Every Feature, Every Screen — How to Find & Use It

Written for someone who has never opened the app before. Each section says where the feature lives, what it does, and how to actually use it. Read top-to-bottom or jump to whatever you're trying to figure out.

1. Signing up

Two paths:

• Invite link (recommended). Your manager sends a link like app.spareable.org/signup?invite=…. Click it, set up email + password — you're auto-joined to the league.
• Direct signup. Go to app.spareable.org/signup. Email + password. Your manager will then add you to the roster manually (they need your email to match up your account).

You're never asked for a credit card. Bowlers are free, period.

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2. The Home screen

What you land on after login. Shows:

• League header — your league name, season, your team, your average, your handicap.
• Next session — date, lane assignment, who you're bowling against.
• Latest recap — opens a card with last week's highlights.
• Quick actions — Report Absence, file a protest, jump into Game Tracker.
• Pending payments — a heads-up if you owe dues or a side-pot entry is open.

If you bowl in multiple leagues, the dropdown in the top-right switches between them. Your Home screen reflects whichever you're on.

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3. Entering scores

On league night, open Scores → My Team. Find your name on your team's card. Three options:

Type each game

Tap each game box, type the score (0-300), repeat. Hit Save. The series and handicap series calculate automatically.

Snap a photo

Click the 📸 icon, point at the scoreboard, the AI reads each game and fills the boxes. You confirm before saving.

Mark absent

If you're not bowling that week, toggle the absent switch on your row. The score type modal lets you pick:

• Blind score — your average minus N (per league rules).
• Pre-bowl — you'll bowl earlier; enter actual scores when done.
• Post-bowl — you'll bowl later; placeholder for now.

Saved scores show as pending until both captains verify.

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4. Captain verification (your role)

If you have the 👑 badge on your team, you're the team captain. On score night, the matchup verification card at the top of the Scores screen shows both teams' rows in one view — your team and the opposing team — and you sign off both with a single click.

1. ✓ Verify Matchup — glance through all the rows. If everything looks right, tap this once and both teams' rows move from pending → verified together. Once the opposing captain does the same, the matchup auto-finalizes and standings update.
2. ⚠ Report an Error — opens row-selection mode so you can check the specific scores that look wrong (either team). Submitting flags just those rows; everything else stays pending for your sign-off later.

Fixing a flagged score

Each flagged row gets an inline ✏️ Fix button right on the verification card. Anyone in the matchup can use it — either captain, the flagged bowler, or any of their teammates. Tap Fix, enter the corrected games, save. The flag clears and verification resets so both captains re-sign on the next pass.

This means the flagged bowler doesn't have to be the one to fix it — if they have no linked account, or aren't around, a teammate or the captain can supply the fix without waiting.

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5. Standings & recaps

Scores → Standings shows the current league standings — team rank, points, total pins, win/loss. Updates the moment a matchup finalizes.

Scores → Recap opens the recap for any week. Each recap is a deep look at the night:

• Standings table with your team highlighted.
• Full matchup boxscores — every bowler's per-game scratch + handicap, plus team totals.
• Top-3 leaderboards (team scratch/handicap game/series, plus individual leaderboards by gender). Ties share the rank — if two bowlers tied for 2nd, both show 🥈 and 3rd still appears as 🥉.
• Game-over-average and series-over-average leaders (who beat their own average by the most).
• Season highs across all weeks bowled.
• Team rosters with each bowler's pins-to-raise / pins-to-lower next-series targets.

Tap "My Team Only" at the top of any recap to filter every section down to just your team's bowlers and matchup. Recaps post automatically when the manager sets it that way; otherwise they post when the manager releases them. Either way you'll see them on Home as an announcement card.

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6. Personal Stats

Stats → Personal shows your career numbers across every league game you've bowled in Spareable, plus any games you tracked yourself in Game Tracker.

What's tracked

• Current league average (rolling).
• Career high game and high series (3-game).
• Win/loss split as a team and individually.
• Score-trend chart with rolling average over time.
• Strike %, spare conversion %, open-frame rate. (Game Tracker games only — league box-scores don't capture frame-level data.)
• Pin-leave heatmap — which pins you leave most often. (Game Tracker only.)

Filter by date range, league, or session type (league vs. practice).

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7. Game Tracker (practice)

Frame-by-frame scoring for non-league games — practice nights, casual league outings, tournaments. Open Games → Game Tracker. Pick the session type:

• Practice — solo or small group, optional oil-pattern note.
• League — backup if your league isn't on Spareable yet (most won't use this since league scoring lives elsewhere).
• Tournament — multi-game tournament setup.

How frame entry works

• Tap the pins you knock down on the first ball — the rest are automatically marked as left.
• Tap pins for the second ball if no strike. Spares, splits, and miss handling auto-detect.
• Pin tap is touch-friendly — designed to use one-handed at the lane.
• Optional: log ball used (Storm, Roto Grip, etc.) and ball speed if you want to track those.

Every Game Tracker game feeds your Personal Stats automatically — splits, conversions, pin-leave heatmaps.

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8. Paying dues

If your manager turned on card payments (Tier 2 leagues), you'll see Payments → Dues with a grid showing each week of the season. A red "Unpaid $20" cell means you owe; tap it to pay.

How card payment works

• Click Pay Now on the Payments screen.
• Enter card details (or use a saved card / Stripe Link if you've used Stripe before).
• If your league absorbs the fee — you're charged exactly the dues amount.
• If your league passes the fee through — you're charged dues + ~3.5% + $0.30 (e.g. $21.04 to deliver $20 to the league).
• Payment History at the bottom shows every payment with the breakdown ("$21.04 charged · $20.00 dues + $1.04 processing fee").

Pay multiple weeks ahead

You can enter any amount. Pay 4 weeks ahead, the system applies the payment forward through the schedule.

Cash

Hand cash to your manager — they'll log it. Your Payments grid will reflect it once they record.

Auto-pay

Tier 2 leagues let you save a card and toggle auto-pay. Outstanding dues get charged automatically every Monday. Failed charge? You'll get a banner asking to update your card.

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9. Side pots & sweepers

Side pots are optional weekly bets — high game, high series, mystery score, eliminator brackets, 50/50 raffles. If your league has them, they appear in Payments → Side Pots.

Entering a pot

• Each pot shows the entry fee, type, and how many bowlers are already in.
• Click Enter, confirm, pay by card.
• The app tracks who won and how much; your manager hands out winnings off-platform (cash, Venmo, Zelle, etc.).

Sweepers

Standalone tournament events. Same flow — pick the event from the list, pay the entry fee, your scores during that event get tracked toward the prize structure. Auto winner detection; your manager distributes the prize money.

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10. Announcements

Anything your manager posts shows up on Home. Tap it to read. Common content:

• Schedule changes (rain-out, holiday, banquet date).
• Recaps when a week wraps.
• Prize-pool updates.
• League rules clarifications.

Announcements stay visible until your manager removes them. There's no DM / direct chat — communication is broadcast-style.

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11. Reporting an absence

If you know you'll miss a session — that day, next week, or weeks ahead — open the Report Absence button on Home. The button appears under the upcoming-session card whenever you're not on a manager view.

Picking the week

The modal lets you choose any future non-cancelled week from a dropdown. Default is the next upcoming session, but you can pick week 8 in week 2 if you already know you'll be on vacation. The dropdown lists each week with its date so you can confirm you're picking the right one.

Picking the type

Your league manager controls which options are available. You'll see whichever apply to your league:

• Use league policy (blind score) — applies the absent-policy score the manager configured. Could be your average minus N, a fixed score (e.g. 120), or another rule. The modal shows the exact number you'd be credited per game so you know what to expect.
• Pre-bowl — only shown if your league enabled pre-bowling. You'll bowl earlier on a different night; the manager records the actual scores when you do. Your absence is logged as a placeholder until then.
• Post-bowl — only shown if your league has a post-bowl window configured (e.g. 7 days). You'll bowl later; the manager records the scores when you do. The window is shown in the option label.
• I need a substitute — only shown if substitutes are allowed. Flags the absence so the manager (or captain) can arrange a sub bowler in your slot.

Captains: marking the whole team absent

If you have the 👑 captain badge, the modal includes an extra checkbox: Apply to entire team. Use it for snow days, holiday cancellations, or any week the whole team can't make it. Spareable creates an absence record for every active bowler on your team in one shot. Bowlers who already have a score recorded for that week are skipped (so individual entries earlier in the night don't get overwritten).

What happens after you submit

• The absence shows up as a pending placeholder under your name on the score sheet for that week.
• Your captain (or the manager, if your captain hasn't claimed a Spareable account) verifies it like any other score.
• If you picked pre-bowl or post-bowl, the manager records your real scores when you bowl them.
• If you picked "need a substitute" and your league allows subs, the manager assigns one and records the sub's actual scores.
• If your league absorbs dues weekly, you still owe dues for the week — absence doesn't auto-waive your seat. Talk to your manager about per-week waivers.

Changing your mind

Two paths depending on how far the absence has progressed:

• Cancel the absence — open Report Absence, pick the same week from the dropdown, and the modal switches to a "You're already marked absent" view with a red Cancel This Absence button. Click it to remove the placeholder. You can then file a different absence type or just bowl normally when the time comes. Available until your captain verifies the absence.
• Just enter real scores — when the night arrives, enter your scores on the score-entry screen. Spareable replaces the placeholder with the real numbers automatically, as long as the matchup hasn't been finalized.
• After captain verification or finalization — neither self-service path works once the matchup is locked. Ask your manager to remove the score; they have admin tools that aren't restricted to the same constraints.

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12. Filing a protest

If you believe a rule was broken, a score is wrong, or eligibility was misapplied, you can file a protest from Home. The button is right next to Report Absence under the upcoming-session card.

When to use it

Common reasons:

• A score was recorded incorrectly and the captain won't fix it.
• An ineligible bowler was used as a substitute or in a roster slot they shouldn't fill.
• You believe the absent-bowler / blind-score rule was misapplied.
• Average establishment, handicap calculation, or vacancy score looks wrong.
• A postponement / pre-bowl date was outside the league's allowed window.
• Anything else where you want the manager (and any officers, in USBC leagues) to formally review the situation.

The window

Most leagues use the USBC standard: protests must be filed within 15 days of the incident. PBA-style leagues use 72 hours. The modal shows your league's actual window. After the window closes, the protest can't be considered.

What to include

The protest form has two fields:

• Rule reference (optional) — a dropdown of common USBC rules (Rule 100 Handicap, Rule 105 Absent bowler, Rule 109 Lineup, Rule 110 Scoring, etc.) with an "Other / custom rule" option. Pick whichever best matches the situation. Skip the field if the protest isn't about a specific written rule.
• Description (required) — describe what happened in plain English. Include who was involved, which week / matchup, and what specifically you think was wrong.

What happens after you submit

• The protest is logged with your name and the timestamp.
• Your manager (and any officers configured on the league) get a notification and can review it from the admin side.
• Filing a protest does not automatically reverse a score, standing, or other result — it triggers a review. The manager / officers decide whether to uphold or deny it, often with input from a USBC association if your league is sanctioned.
• You'll get a response from the manager. If the protest is upheld, they'll make the corresponding adjustment (re-score, re-finalize, etc.).

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13. Profile & settings

Click your name in the top-right → Profile. Set:

• Display name (what shows in standings, on the score sheet).
• Email (used for account login + invite matching).
• Phone (optional).
• USBC ID (if your league reports to USBC).
• Notification preferences — recap announcements, prize-pool alerts, payment reminders.

Saved cards

Manage cards on file from Payments. Adding a card is opt-in — only required for auto-pay (Tier 2). One-time payments don't need a saved card.

Privacy

Your stats are visible to other members of your league(s). Personal info (phone, email) is never shown to other bowlers — only contact-info-visible roles like Officers (USBC mode) make those visible to the league.

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14. Multiple leagues

Bowl in more than one league? The same Spareable account covers all of them. Each league appears in the dropdown in the top-right; clicking switches your view.

Personal Stats aggregate across every league + Game Tracker. Filter by individual league if you want.

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15. Your name on the lane screen

If your league manager uses Spareable's Export for Scoring System feature, your name, average, and handicap will appear automatically on the lane scoring monitors — no one has to type your name in by hand before league night.

Here's how it works:

1. Your manager exports a roster file directly from Spareable (Admin → Rules → Export for Scoring System).
2. They hand the file to the bowling center's front desk staff.
3. The desk imports it into the center's scoring software (Conqueror, Qubica, BLS, etc.) — usually takes under a minute.
4. From that point on, when league starts each week, your name, current average, and handicap are already loaded into the system.

Your average updates automatically as the season progresses — every time the manager re-exports and the center re-imports (typically at the start of each session), the lane system gets your latest average so handicap is always current.

What if my name is wrong or my average looks off on the lane screen?

The lane screen pulls from whatever the center imported last. Let your manager know — they can correct the bowler's info in Spareable (name in Admin → Members, average updates with each finalized week) and re-export so the desk can re-import with the fix. The app's own average calculation is always the authoritative one; the lane screen is just a reflection of the most recent export.

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16. Troubleshooting

"My league doesn't show up after I signed up"

Your account isn't linked to the manager's roster. Two fixes: (1) ask your manager to send the invite link from Admin → Roles — clicking it re-links your account; or (2) ask them to re-add you with the same email you signed up with, then merge.

"I paid but the cell still shows red"

Refresh the page. Stripe payments take 1-2 seconds to settle. If it's still red after a minute, check Payment History on the Payments screen — if the payment isn't there, it didn't go through; try again.

"I can't enter my own scores"

Your league might require captains to enter scores instead. Talk to your captain.

"My average looks wrong"

Average is calculated from finalized weeks. If a week has scores still pending verification, it doesn't count toward the average yet. Check Standings for the week status.

"I want to leave a league"

Ask the manager to deactivate you in Admin → Members → ⏸. Your stats stay on file; you'll just stop appearing in active rosters.

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