User manual

Every feature of ArrowNotes in order – from your first round to the analysis.

Getting started

On first launch ArrowNotes creates distances and round templates so you can start right away. No account required.

Add your equipment. In Settings, create a bow and your arrows first. Depending on the bow type, limbs and a sight belong to it.
Store sight settings. Once a bow with a sight exists, you can record the sight values per distance.
Create a round. Tap the plus at the top right of the rounds list, give it a name and date, choose a template or define your own sections.
Record an end. Open the end and enter the scores – on the target face, on the keypad or on a photo.

For open training the Training template works well: it does not create ends in advance, you add them as you shoot.

Overview

The overview shows your last three rounds, the arrow count and the trends. Tap a round to open it; “Show all” leads to the full list.

The arrow count combines arrows recorded in rounds and arrows counted manually; you can page through all time, the current year and the current month. The trends compare the past three months with the same period a year earlier.

The avatar at the top right opens your profile.

Rounds and ends

The rounds list shows all rounds in reverse chronological order, grouped by month. Each row shows the target face, name, date, total score and average, plus icons for training or competition and for indoor or outdoor. For match play rounds the set point score appears in the row as well.

Tap to open a round, swipe left to delete it, swipe right to open its statistics.

Sections

A round consists of one or more sections. Each section has its own target face, size, distance and a planned number of ends and arrows per end. That covers a WA 1440 with four distances just as well as an indoor round. In the round details you switch between sections using the bar; below it you can see which target face the selected section uses.

Ends

Planned ends are already in the list and open with a tap. In rounds without a fixed plan you add an end with the plus button. The checkmark at the top right saves, the X discards.

Recording scores

There are three ways to record an end; the switch at the bottom right cycles through them. Which one is active when you open an end is set in Settings.

On the target face

Tap the point of impact directly on the target. A loupe shows the spot your finger covers. Markers can be moved; the score follows from the position. The zoom button enlarges the face, two fingers move the visible area.

On the keypad

Tap the scores one after another – fast and without aiming. X is the inner ten, M is a miss.

On the target photo

See target photos.

Recorded arrows appear as coloured rings in the header of the end; tapping one deletes that arrow. The header also shows the total, the average, the arrow count and the distance.

Target photos and perspective

You can take a photo of the target face for every end – using the camera icon at the top right. The photo stays with the end, can be viewed full screen, shared and deleted. In the list of ends a small camera icon marks the ends that have one.

Recording scores on the photo

Open the photo and tap the ring value in the palette at the bottom. The marker appears in the centre of the view; press and hold to lift it, then drag it onto the arrow. A loupe shows the spot beneath your finger. A short tap on a marker deletes it after a confirmation.

Correcting the perspective

Photos are rarely taken square to the target. The crosshair icon puts a template over the photo: five green handles on a reference circle of the face, an orange cross on the centre. An automatic detection fills the template in, and the ring preview shows immediately whether the correction fits.

If the outer edge is cropped, pick a different colour boundary as the reference – on field faces the white lines between the black rings are available as well. With the correction confirmed, photo markers feed the hit pattern as real positions on the target face. If the angle is too steep the app declines instead of producing inaccurate values.

For 3-spot faces one calibration is enough: the handles go on one spot, two extra crosses mark the centres of the other two. Hits are assigned to the right spot automatically.

Match play

When creating a round, switch Competition from Normal to Match play and pick one of six World Archery formats:

Recurve with the set system (2 points for a won set, 1 for a tie) – individual, team and mixed team
Compound with cumulative scoring – individual, team and mixed team as well

The format determines the number of sets and arrows; target face, size and distance stay up to you. While recording you also enter your opponent's total for each set. The round then shows the set point score, the list of all sets with their results and the winner.

If it is level after all sets, Record shoot-off appears. If the scores tie there as well, the app asks who was closer to the centre – it cannot derive that from the data.

Match play rounds count normally in the statistics: all figures are normalised per arrow.

Statistics and hit pattern

The statistics tab analyses all rounds – filtered by period, type (training or competition) and place. You get score shares in percent, the distribution by arrows per ring, the average per end, round and distance, and the arrow count.

The statistics of a single round open with a swipe to the right in the rounds list. There the hit pattern is added: it shows all hits of the round on the target face, together with the group centre and the average spread in centimetres and inches. If the round uses several target faces, each gets its own hit pattern to page through – otherwise the values would refer to the wrong diameter.

Arrow counter

The arrow counter records arrows shot outside of a round. Use +1, −1, +5 and +10 to count up or down; the reset button clears the day. Values are stored per day; the list icon at the top right opens the history, where single days can be deleted.

Timer

Under Settings > Timer you set the preparation, shooting and warning times. At the start, on phase changes and at the end the app can play a sound and give haptic feedback. The timer also runs from the Apple Watch.

Equipment

Bows

Under Settings > Bows, the plus button creates a bow: name, type, length and – depending on the type – limbs and sight. For every bow you can store several setups (draw weight, upper and lower tiller, brace height) and mark one as active. A notes field takes whatever does not fit anywhere else.

Limbs

Under Settings > Limbs you add limbs with name, length and draw weight. They are required for recurve and barebow.

Sights

Under Settings > Sights you enter your sight with the ends of its scales: up and down for elevation, left and right for windage, front and back for the extension. If windage is normally centred, enter one of the two values as a negative number. If the extension bar has no printed scale, simply count the detents.

Arrows

Under Settings > Arrows you add arrows with spine, length, diameter and weight. When you create a round, the arrow you used last is preselected.

Sight settings

Under Settings > Sight settings you store the values per bow/sight combination and distance. One entry per distance is possible; to change it, delete the old one and add it again. All lists can be edited or deleted with a swipe to the left.

Profile

The avatar at the top right of the overview holds your first name, last name, club and a profile picture – taken with the camera or picked from your library. You can zoom and move the crop before saving.

If a first name is set, it replaces “Me” in match play – including the question of who was closer to the centre in a shoot-off. The profile syncs to your devices via iCloud and survives restoring a backup: it belongs to the person, not to the rounds.

Apple Watch

The watch app is a remote control for the iPhone, which needs to be in range.

Arrow counter: count arrows with +1 and −1, stored per day.
Rounds and ends: the watch shows the last round. New rounds are created on the iPhone; ends can be recorded, changed and deleted on the watch.
Recording scores: on the watch via the keypad only.
Statistics: the figures of the last round.
Timer: start and stop it; the timing itself runs on the iPhone.

Match play rounds currently appear on the watch like normal rounds.

Sync and backup

All data is stored on your device first. In Settings you can turn iCloud sync on and off; while it is on, your devices stay in step through your private iCloud account. Turn it off and the data stays local – when you turn it back on, the app asks which state should win.

You can also export your data as a file and import it again. Note that an import replaces all locally stored data. Target photos are deliberately not part of that file – it would grow unwieldy. They do sync via iCloud.

Settings

Manage distances: which distances are available in rounds and sight settings.
Manage round templates: templates for indoor, outdoor, field and 3-spot. Create your own with the plus button; the bundled ones are marked as system templates.
Default input: whether an end opens with the target face, the keypad or a photo.
Arrow detection: export training data as a file or donate it anonymously and voluntarily to improve the planned automatic detection. Donating is opt-in and can be revoked at any time, including deletion of your own contributions.
Language: German or English.
Light/dark mode: system, light or dark.
View target faces: all supported faces in a preview.