Managing a Smartphone Driver Station

REV Driver Hub

The REV Driver Hub is preloaded with the FTC Driver Station (DS) app. The procedures described below for a DS phone, also apply to a REV Driver Hub.

For Smartphone pairing issues, see this troubleshooting guide.

Changing the Name

In order to comply with game manual rule <RS01>, the name of the Driver Station (DS) smartphone should be changed.

This can be done in the DS app, as described below.

As an alternate, these instructions show how to rename a smartphone using the Android Settings activity of the phone.

Changing the Name of a Driver Station
1. On the Driver Station phone, touch the three dots in the upper right hand corner to display a pop-up menu.
2. Select the Settings menu item from the pop-up menu.
3. Click on Driver Station Name on the DRIVER STATION SETTINGS page.
4. Specify the new Driver Station Name and press OK to accept the changes.

Updating the Driver Station App

It is important to know how to update the Driver Station app that is installed on your smartphone. FIRST periodically releases new versions of this app, which contain improvements and fixes, as well as season-specific data and features.

Note that you can see the Driver Station app version number through the Driver Station user interface. Select the About menu option on the Driver Station and note the App Version number under the ABOUT DRIVER STATION section.

As of 2021, the FTC apps (v 6.1 and higher) are not available on Google Play.

The REV Hardware Client software will allow you to download the apps to FTC devices: REV Control Hub, REV Expansion Hub, REV Driver Hub, and FTC-approved Android devices. Here are some of the benefits:

• Connect a REV Control Hub via WiFi.
• One Click update of all software on connected devices.
• Pre-download software updates without a connected device.
• Back up and restore user data from Control Hub.
• Install and switch between DS and RC applications on Android Devices.
• Access the Robot Control Console on the Control Hub.

All FTC teams using Blocks, OnBot Java or Android Studio can use the REV Hardware Client to update the Driver Station (DS) app on a DS phone.

NOTE: it will take an estimated 7.5 minutes per device to complete this task.

As an alternate, the FTC app releases are available on the FTCRobotController Github. Download the Driver Station APK file to a computer, transfer it to the DS phone's Downloads folder, then open that file to install the DS app. This process is called "side-loading".

Important Note: If you update the Driver Station (DS) app, you should also update the Robot Controller (RC) app to the same version number. That process is different for Android Studio teams; updating RC phones is described here.