Head to head, in real time
Your rival is on another lane, or in another city. Between your frames, their real ball plays on your phone, the pins go down, and the lead swings back and forth. Bowling side by side, from anywhere.
In testing on Android now. Free, with no ads and no in-app purchases.
Head to head
The best nights are the ones bowled side by side, watching every shot your rival throws. BowlMe brings that back when they're across town or across the country: bowl at the same time, each on your own lane, and trade frames as you go, their real shot and then your next frame. Or chase a game they bowled earlier, frame by frame between yours.
You · lane 3
Frame 6: your spare.
Sarah · 400 miles away
Their shot Frame 6: her strike.
Your frame goes in. The camera reads your pins, or you tap them in.
Their real ball from their lane: the roll, the hit, the pins going down.
Their total lands, the margin swings, and you're up again.
A friend at another centre or a rival three states away. Challenge them, and you're in a match.
When they film, you watch their actual ball hit the pins. No clip? Their result lands with the margin.
Away from your phone? Their frame waits, and your next one holds until you've seen it. Or tap Skip this frame.
Pick Just bowl, or Skip the rest of the game, and their side stays hidden till your tenth. Then it all lands at once.
Every match ends in a recap: the turning point, the best ball and the winning shot, to share with the people in it.
A game bowled on Tuesday plays out the same way on Thursday, frame by frame. How ghost matches work
Watch their shot
Once you've bowled your frame, theirs comes to you: the clip of their actual ball from their lane, then what it scored, then the match as it now stands.
Real captures, from a match against the app's practice ghost.
1Their frame is in. Watch it, or skip to the score.
2Their ball rolls. The clip they filmed, one ball at a time.
3Their total lands. The margin moves, and you're up.
It watches the pins
Stand your phone beside the approach, facing the pins. The camera finds the deck, watches each ball arrive, and reads which pins fell. You confirm from the approach, by voice, or from your watch.
1It finds the deck. All ten pins in view, boxed in amber.
2It watches the ball arrive. The picture is read on the phone, never uploaded.
3It reads what fell. Nine down, the 6 left. Confirm, or fix it with a tap.
Real captures of BowlMe on real lane footage, played through the app's own camera pipeline.
And the rest of your game
Everything a league night needs, on the phone already in your pocket.
Your form
Home opens on your form: your average in a ring against 300 with your high game marked, your last ten games as bars, and the trend in plain words.
Spare practice
BowlMe ranks your leaves by the pins they cost you a game, draws the costliest one on the deck, and takes you straight into practising it.
Bowl together
Pick who is bowling and the order, guests included. The phone hands over after each frame, says whose turn it is in large type, and ends on the night's standings.
Teams and leagues
Start a team and share its code, or put your team into a league with the organiser's. Each night gets a sheet both teams fill in, scored by your league's rules.
Bowl a whole game with no bars at the lanes. Nothing is lost, and it goes through once you're back online.
Pick your league secretary's export, say which line is you, check what it found, and confirm.
See the camera's reading on your Wear OS watch and confirm it from your wrist.
Back up with Google to move phones, and download your games as CSV any time.
How ghost matches work
One another bowler has put up to chase, one they challenged you with, or one of your own. You see their name and when it was bowled. Never the score.
Score it however you like: with the count pad, the pins, or the camera.
Only once yours is in does their frame arrive from the server, with the running margin. The frames you haven't reached never reach your phone.
Win or lose, send a one-word reaction, and let them chase your game back.
Privacy first
The people you bowl against see what they have earned, and nobody sees your games otherwise.
No ads, no advertising ID, and nothing sold or shared with advertisers.
A few usage counts and crash reports, tied to no account and never holding a score, an opponent, a centre or a time. One switch turns them off.
Pins are read on your phone. Nothing it sees is uploaded unless you switch on filming or pin-reading help yourself.
You start with an anonymous account. Back up with Google only if you want to.
Your name and record are public; your games are not. A challenge never shows its score.
Download a copy of your data, or delete your account and everything in it, from Settings.
It's in testing on Android. Join the tester list and you'll get an invitation with an install link. It's coming to Google Play and the App Store.
Nothing. There are no ads and no in-app purchases.
Not yet. BowlMe is on Android first, with an optional Wear OS watch app. The iPhone version is coming to the App Store.
No. You can score every game by hand, with a count pad or by tapping the pins that fell. The camera is there when you want the phone to do the tapping.
No, but you can. Bowl at the same time, each on your own lane, and trade frames live: their frame arrives as soon as you've both bowled it. Or they bowl their game whenever suits them and you chase it later, frame by frame between yours: a game they bowled on Tuesday, watched shot by shot on Thursday.
Keep bowling. Games score with no signal and nothing is lost; they go through once you're back online. A ghost match carries on through a dropout too.
Other bowlers see your name and your record: games bowled, recent average, high game, and wins and losses. Your games themselves are private. An opponent receives your frames only as they bowl theirs, and a game you put up to chase never shows its score.
Yes. Import a season from your league secretary's export: pick the file, say which line is you, check what it found, and confirm. An import can be taken back out.
In the app: Settings, then Privacy & data, then Delete my account and data. It removes your account and everything that is yours, from our servers and your phone. The privacy policy has the details.
Get BowlMe
BowlMe is in testing on Android now. Join the tester list and bowl your first match before it reaches the stores.
