How to use Rally Co-Pilot

1.1First launch and onboarding

When you open the app for the first time, a short introduction explains what Rally Co-Pilot does and asks two quick questions about your experience and your next rally. Tap Get Started and Continue to move through it.

The last page, Let's build your first stage, takes you straight into the stage editor so you can create your first special stage. Chapter 2 explains that editor in detail. You can also tap Skip for now and create your first stage later from the Co-Pilot tab.

1.2The four tabs

The app has four tabs at the bottom of the screen. Everything in this manual lives in one of them.

2.2Creating a new stage

Each row in the Stages list shows one section with its target speed, distance and time. Sections are timed in the order shown here.

1. 1Open the Co-Pilot tab and tap + in the top right corner. If you have no stages yet, tap the large Create button instead.
2. 2Type a name into the Name field, for example the name of the regularity test from your roadbook. The list on the Co-Pilot tab is sorted alphabetically by this name, so a prefix like "SS1", "SS2" keeps the stages in order.
3. 3Add at least one section with Add stage (see 2.3), Add circuit (see 2.5) or Scan Roadbook (see 2.6).
4. 4Tap Save in the top right. Save stays greyed out until the stage has a name and at least one section.

2.5Adding a circuit section

Use a circuit for a regularity run on a closed course where you do not know the length or the target speed up front. The first lap you drive sets the reference time. Every following lap counts down from that reference and shows how far you are off. Tap Add circuit in the stage editor to open it.

• Open: switched off by default. Off means you set a fixed number of laps. On means open mode: you keep lapping until you end the session yourself.
• Laps: the number of laps to drive, including the reference lap. Use the minus and plus buttons. The range is 2 to 30, the default is 4. This row is hidden in open mode.
• Drive lap 1 as reference: on by default. The first lap you drive becomes the reference time. Switch it off if you already know the lap time. Time fields for hours, minutes, seconds and hundredths appear so you can type it.
• Save: always available when lap 1 is driven as reference. With a typed reference the time has to be greater than zero.

2.6Scanning a roadbook page

The roadbook scanner reads a printed speed table and turns it into sections. It runs completely on your device. No photo, PDF or recognised text leaves the phone.

The Scan Roadbook button appears in the stage editor below Add circuit. It only shows on devices that support it: iOS 26 or newer with Apple Intelligence switched on and its model downloaded. If you do not see the button, your device does not meet these requirements.

1. 1Tap Scan Roadbook in the stage editor.
2. 2Choose Take Photo, Choose from Library or Choose from Files. Files accepts images and PDFs. For a PDF only the first ten pages are read.
3. 3Wait while Reading roadbook… is shown. Text recognition and parsing happen on the device.
4. 4Check every row on the Review Sections screen. Each row has a Distance field with a km/mi switch, a Speed field with a km/h/mph switch and an optional Note. Swipe a row to the left to delete it.
5. 5Tap Import … Sections. The sections are added to the stage editor exactly like manual entries.
6. 6Tap Save in the stage editor. Nothing is stored until you do.

• Two table layouts work: a speed table where each row lists the section length and the average speed, and a cumulative table that lists total distance against total time without a speed column.
• Photograph the page flat, sharp and well lit. Cover pages, tulip diagrams and entry lists are ignored.
• If the scan fails you see a message with Try Again and Add Manually. The messages tell you whether the page was unreadable, too long or whether the scanner is unavailable on the device.

2.7Managing your stages

• Open a stage in race mode by tapping its name.
• Edit a stage: press and hold its row, then tap Edit. You can also start editing from race mode via the menu in the top right.
• Delete a stage: press and hold the row and tap Delete, or swipe the row to the left. Deletion happens immediately and there is no confirmation.
• Sorting: stages are sorted alphabetically by name.
• Which stages you see: with Sync across devices switched on, you see all stages from all your devices signed in to the same iCloud account. With sync off, the list only shows stages created on this device. The other stages are not deleted, only hidden.

3.1The race screen

The title bar shows the stage name. Cancel on the left leaves the stage. If a section is running, the app asks Do you really want to cancel? first. Confirming resets every run of the stage and returns to the list. The menu button on the right offers three actions: Share race (chapter 4), Set start time (see 3.4) and Edit, which also cancels any running section.

Below the title bar is the header with two values. Current Speed on the left is your live GPS speed. Tap it to switch between km/h and mph. Current time on the right is the clock of the day, useful for hitting your start minute.

Below the header, each section of the stage is shown as a card, numbered in driving order. The list scrolls automatically so the active section is at the top. A round map button sits in the bottom right corner (see 3.6).

• A red Location disabled in place of the speed means the app has no location permission. Open the iOS Settings app and allow location for Rally Co-Pilot.
• A red Bad GPS... means the GPS fix is too inaccurate at the moment. Wait for a clear view of the sky.
• With a RaceBox selected as GPS source a small badge appears above the speed: RaceBox • 3D in green, or RaceBox unavailable • phone GPS in orange (chapter 7).

3.2Reading a section card

Every section card has the same layout from top to bottom.

3.5Circuits in race mode

A circuit appears in the race list as one card per lap. Each card carries a Circuit badge and a lap title: Reference lap for lap 1, Lap 2 / 4 with a fixed lap count, or Lap 2 in open mode. Laps you have not reached yet show Waiting for the reference lap until lap 1 is done, then they fill in speed, distance and time.

• Reference lap: tap Start at the line. The time counts up under Elapsed. When you cross the line again, tap End reference lap. The lap time becomes the Reference time, and the app also stores the driven distance and average speed as the target for the following laps.
• Chase laps: they start automatically when the reference lap ends. The time counts down from the reference. If you pass zero, the number turns red and is labelled Over reference time. The pace meter compares your position with a ghost of your reference lap.
• Ending a lap: tap End lap when you cross the line. The next lap starts at the very same instant. On the last lap of a fixed session the button reads End final lap.
• Finished laps: show their Lap time and Deviation from the reference, coloured green, orange or red.
• Remote presses: while a circuit is running, every press of a volume button, remote or controller start button is a line crossing and ends the current lap. A beep and a double haptic confirm it.
• Reset: resetting lap 1 clears the reference and every lap built on it. Resetting a later lap clears that lap and all laps after it. The circuit settings stay.

3.7Lock screen, Dynamic Island and Apple Watch Smart Stack

While a section is running the app shows a Live Activity on the lock screen. It contains the remaining time, a progress bar, Current avg. and Driven. On iPhones with a Dynamic Island the countdown also appears next to the camera; press and hold it to expand and see speed and distance.

The Live Activity updates once per second. That is why it says Delayed updates - use app for live timing at the top. For precise timing keep the app open in the foreground. The same tile also appears in the Smart Stack of a paired Apple Watch.

The Live Activity ends automatically when the run finishes or is reset.

4.1Sharing your race as the driver

The link has the form www.rallycopilot.com/race/CODE. On an iPhone with the app installed it opens the live view directly. Without the app it opens a web page that leads to the App Store.

1. 1Open the stage in race mode and tap the menu button in the top right.
2. 2Choose Share race. The share sheet opens and creates an eight-character Race code.
3. 3Let the spectator scan the QR code, or tap Share link to send the link through Messages, WhatsApp or any other app. Alternatively read the code out loud. It never contains the letters O and I or the digits 0 and 1, so it is easy to say over a radio.
4. 4Tap Done and drive. All running sections are broadcast about once per second.
5. 5Tap Stop sharing in the share sheet to end the broadcast. Sharing also stops when you leave the race screen.

4.2Watching a race as a spectator

There are three ways to join: scan the QR code with the iPhone camera, open the shared link, or enter the code by hand. For the manual way, open Settings, tap Join race in the Spectate section, type the Race code and tap Watch race. The button becomes active after four characters.

The live view opens full screen. Its title is the driver's stage name once data arrives. Until then it shows Connecting…, then Waiting for the driver… while the driver has not started a section. When the driver stops sharing you see Race ended.

While a section runs you see the same card as the driver: section number, progress bar, remaining time, pace meter, Goal speed, Current avg., Distance and Driven. The countdown ticks locally on your phone from the driver's start time, so it is exact. Speed, distance and pace lag by up to one second. Units follow your own device region. Tap Close to leave.

5.1Stopwatches and countdowns

The screen has two lists. Countdowns at the top is empty at first. Stopwatches below starts with one stopwatch. Tap Add stopwatch to add more; there is no limit. Every row works the same way.

• Reset on the left sets the time back to zero, or back to the full countdown time.
• The time in the middle runs in hours, minutes, seconds and hundredths.
• Start on the right starts the timer. While running it reads Pause. After a pause, Start continues from where you stopped.
• Swipe a row to the left to delete it.
• A small dot left of the time marks the timer that a remote control acts on. Tap anywhere on a row to select it. The dot only appears when a remote or controller is enabled in Settings.

5.2Adding a countdown

1. 1Tap Add countdown at the end of the Countdowns list.
2. 2Enter the time in the fields hh, mm, ss and hundredths.
3. 3Switch Countdown signal on if the countdown should announce its last seconds. It then speaks or beeps exactly like a stage countdown, using the same Countdown in seconds and beep settings.
4. 4Tap Save. The countdown appears in the list and shows its full time until you start it.

6.1Volume buttons and Bluetooth shutter remotes

A Bluetooth camera shutter remote sends exactly the same signal as the volume buttons of your iPhone. Rally Co-Pilot detects a change of the volume level and treats it as a button press. This works with the phone's own buttons and with any shutter remote you pair in the iOS Bluetooth settings.

• Volume button to start: on by default. Switch it off if you never want a volume press to start a section.
• Trigger On: choose Volume Up, Volume Down or Both. With a two-button remote you can, for example, ignore the down button so an accidental press does nothing.
• In race mode a press starts the section marked Next. During a running circuit a press ends the current lap. A volume press cannot stop a running section; use the on-screen Reset or a game controller for that.
• On the Timer tab a press starts or pauses the selected timer (see 5.3).

7.2Connecting a RaceBox

1. 1Switch the RaceBox on. Do not pair it in the iOS Bluetooth settings; the connection is made inside the app.
2. 2In Rally Co-Pilot open Settings and tap Connect RaceBox in the Accessories section. iOS asks for Bluetooth permission the first time. Allow it.
3. 3The status reads Scanning for RaceBox.... Your device appears under Available Devices with a signal strength icon. Tap it.
4. 4The status changes to Connecting... and then shows the connected device with Model, Firmware, Battery, the fix quality and the number of Satellites.
5. 5Switch Use RaceBox as GPS source on. Without this switch the RaceBox stays connected but the phone GPS is used.

• The fix row reads 3D fix, 2D fix or No fix. A green check mark means the fix is good enough for timing. An orange or red warning means the app is waiting for a better fix.
• Battery depleted — charge soon appears when the device reports an empty battery. The connection keeps working.
• Disconnect ends the connection for the rest of the session. The RaceBox will not reconnect automatically until you restart the app or tap it again.
• The RaceBox is remembered. On the next app launch it reconnects automatically as soon as it is switched on.
• If Bluetooth is off, the screen tells you Turn on Bluetooth to connect to your RaceBox. If the permission was denied, tap Open Settings.

7.4RaceBox discount

As a Rally Co-Pilot user you get 15 percent off in the RaceBox store with the code RALLYCOPILOT15. The code is shown once as a full-screen offer, and it stays available at the bottom of the Connect RaceBox screen as long as no device is connected. Tap the code to copy it, then tap Shop RaceBox. Purchases through this link support the development of the app.

8.1What the watch shows

Install the watch app from the Watch app on your iPhone. It needs no setup. As long as no section is running it shows No active stage and the current time.

As soon as you start a section, the watch shows the stage name and the section number, a progress bar, the remaining time in large digits, the pace meter with its metre or second readout, and your current speed with the target speed in brackets. Green, orange and red mean the same as on the phone. If two sections run at the same time, swipe between them.

• The watch is display only. You cannot start, stop or reset a section from the watch.
• Timers from the Timer tab are not shown on the watch.
• The watch app is in English regardless of the phone language.
• The watch receives an update every second and ticks the countdown itself in between, so the time is smooth and exact.
• If the watch app was closed, it shows the last known state when you reopen it until the phone sends new data.

9.1Browsing events

• Events are grouped by month and sorted by start date. The list opens at the current month.
• Tap the year button in the top right to switch between years.
• Use the search field to filter by event name. The search only matches the title, not the description or location.
• If the list stays empty, check your internet connection and open the tab again.

9.2Event details

• The large photo at the top zooms when you pull the page down. Tap it to open the event website.
• Below you find the dates, the title, the description and the website link.
• Location shows a small map when the event has coordinates.
• Report Error opens a pre-filled email to the support address with the event details. Tell us what is wrong and we fix it.
• The share button in the top right shares title, description and website through the system share sheet.

10.1App settings

There is no global unit setting. Speed and distance units are chosen per field in the section editor with the km/h/mph and km/mi switches. The default follows the region of your iPhone: miles for the US and UK, kilometres everywhere else. In race mode, tap Current Speed to change the unit of the live speed.