Rink Cast Manual

There's no account and no login. Rink Cast doesn't ask you to sign up or sign in — install it, and you're using it.

Every new install starts with a free 30-day trial. After that, it continues as a paid subscription — $2.99/month or $19.99/year — billed the same as any other subscription app: through the Google Play Store on Android, or the App Store on iPhone.

Restoring on a new phone: if you've subscribed before, tap Restore Purchases on the subscription screen to pick it back up on a new device, no new payment required.

If you ever need help with your subscription, open Settings and tap your Support ID to copy it — that's how support identifies your subscription without needing your name or email.

1. From the Setup screen, tap Manage Teams.
2. Tap New Team, give it a name, then add players one at a time with a jersey number and name.
3. Tap a team in the list any time to open its roster and add, edit or remove players.

Rosters are saved once and reused for every game — there's no need to re-enter players each time you play the same team.

To export: in Manage Teams, tap the export icon, select the teams you want, then tap Export Selected to share the file, or Download to Device to save it directly.

To import: tap the import icon, choose the exported file, and review the list before confirming.

If an imported team's name or ID matches one you already have, you'll be asked how to resolve it, per team:

• Skip — keep your existing team, ignore the imported one
• Overwrite — replace your existing team with the imported one
• Copy — keep both, adding the imported one under a new name

1. On the Setup screen, pick a Home Team and Away Team.
2. Tap START GAME.
3. Check the pre-game announcement preview, then tap SEND.

Sending that first announcement is what moves you into the live play builder — there's no separate "begin game" step.

Every event follows the same pattern: tap the Event, fill in whatever it needs, check the Preview, then tap SEND.

Goals — tap GOAL, pick the scoring team, then the scorer. Assists are optional, up to two.

Everything else — Shot, Save, Icing, Offside, Fight and Timeout work the same way: tap the event, pick the team, send.

Periods — tap 1ST, 2ND, 3RD or OT to move to it, which sends a "start of period" announcement. END PERIOD sends a recap of that period's goals and penalties before you move on.

Tap EDIT LOG above the clock to see every goal and penalty logged so far. Swipe an entry left to reveal a delete button — removing it updates the score and final summary to match, as if it never happened.

There's no "undo send," though: deleting an entry only fixes the game record inside Rink Cast, not a message that's already gone out. If you sent something wrong, a quick correction message in the chat is still the fastest fix for anyone already reading along.

Here's what a full game looks like once it's landed in a group chat — the pre-game announcement, a goal, a penalty, an icing call, each period ending, and the final recap.

Messages carry their own period and game-clock time, so even if a few arrive in a burst after a spell with no signal (see Using it at the rink), the story still reads in the right order.

The iPhone screenshots use Messages since it's always available for a screenshot — in practice it works exactly the same in WhatsApp, or whatever you actually send to (see Where announcements get sent).

Landscape works — hold the phone either way; Rink Cast follows.

Rink Cast itself needs no connection once it's been opened online at least once — calling a game, editing the log, all of it works offline.

Sending still needs your chat app to have a connection eventually. With no signal, an announcement is handed off and queues in your chat app rather than failing — it sends as soon as the phone reconnects. Followers may get a burst of messages at once rather than live updates, but nothing is lost, and every message already has its period and time on it so the order still makes sense.

Starting a trial, subscribing, or restoring a purchase on a new phone does need a connection — those go through the Play Store or App Store.

Download to Device didn't seem to do anything. (Android)

This usually means Rink Cast lost permission to write to the folder you'd previously chosen — often after moving files around, or on a fresh install. Try again and pick the destination folder once more when prompted; that re-grants access. Export Selected (the share option) is a reliable fallback if the problem persists.

Download to Device didn't seem to do anything. (iPhone)

Check the Files app in the location you picked — On My iPhone or iCloud Drive — the file's usually there even if nothing visibly happened on screen. If iCloud Drive was the target and you're offline, the file may not finish syncing until you're back online. Export Selected (the share option) is a reliable fallback if it's still not showing up.

A team shows "⚠ no roster."

That team has no players yet. Open it from Manage Teams and add at least one before using it in a game — the app doesn't require full rosters, so this is just a heads-up, not a hard block.

How do I get help with my subscription?

Open Settings and tap your Support ID to copy it, then include it when you contact support. It identifies your subscription without needing your name, email, or any account.

I switched phones — how do I get my subscription back?

Install Rink Cast and tap Restore Purchases on the subscription screen. This needs a connection, and works from the same account you subscribed with — your Google account on Android, or the Apple ID signed into the App Store on iPhone.

Can I move my teams to a new phone?

Yes — export them on the old phone, transfer the file however you like (email, cloud storage, a cable), and import it on the new one. See Exporting, importing and backing up.