Open camera, frame the table, get your next shot. Your game, table size and skill are remembered.
Every shotTaking the photo
- Get the whole table in the frame with all six pockets visible.
- Use any side or end where the whole table is visible. No fixed spot or overhead pose is required. Raise the phone slightly or step sideways if balls hide one another.
- Portrait or landscape both work. The normal 1× lens is preferable to ultra-wide or zoom. The in-app camera shows framing feedback; tap Take photo when you are ready. You can still capture if the framing helper is unsure.
- No flash. Room and table lights on.
- Wait until every ball has stopped.
- Keep hands, cues, chalk, the rack and drinks off the cloth and rails.
- If you choose a saved photo, use the original so its lens information is retained. Live camera frames do not include that information, so their lens geometry is estimated.
- Auto capture when ready is optional and starts off. It waits for several steady frames with a detected table and cue ball. Always check that no balls are hidden; framing feedback cannot guarantee that every ball is visible.
- Phone camera and Choose photo remain available if permission is denied or the in-app camera is unavailable. Camera access needs HTTPS. Leaving the app pauses the camera; tap Resume camera when you return.
5 secondsChecking what it saw
- Every ball should have a ring and a label. Amber dashed rings are ones it is unsure about.
- The shot is drawn on a top-down table by default, turned so the side you shot from is at the bottom; tap Photo under it to see the angled photo instead.
- A ball wrong? Tap it in top view or on the photo and pick its number. An enlarged photo crop helps you check. Selecting the current number confirms it too. Missing one: tap Fix balls, then tap the cloth where it sits.
- Balls bunched together: double-tap the photo to zoom in there (pinch while fixing balls), then tap the one you mean.
- If the table outline is off, tap Adjust corners and drag each corner to where the cushion noses meet — the inner edge of the playing surface, not the wooden rail.
The answerReading the shot
- Ball → pocket: what to shoot.
- Live training: open Training for a fixed overhead camera view with numbered placement targets and green rings on correctly placed balls. Try the demo first. Use Chrome tab casting or HDMI for the TV; pot success needs confirmation. Keep the camera fixed and recalibrate after any movement.
- Alternate shot rules out that ball-to-pocket route for the current photo and finds another legal direct shot. Tap again for a third option if available. Undo last rejection brings the previous option back. New photos or corrected layouts start fresh. The same ball may be suggested into a different pocket; in 9-ball the lowest ball must still be hit first.
- Cue-ball diagram: where the tip should strike. Above centre is follow, centre is stun, below is draw.
- Shot details are always visible: cue-tip contact, object-ball overlap, speed, estimated make chance and the full explanation. The teal spot shows where the tip hits the cue ball; the white outline and dashed centre line show how to aim the cue ball at the object ball. Predicted run-out previews later shots; take a new photo after playing instead of treating predictions as the new layout.
- Object-ball diagram: how much of the ball to cover, as you see it from behind the cue ball.
- Speed: a word, mph, and how many table lengths the ball would travel (a lag shot is about 2).
- The ring and shaded oval on the photo: where the cue ball should stop, and where it will probably stop at your skill level. The faint line is the next shot from there.
- Line up the final aim by eye. A phone photo places balls to within about a centimetre — good for choosing the shot, spin and speed, not for an exact aim line.
SetupWhat it needs from you to work well on your table
- The right table size (7, 8 or 9 ft) and your skill level on the start screen.
- Recognition has been checked on a small set of real table photos, including solids and stripes. Different rooms, ball sets and angles still need testing. Check uncertain labels.
Test photos
For useful feedback, try these views when you have time. The optional photo-sharing setting on the start screen keeps the photos you analyze and your corrections for improving recognition:
- The empty table, from the spot you will normally stand.
- All 15 balls and the cue ball spread out, nothing touching — three photos from different spots (long side, short end, a corner).
- The same spread with the balls rolled to new positions, so the stripes show different faces — three photos.
- Balls against the rails and hanging in pocket mouths — two photos.
- Two or three balls touching each other — two photos.
- One real mid-game layout in your normal evening lighting, and one in daylight if the room gets any.
- Later, three test shots to fit the physics to your cloth and rails: a lag shot, a ball rolled into a rail at an angle, and a stop/follow/draw at a fixed distance.
LimitsWhat it can’t do yet
- A ball hidden behind another ball or a player can be missed. Move slightly to reveal it, and check the labels.
- A ball the same colour as the cloth can be missed.
- Direct pots only: no safeties, kicks, banks or combinations. When there is no pot it says so.
- It does not plan to break up clusters.
- Rail routes are approximate until the physics is fitted to your table.
Install and privacyPut it on your phone
- iPhone: open in Safari → Share → Add to Home Screen. Android: Chrome menu → Install app. It then works offline.
- Analysis runs on your device. If “Keep my photos” is enabled on the start screen, analyzed photos and corrected ball labels are uploaded to our private photo store to improve recognition. Turn it off to keep photos on your device. The live preview is not uploaded; only a captured photo can be shared. Sample photos are never uploaded.