Play Companion Guide

How to Use the Play Companion Button

Press your button as soon as the rally ends. 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, and choose the appropriate registration option:

Add Personal Button: Links a button to your username for automatic scoring, game authentication, and DUPR verification.
Add Guest Button: Links a shared button used by temporary players or guests for automatic scoring.
Add Personal Tag: Links an NFC tag to your username for game authentication and DUPR verification.

To start an Auto-scoring 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.

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, order matters!

If using a Personal Tag: Scan the Guest button FIRST, and then scan your Personal Tag.
If using the dropdown menu: Scan the Guest button FIRST, and then select your name from the menu.

Warning: Always scan the Guest button first! If you scan it last, it will erase your name and change you back to a Guest.

To Submit a Game to DUPR

Only Auto-scoring 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.

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.

The Play Companion Button uses a replaceable CR2032 battery. The battery typically lasts up to 2 years with 10 games per day.

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).

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.
Game Statuses: Games are marked as Verified if a player authenticated using their own Personal Button or Tag. Games are marked as Pending if a player's name was just picked from a dropdown menu, or if it was a Manual game. You can review, verify, or discard Pending games on your Stats screen.
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, and only Verified games count toward your statistics.