Settings, privacy, and subscriptions

Open Settings to choose the board rules, review the active word list, check AI and scan status, manage your account, and buy or restore Crossplay Pro products.

Board type and word list

The board-type selector offers:

• Crossplay — the NYT Crossplay custom premium-square layout; and
• Scrabble — the standard North American Scrabble board, labeled TWL/NWL in the app.

Switching board type resets the board layout, so choose the format before entering or scanning a position.

Settings reports NWL (NASPA) as the active list and displays 172,000+ words. The in-app description calls NWL (North American Word List) the official NASPA tournament list and says it is the same list used by NYT Crossplay.

AI privacy and server management

TileTactician does not ask for Vision or enhanced-AI API keys on the device. Settings shows both services as Server-managed. The client sends authenticated requests through the app's AI proxy; the proxy keeps the Google Vision and OpenAI keys in server-side secrets.

For board scanning, the OCR pipeline sends the image to the server proxy's Google Cloud Vision DOCUMENT_TEXT_DETECTION request. Depending on the scan mode and verification pass, the server-proxied pipeline can also use AI checks for ambiguous tiles or rack reads. The app's Settings privacy copy says board images are processed securely and never stored.

AI features require an account session. If the client has no authenticated session, the proxy rejects the request instead of treating the public project key as user authentication.

Sign in with Apple

Full board scanning requires an account. The sign-in screen offers Sign in with Apple as the v1 sign-in path and explains that an account lets the app save boards and manage a subscription across devices.

To sign in:

1. Open Settings → Sign in with Apple when signed out.
2. Complete the Apple flow.
3. Return to the previous screen after successful authentication.

You can choose Maybe later and return without signing in. A cancelled Apple flow does not show an error; other failures are displayed on the sign-in screen. Signing out is available in Settings, but the confirmation warns that board scanning is unavailable until you sign in again.

Crossplay Pro subscription

The Settings purchase cards advertise two subscription choices:

Store products are loaded from Apple and may provide a localized price. A purchase requires an authenticated user so the receipt can be linked to the account. If Apple defers a purchase, Settings reports Awaiting Approval; the purchase listener completes it after approval and refreshes the plan and scan balance.

An active member sees Crossplay Pro in the plan row. Restore Purchases re-syncs and verifies subscription transactions. Consumable scan packs are not restored or re-credited by that action.

Scan credits and packs

Board scans use Vision credits; a subscription grants 50 monthly credits but does not bypass metering. The server is authoritative: it reserves, settles, or refunds one credit for a logical board-scan request. All Vision calls in one logical scan share that request's credit.

Settings displays your current combined scan balance. If it is zero, board scanning is gated until you subscribe or buy a pack. Rack scans are separate and remain free with ads.

For users without a subscription, the Settings pack cards advertise:

Pack credits do not expire. After a successful pack purchase, Settings refreshes the balance and confirms how many scans were added. A pending pack purchase waits for Apple's approval before credits are added.

See Board scanning for capture and review steps, and Boards library for account-scoped saved-board sync.