iOS User Guide

App Details

Home Screen Overview

1. Live Video Playback button: When Live Video Playback in enabled in Settings, after a recording is made, it will automatically playback within the app. If you close out of the video, you can click this Play button to again reopen the most-recently recorded video.

2. Zoom Level: Top middle value (ex. "1.5x"). Use a two-finger drag in to adjust, as in other apps.

• • • The zoom level will save even if you full-close and re-open the app.

3. Battery Saver: When icon is red and says "Off", the app functions normally. Click to change the icon green and says "On."  Turn this on and the screen goes fully black except for the app UI. On any phone from the iPhone X onward (except the 11 non-Pro), those pixels shut off, saving considerable battery. Video recording continues normally, just with no onscreen preview. Note if you do have one of those older phones and are struggling with battery, turn your screen brightness all the way down – that makes a big difference.

4. Recording Indicator: When a video is being recorded, a small Red Circle will appear in the top right.

5. Manual Focus Slider: Appears when Manual Focus is enabled. Drag the white circle left and right to adjust focus. Click Lock Focus  to lock the slider to avoid accidental adjustment, or click Unlock Focus to make the slider adjustable again.

6. Ski Speed: If "Save Speed" in enabled in Settings, adjust this to reflect the current ski speed (separate from the trigger speed that starts/stop recording). This speed will then get stored in the video filename.

7. Line Length: If "Save Line Length" in enabled in Settings, adjust this to reflect the current line length. This length will then get stored in the video filename.

8. Settings: The bottom left button open the Settings Menu.

9. Trigger Speed: Bottom middle value shows the current trigger speed, and the - and + buttons next to it adjust the speed. This is the MPH or KPH at which the camera will start recording (once user speed goes above trigger) and stop recording (once speed goes below trigger).

10. Auto-Record Toggle: The bottom-right toggle switches between Auto-Record Enabled (green) and Auto-Record Disabled (gray). When it is Disabled, no recordings will be made.

Settings Overview

All Settings will save and reload even after a full-close and reopen of the app.

• Camera Select: Switch between the Rear lenses and the Front/Selfie lens.

• Lens: If you select Rear, switch between Main and the Ultrawide lens.

• Quality/FPS: Selects resolution and frames-per-second (fps) of recording:

  • HD = 1080p quality

  • 4K = 4K (2160p) quality

  • 30 = 30 fps

  • 60 = 60 fps

• Focus: Selects whether to use Auto Focus or Manual Focus. When Manual is selected, a Focus Slider bar appears on home screen.

• Save Speed: When enabled, an option appears on the main screen where you can set the current ski speed (separate from the trigger speed). This speed will then get stored in the video filename. MPH and KPH available.

• Save Line Length: When enabled, an option appears on the main screen where you can set the current line length. This line length will then get stored in the video filename. Feet Off and Meters available.

• Location Trigger: Open additional options where you can define a start and end point - at the start of your slalom course set the Start point, then at the end set the End point. The app then creates an 80-foot-wide corridor along that path. Recording starts when you enter that corridor and stops as soon as you leave, even if you are still above your trigger speed. You can even save two separate locations if you ski on multiple lakes - toggle on which you want to use and the other will automatically deselect.

• Directional Trigger: When enabled, recording will start only when the trigger speed is reached and the boat is travelling in the selected direction. This is primarily for jump skiers, so you can have the recording only start once you are moving in the direction of the ramp. The recording will stop once the user goes below the trigger speed, as normal.

• Live Video Playback: When enabled, the most-recently recorded pass automatically plays back within the app. Playback options include quarter speed, half speed, and three-quarter speed.

• Trigger Speed Units: Adjusts whether the Trigger Speed is MPH or KPH.

• Low Light Adjustment: Dawn and dusk skiing often produces unwanted motion blur, creating unclear video. This toggle alters camera settings to keep motion crisp. The tradeoff is more visible grain, but for most skiers that is much preferable to motion blur.

• User Guide: Opens this User Guide. 

• Send Error Report: If you are having any app issues, click here to email me your app logs. Please include in your message what phone model you have, the exact day and time of the issue, and what happened.

Recommended Settings

Pylon Mount

• I recommend the Ski View with Active Track.

• Optionally, you can add a vibration dampening device like explained here, which will improve constant "background vibration," though they may slightly worsen the momentary "rope snap shake" when the skier hooks up out of the buoy.

Trigger Speed

• Set your trigger speed 4 MPH below your slowest ski speed, to avoid missing the start of a pass or if GPS briefly misreads.

Zoom

• Pinch with two fingers to adjust. Increase until the skier fills the frame without cutting out. If the skier exits frame on one side only, slightly rotate your camera mount toward center. Small adjustments make a big difference. 

Phone/Camera/Lens

• There are currently four “categories” of iPhone in terms of camera hardware/behavior:

1. iPhone 13-and-earlier:
- Use the Selfie lens. Manual Focus will not be available.
- Ironically, these older phones are the best options in terms of video stability. Apple's "upgraded" lenses on later models are very good at stabilizing hand-held movements, but they make video captured in high-frequency vibration situations (like a boat pylon) actually much worse.
- The one caveat is that if you are using a Shock Tube, it seems the lens might focus on the tube rather than the skier, at least on some models of phone.

2. iPhone 14-and-16 Pro models:
- Use the Rear-Main lens, with Manual Focus enabled. Adding a vibration dampener may help.
- This stability will be quite good, but not as stable as an earlier model Selfie lens.

3. iPhone 14-15 non-Pro models:
- The Ultrawide lens will be very stable, but you'll lose some resolution due to needing to zoom in as compared to the Rear-Main.  The Rear-Main lens may also be decently stable, so decide between more stable (Ultrawide) or better resolution (Main).
- Use Manual Focus if available, and adding a vibration dampener may help. Also see below** for a couple current inconsistencies with Manual Focus settings.

4. iPhone 16 non-Pro model:
- This may be the worst current option.  None of the lens are particularly stable. Adding a vibration dampener should help, but if possible, avoid this phone model.

5. iPhone 17: These are brand new so unknown. On the Pro I'd expect the Rear-Main to be best, not sure about non-Pro.

Manual Focus

• If Manual Focus is available on your selected lens, I recommend using it, particularly if you use a Shock Tube.  Even if you haven’t noticed particular focus issues, locking the focus can improve video stability by preventing the lens from constantly hunting focus during a pass.

• You can likely use the same setting for every line length from 15off to 41off:

  • • • At 41off the skier is still 34 feet from the pylon, and at such long distances the "range of focus" on a single setting becomes very broad. It's possible that a short-line skier would tick it just slightly closer and a longer-line skier just slightly farther, but maybe not even, and you certainly won't have to adjust in between every rope length.

• To set your ideal focus, have the skier sit in the water at roughly full-rope length. Zoom in more than normal so you can clearly see subtle variations in focus. Adjust the the focus slider back and forth until the skier is most in-focus. Press to "Lock" the slider to avoid accidental adjustment, and zoom back out to an appropriate level for recording.

• See below** for a couple current inconsistencies/bugs in isolated circumstances when it comes to Manual Focus. They will be fixed after more testing.
  
  

Quality/FPS (frames-per-second)

• Between 4K and HD:

  • • 4K has a sharper image than HD, but will quadruple your file size.Watching on phone screen, the difference between HD and 4K is present but not drastic. The larger the screen is, and the more you zoom in, the more the quality of 4K will become apparent.

    • 60fps will yield more fluid motion and allow for 0.5x speed playback* as compared to 30fps, but will increase file size by roughly half.

    • There is a chance that recording in HD will also yield more stable video. I still need to test this more though.

• For frames-per-second, even on a small screen the difference between 60fps and 30fps will be noticeable. So I recommend using 60fps regardless, and then decide HD or 4K based on concerns (or lack thereof) regarding file size.

• If you record in HD120, Apple will default the video to playback in 1/4 speed slo-mo. You can adjust individual videos playback at full speed by following these instructions.

• One important note regarding file sizes: If you go to phone Settings > Photos, you will see that "Optimize iPhone Storage" is likely selected by default. If your iPhone is running low on space, the Photos app will keep only low-resolution versions of files on your local phone, while storing full-resolution versions in iCloud. This means playback quality on your phone could be reduced, and/or your phone will need to download full-resolution versions from iCloud before you can view a video (particularly older videos), requiring data or wifi. To check your storage space, go to phone Settings > General > iPhone Storage, which will show you how much space you've used and how much you have left. If you have the space, I'd change the setting to "Download and Keep Originals", and you can always switch it back later if you need. This keeps full-quality version of your videos stored locally on  your device.

• Also note, if you text someone a video, Apple often compresses/degrades it on the recipient's end, sometimes significantly. If you want to ensure you share a full-quality video, you must upload it to a file storage service like Google Drive and send a link.
  
  

*0.5x Speed Playback

• If you record in 60fps (frames-per-second), the standard video playback is regular speed, but it’s super simple to convert it to 0.5x speed, which I find to be a great speed for more detailed analysis – not too fast, not too slow. Here's a video demonstration of adjusting the playback speed (this applies to any 60fps video, not just those recorded with PylonCam).
  
  

Low Light Adjustment

• I recommend always having this on. If you are recording in bright daylight, it becomes inactive, and if you are recording at dawn/dusk, it will reduce motion blur (the trade-off being more grainy video but that's preferrable to blur).
  
  

Directional Trigger

• Unless you are using PylonCam Pro for jump, leave this Off, or you will miss passes being recorded.
  
  

Location Trigger/Save Speed/Save Line Length

• These are optional settings, see below for details.

Troubleshooting: Are Your Videos Getting Stored 90 Degrees Rotated?

• Make sure your phone's Portrait Orientation Lock is off: