Play Companion Guide

How to Use the Play Companion Button

Press the button once you win a rally. The app will announce the new score out loud while you get ready for the next serve.

Single click: Record a rally win.
Double click: Recall the last announced score.
Long press: Undo the last recorded rally in case of an accidental press.

How to Set Up Your Game

First-Time Hardware Activation: Brand-new buttons and tags must be linked to your account before they can be used in a game. Navigate to More, select My Profile, then choose the appropriate registration option:

Add Personal Button: Link a button to your username for automatic scorekeeping, game authentication, and DUPR verification.
Add Guest Button: Link a button to your account for use by guests or temporary players for automatic scorekeeping.
Add Personal Tag: Link an NFC tag to your username for game authentication and DUPR verification.

To start an Auto-scorekeeping game: Tap the sensor icon next to a player's name and scan a Play Companion Button. You must scan at least one button per team for automatic scorekeeping to work. Important: It is essential to know where the NFC scanner is located on your phone. The location can vary significantly between models. Please check online where the NFC scanner is on your device. To scan properly, tap the center of the button with the exact spot on your phone where the NFC scanner is located.

To play a Manual game: Simply don't scan any buttons. Note: To submit results for a Manual game, the owner of the phone must be one of the active players on the court.

Assigning your name when using a Guest Button: If you are using a shared Guest Button but want your actual name recorded on the game, scan the Guest button FIRST, and then scan your Personal Tag. Warning: Always scan the Guest button first! If you scan it last, it will erase your name and change you back to a Guest.

Play Again & Auto Setup:

The account holder (phone owner) will see their Personal Button pre-scanned as the top player on the screen, if the Personal Button is linked.
Once a game ends, the same screen will display options to Play Again with the same teams or mixed teams. If selected, all buttons and tags will be pre-scanned from the previous game—you only need to assign the first server and first receiver.

To Submit a Game to DUPR

Only Auto-scorekeeping games can be submitted to DUPR.
All players in the game must scan their own Personal Button or Personal Tag for game authentication.
All players must have a valid DUPR account linked to this app.
If all players successfully authenticate themselves before the game starts, the app will ask if you want to submit the match results to DUPR.
Submission Timing: Submitting to DUPR only begins after the 3-minute undo window closes, OR the moment you change screens inside the app. If players lock their phones or force-close the app immediately after the 'Game Over' announcement, the game will remain cached on your device and will not submit to DUPR until the app is opened again.

Game Results Recording and Submission

Fixing Mistakes: In Manual games, results are finalized immediately. In Auto games, you have 3 minutes after the 'Game Over' announcement to undo the final score, as long as you don't switch screens or close the app.
Saving to the Cloud: Once a game is finalized, it automatically saves to the cloud and syncs to all players' accounts within about a minute. Important: Finalized games cannot be deleted.
Cloud Sync Timing: For Auto games, syncing to the cloud only begins after the 3-minute undo window closes, OR the moment you change screens inside the app. If players lock their phones or force-close the app immediately after the 'Game Over' announcement, the game will remain cached on your device and will not sync until the app is opened again.

Hardware & Placement Tips

The Play Companion Button signal can cover a full pickleball court. Place your phone near the middle of the court, but do not lean it directly against the metal net post, as metal blocks the signal. Prop your phone up at a slight angle against a bag or a speaker. Do not lay it flat on the ground, as this weakens the connection.

If your phone’s speaker is not loud enough, use an external speaker. Even a small 5W speaker is sufficient for clear announcements.

Bluetooth Speaker Note: It is common for Bluetooth speakers to enter sleep mode after a period of silence (such as during a long rally). Some speakers have a slow wake-up time, which can cause the first letter or even the first word of the score announcement to be cut off. To avoid this, you have two options: use a different speaker (contact us for a list of tested models), or connect your phone to a speaker using an AUX cable.

Indoor External Speaker Bluetooth Connection Drops: Buildings packed with Wi-Fi routers and metal beams can occasionally cause brief Bluetooth micro-drops, resulting in a skipped score announcement. If you hear silence, the app is still tracking perfectly — just check your phone screen for the correct score. The app features a self-healing mechanism and will automatically recover and announce the score on your next button press. This is a rare occurrence and almost never happens on outdoor courts.

The Play Companion Button uses a replaceable CR2032 battery. The battery typically lasts up to 2 years with 10 games per day. To replace the battery, simply unscrew the two halves of the button. The battery is located under the main chip. After replacing it, screw both halves of the button back together tightly.

Scanning Tip: It is essential to know where the NFC scanner is located on your phone. The location can vary significantly between models. Please check online where the NFC scanner is on your device. To scan properly, tap the center of the button with the exact spot on your phone where the NFC scanner is located.

Personal Tags use standard NFC technology (specifically NTAG213). While some newer paddles have this chip built-in, they are most commonly bought as affordable, coin-sized stickers that fit perfectly on the bottom handle (butt cap) of your paddle. Warning: Do NOT place an NFC sticker directly on a metal surface (like a paddle with aluminum trim).

Account Deletion

You can delete your Pickleball Companion account directly in the app:

Go to Navigator (bottom menu) → More → My Profile → Delete Account.

If a user deletes their account:

This will permanently disable your login and remove your payment-related and DUPR-linked data.
Match history will remain stored as part of game results involving multiple players.

Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.