Support

Thanks for using Trace: Ballistics Calculator. This page is the official support channel for the app.

Contact

For bug reports, feature requests, or any question about the app, email Traceballistics@icloud.com — we read everything and aim to reply within a few business days. Include your iPhone/Watch model and iOS/watchOS version; a screenshot of the screen in question saves a round trip.

Getting started

1. Tap Get Started on the welcome screen. No account is needed.
2. Rifles tab → Add Rifle: zero distance, scope height, click value, reticle. Pick your scope from the library and Trace fills in the click value, focal plane, and reticle; or draw your own in the Reticle Designer.
3. Add a load from the factory library (53 calibers, 387 loads with published BCs) or enter your own bullet.
4. Dope Table solves instantly. Range ranges targets on satellite imagery. Holdover shows the hold on your actual reticle. Tune trues the whole table to what you shoot.
5. Wearing an Apple Watch? Your rifles appear on the wrist automatically through your own iCloud account — nothing to pair or sign into.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an account?

No. Tap Get Started and the full app is available immediately. Sign in with Apple is optional (Settings, gear icon) and enables no gated functionality.

How much does Trace cost?

Trace is free, forever, with one rifle profile — and every feature is included: the solver, satellite ranging, courses of fire, live GPS tracking, truing, the reticle designer, and the Apple Watch app. A single one-time purchase — Trace Pro, $14.99 — removes the one-rifle limit. No subscription, ever. The quiet FREE · 1 RIFLE chip in the header opens the unlock screen whenever you want it.

I have more than one rifle. What happens to the others?

Nothing is deleted. Your first rifle stays fully usable; additional rifles you create stay listed on the Rifles tab and become selectable the moment you unlock Pro. Rifles you build on a Pro device sync to every device on your iCloud account.

I bought Pro on another device — how do I unlock this one?

Settings (gear icon) → Restore Purchases, signed into the same Apple ID.

How do refunds work?

Purchases go through Apple, so refunds do too: reportaproblem.apple.com is Apple's official refund page.

Where is my data stored?

On your device. If you are signed into iCloud, your rifles, loads, dope, saved targets, and custom reticles sync privately through your own iCloud account to your other iPhones, iPad, and Apple Watch. We operate no servers and cannot see your data.

Why does Trace ask for my location?

Three optional features use it:

• Use GPS prefills altitude and fetches local pressure and temperature for density-altitude correction.
• Range centers the satellite map on your position, looks up terrain elevation for angle of fire, and — while you are tracking a marked target — keeps re-ranging it as you move, including with the screen off.
• Compass heading (true north) needs location updates running, so azimuth capture asks for it too.

Every one of these is optional: every value can be entered manually, and the app is fully functional with location denied.

Why does the Range tab show an amber MAG badge?

Location is denied, so the compass can only report magnetic north. Allow location (Settings → Trace → Location) and headings become true north, corrected for your local declination. Until then, treat captured azimuths as magnetic.

How accurate is Map Range?

It depends on the imagery and your GPS fix. The chip under MAP RANGE grades the fix by what the error costs downrange: green ≤5 yd (sub-click anywhere), amber ≤15 yd, red beyond or with no fix. For a shot that matters, a laser rangefinder is the standard: tap the distance readout, type the lasered number, and it commits directly.

How do courses of fire work?

On the Range tab, tap MULTI. Pan and pinch the satellite map; the center crosshair shows live range. MARK drops a numbered, colored target with its own solution. Leaving MULTI offers to save the course — Save & Put Away, Save & Keep Up, or Not Now. One course is applied at a time; tap ✕ to put it away and the app behaves as if nothing were marked. Applied targets appear as dots on the Holdover glass and as rows on the watch's Targets page; tap a target's chip, dot, or row to jump the whole solve to that stage. Each stage solves at its own angle of fire and bearing.

What is live tracking?

Tap an applied target's chip and Trace follows it: every fix re-ranges all targets in the course as you move — on every tab and on the wrist. Rows say where their numbers came from: LIVE (updating), HELD (a real fix, with its age), MARK (ranged from where the target was marked). Any manual input — typed range, dope row tap, hand-captured azimuth — takes the wheel back and stops the GPS. On the watch, tracking asks how long up front (15 m / 30 m / 1 h / 2 h / until you stop) and ends itself with a haptic.

My reticle is not in the library. What do I do?

Open your rifle profile, tap the reticle row, and use the Reticle Designer: compose from seven base types (duplex, mil-dot, ladder, tree, BDC, prism, red dot), or clone the closest library pattern and adjust it. Custom designs render everywhere in the app, including the watch.

My dope table does not match what I shoot.

That is what the Tune tab is for. Enter the clicks that actually put you on target at each distance — confirmed values override theory in the table and follow you into Holdover and onto the watch. Also check your measured muzzle velocity (chrono override on the Dope Table, or import a chronograph CSV on Tune), zero distance, scope height, and click value.

Can I import my chronograph data?

Yes. Tune tab → Import CSV: Garmin Xero (ShotView export), LabRadar, or any velocity CSV. Trace reports shot count, SD, and ES, fills the field with the string average, and you press Apply.

What does "GPS alt · ISA" mean on the environment pill?

No weather signal, but the GPS fix landed: station pressure is derived from your altitude using the standard atmosphere and shown in amber. It beats sea-level defaults at 9,000 ft with no bars, but it is an estimate — check the temperature, and tap Use GPS again when you have signal.

Is Trace a substitute for confirming my dope?

No. Trace is a reference tool. Always confirm your dope at distance before relying on it in the field.

Apple Watch

What does the watch app do?

Five pages, swipe between them: Dope (full 10-yard ladder with a hero solution), Range (satellite ranging with a live compass), Holdover (your real reticle, edge to edge), Targets (the applied course, one row per stage), and Rifles (switch rifle and load). The Digital Crown dials distance on every solve page; tap a range number to type it.

Does it need the iPhone nearby?

No. It runs standalone off your rifles synced through iCloud. Rifles, loads, confirmed dope, and courses are built on the phone (the phone is the armory); the watch reads them and adds its own GPS, compass, and wrist-pitch incline.

The watch says "Waiting for rifles" or "Signed out of iCloud."

The watch receives rifles through iCloud. Check that the paired iPhone is signed into iCloud with iCloud Drive on, that both devices are on the same Apple ID, and that the phone has been opened once since the rifles were created. Sync usually lands within seconds; on a fresh watch install give it a minute with the watch app open.

The Range page shows a street map, not satellite.

Satellite imagery on the wrist needs a data connection the first time a region is viewed. Check Wi-Fi or cellular on the watch (or the phone nearby), then reopen the Range page.

Troubleshooting

• A rifle I made on my phone is not on my iPad/watch. Same Apple ID + iCloud Drive on both devices; open Trace on the device that created it so it uploads; wait a minute. If a rifle appears twice, delete the copy you did not edit — independent creations on two devices before their first sync can surface as duplicates.
• Location shows "denied." Settings → Trace → Location → While Using the App. That is all Trace ever asks for — a followed target keeps updating with the screen off under the same permission, and the blue location indicator shows while it does. Every value can still be entered manually.
• Battery while tracking. Live tracking runs GPS only while a target is tracked or a course is applied; stopping either releases it. iOS pauses updates automatically when you stand still.
• CSV import says the file is not recognized. Export velocities as CSV (not the app's own format); Trace looks for a velocity column in fps or m/s. Email us the file's first few lines and we will add the format.
• What is the FREE · 1 RIFLE chip? Your tier. Tap it to unlock Pro, or ignore it — nothing is locked but extra rifles.
• Weather won't load. Trace uses the free Open-Meteo service; with no signal it falls back to your GPS altitude (amber pill) and you can type conditions from a Kestrel or weather app — enter station pressure, not a sea-level barometer.

Privacy

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