SUPPORT
How to use PlayBack Padel
PlayBack Padel keeps a rolling loop of the last 15, 30 or 60 seconds of your match and saves the play with a hand gesture. It works on iPhone and iPad, with no account and no internet connection.
Getting started
- Download PlayBack Padel from the App Store and open it.
- Allow Camera access and, if you want sound in your plays, Microphone access.
- Place the device horizontally, aimed at the court, and wait for the buffer to fill.
- In Settings choose the players, camera, video format and loop length.
Gestures
Directions are read as they appear on the screen: the left column is Team A and the right column is Team B. Hold the gesture for one second (every gesture asks for the same) and lower your hand before repeating it.
- 👈 Team A point: point left with your index finger or racket.
- 👉 Team B point: point right.
- 👇 Undo: point down to correct the latest point.
- 🖐 Save a play: show an open palm, fingers apart, for one second. It does not change the score.
- 🖐 🖐 VAR: show two open, separated palms for one second.
To score with gestures, turn on Gesture scoring · experimental in Settings and point no more than 1.5 m (5 ft) from the camera. You can also add points and undo with the scoreboard buttons.
Scoring in two steps: so a random movement does not add points, you first point (that only arms the point) and then show an open palm for one second, within the next 5 seconds. If you do not confirm, nothing happens. You can turn it off in Settings → Confirm with palm.
While Plays or Matches are open, gestures are paused: a hand near the phone does not add points or save plays.
Scoreboard
The scoreboard plays best-of-three-sets matches and counts games automatically. At 6–6 a 7-point tie-break is played, winning by 2. In Settings you can turn on Golden point: the point at 40–40 decides the game; when off, advantage is played. Team colors are chosen in Settings (tap the team names).
VAR
Show both palms or tap VAR. The replay of the last 15 s, 30 s or 1 minute (per your setting) opens in slow motion at ½×, with 1× and ¼× options and frame-by-frame stepping. Double-tap to zoom in right where you want to look. You can also open VAR on a saved play. VAR never edits or deletes your videos.
Saved plays
Every VAR is saved by itself as a play, with a VAR tag, and linked to the match in progress. Open Plays (you can do it with the camera running) to watch (full screen), share, copy to Photos, edit the play's score and delete. In the player, the eye button hides the score. Share offers the video as is or with the score drawn in the corner. Deleting a play also removes its score; copies you made in Photos are kept.
Save notice
When a play is saved, a big notice appears at the top of the camera screen: “Saving play…” and then “Play saved” in green (or “The play was not saved” in red). You can read it from a couple of meters away, with the phone on the fence.
Long rally · beta
Turn on Save long rallies · beta in Settings and the app watches the court with the camera. When there is a lot of continuous movement for more than 8 seconds, it saves the whole play when it ends: from when it detects the movement starting until it ends, with the RALLY tag. It only measures the middle of the picture, so it is not confused by other courts, and it ignores short bursts and someone walking. Next to “Loop active” you see “No movement”, “Movement · N s” or “Rally · N s” live. It does not use the microphone, and it can misfire with many people moving or wind shaking the camera.
Highlight
In a match's detail, Create highlight; and in Plays, the TV-stars button for the highlight of the day, which goes through all the plays of that day, from every match. The app builds a video of up to 1 minute with the best plays, in the order they were played and with each one's score. Only real play gets in: it listens to the sound of each play, on the device, to find the hits, and leaves out people walking or an empty court. It prefers the best action, the points with more at stake (golden point, tie-break, set point) and your favorites (the star in the player). On devices with Apple Intelligence it can use the on-device AI to choose and order the plays; nothing is sent anywhere, and you can turn it off in Settings → Advanced. With few plays the video comes out shorter. It is kept in Plays with the HIGHLIGHT tag, you can watch it any time, and share it or save it to Photos. The original plays are not touched.
Match history
When a match ends, or when you start a new one with the previous match unfinished, it is saved with the teams, the score by set and the date. Open it from Controls → Matches. Each match shows its plays: tap one to watch it. You can delete matches one by one or all at once. If you undo the winning point, the match is live again and is saved once more when it ends.
Who serves
In the scoreboard's ⋯ menu choose Who serves first?. From then on a ball shows who is serving on every point: the serve changes team each game, alternates between partners and follows the tie-break. It is worked out from the score, so undoing a point brings it back by itself. It also shows on the Apple Watch.
Apple Watch
The watch app (watchOS 10 or later) is installed from the Watch app on the iPhone. It shows the score and lets you add points, undo, save a play and open VAR from your wrist. The point buttons need gesture scoring on; saving a play and VAR need the camera running. When you tap Save play or VAR, the watch shows “Saving…” and then “Play saved” or “VAR ready on iPhone”, with a vibration. If it fails it says “Did not work”. If the watch says “iPhone not reachable”, bring it closer to the iPhone and open the app.
Score and cameras on several devices
Turn on Share score nearby on both devices and enter the same 4-digit match code. They find each other over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, with no internet. The first time, iOS asks for Local Network permission. The device that keeps the score is the one in charge. To film from several angles, turn on Connect to other cameras with the same code (you don't need the scoreboard): when you save a play, the other cameras save theirs and send it to you, and it shows up in Plays as extra angles.
Language
The app uses your phone's language: Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese, German, French, Swedish or Dutch (otherwise Spanish). You can choose another in Settings → Language, or in the iPhone's Settings → PlayBack Padel → Language.
Permissions
| Permission | What it is for | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | Record the court and detect gestures | Yes |
| Microphone | Sound in your plays | No |
| Photos (add only) | Copy plays to Photos when you ask | No |
| Local network | Shared score with another device | No |
You can change them in Settings → PlayBack Padel. The app's alerts include a button that takes you there.
Troubleshooting
Gestures are not detected
Check that the device is horizontal, there is good light, your hand is within 1.5 m (5 ft) and fully visible. With a racket, your elbow and wrist must be visible.
The camera stopped
A call or another app using the camera interrupts it; it resumes on its own when you come back. If not, pause and start again. Changing the video format or camera restarts the buffer.
Shared score will not connect
Check that both devices use the same code, have Local Network permission on and Wi-Fi or Bluetooth turned on.
Contact
For questions, bugs or suggestions, open an issue on GitHub. That page is public: do not include personal data or videos.
Privacy policy: read.