RallyReel

User guide

From setting up the tripod to sharing your Reel. Each section is short; jump to the one you need.

What you need

  • An iPhone with iOS 17 or later to record the match.
  • A tripod or stand that holds the iPhone high, ideally 1.8 m (6 ft) or more.
  • Something to score with: an Apple Watch, or a second phone. A second iPhone with RallyReel connects directly; any other phone uses its web browser.
  • Optional: a small power bank for long sessions.

Set up the camera

  1. Stand the tripod behind the right-hand corner of your end of the table (the left corner if you're left-handed), as high as it goes. Behind a corner works better than straight behind the player: from there your own body doesn't hide your serves.
  2. Turn the iPhone sideways with the charging port on the right.
  3. Check that all four corners of the table are in the picture, with some room around the far end for the rally.

RallyReel records in 4K at 60 fps: sharp, and quick to analyze. On iPhones that support it you can choose 4K at 120 fps in Settings › Recording; analyzing takes about twice as long.

Long session? Plug the iPhone into a power bank: recording 4K uses a lot of battery.

Start a match

  1. On the home screen, tap RECORD.
  2. Pick the two players and who starts at the near end (closest to the camera).
  3. Choose the scoring mode, who serves first and best of 3, 5 or 7.
  4. Choose how you'll score: Apple Watch or Phone remote. The camera opens and the match starts from your Watch or remote.

Not keeping score? Choose Highlights mode and just tap ★ whenever something good happens.

Score each point

With an Apple Watch

Tap the player who won the point as soon as it ends. Your opponent is at the top and you're at the bottom, just like your view of the table (set who you are on the iPhone under Players). Use undo if you tap the wrong side, and ★ to mark a highlight.

With another iPhone

  1. On the camera iPhone, open Phone remote and turn the remote on.
  2. On the other iPhone, open RallyReel › Phone remote › Use as the remote, then tap the camera's name. They connect directly; no Wi-Fi is needed, just Bluetooth and Wi-Fi switched on.

With any other phone

The other phone scans the QR code on the camera iPhone's remote screen and scores in its browser. Both phones need to be on the same Wi-Fi, or the other phone joins the camera iPhone's Personal Hotspot. The remote screen can show a second QR code that joins the hotspot for you.

Table corners

Marking the four corners of the table lets RallyReel find the start of each point and where serves land. You only need to do it once per camera position.

  • Before recording, from the phone remote: tap Set table corners on the remote's start screen and drag the four circles onto the corners. Handy when the tripod is too high to reach.
  • After recording: open the match and use Set table corners.

Check the clips

After a match, Find point starts trims each point to begin just before the serve. Most points need nothing from you. The few RallyReel isn't sure about show up under the Needs a check filter.

  1. Open the match and tap Needs a check.
  2. Watch each clip. If it starts in a good place, tap Looks right. If not, move to the right moment and set the start there.
  3. Swipe left or right to move between points.

The status chips in Recordings show where each match stands: corners, starts, serves and Reels, with green for done and orange for anything worth a look.

Create a Reel

  1. On the home screen, tap CREATE.
  2. Choose ★ Highlights or Full match, then Latest match or Choose a match…
  3. Tap Make my Reel. RallyReel finds point starts if needed and builds the Reel, then offers Share and Save to Photos.

From a match, Create Reel does the same for that match.

For YouTube and messages, choose Share › Smaller copy: a 1080p version that uploads quickly and reliably. To share a single point, open it and tap Share.

Keep RallyReel open while a Reel builds. Locking the phone pauses the graphics.

Highlights across matches

Tap CREATE, choose ★ Highlights and Choose matches…, then tick the matches (or use Tick › Last 7 days). You can narrow it to a player, an opponent or long rallies. RallyReel puts every ★ point in order, oldest match first.

Performance

Tap Performance on the home screen. Set who you are once, and you'll see your record, form, points won on your serve and theirs, a table of every opponent, and where your serves land. Tap an opponent for your head-to-head history.

Serve maps are in beta: a serve is shown only when RallyReel sees both of its bounces clearly, so many serves are left out for now. Scores and records come from your taps and are always exact.

Analyzing and overnight

Analyze matches finds point starts and analyzes serves for several matches at once, and keeps going in the background with progress on the Lock Screen. Point starts and serves are saved point by point, so a stopped run picks up where it left off.

Leave Analyze new matches overnight on (Settings › Reels) and plug your iPhone in at night: by morning your matches are analyzed. Reels are only built when you ask for one.

Freeing up space

Match videos are large. Once your Reels are in Photos, delete the video and keep the stats: swipe left on a recording, tap Delete, and choose Delete video & Reels, keep stats. The match still counts in Performance. The Free up space suggestion on the home screen does this for several matches at once.

Tips

  • A Reel plays in slow motion somewhere: choose Settings › Reels › Reel frame rate › 60 fps.
  • The phone remote won't connect: check Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are on in Control Center on both phones, and that RallyReel is allowed under Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network.
  • The phone gets hot: processing pauses on its own to cool down. A case off and a shady spot help.
  • Still stuck? See Support.