Several bowling leagues on this site use “direct entry,” so that each club can enter their own match results. The league tables and other records are updated immediately. The main snag seems to be that some users struggle to get the user name or password right. Doing away with the need for a user name and password would open up the league to playful or even malicious interference.

This app (for Android devices only) is designed to make things easier. You don’t need to enter a user name at all, and you only need to enter a club’s password once. You register clubs in advance. On the match day you can quickly get to a simplified web page to enter the match result.

A useful side-effect is that not much data needs to be transferred, which is handy for those with limited data allowances.

To get started, tap on the icon (if you don’t yet have any clubs set up the main button also works here).

You will be presented in turn with a list of the leagues using direct entry, then the clubs in the selected league, then an invitation to enter the selected club’s password:

The password should be supplied by the league management, and this is the only time you need to enter it.

When you have one club set up, the main button is the starting point to enter a match result. If you have more than one club set up, the button first invites you to select one of these:

The app does a search for the editable matches (those played in the last couple of days). If there is only one such fixture you go straight to it. Otherwise there’s a step where you select the match to be enetered:

So, after at most three taps you are at the screen to enter the match details. This screen works best in landscape mode:

Select the players’ names by tapping on the boxes. You will be presented with a list of the club’s registered players. Take care with similar-looking names — especially players with the same surname. Enter the losers’ scores the same way. You don’t normally need to enter winners’ scores.

If a player is absent, leave the name blank (and set the score to 21-0 for the other player). If both players are missing, leave both names blank and the score at 0-0.

The chalks totals are updated as you go along. When all the details have been entered, these totals should correspond to the match sheet. If they don’t, you need to invstigate where the error is. When all is correct, tap on the Submit button.

If all is well the web site is updated. You then have the chance to go back to the start page, or open the league table in your web browser.

In some leagues, players are allowed to play twice when a team is short. If this happens, you will be prompted to confirm that it’s intentional.

If a club stops playing in a league, or even changes its name, the password no longer works. You should delete the club (and create a new one if necessary). Tap on the icon. Select the club(s) to be deleted and tap the icon again. You will be asked to confirm the deletion:

The app is available in the Google Play Store.

It can also be installed from the link below. You will probably have to permit installation from unknown sources. Go to Settings - Security.

Bowrap Match Entry