Do spectators need to sign up?

No. They install the app, tap Subscribe and type the code and the name they want to appear with: no account, no password, no phone number. That name is seen by whoever created the match, in the list of subscribers.

Does it work if there is no signal on the court?

Yes: the points stay on the scorekeeper's phone and leave as soon as the signal is back. Spectators see them arrive in a block, a little late, and the end-of-game notifications still arrive.

How many people can follow a match?

There is no practical limit: the score is written once and read by everyone who has the code. Even dozens of spectators on the same match are not a problem.

Follow a tennis match live from home: the match code

A parent at work, the injured doubles partner, the friend who plays right after: whoever can't be courtside wants to know how it's going. With a shared scoreboard a code is enough: whoever keeps score sends the points, whoever watches gets them on their phone, with no phone calls at the end of each set. Here is how it works, what the spectator sees, and a few tips for matches among friends.

How it works, in two lines

Every match has a six-character code, created the moment the match is set up on the scorekeeper's phone. Whoever wants to follow it opens the same app, taps Subscribe and types the code: from then on the live score arrives on their phone, wherever they are.

The scorekeeper only has to play: every point tapped on the phone, or on the watch, reaches the spectators within a couple of seconds. No need to keep the screen on, no need for a chat group.

Subscribing before the match starts

The code also exists for a match that hasn't been played yet: whoever registers it the day before can send it right away, and the spectators subscribe at their leisure. When the match starts they already have it among their matches: they open it and the scoreboard moves by itself, point after point.

Register the match in advance, with names and venue.
Send the code in a message: six characters, no strange links.
Whoever receives it opens the app, taps Subscribe and types it: the match appears among the ones they follow.

What the spectator sees

The same scoreboard as the scorekeeper: points, games, sets, who serves, the chosen format. Whoever taps the bell gets a notification at every game with names, sets and games, even with the app closed, and at the end of the match one with the winner and the result. If the match is stopped, the spectators know.

Spectators need no account and no password: they only type the name they want to appear with, which whoever created the match sees in the list of subscribers together with the phone model. The code is the only key, and whoever receives it decides who to pass it on to.

How much data it uses

Very little: the score travels only when it changes, in a few bytes. The scorekeeper can be on a court where the signal comes and goes: points pile up on the phone and leave as soon as the connection is back, and the spectators see them arrive all at once. An hour of match followed costs less than one photo.

Among friends and family

One code per match: the scorekeeper sends it to the friends' group before starting.
Whoever plays next follows the match in progress and knows when to warm up.
At the end the result is already written: the detail has every game and the statistics, ready to share as an image in the group.
Parents follow from home and get the result notification without calling.

If the watch keeps the score

Whoever wears the smartwatch gives the point from the wrist, and the phone, even in a pocket, sends it to the spectators: for them nothing changes. Spectators see only the score: heart rate and steps stay on the player's phone.

How TennisScore does it

In TennisScore the code lives on the scoreboard, behind the padlock, with a button to copy or share it; the spectator types it in Subscribe and finds the match among theirs. End-of-game and end-of-match notifications arrive in all five languages of the app, in the language of whoever receives them. After the match the spectators keep the result among their matches, and the scorekeeper has the full detail, with statistics and photos.

Following a match from afar, point by point