Troubleshooting
The phones won’t connect, or the connection is slow
- Turn Wi-Fi on on both phones (Control Center). They don’t need to join a network, but with Wi-Fi off they use Bluetooth only, which is very slow and drops easily.
- Open SideoutCam first, on its home screen or camera screen. The camera phone must be awake and SideoutCam open. A locked phone can’t be found.
- Tap Reconnect in SideoutTally. It only searches when asked, to save battery.
- Stay within range. About 20–30 m with a clear line of sight works well; walls and crowds shorten it.
- “Code changed”? The pairing code is on SideoutCam’s home screen. Tap Search for Camera and enter it again.
- If all else fails, choose Forget This Camera in SideoutTally and pair again.
The stream keeps showing “Weak signal” or reconnecting
The camera phone’s upload connection is too slow or unsteady. Run a speed test at the camera spot: for 720p you want a steady 5 Mbps upload or more. Try mounting the phone higher or nearer a window or door, make sure 5G is on, or use 720p instead of 1080p. Viewers keep the same link while Sideout reconnects.
No sound in my videos
SideoutCam needs microphone access: Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Microphone ▸ SideoutCam. The camera screen warns you when it’s off.
Go Live is grey
No destination is set up for the team you’re filming for. Tap Go Live for a hint, then sign in to YouTube or add a stream key in Accounts, and pick it for the team in My Teams (Live Streaming).
“Your YouTube sign-in expired” or “Your Google Drive sign-in expired”
Google sometimes asks you to sign in again, for example after you change your Google password or remove Sideout’s access in your Google account. Go to Accounts and sign in again. Uploads continue where they left off.
Upload stopped with “daily upload limit”
YouTube limits uploads per channel per day. Tap Upload again tomorrow; finished videos are skipped.
The camera stopped when I pressed the side button
iPhone apps can’t record in the background or with the screen locked. Everything up to that moment is saved. Leave SideoutCam open on the camera screen; it keeps the screen on by itself.
“Recovered after an unexpected stop”
The camera phone shut down or SideoutCam closed while recording. Sideout saved everything up to about the last 10 seconds and added it back to Games, marked recovered. If it was a game, Resume on the home screen brings back the score too.
The phone is getting hot
Long recordings, 4K or 60 fps, streaming, bright sun and a charging cable all add heat. Keep the phone out of direct sun, use 1080p, and avoid charging while it’s in a case. If the phone gets too hot, iOS may dim the screen or stop the camera.
While the camera screen is open, Sideout watches the camera phone’s heat and warns on both phones:
- Phone is hot (orange): streaming and fast charging add the most heat. Shade the phone and take off a thick case.
- Phone is very hot (red): iOS may stop the camera soon. If the camera does stop, everything recorded until then is kept.
When the phone is hot and you’re live, the warning has Pause Stream to Cool Down… (on either phone). Streaming is the biggest extra load, so pausing it is the quickest way to cool the phone, and the recording keeps going. You can add a message for viewers (up to 60 characters, e.g. “Back for Set 3”). For 30 seconds viewers then see Stream paused: the camera is too hot, “Please keep this window open. We’ll be back once the phone cools down.” and your message; then the stream stops sending. On YouTube the broadcast stays open, so viewers who keep the window open see it come back on the same link when you tap Resume Stream (either phone). On Facebook or with a stream key, the live video may end while paused, so the card tells viewers to look for a new live video. End Stream ends it for good.
On a small iPhone, the warning can push Pause and Stop below the bottom of SideoutTally’s screen: swipe up to reach them.
To check the camera phone at any time from the remote: ⋯ ▸ Camera Phone Status shows its heat, battery, Low Power Mode and recording space (as last reported; opening it doesn’t ask the camera phone for anything).
Screen dimming: while the remote is connected, the camera phone’s screen goes black and its brightness drops right down 20 seconds after it was last touched (the screen is one of the phone’s biggest heat sources, and the remote has the controls and the preview). Recording, streaming and scoring carry on; it shows a faint “Screen dimmed to keep the phone cool” note with REC / LIVE, and a tap wakes it. It wakes by itself if the remote disconnects. Turn it off in Game Setup ▸ Dim screen while the remote is connected.
Other ways to keep it cooler: take the case off, use a slower charger or a battery pack rather than a fast charger, keep the phone out of sun, record at 30 fps instead of 60, and turn Stabilization off on a tripod.
Each set in Games notes it if the phone got hot while recording (“Phone got hot at 34:10”), so after a tournament you can see when and what was running.
Running out of space
Sideout warns on both phones when there’s about an hour of recording space left (orange) and when there’s 20 minutes or less (red), at the quality you’re recording in. It also warns when the camera phone’s battery is at 20% or less and not charging, and when Low Power Mode is on (it can slow the phone).
Upload and delete finished games, move them to an external drive, or turn off Also save to Photos (it stores every video twice). See After the Game.