Pile Boss Support

Before you write

Including these details gets your issue resolved on the first reply:

• Your phone or tablet model and its Android or iOS version
• The Pile Boss build number — on Android, Settings tab → Device; on iPhone, Setup tab → Device → Version
• What you were doing when the problem happened, and which hammer was running if it was a counting problem
• A screenshot, if the problem is something you can see

Common questions

Which phones can I get it on?

Android phones and tablets now — Pile Boss is on Google Play. The iPhone and iPad version is coming soon to the App Store. Same app either way, and a record written on one opens on the other.

Do I need a signal or Wi-Fi to use Pile Boss?

No. Recording runs entirely on your own phone and does not need a network connection. It works in a hole, under a bridge, or anywhere else the bars run out. The store checks your subscription when it can, and a paid subscriber who is out of range keeps working for 30 days on the last answer it got.

Where are my logs stored?

On your phone only. There is no account and no cloud server. See the privacy policy for details.

What happens to my logs if I delete the app or lose my phone?

Deleting the app deletes the logs stored inside it. Because the data lives only on your device, we cannot recover it for you. If your phone is set to back up — to iCloud, to a computer, or to Google — your Pile Boss data may be included in that backup and restored with it. Export finished logs off the device if you need to keep them.

Why does Pile Boss want the microphone?

To count. It listens for the hammer, counts each blow as it lands, and reads the stroke from the sound. The audio is analysed on the device as it arrives and is never recorded, stored, or sent anywhere. If you would rather not use the microphone, every pile can be recorded by tapping each blow instead.

How good is the counting, really?

Good enough that we build on it, and not good enough that you should stop looking. Pile Boss shows you every blow it heard and every one it rejected, so you can see what it did rather than trust it blind — but a phone is not a laboratory instrument, and a rig is loud. Android phones in particular differ by more than 15 dB of microphone gain between models, and a very loud rig can overload a phone's input outright. Run the mic check when you arrive, watch the trace, and check your counts. If one is wrong, that is a bug and we want the details.

Where should the phone be?

Close enough to hear the hammer clearly and out of the way of the rig. Run the mic check once when you arrive on a new site — it is in the app's settings — and it tells you whether the phone is hearing the hammer well from where you have put it. Field best practices, in the same place, has the habits that keep the count honest.

It is counting too many blows, or too few.

Use the sensitivity control on the recorder — a loud site wants it higher, a quiet one lower — and check the live trace: you should see one hit per blow. If the count is still off, email us with the hammer, the site conditions, and what happened; that is exactly the kind of report we want.

I did not hear the foot announced, or feel the buzz.

Both are in the Detection section of the app's settings. Haptic feedback is on by default; Announce foot is off by default because not every site wants a phone talking. The announcement plays through the loudspeaker, so turn the ringer volume up if it is quiet.

Which forms can it print?

Every pile exports as a PDF and as an Excel workbook on the FDOT 700-010-60, GDOT, LADOTD Log of Pile Driving, NCDOT, SCDOT 700.15, TDOT, UDOT Pile Driving Record, VDOT and WSDOT 450-004A layouts, or on a plain record for any other owner — the same ten on both platforms. Every agency form is marked beta in the picker until it has been checked line by line against a filled example from that agency — if yours prints something in the wrong box, send us the page. That is exactly the kind of report that earns a discount code.

Can I get my logs off the phone?

Yes — use the export option on a pile, a substructure, a structure, or the whole project to send the files out through your phone's own share sheet (email, Drive, Files, AirDrop, and so on). Exporting several piles as Excel gives one workbook with a tab per pile.

Does it run on tablets?

The iPhone version is one app for iPhone and iPad. Logs recorded on one device do not automatically appear on another — there is no cloud — so export from the device that recorded them. A record written on one platform opens on the other, because both write the same file.

What devices does it run on?

The minimum supported version is listed on the app's store page — Google Play for Android, and the App Store for iPhone and iPad once it is listed.

I think a count is wrong.

A log can be reviewed and corrected before it is finalized. If you have found a case where the count does not match what happened, please email us with the details above — that is a bug and we want it.

What does it cost?

The free month is the first month of a Pro subscription, on either plan. It is one free month per person, not one per plan — taking it on monthly and then starting annual does not earn a second. Cancel before it ends and you are not billed; you simply go back to the five piles a month the app includes.

The same on both platforms. Prices are in US dollars and your store shows your own currency; the purchase, billing, renewals, plan changes and cancelling are handled by Google Play or, on iPhone, by the App Store.

What counts as an export?

One pile sent out of the app — not one file. The same pile as a PDF and an Excel sheet is one pile. Exporting a structure sends several piles at once and counts one per pile. Backing out of the share sheet counts nothing.

A pile is charged once, and only once, ever. Sending a record again is free forever — a different format, a corrected job number, a bounced email, the state asking for it again six months later, even on a new month or after a subscription has lapsed. Only new work counts. Unused exports do not carry over; the month's five come back on the first.

What happens when I run out?

Nothing stops. You keep recording, editing and reviewing exactly as before — the record is never gated. The app tells you plainly that the month's five are used up, and you can either wait for the first of the month or subscribe to Pro. It will never watermark a form, degrade a file, or send part of a batch and drop the rest.

Can I get a discount for reporting a problem?

Yes. Pile Boss is being proven at working rigs, and a report we can act on earns a discount code, sized to what you found: a blow count that did not match what happened, an agency form that printed a value in the wrong field, a crash, a screen that could not be worked with gloves on, a device whose microphone struggles with a rig, or a state form we do not yet support together with a completed example. Include the details listed at the top of this page and write to either address above. Codes are arranged directly with us.

Is there a promoter discount?

Yes. If you would like to show Pile Boss to inspectors, contractors or an agency, email us to ask about a promoter package.

Can you add a feature?

Ask. We build this for people doing the work, and field requests are how the list gets made.

Reporting a privacy concern

Send privacy questions to either address above — piledrivingapp@tallietales.com or piledrivingapp@gmail.com. Our full policy is on the privacy page.