Help
Support
Shepherd Rover is made by one developer. Email is the whole support system, and a person reads it.
Expect a reply within a few business days. Include the details below and the first reply is far more likely to be an answer than a question.
What to include
The more of this you send, the faster a problem gets fixed:
- iPhone, iPad, or Android, and the operating system version.
- The Shepherd Rover version and build number.
- Your rover model and its firmware version.
- What you did, step by step, right up to the problem.
- What you expected to happen, and what happened instead. A screenshot or a short video helps more than a description.
The version and build number are on the About screen, which opens from Settings.
Common problems
The app cannot find my rover
Discovery uses Bonjour and mDNS, which only work when your phone and the rover are on the same network. If the rover is running as its own access point, join that WiFi network first. Some networks block mDNS between clients; where yours does, enter the rover's address by hand in Settings instead — an IP address, a hostname such as rover.local, or a full URL all work.
The connection drops while I am driving
This is usually range, interference, or battery. WiFi range falls off quickly outdoors and through walls, and a rover on a low pack often resets its radio before its motors give out. Watch the battery figure on the telemetry display, and close the distance between the phone and the rover.
The rover drives backwards, or steers the wrong way
Motor wiring differs between builds. Open the rover's profile in Settings and use the invert options for the left and right motors, or for the drive and steering axes. The choice is saved with that profile.
Tilt control is too sensitive, or not sensitive enough
The motion sensitivity slider in Settings sets how much tilt corresponds to full output. Hold the device in landscape: tilting forward and back drives forward and reverse, and tilting left and right steers.
My controller is not detected
Pair the controller with your phone in the system settings first, not in the app. Shepherd Rover drives whichever controller the operating system has already connected.
Reporting a safety problem
If you find a way to make the app send a command the operator did not ask for, fail to stop, or keep driving after a lost connection, please report it directly rather than posting it publicly. Write to the support address with "safety" in the subject line and it will be looked at first.
Hardware support
Shepherd Rover is an independent app and cannot support the rover hardware itself. For questions about the vehicle, its firmware, or its electronics, contact the manufacturer. For anything about the app's own behavior — including whether it is talking to the hardware correctly — write to us.
Privacy and terms
The privacy policy and the terms of use are linked in the footer of every page on this site, and from the About screen inside the app.