Useful Smartphone Apps for Cruisers

[micah719]

Here are some smartphone apps I've collected in case I ever manage to de-landlock myself from darkest Teutonia. Would the currently feet-wet members care to review them and add any others you recommend (or avoid)? Anything at all you've found useful living the life afloat, or at least in connection with throwing a fortune into the sea.

It isn't an exhaustive list, never can be, but I hope to create a CF repository of rated apps. In short, picking each other's brains. I'll figure out a format for a list later, or someone else might like to start; category, app size & memory usage, OS version & platform compatibility, ads/licenses, pros/cons, etc, for the OCD in all of us. My machines are android, but I won't sneer at apps for the slaves of Job or Gates, even if they sail iCats or are afflicted with WinDoze(tm).


From the Google playstore:
https://play.google.com/store?hl=en

Colregs
Pretty self-explanatory, a nicely formatted presentation of the rules of the road.

Seabook
A compendium of nautical subjects: Colregs, Stability, Navigation, GMDSS (Global Marine Distress & Safety System....had to look it up!), Engineering, Knots, Signal Flags, Country Flags

Saildroid
Basic instruments. Displays course & speed over ground, compass heading, waypoints. Requires GPS and magnetic sensor in phone. Unfortunately has ads.

Sail Racer
Racing stats, basically a more advanced version of Saildroid. No ads, license optional, recommended for keelboat sailors.

GPS Essentials
Grab-bag of GPS features. The heads-up display might be useful as an artificial horizon when overcoming seasickness. Or maybe not. I never suffered badly from mal-de-mer, and it's kind of hard trying it out at the moment...

GPS Status
Enhanced GPS features.

Oruxmaps Blue
Marine version of Oruxmaps, free open source offline map system, Open Seamap. Not for navigation, meaning, don't risk your life on it...

Celestial Navigator
Sight calculations, celestial data, almanac, rise set, wind, sailings, etc.

Sextant
Turn your smartphone into a sextant.



From F-Droid (for the security conscious):
https://f-droid.org/

Android IMSI Catcher
Detect fake cellphone base stations.

WiFi Privacy Police
Prevents the phone blabbing the name of the wifi network it seeks, in the clear; also asks permission when a known net name comes up under a dodgy access point. Free wifi in the anchorage? Watch out...

[cruiser_wannabe]

We have fun with "Deep Zoom" for currents.


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