Differential FPL is an Android app which is designed to help you manage your FPL (fantasy.premierleague.com) team on-the-go; and not-on-the-go actually! Differential extracts data from the FPL website and stores it on your Android device for you to view at your leisure. It then processes this data to make it more personal to your team and, hopefully, more useful.
Tips
On each screen, a series of useful tips (many of which are also covered in this guide) are displayed at the top of the screen. You can cycle through them using the 'Prev'/'Next' buttons, and can also hide them. Once hidden, they will stay hidden on that screen until you select 'Tips' from the menu button.
Log In
The first thing you need to do after firing up Differential is to log in using your FPL account details. These details are stored on your device (password encrypted) so that you will not have to enter them again (unless you log out). Your details allow Differential to get your selection for the next gameweek from FPL, and to make transfers/substitions and also to update your watchlist remotely.
When you log in, Differential will sync some basic data (as described in the next section) about your team - progress of this is displayed on-screen.
Sync Panel
Differential FPL is only as good as the data available to it. Data is extracted from the FPL website via the Sync Panel. This can be accessed from any screen by:-
- Swiping up from the bottom of the screen
- Using the menu button and selecting 'Sync Panel'
- Scores - Gets the latest points scored by each player in the current gameweek. This is designed to be run regularly throughout the gameweek, especially during matches if you want live updates
- Players - Updates the list of players in the game, and their details (prices, injuries, news, etc). This also retrieves your current selection for the next gameweek, and available cash etc. This is designed to be run daily, to keep you in touch with player availability and price changes. This also retrieves a player's match score history for the entire season (and previous seasons) if needed (ie if you went on holiday for a week and didn't run a Scores sync).
- Leagues - Updates the list of minileagues which you are a member of, and a list of teams in each league. Also retrieves the selection history of each squad which you have marked as a rival, so that live points updates can be given for them. Designed to be run once per gameweek to update rival's selections for that week.
- Fixtures - Updates the fixtures for the remainder of the season (and marks down results for previous weeks when you may not have synced). Fixtures do change dates for TV and when they are postpones, so should be run once per gameweek.
- Processing - Slightly different to the other entries: this does not use any data but instead runs some clever processing onall of the data which Differential knows about. This calculates detailed performance statistics for each player, and also generates some predictions about upcoming matches (as seen in the Traffic Lights next to players/teams). This should be run at least once per gameweek, maybe more if you are interested in the output!
A time/date is shown for each sync item - this is the last time that this item was succesfully synched. Each item is also coloured green or red to indicate the freshness of the data. If red, then the item could do with a sync (and will probably be auto-synced if enabled).
Clicking on one of the entries in the sync panel will initiate a sync for that item. Multiple items can be queued up and will run after each other. However, I would strongly recommend....
Auto-Sync
This can be enabled from the settings screen (access this from the menu button). It is disabled by default to allow you the choice, but I would recommend enabling it for the best experience. The default options will use in the order of xxxMB of data per gameweek.
Auto-sync will update each sync item automatically on a schedule (which can also be altered on the settings screen). This happens in the background, and will generate Notifications (according to your settings) if anything noteworthy happens. This provides the best experience, especially during matchdays when the goals are rolling in!
Home Screen
This is the first screen that you see when Differential is started, and can be reached at any time from the menu button.
This is the hub from which every other screen is accessed. It is divided into 3 sections: My Team, Live Updates and Knowledge, which are each described below...
My Team
Now that you have some up-to-date data to work with you can select your team for next week, make transfers, check your live points for this week, and see how you are doing compared to your rivals. The following three screens are available in this section: -
- Selection - This screen will show your current selection for the next gameweek (as retrieved during the last Players sync). You can make changes to your selection (subs/captain/etc), and also make transfers
- Leagues - The Leagues screen displays all of the (private) minileagues which you are a member of. Within each league, a list of squads is displayed (this is limited to the top x teams in the league, for large leagues). You can set any squad as a Rival, which marks them as important and importantly gives you live updates on their scores (it is impracticle to provide live updates for entire large leagues, especially if you are in many of them). A 'league' of Rivals is shown on this screen, which is updated live throughout the week.You can also manually add a squad as a rival if they are not in any of your leagues, if you know their FPL team ID.
- Points - Shows your points for the current gameweek. Each player's scoring stats are shown (minutes/goals/assists/etc). Auto-subs and vice-captain changes are processed instantly once the game featuring the outgoing player has finished, so you don't have to wait until the end of the gameweek for these to be reflected in your score! (This goes for all of your rivals as well)
Live Updates
This section helps you to see what is happening in the current gameweek, outside of your team. Again, three screens are featured in this section of the Home screen, and again, all data here is updated live with each sync: -
- Matches - Shows you the list of matches taking place in this gameweek, with current scores and status. Selecting a match will give you a complete points breakdown for each player taking part in that match. Past gameweeks can also be viewed.
- Hot - Shows you who is Hot this gameweek. There are two tabs: Players shows the leading points-scoring players for the week, and Rivals shows the top-scoring FPL sqauds marked as rivals (including yours) for the week. For rivals, this screen also handily shows how many players have played/are currently playing/to play for each squad, so that you can see how the week is shaping up. Past gameweeks can also be displayed.
- Vidiprinter - This simply displays every fantasy event as it happens (as it is updated via sync). Some examples are goals/assists/red cards/price changes/rival transfers. Each event type is colour-coded and timestamped, and most events may be selected for further information. A filter at the top allows viewing of, for example, all goals scored.
The sections above are all about keeping up with the latest events/scores as they happen. Knowledge is designed to give you the information and insight to help you pick your team. This is broken down into 4 screens: -
- Teams - Shows you a list of Premier League teams, with basic information like current points, and also customisable Traffic Lights for upcoming games. Other team stats can also be displayed here. Also available is the Rotation tab, which is present to assist you in choosing a goalkeeping pairing - it shows how the fixtures rotate between each pair of teams, showing Traffic Lights based on the best available fixture between the two in each gameweek.
- Stats - The result of the Processing item in the Sync Panel; this screen is broken down into Players/Teams/Rivals/General. For each category, a list of stats is shown, along with the current leader for that statistic. Clicking on a statistic will show all leaders for that stat. This screen can give you lots of extra information over and above what is available on the FPL website - use it wisely!
- Players - This screen simply gives you a list of players in the game, in order of points scored by default. But you can also filter/sort this list to your heart's content using the panel at the top of the screen (swipe this panel left/right for more options). Two layouts are provided: one with player pictures and more stats, and one to fit more players on the screen at once - switch between these using the menu button. Select a player to view more information about them.
- Links - Simply a collection of links which you might find useful if you are playing FPL. Click to view in the Android web browser.
Settings
Differential is configurable to suit your usage pattern. All settings are found in the 'Settings' items from the menu key. Some of the options that can be changed are: -
- Auto sync on/off and update intervals
- Notifications (which event to notify, and whether to use sound)
- Start on boot?
- Crash reporting
- Update-checking
Click Everything
Pretty much everything in Differential can be clicked on for more information. For example, click on a player (whether from the selection/points screesn or from the players list) for a detailed breakdown of their history/stats/personal vidiprinter and more (including information on which of your rivals owns this player, and even who has them benched this week). You can also click on FPL squads, teams and vidiprinter entries for more information.
Data Usage
One of the most important aspects of any mobile app is the amount of data it uses. Not all users have unlimited data tarriffs, so it is important to understand what you are using. If you are not on an unlimited tarriff then I would strongly recommend using some sort of data monitoring app, which will help you to understand your usage and warn when you are approaching any limits.
All significant data usage by Differential is from the sync panel, whether initiated manually or automatically. Each sync process is optimised to use the least data possible, and best available compression.
It is important to note that browsing the various different sections of the app will not use any data - once synced you can browse endlessly without any further data being used. The only exceptions to this are when you change your squad selection, make a transfer, or add/remove a player from your watchlist - these are carried out straight away when requested.
