Film the match yourself. We'll turn it into follow-cam.
The Ref-Vision App captures GPS, heart rate and events on Apple Watch, plus sideline film on iPhone — processed into follow-cam on your game.
Match review used to start after you had already lost the evidence. Footage on someone else's phone. A watch file in another app. Event notes in a message thread. By the time you sat down, the lesson was harder to find than the clip.
That is the problem Ref-Vision was built to solve on the website. Now the capture side matches it.
The **Ref-Vision App** lets a referee film the match, record GPS and heart rate, and tap the key events — then send the lot to one game. We process the sideline recording into **follow-cam** style footage: the kind of film you can actually review, without hiring a camera operator for a Saturday afternoon.
Download it free on the [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/ref-vision/id6737510556) (iPhone and Apple Watch).
## Why this is a big step
Grassroots and development matches rarely get a dedicated camera crew. Clubs film from the wrong end. A parent pans to their own player. You finish 90 minutes and have nothing you can show a mentor.
Follow-cam changes that. You put an iPhone on a tripod, aim at the centre of the pitch, and leave it running. After you upload, we process that wide sideline recording into footage that stays with the play — like someone was operating the camera on the line.
At the same time, the Apple Watch records the performance you cannot see from the sideline: where you ran, how hard you worked, and the moments you marked.
Both land on the **same game** in your Ref-Vision workspace. One [sync offset](/docs/sync-and-heatmaps) lines GPS, heart rate, and Watch events up with the film. Analysis stays on [ref.vision](https://ref.vision) — video review, heatmaps, collaborator feedback, and assistants. The app is the instrument. The site is the desk.
## What each device does
### Apple Watch — the product on the pitch
The Watch is built to be glanced at, not stared at. Start at **kick-off**. That single action starts an outdoor workout, the match clock, and the session timeline together. Do not start during warm-up.
During play you get:
- Match clock and period (`1H`, `HT`, `2H`, `FT`)
- Live heart rate, speed, and distance
- A small GPS lock glyph — not a map
- Four large event buttons. Default: **Foul**, **Yellow**, **Red**, **Goal**
Tap once. You get a haptic and a short on-face banner. Undo a mis-tap by swiping left.
GPS and heart rate keep recording through half-time as **one continuous workout**. Only the display clock pauses. Second half resumes from 45:00. Full-time ends the session and sends it to iPhone automatically. You do not need pitch-side mobile data.
Keep the Ref-Vision app open on the Watch for the whole match. Do not turn on Water Lock — it blocks the buttons you need.
See [Watch capture](/docs/watch-capture) for the full match-day flow.
### iPhone — companion, and now the camera
The phone is not a mini copy of the website. Five tabs:
| Tab | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| **Live** | Clock, heart rate, distance, GPS, and last event while the Watch is recording |
| **Sessions** | Finished Watch sessions — review, edit events, attach a game, upload |
| **Record** | Sideline match film from a tripod |
| **Buttons** | Event layout pushed to the Watch |
| **Settings** | Email sign-in, workspace, Health and Location |
You can record a Watch session and sideline film with **no account**. Upload to Ref-Vision needs sign-in with the same six-digit email code you use on the website, a workspace you own, and a game attached to that session or recording.
See [iPhone companion](/docs/iphone-app).
## Sideline film that becomes follow-cam
The Record tab is the part that changes the economics of review.
Mount the phone in **landscape**, on a **tripod**, on power, with an **ultra-wide / 180° add-on lens** so the pitch fills the frame. Raise the mast, aim at the centre of the pitch, and stay on the ultra-wide camera. Keep the app open and do not lock the phone. Recording is built for a full match — 1080p by default, 4K if you want it.
The add-on lens is a fisheye. Before you raise the tripod, use the zoom slider until the left and right edges of the lens meet the left and right edges of the screen. That is how the pitch runs edge to edge, and how processing gets enough of the match to work with.
Recordings stay on the iPhone first, even with no signal. After full-time:
1. Watch it back and add notes if you want.
2. Attach or create a game (same flow as a Watch session).
3. Upload. Progress shows on the phone.
Success copy is **Uploaded. We'll start processing it soon.** Processing is not instant. When the follow-cam is ready, it appears on that game at [ref.vision](https://ref.vision).
Phone Record uploads count toward Individual fair use in the same way as other video uploads.
Full setup: [Sideline recording](/docs/sideline-recording).
## One game, one timeline
This is the point of capturing both at once.
Start the Watch at kick-off. Put the phone on the tripod. After the match, upload the Watch session and the recording to the **same fixture**. On the site you set one GPS sync offset — the same control referees already use when they import a workout file. That offset moves movement, heart rate, heatmap, and Watch event tags together. There is no second slider for events.
If you re-sync later, tags recompute from the wall times stored on the Watch. That is why events keep when they happened, not only match-clock seconds.
Pitch corners, charts, heatmaps, collaborators, and assistants stay on the website. The app does not try to become the analysis desk.
## Hardware: the GameDay Kit
If you need the kit rather than assembling it yourself, our partners **Camera-Pan** sell a [GameDay Kit](https://www.camera-pan.com/product-page/gameday-kit):
- 3.6 m tripod
- Phone mount and carry bag
- Ultra-wide mobile lens (covers the whole pitch)
- Tripod pegs
- Waterproof portable battery (about five hours of filming)
Ref-Vision does not fulfil or ship the kit. It is designed to complement this recording and processing workflow.
## How to start
1. Install the [Ref-Vision App](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/ref-vision/id6737510556) on iPhone and Apple Watch.
2. Open **Settings** on iPhone. Sign in with the same email you use on ref.vision. Request a six-digit code once — you do not need a new code for every upload.
3. Pick a default workspace. Only workspace **owners** (Individual subscription or organisation seat) can upload. Collaborators cannot.
4. Grant Health and Location when asked. The Watch will also ask for Health the first time you start a session.
5. Optionally open **Buttons**, choose extras (Advantage, Stoppage, Injury, Sub, Penalty, Custom), and **Save & push to Watch**. Extra buttons live on a second Watch page. The play face stays four large primaries unless you choose otherwise.
A compatible Apple Watch is required for GPS, heart rate, and event capture. Sideline film uses iPhone only.
Then read [The Ref-Vision App](/docs/ref-vision-app) once before your next appointment — it is the short version of match day.
## What this is (and is not)
Ref-Vision records referee performance: location, heart rate, and optional sideline video. It is **not** a medical device and does not provide medical advice.
File import is still there. Garmin, Polar, Strava, RefSix, and other GPX, CSV, or FIT exports still come in through the website wizard if you are not using the Watch app. Veo public share URLs still import follow-cam when you already have that film. The app does not replace those paths. It means you are no longer dependent on them to get a complete match on the desk.
The camera crew is in your bag. The Watch is on your wrist. The review still happens where it should — on the film, with the movement, on one timeline.