Solo dev here — built a free tournament app for bar/league pool after 2 years of Sharpie brackets. Would love real players to tear into it.
I run and play in weekly bar tournaments in NC (8-ball and 9-ball, mostly APA-skill crowds, 15-30 players a night). For years the "system" was a whiteboard, a Sharpie, and somebody yelling names across the room. I'm a solo developer, so I built the thing I wished existed. It's called RackerTracker and it's been running real tournaments at ~16 venues for about a month now, so it's past the "works on my phone" stage.
What it actually does
Players join by scanning a QR on the TV. No account needed to play — you can register as a guest with just a name. Making an account later lets you keep your history and see your next match on your phone.
Lives format (the bar standard: lose twice, you're out) with optional APA skill-based lives — a 3 might get 4 lives, a 7 gets 2, the organizer sets the table. Also single and double elimination.
Live TV board: cast to any TV/Chromecast. Shows who's on which table, who's on deck (the next N pairings pinned at the top so you don't wait for a scrolling list), leaderboard, and the join QR. The organizer never has to read names out again.
My Match on your phone: your opponent, your table when one opens, how many matches are ahead of you with a rough wait time, your lives left. Report your own result or let the organizer do it.
What it deliberately doesn't do
No payment processing for entry fees. Fees are cash at the bar, tracked by the organizer. That's intentional — it keeps it store-compliant and keeps the app from skimming your pot.
Custom table numbers (if your bar's tables are 9, 8, 6, 3 — the app can say that instead of 1-4).
No ratings algorithm of its own. It uses your league skill level if you have one.
Live bracket link you can text to anyone, no app required.
Cost: free for players, full stop. Organizers get a free trial; after that there's a subscription for running tournaments (no per-player or per-tournament fees, so a 30-player night costs the same as an 8-player night).
Where to get it
iOS: App Store, search "RackerTracker" (or https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6785885046)
Android: closed beta right now, waiting on Google's production review. Sign up here and you're in within a couple of minutes: https://rackertracker-beta.vercel.app — use the Google account that's signed into your phone's Play Store, or Google won't let me add you.
What I'd love from this sub specifically
You all know what's already out there. If you've used the other bracket apps and there's something they do that this doesn't, or a format you run that this can't handle (Scotch doubles? Ring games? Chip tournaments?), tell me. I read everything and I ship fixes fast — a player reported a lives display bug on Saturday night and the fix was on the beta channel before the tournament ended.
Happy to answer anything about how it's built too (React Native + Firebase, one guy, nights and weekends).