 / 12) if your league uses one, and pick Advantage or No-Ad for the deuce rule. Star Point is padel-only — it's intentionally not in the tennis list. These settings apply to every tennis match you start; matches in progress are unaffected by changes mid-session.

How do I set who serves first — and see who's serving?

A serving dot on the watch scoreboard marks which team currently holds the serve. Before the match starts — or between games — tap the tennis-ball icon on the scoreboard to hand the serve to the other team. RacketTap then tracks the serving side automatically throughout the match. If you need to correct a mistake mid-game, tap the icon again to flip. Serve tracking is on by default and works in all tennis and padel Normal matches. For badminton-specific serve tracking, see the question below.

Which badminton rules does RacketTap use?

RacketTap follows official BWF rules: rally scoring (every rally awards a point regardless of who served); games to 21, win by 2 — at 20-20 play continues until one side leads by two; if it reaches 29-29, the winner of the 30th rally takes the game (golden point cap). Matches are best of 1, 3, or 5 games; the default is best of 3. Singles and doubles are both supported. Service rotation follows BWF convention — serving side changes when the receiving team wins a rally, service court (right or left) is determined by the server's score parity, and between games RacketTap prompts you to confirm the first server. Interval cues fire at official midpoints (11 in a 21-point game, 8 in a 15-point game, 6 in an 11-point game) via haptic and voice.

Can I play 11 or 15 point badminton games?

Yes — on the watch, open Settings → Badminton. Three point formats are available:

How does badminton serve tracking work?

The watch scoreboard shows a serving indicator next to the team currently holding the serve. A small letter — R or L — shows the active service court: right when the server's score is even, left when odd, per BWF rules. The rally winner always takes the next serve; you don't need to tap anything to transfer it. At the start of each game you set who serves first using the flip control on the watch scoreboard (tap the serving indicator or the dedicated flip button), and RacketTap handles the rest of the service rotation automatically from there.

Does badminton count as a workout in Apple Health?

Yes — each badminton match is saved to Apple Health as a Badminton workout, so it appears in your Health app and Fitness Rings with the correct sport label — not as a generic or tennis workout. Heart rate, active calories, duration, and a GPS location marker are logged, the same as for padel and tennis matches.

Which pickleball rules does RacketTap use?

By default, RacketTap uses side-out scoring (only the serving team can score a point), which is the traditional pickleball rule — games to 11, win by 2. A rally-scoring option is available in Settings for groups that prefer it. In doubles, server numbers are tracked — the first server each side-out is Server 1, the second is Server 2, and RacketTap announces the number with each serve change so everyone on court stays in sync. Three point formats are supported: 11 (default), 15, and 21.

What's the difference between the padel match types?

Can I change the padel set format (single set, games per set, no tiebreak)?

Yes — on the watch, open Settings → Padel match. You can pick how many sets win the match (single set, best-of-3, or best-of-5), how many games win a set (4–9), and the set-win rule: Win by 2 (with a tiebreak at the games cap, the classic behaviour) or First to N (the set ends the instant a team reaches the cap — no tiebreak). The same page sets the points for the standalone Tiebreak match type. Defaults reproduce a standard match exactly (best-of-3, 6 games, win-by-2), and changes only apply to matches you start afterwards.

How do I change my Default Match Type or Americano point cap?

On the watch, open Settings → Default Match Type to pick the padel format the Start button uses (Normal / Mixing / Training / Americano / Tiebreak). For Americano, scroll down in Settings to Americano → Points per round to change the round-point cap.

How do I tag players on a match?

On your iPhone, open the History tab, tap a match, then tap each player slot. You can pick from your saved players or add a new one. Tagged player names do sync back to the watch — open the same match on your watch and you'll see the YOU / THEM block under the headline. Edits made while the watch is off your wrist queue up safely and arrive when you put it back on. Training and Americano sessions don't have player slots (training is workout-only; Americano partners rotate every round). Tennis singles matches show one slot per team instead of two.

I tagged some matches before the latest update and the names aren't on the watch yet — can I backfill?

Yes. On the iPhone, open Settings tab → "Push player tags & venues to watch". That queues every match's enrichment back to the watch in one batch. The button shows a spinner and a confirmation alert. Payloads queue safely if the watch is offline.

How does the "days played" stat work?

On the iPhone Stats tab you'll see a "days played" total. You can seed the starting number in two places: during first setup on the watch or the first time you open the iPhone Stats tab. The value syncs across both devices automatically. From then on, every day you finish at least one match, mixing session, training, or Americano session counts as one more day. You can edit the baseline anytime in iPhone Settings → Activity.

Can I rearrange the Stats tab?

Yes. Tap the controls icon in the top right of the Stats tab to open Customize Stats. Drag rows to reorder, toggle to hide sections. The four headline tiles at the top and the lifetime "days played" card stay pinned and always show first.

Can I filter Stats by sport?

Yes — the Stats tab has a sport segmented picker right above the time-range picker (All / Padel / Tennis / Badminton / Pickleball). Switching scopes every section underneath: opponent breakdown, Best Days, Sleep Impact, Physiology Trend, AI Insight, Form & Streaks, and Achievements all become sport-aware automatically.

What is the Live tab on the iPhone?

An opt-in courtside scoreboard. When you enable it in iPhone Settings → Live court scoreboard, a Live tab appears between History and Stats. Place the iPhone sideways at the side of the court and it mirrors the watch in real time — big sets / games / current-game points so the score is readable from across the net. You can enable it per format (Normal / Mixing / Americano); Training never appears in Live. The iPhone screen stays awake while the Live tab is open, then resumes normal sleep behaviour when you switch tabs.

Can I flip the Live view so the orange (THEM) side is on the left?

Yes. Tap the arrow-swap button centered at the top of the Live view to swap the YOU and THEM cards — they slide across, and team colors travel with the team (blue YOU and orange THEM stay matched, the cards just change position). Useful when you're standing on the right side of the court and want the layout to mirror what you actually see.

Can the Live view swap sides automatically when we change ends?

Yes. On the watch, Settings → Swap sides offers Off, Odd games (flip after games 1, 3, 5… — the usual change-ends convention), or Every set. The phone's courtside Live scoreboard then flips automatically at those boundaries, and if voice readout is on you'll hear "Change ends." The manual swap button still works and layers on top. (The watch's own wrist scoreboard stays fixed — only the courtside phone display flips.)

How is the "Deuces" stat counted?

One count per game that reached 40-40 at least once, credited to whichever side won that game. Multi-cycle deuce battles still count as a single game — a game that swung through 40-40 three times before YOU finally won adds one to YOUR side of the Deuces card, not three. So if you had three games go to deuce in the range and you won two of them, the headline reads "3 games reached deuce · YOU 2 · THEM 1."

How do I make the iPhone read the score out loud?

Once the Live tab is on, scroll down in the same Settings section to find Voice. Toggle "Speak the score" on, pick a verbosity level (Full / Highlights / Milestones), and set the volume slider — release it to hear a preview. The voice language is independent from the UI language; the Voice picker offers System, English, Suomi, Español, and עברית. Announcements play through the iPhone speaker even when the silent switch is on, and lower the volume of any music playing. A small speaker icon on the Live view itself lets you mute on the fly without going back to Settings. For a more natural-sounding voice, install an Enhanced or Premium voice from iOS Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices in the language of your choice — RacketTap picks the best-quality installed voice automatically, or you can choose a specific one under Voice → Voice and tap the preview button to hear each option before you commit.

Where do I see the map and weather for a match?

On your iPhone, open the History tab, tap any match — you'll see an embedded map centered on where you played, plus a Weather row in the Stats section (temperature + humidity captured at workout start). Tap the map to open the location in the Maps app. If a match has no map / weather, it usually means the watch didn't get a usable GPS fix at the time (indoor courts, location permission denied, etc.).

Can I share a match with a friend who also uses RacketTap?

Yes — on iPhone, open the match in History and tap the Share button (top-right). Choose "Share match file" to send a .rackettap file via AirDrop, Messages, Mail, or Files; the recipient taps the file and it lands in their own match history with all the stats. Only one person needs to actually score the match — share it with everyone afterwards. To send several at once, open History, tap the … menu → "Select matches to share", tick the matches you want, and tap Share at the bottom. Match sharing is a Pro feature.

Can I score a match on the iPhone without my watch?

Yes — open the Live tab and tap "Start a match on this phone". Pick the sport, format, and players, then tap left half of the scoreboard for your point, right half for theirs, long-press to undo. Three free phone-started matches; Pro removes the cap.

Can I score with a Bluetooth selfie / camera remote?

Yes. Pair the remote first in iOS Settings → Bluetooth (most are listed as "AB Shutter3", "BR-100", "Dispho-XXXX", etc.), then open iPhone Settings → Bluetooth Remote. Press the button to confirm the remote is being seen. Default behavior: single press scores YOU, double press scores THEM, triple-press or long-press undoes. You can change what a single press does (YOU / THEM / Alternate) on the same screen.

Does RacketTap work with a Garmin / Whoop / Polar watch?

Yes — for matches scored on the iPhone. Anything that syncs to Apple Health (Garmin via Garmin Connect, Whoop, Polar Flow, Wahoo, Oura, etc.) shows up as heart rate and calories on the saved match. There can be a few minutes of lag while the third-party app pushes to Health; if a match looks empty right after, reopen it later. For live heart rate during the match itself, pair the watch (or a chest strap) directly under iPhone Settings → Heart Rate Sensor.

Why doesn't my match show up in Strava?

This is a Strava limitation, not something RacketTap can change. When you score on the watch, RacketTap does save a full workout to Apple Health (heart rate, calories, route, the lot) — but Strava only imports workouts that were recorded by Apple's own Workout app. By design, Strava ignores workouts that any third-party app saves to Apple Health, so RacketTap matches never appear there. If you want your racket-sport time in Strava, the usual route is to also record with a device that syncs to Strava directly (e.g. a Garmin via Garmin Connect), since Strava won't pull it out of Apple Health on its own.

How do I pair a chest strap or heart-rate watch?

Open iPhone Settings → Heart Rate Sensor, put your strap on (or put your watch in heart-rate broadcast mode), and tap your device in the "Nearby sensors" list. Works with anything that speaks the standard Bluetooth Heart Rate Service — Polar H10, Wahoo Tickr, Garmin HRM-Pro, MyZone, Polar Verity Sense, plus Garmin / Suunto / Coros watches in broadcast mode. The sensor reconnects automatically the next time you start a phone-scored match.

Can I share my live match to a friend's phone?

Yes — tap the Share button at the top of the Live tab. Your friend opens the Live tab on their iPhone and taps "Join a live match". Approve their request and the score streams to their phone in real time over Bluetooth (no internet, no accounts). If they have RacketTap on their watch, it mirrors there too. When the match ends, they're offered to save a copy to their own history.

Can someone follow my match online, from anywhere?

Yes, with Pro. On the Live tab tap Share, then "Share online", and RacketTap gives you a web link. Send it to anyone (Messages, WhatsApp, wherever) and they can open it in any browser to follow the live score — no app and no account needed. The page updates every few seconds and shows the final result when you finish; tap "Stop sharing" any time to end it, and the link expires automatically a few hours after the match. Only the running score and the team names you typed are shown — no heart rate, no location. Note that anyone with the link can view it, so share it only with people you want watching.

How do I manage remembered venues?

The first time you label a court in History detail, RacketTap remembers it. Future matches at the same spot auto-fill that name. Once you have at least one remembered venue, a Venues row appears in iPhone Settings — tap to rename or swipe to delete.

Can I share a match as an image to Messages or Instagram?

Yes — same Share button in match detail, choose "Share as image". RacketTap renders a polished summary card (format-tinted background, big score, per-set breakdown, date and venue, plus avg heart rate) and opens the share sheet so you can send it anywhere. Each match card includes a sport and format badge so the shared image is sport-aware across all supported sports. Send it anywhere — Messages, Mail, Instagram, anywhere that accepts a picture. Pro feature.

Which UI languages does RacketTap support?

Five options on both targets: System, English, Suomi, Español, and עברית. On the iPhone, that's in Settings tab → App Language. On the watch, in Settings → App Language. The watch picker is independent so you can mix and match (e.g., Hebrew on iPhone, English on watch) — useful when your watchOS device language doesn't match what you want in RacketTap. RTL layout kicks in automatically when Hebrew is selected. A separate Voice picker inside the iPhone's Live-tab settings controls the courtside voice readout language. More languages can be added per request.

What does the AI Match Recap card show?

Every finished match opens with a 2–3 sentence personalized recap at the top of the detail view. It references your score, your effort (duration, avg HR), and — if you've granted Health access — your physiology that day (sleep, HRV). It's free on every device. On iPhone 15 Pro and newer with iOS 26 and Apple Intelligence enabled, the recap is written by Apple's on-device language model. On older iPhones (13, 14, non-Pro 15) you get a clean deterministic summary computed from the same data, no nag, no upsell. Tap the regenerate button on the card to re-roll the recap.

What's the AI Coach?

The sparkles icon at the top of the Stats tab opens a chat sheet. Ask anything about your game — "How did I do this month?", "Which partner do I win with the most?", "Is my fitness trending in the right direction?", "What should I work on?". The coach has access to your match history and Health signals, so it can answer questions about your game; it runs on Apple's on-device language model. Nothing leaves your phone. Requires Apple Intelligence (iPhone 15 Pro or newer with iOS 26). Pro feature.

How does Today's Outlook work?

At the top of the Stats tab there's a small card that reads your morning Health signals — sleep last night, resting heart rate, HRV — and surfaces a one-line verdict: ready, cautious, or rest. It's a quick gut-check before you head to the court. Requires Health access for sleep + HRV; without those it shows the values it has.

What does Sleep Impact show?

A bar chart in the Stats tab that buckets your decided matches by hours of sleep the night before (<6h / 6–7h / 7–8h / 8h+) and shows your win rate in each bucket. Underneath, a one-line interpretation calls out your strongest window (e.g., "You play your best on 7–8h of sleep — 67% win rate"). With fewer than 4 sample matches the chart calls itself out as light on data rather than crowning a window prematurely. Requires Health permission for sleep.

What does Physiology Trend show?

Two stacked mini-charts — resting heart rate and VO2 max over the time range — with an interpretive verdict underneath each. Resting HR trending down is usually a good aerobic-fitness signal (highlighted green); trending up suggests fatigue or under-recovery (highlighted orange). VO2 max trending up means improving cardio fitness. Both insights appear only once there are at least 4 data points — to avoid drawing conclusions from too little data.

What are the Achievements?

14 unlockable badges in the Stats tab — first match, three matches in one day, your first hour-long match, winning after 7+ hours of sleep, longest win streak, and more. They unlock automatically; tap the row to expand the gallery.

What's in the Heart Rate section of a match?

The Heart Rate section mirrors what Apple Health shows for a workout: an "Avg Heart Rate" headline, a candle-bar chart of HR over the match (each bar spans the min–max BPM recorded in that interval), a five-zone time breakdown with horizontal progress bars (60% / 70% / 80% / 90% of your max HR), and a Post-Workout Heart Rate chart for the two minutes after the match ended — useful for spotting recovery rate. The first time you open a match the iPhone asks for HealthKit permission so it can read your HR samples. Max HR is estimated from your age (220 − age) read from HealthKit; if you haven't set a date of birth there it falls back to age 30.

Is my match history backed up?

Yes — your iPhone's match history mirrors to your private iCloud database automatically. Sign in to iCloud in iOS Settings and RacketTap takes care of the rest. If you install RacketTap on a second iPhone or iPad using the same Apple ID, your history shows up there too. The Apple Watch keeps its own copy and syncs from the phone after a fresh install. The iPhone Settings tab shows an iCloud Sync panel with a live count of how many matches are on the device versus safely in iCloud, plus a Check iCloud button.

iCloud Sync vs. the iOS "iCloud Backup" switch — what's the difference?

They're two separate systems. RacketTap uses iCloud Sync (Apple's CloudKit) to live-mirror your matches to your Apple ID — that's what the in-app iCloud Sync panel reports, and it's what restores your history on a new device. The iOS Settings → [your name] → iCloud → iCloud Backup → Backup Details list (where each app shows a size and a toggle) is the separate nightly whole-device snapshot. Turning RacketTap off in that Backup Details list does not stop iCloud Sync — your matches keep mirroring to iCloud regardless. To actually pause the app's cloud sync you'd toggle RacketTap under Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Saved to iCloud → See All; the in-app panel then turns orange to warn you sync is off.

I just installed RacketTap on a new device and my matches aren't there yet

They're safe — the in-app iCloud Sync panel will show them as "backed up to iCloud" even before they finish downloading. The first sync after a fresh install pulls your whole history down from iCloud and can take several minutes (occasionally longer for large histories). To let it run as fast as possible: keep RacketTap open and in the foreground, stay on Wi-Fi, keep the device unlocked and plugged in, and don't force-quit the app. Tap Check iCloud to watch the on-device count climb. Apple schedules the download, so there's no way to force it instantly — but foreground + Wi-Fi + power is the quickest path.

A match I played on my watch isn't showing on my iPhone

Watch-to-iPhone sync is automatic when both devices are nearby. If something looks missing, on the iPhone go to Settings tab → "Resync from watch". The sync is durable: even if the iPhone is off when you finish a match, it'll arrive once they're paired again.

The app crashes / behaves strangely

Force-quit RacketTap on both devices and reopen. If it persists, email a short description of what happened and what device(s) you're on. Mid-match crashes are recovered automatically: when you reopen the watch app, you'll be offered to resume the in-progress match.

Privacy

See the Privacy Policy. Short version: nothing leaves your device.