GameChanger or iScore?

[bucket pinata]

As the person doing the score keeping Game Changer and I score are a close push. Maybe the edge to I score . As a parent watching the Game on-line which gets Important when your team does not play in state at all, really dislike I - score a whole bunch. The live plays jump around the screen depending on righty or lefty. The spindly girl softball player with the bright red High tops swinging at nothing are annoying as H@# and all those graphics are hard to fit on a phone and watch without making the words so small you need a microscope to see them.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

I've used both for years, and I still can't pick just one. The GC website is way better than iScore's and GC is way easier to use than iScore. iScore is way more customizable than GC, and you need to pray to your deity of choice that you don't need to fix a play or 2 after the game with GC!

I know that I can teach someone GC in about 5 minutes, iScore takes longer. IMO you can't go wrong either way.

 

[abbygale]

I've used both for years, and I still can't pick just one. The GC website is way better than iScore's and GC is way easier to use than iScore. iScore is way more customizable than GC, and you need to pray to your deity of choice that you don't need to fix a play or 2 after the game with GC!

I know that I can teach someone GC in about 5 minutes, iScore takes longer. IMO you can't go wrong either way.

Very accurate description on both. I use iscore but would rather read gamechanger.

 

[DiamondDad316]

We tried both and selected GC. Most other teams are using GC as well.

To keep it cooler have a cooler handy with those hard plastic ice packs. Put a towel on top of them and then we stick our iPad in there between innings. Never have a problem with overheating.

Also have a couple external battery chargers. Not sure the brand but they are shaped like a roll of quarters and can recharge if necessary. Also can charge cell phones which is also nice.

 

[JoeKC]

The following is a reply I gave to a similar thread about 18 months ago:

"I've used both iScore and GameChanger, and ultimately chose to use iScore a couple years ago. There are good and not-so-good aspects of each of the solutions but I found iScore to be more capable, with better and more comprehensive stats. Another key feature of iScore is the ability to group games in anyway you can imagine. Pool vs Bracket vs League, Seasons, Individual Tournaments, by age group (16A vs 18A competitors for example), etc, etc. That aspect of the system is very robust and user friendly.

The other reason we initially switched from GameChanger to iScore was cost. At that time the cost for our team approached $500 per year ($250 per season) for all of our families to be able to "see" the games remotely. The only cost for the team for iScore is the one-time cost of the App (which is $9.99).

There have been a number of enhancements to both solutions in the past 2 years, so my ability to do a valid comparison is limited. What I can say is there were some things that GameChanger did not handle well when dealing with situations unique to softball (substitution with a DP/Flex was one of them). I've never found a situation iScore did not handle well, albeit with a number of screen taps in some cases.

The best advise I was offered, and will relay to you, is install both and score a few games (ideally someone would be keeping score with your paper book so you don't have to do both), and/or find someone that uses each app and watch them score a game or two.

For the first year after beginning with an electronic system, I carried around my old paper book like a security blanket.... always convinced that the electronic system would fail. In time, I began to forget the book, and now I can't remember where I left it last. Further, I can't imagine going back to a situation were I would spend hours entering information into spreadsheets from the paper scorebook. Now when a game/tournament is over, my job is over as well....

A search on this subject in this forum will net several threads of very good information as well.

Good luck with the transition to an electronic system.....you'll look back some day in the near future and regret you didn't make the change sooner."

Since that time iScore has implemented a one change that significantly improved the functionality of the app for me. As others have said, not getting a lineup before the start of a game can make the first inning or two very challenging. Recently iscore added a feature that allows you to build a lineup in real time. If you start the game with no players included in the starting line-up, the system will prompt you to build that lineup batter by batter, which hopefully occurs over two or three innings rather than having to have the entire lineup set before being able to score the first pitch.

The other feature that has always set iscore apart is the concept of separate line ups for offense and defense. That makes games with free defensive substitution a breeze, and makes managing the DP/Flex very simple.

In the past few months, iscore launched a separate, FREE app for those "watching" the games. It makes watching even better, and gives those using it even more functionality than iscore's old, but still usable browser-based system.

When I see the cost (which individually isn't terrible, but when you add it all up collectively, it turns into real money) families of teams using gamechanger must fork over each season, I'm very happy we migrated from gamechanger to iscore over four years ago. The result has been far better functionality, with a total cost over that time of $9.99 (the original, one-time cost of the app....)

If you can't tell, I've become a huge fan of the iscore system. It's a remarkably capable and robust system which just keeps getting better, and is very close to free for all involved.

 

[canyonjoe]

I think that we all agree that you need to pick one or the other. It's great to get the stats quickly.

Only thing like any stat is that you have to have a good scorekeeper or they are worthless.

 

[JohnnyO]

We've been using GameChanger for a couple years. Still use a paper book during the games, as I write in lots of short notes on each batter, pitcher along the way. etc. After the game I "relive" it and key it all in GC, it takes about 45 minutes per game. Maybe someday I'll leave the paper book. But for now this old dog likes it this way. When I'm the only coach left in dugout and have kids asking questions it's hard to concentrate on the ipad. If you make a mistake and get behind it's hard to correct and keep track of pitch counts and I like to track 0-2 counts and where my pitchers are throwing next. On paper I can bounce around...IPAD not so easy in real time...

 

[Rambler34]

Make sure you have a unbiased person keeping score/stats or it can lead to some pretty good parent conversations.

We have ours set so only coaches have access to the stats for this exact reason.

 

[klamath632]

iScore. next?

 

[canyonjoe]

Until you get to double digit softballs, you don't have the authority to declare a thread over

iScore. next?