Image management

We’re working on improving the image management features of BG Stats. The information on this page will be updated along the way.

In Board Game Stats you can add images to plays. When you add an image, you have the option to select an existing image on your device, or make a new photo.

When you select an existing image, a copy of the image is saved in the app, by default*.
When you create a new photo, the image is saved in the app and a copy is saved in your devices’ photo library or gallery, by default*.

With “in the app” we mean the image is stored in a document directory on your device that belongs to BG Stats, and in most cases is not visible to you by browsing your device yourself.

The default how an image is handled can be changed on the “Play Image Handling Settings” screen, which can be found under the General header of the Settings screen.

Here you can choose to “link” to images instead of saving the image in the app. This means the app will only save a reference to the selected image, and no copy is made. The downside of linked images is that if that image is ever relocated or deleted, BG Stats will no longer be able to find that image. If you select an image from your Photo Library, Gallery, Google Photos or any other source that is managed by your device, there is a high chance of this happening at some point. We therefore recommend using the option to save the images in the app.

Images that are saved in the app take up space on your device. You can see how much space this is on the “Play Image Handling Settings” screen. You can find other image management features here as well.

* The defaults have changed since version 4.2. Before that they were different on iOS (they are new on Android). If you have never touched these settings, the new default will be used, but it's best to check your settings to be sure.

Saving a backup

You can Save a backup of all images in the app (including custom Game and Player images) with the options in the “Export, import and backup” settings. This will create a copy of all images in a location on your device that you select.

These images can be imported into BG Stats. When you import such a backup, the images will be linked to the correct plays, games and players again. To make this work, first import all your BG Stats data from a BG Stats backup, then import the images.

Play Image Handling Settings

This Settings screen is currently slightly different for iOS and Android. See the separate descriptions below.

Android

Save a copy of images in the app

If this setting is ON (the default), when you add an image to a play, a copy of the image is saved in the document folder of BG Stats.
If this setting is OFF, when you add an image to a play, only a link to the selected image is saved. 

Save a copy of new photos to the image gallery

When you choose to take a photo with the camera when you add an image to a play, that photo is always saved in the app. If this setting is ON (the default), a copy of that image is also saved in the image gallery of your device.

Copy images into the app…

Just above this button you see the number of images saved in the app and the space they take.
Just below this button you see the number of images that are only linked to.

Tapping the button copies all play images that are only linked to, into the app. The original image that was linked to will remain where it is, a copy of the image will be saved in the app. The app will use that copied image from now on, so if you want you can delete the original now without losing it in BG Stats.

If after you used this button there are still a number of linked images, the original of these images could not be found, unfortunately. By browsing through the plays with linked images you can try to find them manually, but this is one of the main reason we now default to copying images into the app.

Show Plays with (Local/Linked) Images

At the bottom of the screen you’ll find three buttons that will list all plays with images, all plays that have at least one local image, and all plays with at least one linked image. 

iOS

Save new Photos in Library instead of app

When you choose to take a photo with the camera when you add an image to a play, that new photo can be saved in the app or saved in your Photo Library and only be linked to.

If this setting is ON, the new image is only saved in the Photo Library of your device, a link to the image is added to the play.
If this setting is OFF (the default) the new image is only saved in the app.

Copy library images to app

If this setting is ON (the default), when you add an image to a play, a copy of the image is saved in the document folder of BG Stats.
If this setting is OFF, when you add an image to a play, only a link to the selected image is saved.

Move images to Photo Library…

Just below this button you see the number of images that are only linked to.

Tapping the button copies all play images that are only linked to, into the app. The original image that was linked to will remain where it is, a copy of the image will be saved in the app. The app will use that copied image from now on, so if you want you can delete the original now without losing it in BG Stats.

Copy images into the app…

Just below this button you see the number of images saved in the app and the space they take.

Tapping the button copies all play images that are saved in the app to the Photo Library. The image will be deleted from the app. The app will use a link to the image in the Photo Library from now on.

Mark Plays with images

With this option ON the list of plays will show an image icon on the right for plays that have an image.

Show Plays with (Local/Linked) Images

At the bottom of the screen you’ll find three buttons that will list all plays with images, all plays that have at least one local image, and all plays with at least one linked image. 

Managing individual images

To see where a play image is stored, long-press the image on a play’s overview screen. A popup will appear that tells you if this image is stored in the app (also called a ‘Local image’ on iOS) or is linked to.

Options in this dialog:

• Delete (this appears if the image is stored in the app).
  Deletes the image completely
• Remove / Remove link (this appears if the image is linked to).
  Removes the link to this image, the original is untouched
• Move to Photo Library (on iOS, for images stored in the app)
  Saves this image in the Photo Library, deletes it from the app, and uses a link from now on.
• Copy into app (for images that are linked)
  Copies this image in the app and replaces the link with this image.
• Save a copy (on Android, for images stored in the app)
  Saves a copy of the image in your device’s gallery, so you can access it there.
• Share… (on iOS)
  Opens the sharing sheet so you can save a copy of the image or send it somewhere.