Lots of Apps for Viewing the Wireless Wind Data

Once you have the SailTimer API™ for receiving the Bluetooth data onto your iOS or Android device, use one of the apps below for displaying the wind conditions. They are listed in alphabetical order. We have tested and approved all of the apps below. This is not open data for use by half-baked apps or anonymous developers in unknown countries. All of the apps below display accurate and safe data for your navigation. If you have a favorite app that cannot display real-time wind data from your Wind Instrument, ask them to email and we’ll help them add the connection.

iOS   |   Android  |  Computers

 

iOS

Aqua Map (free): Can receive wind data from the SailTimer Air Link on wifi (not Bluetooth with API), either from our Wind Instrument or a legacy wired anemometer.  Aqua Map also has a paid version of the app with US marine charts, and has instructions about wifi connections here. To get NMEA data on wifi from the Air Link, you’ll need to enter a port number and IP address under Settings in Aqua Map. For wired data from a NMEA network, the Air Link sends on port 55555 (and also if you send Wind Instrument data to a GPS chartplotter).  If using the Wind Instrument alone on Bluetooth to the Air Link, use port 55556.  For the IP address, go to wifi Settings on the iPhone/iPad, tap the “Info” button (a little ‘i’ in a circle) next to the Air Link, and use the number shown on the “Router” line.  Then you’ll see the connection under Settings in Aqua Map, and True wind direction and speed will be displayed as in this screenshot.

iRegatta Pro and free iRegatta trial performance app for iPhone (also works on iPad). To activate, just select the wind vane icon with our unique wind cups on the splash screen when iRegatta opens.  Then you’ll see wind speed and direction on the 5th panel. Nothing needs to be set up if you open Settings on your iPad/iPhone and go to iRegatta — although you could verify under WIFI NMEA that the target frequency is set to receive data every 1 second.  iRegatta also lets you see your wind-related variables on the Apple Watch.

iRegatta 2 for iPad provides a flexible chart-based layout. Tutorials and user manual available here. After connecting to your Wind Instrument with the SailTimer API, tap BTLE in the left menu. In the view that pops up, tap “Connect to SailTimer Instrument” if it’s red. If it’s green, you are already connected. iRegatta 2 will remember your choice the next time you start the app. To see data, tap the left menu and tap Readouts to select the wind data you want to see. If you long-tap you can drag the readout to a new position or pinch to resize it, or double-tap it to remove it.

MID WiFi and MID Wifi (Free) evaluation version.  Has a great wind gauge as you can see in these screenshots for iPad and iPhone. On the wind gauge (and in the map view), the size of the blue sector indicates the variation in wind direction.  To connect, at the bottom of the first screen tap Set (for Settings), then set the Server Port to TCP 55554 and the IP address to 127.0.0.1.  All variables including wind speed and direction are also available on the Apple Watch, as in this example.

NMEA Sail shows your most important navigation information on one easy-to-view screen.  A wind gauge displays wind angle and wind speed (True and Apparent), along with other possible wireless NMEA data if available including compass heading and boat speed.  Also has a unique overlay of polar curves on the wind gauge.  Depth, wind or speed can be announced continuously with audio feedback.

Sail Buddy is a lightweight app that shows course, speed and wind data with a clean, simple interface on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.  You can see your GPS track on a land map.  The Sail Buddy app can also bring in NMEA depth data on TCP or UDP wifi.  That is great if you use the SailTimer Air Link to send out wifi from wired NMEA devices for viewing on your iPad or iPhone.

SailRacer is a racing app with a visual starting box showing Time-To-Burn and unique graphics including lay-lines, compass, wind direction and oscillations, and heading deviation. To connect to Wind Instrument’s API, go to Settings – Authentication and create an account with in-app purchase to unlock all features from the free trial version.  Then go to Settings – Datasource and select SailTimer API.

SailTimer™: our own free chartplotter app with a quick and easy display of your optimal tacks and Tacking Time to Destination (TTD ®). The app website has background logic, instructions and FAQs. Audio Navigation™: now you don’t have to squint to try to see your screen out in the bright sun; the app will just tell you the wind conditions and boat speed whenever they change by intervals you set. See (hear) it working in this 45-second YouTube demo. Put your phone/tablet away to keep it safe, reduce heat and preserve battery power.  Connect a bluetooth speaker, and keep your hands and eyes free for sailing.

SeaNav has marine charts for numerous countries, and a unique Augmented Reality view.  It also lets you see wind data in the AppleWatch version of the SeaNav app.  The wind direction gauge has a clever design showing both wind direction and wind angle. Tap the round IPC button in the upper-right (Instrument Panel Cluster) to open.  The parent company Pocket Mariner also has some background on developing their AIS display.

 


Android

Aqua Map (free): Can receive wind data from the SailTimer Air Link on wifi (not Bluetooth with API), either from our Wind Instrument or a legacy wired anemometer.  Aqua Map also has a paid version of the app with US marine charts, and has instructions about wifi connections here. To get NMEA data on wifi from the Air Link, you’ll need to enter a port number and IP address under Settings in Aqua Map. For wired data from a NMEA network, the Air Link sends on port 55555 (and also if you send Wind Instrument data to a GPS chartplotter).  If using the Wind Instrument alone on Bluetooth to the Air Link, use port 55556.  For the IP address, go to wifi Settings on the iPhone/iPad, tap the “Info” button (a little ‘i’ in a circle) next to the Air Link, and use the number shown on the “Router” line.  Then you’ll see the connection under Settings in Aqua Map, and True wind direction and speed will be displayed as in this screenshot.

AFTrack Sailing Edition:  a chartplotter app (free) with basic laylines for sailing based on tacking angle. There is a small red wind gauge in the lower right of the map screen, which shows True wind speed & direction from the Wind Instrument based on True North.  There is an overview of how to use AFTrack here, and instructions for downloading marine charts for USA, New Zealand, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.  The US Atlantic Coast also includes large-scale charts of Bahamas and Cuba.  The charts are placed into a folder on an SD card and scanned by AFTrack or loaded as single map manually.

AFTrack SailTimer™ Plugin:  if you already use the original AFTrack or with AFTrack ST, this plug-in allows you to connect to the SailTimer Wind Instrument™ and display a full-screen wind gauge (Apparent wind speed & direction based on Magnetic North) as in this screenshot.

Mariner GPS Dashboard: This app has a clean, simplified aesthetic and is part of the RAMS series for Road Air and Marine Speedometers from Watch & Navy. They originally began as two separate brands for smartwatch and mobile apps. The Mariner app lets you customize the speedometer scale for your boat. Automatically collect elapsed time, position and local weather at regular intervals. View compass display, share location, display route and logbook entries with Google Maps, export trip data to .GPX and .CSV. To receive wind data through the air, just click “Wind” on the dashboard view. A Wear OS version of this app is also available with some great smartwatch displays. Very handy on smaller boats. Choose wind direction or angle to view. Click here for the full list of features for the wearable app.

OpenCPN for Android:  the longstanding open-source chartplotter for PCs is  available from the Google Play store. To display wireless wind speed and direction, connect the SailTimer API to the Wind Instrument. Then wind data will arrive automatically in OpenCPN. Use the hamburger menu to open icons and select the wind gauges. Press and hold on a gauge to access Preferences, where you can resize and add other gauges such as Apparent & True Wind Angle or True Wind Direction & Speed as in this screenshot. GPS heading must be available with your boat moving in order to calculate these parameters on the gauges. The app can display vector or raster charts.

Sail Expert is designed to be a swiss army knife for sailors. Functions for navigation, regatta, keeping logbook, weather forecast, maintenance logs for different boats, and more. Just open Sail Expert after making the Bluetooth connection to the Wind Instrument, and wind data will be displayed as in this screenshot. The basic version is free with True Wind Speed (TWS) and True Wind Angle (TWA), with more variables through a one-month (1.99) or one-year (10.99) subscription. The tablet/phone sensors are used to fill the log (location, COG, SOG, temperature, pressure). The app can also receive NMEA data on wifi. Full details on the website.

SailGrib WR is a full-featured chartplotter. It also excels at bluewater weather routing using VMG and the global GRIB weather forecast. Traditionally that required expensive software and a power-hungry computer, but this app runs on an Android device and is much less expensive (and there is a free trial with no NMEA/wind data). There are YouTube demos and background info on the developer website, but to start receiving data from the SailTimer API, go to Settings – NMEA and select SailTimer at the bottom of the screen.  (This only needs to be done once.) Open the drawer menu and turn on Navigation at the top.  Press the Boat button in the lower right; it becomes orange indicating that NMEA data is being displayed.  Tap the text on any of the cells in the drawer to select wind parameters such as in this screenshot.

SailRacer is a racing app with a visual starting box showing Time-To-Burn and unique graphics displaying lay-lines, compass, wind direction and oscillations, and heading deviation.  To connect, go to Settings – Datasource and select SailTimer API.  Also includes a smartwatch version for Android Wear.

SailTimer Wind Gauge™ (free):  A traditional wind angle display (True & Apparent), and also wind direction on a compass (magnetic-north & true-north). Audio interfaces are becoming more useful in cars and at home with Siri, Alexa and others. This may be even more important in sailing, so this Wind Gauge app includes Audio Navigation™. Now you don’t have to squint to try to see your screen out in the bright sun; the app will just tell you the wind conditions and boat speed whenever they change by intervals you set.  See (hear) it working in this 45-second YouTube demo. Put your phone/tablet away to keep it safe, and keep your hands and eyes free for sailing.  Finally, the SailTimer Watch™ app is a version for smartwatches such as the Sony Smartwatch 3, which is waterproof and easy to see in direct sunlight.  Tap the watch face to toggle between dark and light backgrounds, or swipe left for brightness settings.

SailTimer™ chartplotter app (free):  Quick and easy display of your optimal tacks and Tacking Time to Destination (TTD ®).  Import the excellent-quality worldwide Navionics charts with tide levels, or use free worldwide Google maps or aerial photos.    Advanced features that are low cost and easy to use;  it gives ordinary sailors navigation capabilities that used to be only available to tacticians on sponsored race boats.  This patented system learns your boat’s performance (polar plots) on all points of sail, and is the only product that uses tacking distances in calculating your optimal tacks to get to the waypoint fastest.  Further details at Google Play.

WinDis wind display for race officials. This app provides compass directions and graphs with wind history for 10-minute rule, 30 minutes, 1 hour and 3 hours. 10-minute rule is adjustable from 4 to 20 minutes. Averages and min/max for wind direction and speed.  Can also re-transmit incoming wind data on wifi or Bluetooth. Further details and screenshots in the online manual.

 

 

Computers

Apple Computers: Macs with the Apple M1 chip and macOS 11.0 or later can run many of the above iOS apps.

OpenCPN on Windows, Linux or Mac OSX:  There are a lot of devoted users of this free open-source chartplotter program (background here). They have been asking if there was a way to receive transmissions from the Wind Instrument on computers, and now there is.  The Android version of OpenCPN (above) can receive the wind data and retransmit to the PC version on wifi.  First, create an OpenCPN TCP or UDP output connection stream on the Android device.  The computer can then connect to that stream using an OpenCPN input network connection on the same wifi network.

SailTimer Air Link™:  Allows you to display wind conditions in a web browser with wifi, so is another way to get the wireless wind data to a computer (or even a web browser on an e-reader).  The Air Link can also transmit Wind Instrument data on NMEA wiring or on wifi to chartplotter software on a computer. For example, MacENC can display the SailTimer™ optimal tacking route and has a new x64 version for modern Apple computers.

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