Settings at a glance
Tap the gear at the top. Settings has four tabs:
- Updates: Download all music the first time, then Check for updates before each game, on wifi. Switch Google account is here too: if you have more than one role (say, organizer on one account and a team's music volunteer on another), tap it, pick the account, then tap Check for updates to get that account's teams, Edit and Publish. The music on the device stays.
- Publish (organizers and team music volunteers only): one row for each place you can publish to, with what changed since the last publish. Organizers also find Admin and the layout file here.
- Playback: fade-out length, playlist crossfade, and skipping songs already played this game.
- This device: your teams (and Teams on this device, to shorten the team list), the music on this device and Clean up storage, and Start over.
Running a game (volunteers)
- Pick the team: tap the team button at the top left and choose from the list. The big GOAL! button, Pregame, Game music and the team's own tabs follow the team.
- Tap a button to play it. Tap it again to fade it out.
- Fade out all (big red button) when the puck drops. Stop cuts everything instantly.
- Game music: the first tap starts the team's playlist. Every tap after that plays the next song.
- Random buttons (Penalty, Icing, …) pick a song that hasn't played yet this game.
- New game (tap twice) clears the “Played” marks before puck drop.
- Lock hides settings and editing. Press and hold the lock for a second and a half to unlock.
Questions
How do I get the music, and the newest songs and layout?
On good wifi, unlock, open Settings and tap Download all music (the first time) or Check for updates (after that). Sign in with the Google account the organizer shared the music with. The app shows what's new; tap Download now. Only new or changed songs are downloaded, so updates are quick.
You get the shared library plus your team's own goal horn, intro, game music and tabs, if your team has its own Drive folder.
The first time, Google warns that it hasn't verified the app: tap Continue. If a big download stops (the screen locked, the wifi dropped, or the sign-in ran out after an hour), tap Check for updates again: it carries on where it stopped.
Changing buttons (organizer and team music volunteers)
The organizer changes the shared library. A team's music volunteer changes that team: its goal horn, intro, game music, its own tabs and songs, and which shared tabs it hides. Shared tabs show “only the organizer can change it” in Edit.
I'm my team's music volunteer. How do I change our team?
- Tap Check for updates first, so you start from the newest version.
- Tap Edit. Tap the team button (or the GOAL! button) to set your goal horn, pregame and game music playlists.
- Tap New tab for your own songs (player intros, goal announcements…), then Add songs. Songs on your own tabs go to your team's folder only.
- Don't need a shared tab, like Holiday Music? Open it and tap Hide this tab for your team.
- Tap Done, open Settings › Publish and tap Publish next to your team. Everyone on your team gets it with Check for updates.
How do I add a new song?
Unlock, tap Edit, open the tab you want, and tap Add songs. Pick one or more MP3 files. Each file becomes a button named after the file. Tap the new button to rename it, set its colour and set its start point. Tap Done at the top when you're finished.
Or put the song in Google Drive (organizers and team music volunteers). Drop the MP3 into the right folder: a category folder in Hockey Songs (for example In Game Action), or your team's own folder. Then, on your phone or tablet, tap Settings › Check for updates. The app downloads the song and offers to make buttons for new songs: leave it ticked and tap Download now. Each new song gets a button at the end of the tab with the same name as its folder (a folder with no matching tab gets a new tab). Move or rename the buttons in Edit if you like, then open Settings › Publish so everyone gets them.
Only songs that are new since your last Check for updates get buttons, and only on the device of someone who can change that folder. Songs that were already in Drive without a button stay that way.
How do I make a song start at the good part?
In Edit, tap the button, then Play from 0:00. When the part you want hits, tap Set start here. Tap Listen from start point to check it. For a short clip, also tap Set stop here where it should end. You can type exact seconds instead.
How do the Game Day groups (Penalty, Icing…) work?
They come from button names. The Penalty group plays a random song from every button whose name starts with “Penalty”, on any tab. To add a song to a group, rename its button, for example “Penalty - Sabotage - Beastie Boys”. To remove it, rename it without the word at the start.
Each tap plays a song from the group that hasn't played yet this game (New game starts the list again). A group with only a few songs, like Offside or Fighting, comes back around sooner: add more songs whose names start with that word.
To make a new group, go to Game Day, tap Edit, then Edit groups next to Whistles, Moments or Game over. Give it a label and the starting text to match. The count next to each group shows how many songs it found.
How do I change the goal horn or a team's playlists?
In Edit, tap the team button at the top and choose the team (or Add a team), or tap the big GOAL! button. Choose the goal horn, the pregame playlist and the game music playlist. Only buttons with “Goal Horn” in their name show up as goal horns.
How do I make or change a playlist?
In Edit, open a tab and tap Add playlist, or tap an existing playlist button. Search for songs and tap them to add. Use the arrows to change the order and ✕ to remove a song. The songs stay on their own tabs too.
How do I add, rename or reorder tabs?
In Edit, tap New tab at the end of the tab row. To change a tab, open it and tap Tab settings: rename it, pick a colour, move it left or right, add a whole folder of songs, or delete it.
How does a new volunteer or tablet get set up?
Everyone gets the music and the buttons from the team's Google Drive folder. The organizer shares the Hockey Music App folder with the volunteer's Google account. Then, on the new phone or tablet, open the app from its web address, add it to the Home Screen, and tap Settings › Download all music on wifi.
How do I put it on the home screen with the hockey icon?
Android: open the app's web address in Chrome, tap Chrome's menu (⋮), then Add to Home screen (or Install app). The crossed-sticks icon appears on the home screen, and the app opens without Chrome's address bar.
iPhone / iPad: open the web address in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
Can I use it on an iPhone or iPad?
Yes, from its web address in Safari. Open the address, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, and always open it from that icon: Safari can clear a website's saved music if it isn't on the Home Screen.
To get the music, open Settings › Download all music and sign in with Google. If there's no sound while the ring/silent switch is on silent, update iOS.
The first download is about 2 GB. Make sure there's room, and keep the screen on (Settings › Display & Brightness › Auto-Lock) until it finishes.
The tablet screen turns off or locks during the game.
iPhone / iPad: before the game, open the Settings app › Display & Brightness › Auto-Lock and pick the longest time (or Never).
Android: change the tablet's own setting before the game: Settings > Display > Screen timeout, and pick the longest time (often 10 or 30 minutes). Some tablets also have Settings > Developer options > Stay awake, which keeps the screen on while it's charging.
The sound is a little late on the Bluetooth speaker.
Bluetooth always adds a short delay. Tap goal horns as soon as the goal is scored. A cable to the sound system has no delay.
Nothing plays.
Check the tablet volume and the Master slider. Make sure the Bluetooth speaker is connected before opening the app. Buttons with dashed outlines don't have their song file on this device yet.
My phone or tablet is running out of space.
Open Settings (the gear), tap This device, then Clean up storage. The app checks your songs and shows what it would remove: extra copies of the same song, and songs no button uses. Nothing is deleted until you tap Remove.
Extra copies are ticked for you; every button keeps playing. Songs no button uses are only removed if you tick them. To start fresh, tick Remove all songs: the buttons stay, and you download the music again on wifi. Anything removed can be downloaded again with Check for updates.
Old downloads also take space: delete .zip, .rinkpack (old show packs) and old Rinkside files from the Files app (iPhone) or Files / My Files (Android).
It asks “Already on this device”.
Some songs you're adding are already saved. Keep the ones on this device skips them; Replace them swaps in the files you picked. Either way the app doesn't save a second copy. Cancel adds nothing.
It says “A new version of Rinkside is ready.”
The app downloaded an update by itself in the background. The message only appears when nothing is playing, so it never interrupts a song. Tap See what's new to see what's in it before you decide.
Update now restarts the app on the new version. It takes a second or two. Your music, buttons and settings stay as they are.
Later hides the message and you keep going as normal. The new version is used the next time you open the app.
Right after an update you'll see Rinkside updated to … once, with See what's new. The last three updates are in Help under What's new; every update since 2.1 is under App history.
Small fixes install by themselves, with no message. When you open the app or come back to it and nothing is playing, the screen may blink for a second: that's the update. Your team, music and buttons stay as they are. Small fixes are still listed under App history.
The app always opens from the copy saved on your device, so it opens straight away even on weak rink wifi or with no internet.
I made a mess. Can I undo?
Yes. Open Settings › This device and, under Start over, tap Reset to the Drive layout (tap it twice). It puts back the team's layout from Google Drive: what everyone else has. Your music stays.
No internet, or not signed in? It uses the layout from your last Check for updates (or the one built into the app) and tells you. Tap Check for updates on wifi later to get anything newer.
For the organizer
For people who can edit the Hockey Music App folder.
How do I publish an update for everyone?
Publishing the shared library is for people with Editor access to the Hockey Music App folder in Google Drive. Volunteers have Viewer access, so they don't see Edit or Publish. Teams with their own folder publish their own team settings.
Tap Check for updates first, so you start from the newest layout. Make your changes in Edit, then open Settings › Publish and tap Publish next to Shared library. Each row shows what changed since the last publish. The first time, Google asks for permission to change files in Drive. The app shows what it will send (the layout and any new songs), then uploads it. New songs go into the matching category folder under Hockey Songs. Nothing in Drive is deleted, and Drive keeps earlier layouts in its version history (right-click the layout file › Manage versions).
Volunteers get the changes the next time they tap Check for updates.
It says “Someone published since your last update”.
Another editor (or you, from another device) published the layout after this device last got it. Publishing now would wipe out their changes, so the app asks first.
Get latest first (best): puts Drive's layout on this device. Your changes are listed under Settings › Publish as changes to make again. Make them in Edit, publish, and the list clears.
Publish anyway: replaces Drive's layout with yours. Theirs is still in Drive's version history if you need it. Cancel changes nothing.
To avoid it, only one person edits at a time, and always tap Check for updates before starting.
How do I add a team, or see who has access? (Admin)
Open Settings › Publish and tap Admin: teams and access (it checks on its own; tap Check again to refresh). Teams shows each team's status, music volunteers, viewers, own songs and last publish: search, filter, and tap a team for its people, settings and folder link. People shows who has access to which team, and flags anyone missing the shared library. Shared library shows who the Hockey Music App folder is shared with.
A team that picks a ready-made team (Burlington Bulldogs, Barracudas or Eagles): in Google Drive, share Hockey Music App and that team's folder (for example Rinkside – Burlington Bulldogs) with each volunteer's Gmail as Viewer, and add each Gmail as a test user in Google Cloud. Nothing else to set up: the team shows up on their phones after Check for updates.
A team that wants its own goal horn, intro and playlists: make its folder in Hockey Music (Rinkside) and share it (music volunteer as Editor, everyone else as Viewer). In Admin, tap the team, open Add a folder link, paste the link and tap Save team folders.
A brand-new team: tap Add a team, name it, then Publish shared library. Also share Hockey Music App with the team's people (Viewer) and add them as test users in Google Cloud.
What's a layout file?
Under Settings › Publish › Organizer (organizers only). It's the buttons, playlists and teams in one small file: a backup, or a way to try a layout on one device before publishing it. Drive's version history usually does the same job.
Can I edit on my computer instead of the tablet?
Yes. Open the app's web address in Chrome on your computer, sign in with Check for updates, make your changes in Edit and tap Publish. Everyone gets them with Check for updates. This works for team music volunteers too.