Score shot by shot through a spotting scope: how Scope Mode works

Set up the session as for a normal scan: target, ammunition, series, shots per series, gun and range. On the camera screen, the round button to the right of the shutter opens Scope Mode. It shows an icon and no text; a screen reader calls it “Open Scope Mode”. The setup carries over.

Mount the phone on the scope with an adapter, and aim at the target. The screen shows the live view with the same guide circle as the normal camera, a zoom you pinch, a speaker button and a round shutter button. The screen stays awake for the whole session.

1. Fire a shot, then press the trigger. The trigger is the on-screen shutter, a tap on the live view, or a Bluetooth camera remote that sends volume-key presses. The phone’s own volume buttons work too.
2. The phone takes a photo and runs the on-phone detector on it, whatever the card’s note says in the target list. It looks for the one new hole that was not already known.
3. The target is frozen on screen with the accepted shots and the new proposed one, scored. The phone vibrates and, if the speaker is on, says the score. It stays there as long as you need.
4. The next press accepts the shot and photographs the next one. After the last shot of the series, the press accepts it and moves on without another photo.

There is no baseline photo before the first shot, and no finish button: the series ends by itself when the planned number of shots is reached. The X in the header leaves and drops an unfinished series.

• Drag the proposed marker, or an accepted one, to move it. The score under your finger changes as you drag.
• Tap a shot for its menu to delete it, and use Undo if that was a mistake.
• If no hole was found, tap the target where the hit is to place it.
• “Retake” takes a new photo without accepting. “Save” plus the score accepts the shot and goes back to the live view without photographing the next.

If nothing new is found, for example after a miss off the paper, the app says “No new hit found. Fire again, or retake the photo.” If it finds no target at all, it says “No target detected. Check the scope alignment and retake.” When the app is unsure which hole is the new one, for example on a paper that already has holes, it marks the shot with a dashed halo and, with the speaker on, says “Check.” before the score.

With the speaker button on, which is the default, the phone says the score of each shot: the words Zero to Ten, or the decimal when the card scores in tenths. It says “No hit found” when the photo has no new hole, and if you move the proposed shot and its score changes, it says the new score. The speech is always English, whatever language the app is set to, and the speaker button is the only setting for it.

• The camera permission. The app does not use the microphone and does not listen for the shot: it reads a shot only after you press the trigger.
• No internet and no account. The detector and the scoring run on the phone, and the app asks the phone’s own speech voice to read the score.
• A spotting scope with an adapter for the phone, and optionally a Bluetooth remote. The app cannot check either. It does not require either: the on-screen shutter works without them.
• A scan from your allowance. Scope Mode uses one scan for each completed series, not one for each photo. Opening it with no free scans left shows the paywall at once, unless you have Pro. The first 10 scans are free, as in the other article on scanning.

When the series is complete, the shots go to the ordinary result page with the last photo. There you save, share and change gun or range as for any scan. A Scope Mode series keeps the order you fired the shots in, which an ordinary scan cannot know, as long as you do not add a shot by hand on the result page. The saved data records that it was made in Scope Mode.

Scope Mode uploads nothing by itself, and no AI is used. If “Share target photos” is on, the last photo of the series may be collected to improve the detector, as for other scans. With it off, no photo leaves your phone. Usage events are sent as the privacy policy describes, without photos or shots.

• It offers no AI scoring and shows no “Analyze with AI” row.
• It finds only the next hole, never all the holes at once.
• It does not guarantee that the right hole is picked. Two shots in the same hole, or a shot that barely changes the picture, can be missed or proposed as uncertain. The app gives no figure for how often it is right or how long a photo takes.
• It has no step that checks the scope or the adapter, and no calibration.
• It does not tell you whether your score meets any requirement.

Do I need a remote?

No. The on-screen shutter, a tap on the live view and the phone’s volume buttons also fire a shot. A Bluetooth remote that sends volume-key presses works too.

Does the phone listen for the shot?

No. It reads a shot only from the photo taken after you press the trigger. The app does not use the microphone.

Does Scope Mode work without internet?

Yes. The detection and the scoring run on the phone. Scope Mode itself uploads nothing; with “Share target photos” on, the last photo of the series may be collected for detector training when you reach the result page.

How many scans does a series use?

One per completed series. A series you leave unfinished is not counted.