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Prowl User Guide

Covers Prowl v1.1

Covers Prowl v1.1 — iPhone and iPad

What's New in 1.1

  • Prowl now runs natively on iPad — a full rebuild for the bigger screen, not a stretched phone layout. Same library, same iCloud account, no separate purchase.
  • Full-Screen Location Review (iPad) — browse your entire library at once in a large card grid, with search and filtering built in.
  • Presentation Mode, redesigned for iPad — grid-based presentation list and location picker, plus a true full-screen live presentation mode with Magic Keyboard support (arrow keys to navigate, Esc to exit).
  • iCloud sync reliability improvements — sync status now accurately reflects whether a sync actually completed, instead of occasionally reporting success prematurely.
  • A round of bug fixes across search, navigation, and keyboard behavior — we went rummaging around in the code and zapped a bunch of little bugs.
  • General performance polish across the app.

What Prowl Does

Prowl is a native app for scouting locations, organizing everything you find, and turning selected locations into a polished client-facing presentation.

It is built for real field workflow: fast capture on-site, structured details later, and a presentation mode that keeps your private notes out of anything client-facing.

As of v1.1, Prowl runs natively on both iPhone and iPad — same library, same iCloud account, no separate purchase or download.

Getting Started

When you first launch Prowl, the app walks you through the key setup choices:

  1. Choose whether you want iCloud sync enabled
  2. Choose how photos should be stored
  3. Start building your scouting library

Prowl is designed so you can save a location quickly in the field and come back later to finish the details from a desk. On iPad, that "coming back later" step is even more comfortable — see Using Prowl on iPad below.

Capturing a Location

Prowl is map-first. The home screen keeps the map visible while you browse, search, filter, or add new locations.

Ways to add a location:

  • Tap directly on the map to place a pin
  • Tap the + button to place a pin at your current GPS position
  • Use place search to move to a location before saving it

Useful capture behavior:

  • If the location is a recognized point of interest, Prowl can autofill the name
  • A location only needs a name to save
  • Photos and deeper notes can be added later
  • Address, website, and phone may be filled automatically when available

This keeps the capture step fast enough to use while walking, driving, or scouting under time pressure. This works the same way on iPhone and iPad.

Categories and Custom Details

Prowl does not force every location into a single category. One place can belong to multiple categories at the same time.

This matters once your library grows. A location might be:

  • Interior
  • Food & Drink
  • Venue / Event Space

All on the same entry.

Prowl also includes structured sections for:

  • Access & Logistics
  • Physical Specs
  • Craft-Specific

Each section ships with sensible defaults and supports custom fields, so the app can adapt to different kinds of work instead of assuming one fixed scouting workflow.

Working Inside a Location

Each location keeps the important context together on one screen.

Depending on what you add, a location can include:

  • Photos, including a cover image
  • Address and map position
  • Website, phone, email, and primary contact
  • Access and logistics notes
  • Physical specs
  • Craft-specific information
  • Manual notes marked as private or client-facing

Prowl is built to carry you from "this looks promising" to "we should actually book this place" without splitting the data across multiple apps.

Voice Notes

When typing is inconvenient, Prowl lets you record a voice note directly on the location.

Voice notes support:

  • Recording on-site
  • Playback inside the app
  • Automatic transcription on demand
  • Searchable written reference later

This is useful for fast observations you do not want to lose in the moment, especially when your hands are full or you are moving quickly between locations.

Presentation Mode

Prowl includes a dedicated presentation workflow for selected locations.

You can:

  • Multi-select locations for a presentation
  • Save presentations with their own names
  • Re-open and edit them later
  • Add optional company branding
  • Export a branded PDF when ready

Private working notes are structurally excluded from client-facing presentation output. This is not just a display toggle.

On iPad, Presentation Mode's location picker and presentation list use a larger grid layout suited to the bigger screen — see below.

Live Presentation View

Presentation Mode is not only for export. Prowl also gives you a full-screen live presentation view you can swipe through directly on your device.

Each selected location gets its own presentation page with:

  • Location name
  • Map
  • Photos
  • Structured scouting details

This makes it possible to show a client a curated set of options without exposing the working interface or your internal notes.

On iPad, Live Presentation View has a dedicated Full Screen mode that removes all app chrome for a genuinely clean client-facing display. If you have a Magic Keyboard attached, the Left and Right arrow keys move between locations, and Esc exits full screen.

Using Prowl on iPad

Prowl v1.1 introduces a full iPad-native experience — not a stretched phone screen, but a real rebuild for the larger display.

Sidebar + map, side by side. Your location list sits in a persistent sidebar alongside the map, so you can browse and see the map update at the same time. Tap a location in the sidebar to see it on the map; tap a pin on the map to see a quick preview before opening the full location.

Full-Screen Location Review. A dedicated view for browsing your entire library at once, at a scale that only makes sense on the bigger screen — a full-width card grid with search and filtering built in. Reach it from the icon in the sidebar's toolbar.

Add Location. Tap the sidebar's + button, or tap any empty spot on the map, and Add Location opens right where you're looking — no separate screen to navigate away to.

Presentation Mode on iPad. The presentation repository and location picker both use a grid layout, so you can see more presentations and locations at once than the iPhone list view allows.

Settings. Tap the gear icon in the top bar to reach Settings from any tab. Settings has its own close button, which returns you to exactly what you were doing before — so switching your appearance mid-task doesn't lose your place.

Sync and Storage

Prowl supports iCloud sync through the Apple account already signed into your device. No separate Prowl account is required, and the same library syncs across your iPhone and iPad automatically.

It also supports two photo storage approaches:

  • Reference photos from Apple Photos
  • Store photos directly inside Prowl

This gives you flexibility depending on how tightly you want the app tied to your broader photo library.

Known Limitations

iPad keyboard and Sidecar. If you're using your iPad as a second display for your Mac via Sidecar, iPadOS treats your Mac's keyboard as an external hardware keyboard — which means the on-screen keyboard won't appear when you tap into a text field in Prowl. This is standard iPadOS behavior whenever an external keyboard is detected, not something specific to Prowl. If you need to type into Prowl while using Sidecar, use your Mac's keyboard directly, or briefly disconnect Sidecar.

Support

For product information, visit getochre.app/prowl.php.

For help, bug reports, or feedback, use Ochre Support.