Random app: frequently asked questions

They come from the iPhone's own system random generator, the cryptographically secure source iOS uses for encryption, and every value in a range has exactly the same chance. There is no seed to guess and no pattern to learn. The app also ships with tests that check the dice, the bingo drum and the card deck come out evenly.

No. The app has not been independently audited, and many places require regulated lotteries and gambling to use licensed equipment or a supervised process. For a family game, a class or an informal club draw it is fine; for anything regulated, follow the rules that apply where you are.

There is no account and every draw happens on the phone, even offline. Two things do use the internet: the Map generator needs it to show the map, and the free version loads its ads over the connection. Purchases and restores also go through the App Store online.

Bingo balls, six-sided dice, a coin toss, a playing card, a letter from A to Z, a colour with its hex code, a date and time, a point on the world map, rock-paper-scissors, a Yes or No, and an entry from a list you type in. That is 12 generators in all.

Yes. Open List, tap New list, give it a List title and type each entry in its own Item title field, tapping Add new item for the next one. Pasting many lines into one field does not split them into separate entries, so type them one per field. The drawn entry stays in the list and can be picked again on the next draw.

You can. Record the screen with iOS Screen Recording, or at least take a screenshot, while you show the list or the ticket range and tap Generate. The app keeps no certificate, history or timestamp, so the proof you publish has to come from your own recording.

Because each draw is independent, which is exactly what random means. With a range of 1 to 100, ten draws already have a 37.2% chance of producing at least one repeat; with 1 to 10, four draws have a 49.6% chance. If every value must come out once, use Bingo with the top number you need (it always counts from 1, up to 9999).

Give each person or ticket a number from 1 to N, open Bingo, type N next to Max numbers: and tap Generate once per prize. A number that has come out is removed from the drum, so no one can win twice. The board of called balls also records the order: first prize, second prize and so on.

No, it has no voice. It shows the current ball very large inside a circle, a counter such as 12 / 75 and a board of every ball already called, so the host reads the number out to the room.

No. The app is the drum and the scoreboard, not the cards, and it does not check a winning card either. Players use their own paper cards and the host compares a claimed line against the board of called balls.

The game is saved on the device. If you switch apps, lock the phone or even close the app, the balls already drawn and the ones left are still there when you come back to Bingo. Only Restart clears it.

No. It shows the face of each die, from 1 up to 100 dice at once, and you add them yourself. It only has ordinary six-sided dice, so there is no d20 or other shapes.

Not in practice. The Min and Max fields open a number keypad that has no minus key. If you need a range such as -10 to 10, draw from 1 to 21 and subtract 11 from the result.

Nothing breaks: the app swaps them. Min 100 and Max 0 draws from 0 to 100, exactly as if you had typed them the other way round. If a field holds something that is not a whole number, it turns red and nothing is drawn.

No. It picks one of the 26 capital letters from A to Z, each with a 3.85% chance. Accented letters and other alphabets are not included.

Most of the Earth is ocean, and the app picks latitude and longitude evenly in degrees. That spreading also gives the areas near the poles about twice their real share: 29.4% of pins fall beyond 60 degrees north or south, a band that covers 13.4% of the planet's surface. There is no land-only filter, and the app never uses your own location.

Only for the ads in the free version. Allowing tracking lets the ad network pick ads from your interests; if you say no, the app works exactly the same and the ads are simply not personalised. The app has no account and your lists never leave the phone.

All 12 generators are free with no limits. The free version shows banner ads and a full-screen ad every second time you open a generator from the Home list. Remove Ads, a monthly subscription or, where offered, a one-time purchase, removes both kinds of ads and changes nothing else.

Open Settings and tap Restore Purchases to sync your purchase from the App Store. When it has worked, the row under Purchases reads Ads removed. To cancel the subscription, use Manage Subscription in the same section.

No. Each result disappears when you draw again or leave the screen. The only thing kept is the bingo game in progress, with its balls in the order they were drawn.