Pickle Jar

Everyone's in the jar. Shake it up. — A quick guide to getting started.

Getting Started

When you first open Pickle Jar, you'll see two options:

Sign in with Google — Unlocks full features: create and manage private sessions, save your preferences across devices, and keep a personal match history.
Continue without signing in — Jump straight in as a guest. You can join and play but can't create sessions, and your match history won't be saved.

Joining a Session

If you sign in with Google, you'll see your profile card with your display name, skill level, and 1v1 preference — all editable with a Save button. Below that, choose a session to join.

If you continue without signing in, you'll enter your info before selecting a session.

Enter your name and optionally your skill level (2.0–8.0).
Check "Open to 1v1" if you're willing to play singles matches.
Select a location from the Public Session dropdown and tap Join, or select a private session you've previously joined.

Tip: If you sign in with Google, your name, skill level, and preferences are saved automatically. Next time you visit, just pick a session and go.

The Queue

Player Badges

you — That's you in the list

user — A player using the app on their own device

guest — Added by someone else (for players without the app)

partner — Your selected partner preference

Add Guest — Add players who don't have the app. You can edit or remove guests you added.
Sit Out (⏸) — Sit out temporarily. You stay in the session but won't be assigned to courts. Anyone can sit out anyone.
Play (▶) — Rejoin the queue after sitting out.
Remove (×) — Remove yourself (leaves the session) or your guests. Admins can remove anyone.

Court Assignments

Open Play (default)

The app automatically assigns players to courts — doubles (2v2) first, then singles (1v1) if courts remain and players opted in.

Set "Courts available now" — how many courts to fill this press.
Tap Assign Courts. Players are randomly paired and assigned.
When a game ends, tap End Match, enter scores (or skip), and those players return to the queue.
Tap Assign Courts again to fill open courts with waiting players.

Rematch: When ending a match, check the "Rematch" box before saving/skipping to immediately start the same matchup again.

Match Options

Match by skill (on by default) — Pairs players with similar skill levels.
Minimize repeats (on by default) — Avoids matching players who've already played each other.

Partner Preferences

In the Settings tab under Your Partner(s):

Tap + Add Partner and select a player.
When both you and a partner are in the queue, you'll be placed on the same side in doubles.
If a partner is on a court or sitting out, you'll be assigned normally with other players.
You can add multiple partners — the app will pair you with whichever one is available.

Share Link

Every session has a Share Link in the Settings tab. Copy it and send to friends to invite them to your session. When someone opens a share link:

For private sessions, they'll be asked for the passcode first.
They can then sign in with Google or join as a guest, enter their info, and they're in.

Private Sessions

For games at home, tournaments, or groups that want their own space:

Sign in with Google on the landing page (required to create).
Tap + Create New under Private Session.
Enter a session name and a 4-character passcode (or tap Random to generate one).
Choose Open Play, Round Robin, or Tournament from the session type dropdown.
Tap Create & Join and confirm.
Share the link with friends — they'll need the passcode to join. The session creator and super admins skip the passcode.

Passcode: Admins can view the session passcode in the Settings tab (click "Show" to reveal it). Share it with players who need to join.

Round Robin Mode

Round Robin is available for private sessions and creates a structured tournament schedule:

Add all players to the session.
Tap Lock Players to Generate Schedule in the assign section.
Set the number of courts and tap Generate Schedule.
Round 1 is assigned to courts. All upcoming rounds are shown below.
When all Round 1 games finish, tap Start Next Round to advance.

Admins can switch between Open Play, Round Robin, and Tournament in the Settings tab, and can unlock players to modify the roster.

Tournament Mode

Tournament mode creates a single-elimination bracket for private sessions:

Add all players to the session.
Tap Lock Players to Generate Bracket in the assign section.
Set the number of courts and tap Generate Bracket.
The bracket is displayed with all rounds. First-round matches are assigned to courts.
When a match ends, enter scores — ties are not allowed in tournament matches. The winner automatically advances in the bracket.
When all matches in a round are complete, tap to start the next round (Semifinals, Final, etc.).
If there are more matches than courts, remaining matches can be started as courts free up.

Seeding: Players are seeded by skill level (if set) so top seeds face lower seeds in early rounds. If fewer players than a power of 2, top seeds receive first-round byes.

Match History

Session History

The History tab shows all completed matches in the current session with teams, scores, and match duration. Use the search bar to filter by player name, or tap My Matches to see only games you played in. Session history persists until an admin clears it.

Personal Match History

If you're signed in with Google, your matches are also saved to your personal match history. This history stays even if an admin clears the session history or deletes the session. Access it from the My Match History button in your profile card on the landing page. You can search by player name and swipe left on any match to delete it.

Match Time Limit

Matches automatically expire after 100 minutes. Expired matches are saved to history with a score of "N/A" and players are returned to the queue.

Sharing & Multi-Device

All session data syncs in real-time across everyone's devices.
Court assignments, scores, and queue changes appear instantly for all users.
If you leave a session, your court assignments stay active for others to manage.
Share the URL or use the Share Link in Settings to invite others — public sessions don't need a code, private ones do.
Session data persists until an admin resets or deletes it — it won't disappear on its own.

Admin Features

There are two types of admins:

Session Admin — The person who created a session. Automatically gets admin for that session. Other signed-in users can be promoted to session admin from Settings.
Super Admin — Can manage any session (public or private), see all private sessions, create public locations, delete any session, and add/remove other super admins.

Managing Session Admins

In the Settings tab, admins can manage who else has admin access via the Session Admins card:

Tap + Add Admin to see a list of signed-in users in the session.
Select a user and confirm to grant them admin access.
Remove an admin by tapping "remove" next to their name.

Admin Actions

Admins can:

Reset Everything — Clears all data. All users get kicked back to the join screen.
Clear History — Wipes match history and sit-out counts, keeps players and courts.
Delete Session — Permanently removes a session (with double confirmation). Available for private sessions and for super admins on public sessions.
Remove any player from the queue.
Change session type — Switch between Open Play, Round Robin, and Tournament (private sessions).
View the Admin History log of all admin actions.
View and share the session passcode from Settings.

Super Admins can join any session as "Admin only" (observe and manage without being added to the player queue) or as a regular player.