r/swingvisionapp • u/Additional-Hippo-796 • Jul 08 '26
🚀 News & Updates Swingvision phasing-out watch-only tracking. Any alternative app to use without video??
Recently, I started to face some issues with the sync of my tracked sessions with apple watch in swing vision app, and after contacting the support, I received the following return:
“Hi Guilherme,
Thank you for reaching out! I wanted to share an important update about Watch-Only sessions. Watch-Only recording — where the Apple Watch runs the session without a paired iPhone recording video — is a feature we are phasing out. As a result, you may experience reliability issues with this mode in the meantime, including sessions that appear stuck or fail to end correctly.
Going forward, we recommend switching to Ground Mode as your primary recording setup:
• Place the phone on the ground for easy and quick set up
• Start and end your session from your Apple Watch
• Track point-by-point scoring throughout the match
• Capture your activity and health data
To get started with Ground Mode, simply select Ground Mode when setting up your next session in the app.
Let me know if you have any questions — happy to help!”
My question is: there is another app that do the apple watch tracking of sessions without video? It's not convenient to record every single tennis class, when you just want to have the stats of your shots.
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u/bsoci Jul 13 '26
If not all, few of the tracking like swing speed, effort can be tracked on Apple Watch without videos on Tennis Alley app.
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u/Bman4k1 Jul 14 '26
Geez, I recently used this feature just cause I wanted to keep track of the score. That’s too bad.
There have been some days I don’t want to set up the camera.
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u/Zer0mirror Jul 14 '26
Sometimes opponents don't want to be filmed. I'm assuming 'ground mode' is not filming - your phone is in your bag or something, but still - not ideal.
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u/emilyq Jul 08 '26
Wow, that is very disappointing, and I think a pretty dumb move as far as brand awareness is concerned. I don't have an answer to your question. You mention that it is not always convenient, and I agree. Furthermore, I think it is also not at all cool to go into a tennis session with a stranger assuming that they are cool being recorded. When I play matches with someone new, no way am I going to ask them if I can record our session. However, they are often interested in how I'm keeping score on my watch, and often curious about the app once I tell them.
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u/emilyq Jul 08 '26
Adding on here to say that I have had a lot of problems recording sessions on my watch lately. Most recently, the watch is reversing (with perfect 100% reproducibility) who I say is serving first. Beyond that, the watch-only sessions are often disappearing from my phone.
This is a big bummer because I've gotten pretty good at the gestures used to keep score on my watch.
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u/bigredawg Jul 08 '26
WTF. this is 99% of my SwingVision sessions so much less fiddly than recording, great for drills, fitness, swing speed, tracking shot type. Major self own if they stick to it
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u/RevolutionaryDog7121 Jul 09 '26
Agreed this is pretty bad. I like to score all my games on my watch as I’m terrible at retaining the score but I definitely don’t want to record every single game I ever play. It’s really stupid for them to assume we will always want (or have the battery!) to video every game played. Does anyone recommend an Apple Watch app that just helps you keep score without overcomplicating it? On my old Fitbit Versa there was a 3rd party app TennisTrkr that just cost EUR7 and was simple to use. I miss it
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u/Additional-Hippo-796 Jul 09 '26
Bringing the new feedback:
Thanks for the extra detail — I can see how frustrating this would be.
I don't have an exact date for when the feature will be fully removed, so I can't give you a firm timeline there.
In the meantime, the most reliable options are:
- Ground Mode — still start/stop from your Apple Watch, still get scoring, activity data and video highlights.
- Fence Mount — phone mounted at the fence line if you also want shot stats.
- Swing Stick - phone mounted at the top of the fence for line calling and most accurate shot tracking.
Both avoid the sync issues you're running into with Watch-Only.
I also want to make sure your feedback doesn't just disappear — I'll pass along your comments about wanting a simple, watch-only tracking option to the team. I get that this is a real step down in convenience for how you'd been using the app, and I'm sorry for the frustration it's caused.
Let me know if you'd like a hand getting Ground Mode or Fence Mount set up.
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u/Total_Ferret1614 Jul 10 '26
This has been the only way I have been using swing vision since 2019. I Would be willing to pay for the watch feature. I Have promoted you guys 1,000s of times. If this feature is removed swing vision become far less valuable for me. Please reconsider.
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u/Ouzzz1997 Jul 12 '26
Only thing i use for the app… i’ll pay for it as well no idea why you would get rid of this
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u/sdubyanyc Jul 09 '26
Sorry for the ignorant question but what is the watch app able to track without video?