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Boat Buddies
Invite family and friends to your boat by email. Whoever accepts becomes your Boat Buddy and can follow your boat remotely: position live on the chart, Dashboard, boat monitoring, the entire history and your logbook with notes. Everything is read only, a Boat Buddy cannot change anything. When your boat casts off or berths, they get a push notification. Without a subscription you invite up to 3 Boat Buddies, with the Standard subscription up to 25.
What you get
Remotely (as a Boat Buddy)
- Friends’ boats in the overview (Menu › “Home”): Every boat you follow appears as a tile with boat photo, name, the owner’s status line (for example “Winter storage Heiligenhafen”), last position, base wind strength, speed over ground, “last seen” and the Hub’s connection type (Wi-Fi or Hub cellular with signal strength).
- Tapping connects you to the boat and opens the Dashboard. The heart symbol opens boat monitoring directly.
- What you see on your friend’s boat:
| Area | What you see |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Speed over ground with trip duration and distance, chart with track, “last seen”, last position over Hub cellular, synchronisation status, last supply voltage, logbook entries, wind rose, base wind |
| Boat monitoring | Battery with alarm threshold and status, speed over ground, anchor watch (off, watching, alarm), wind strength and wind direction, depth, sea state, water temperature, air pressure; chart with anchor position; age of every value |
| Logbook | all entries with place, duration, distance, speed over ground, sea state; filter; detail view; manoeuvre analysis of tacks and gybes; the owner’s notes with their importance |
| Environment | History of air pressure, wind, wind rose, sea state, depth, water temperature and battery over freely selectable periods |
| #sailorsgram | Create and share a photo post and route video from the boat’s trips |
| Full-screen chart | Track, berths (anchor, pontoon, mooring), manoeuvres |
- The boat’s entire history, not only from the day you became a Boat Buddy.
On board
- Friends’ boats on your chart: All boats you follow appear live on every chart in the app, including on the Plotter on board your own boat. This way you see on your own trip where your friends are right now. Tapping shows boat name, status line, owner’s name, MMSI and supply voltage.
- On board your friend’s boat: If you are connected to their Hub (over the Hub Wi-Fi or a shared Wi-Fi), you use the app there like anyone on board, with full access to the Plotter, AIS, anchor watch, logbook and settings. On board, access to the network decides, not the role. With “Set up app” you connect the app to the Hub.
How it works
As the owner: inviting a Boat Buddy
- Open Menu › “Smartboatia ID” › “My Fleet” › your boat and tap the person-with-plus symbol next to “Pending invites”.
- Enter the email address and choose the language of the invitation email (German or English).
- Confirm. The invitation appears for you under “Pending invites”.
The invited person does not need an account yet. If they have none, the email asks them to create a Smartboatia ID.
As the owner: renewing an invitation
- Simply invite the same email address again. The invitation is then valid for 14 days again and the email is sent again.
As the owner: withdrawing an invitation
- Under “Pending invites” tap the invitation and confirm “Revoke invitation for {name}?”.
As the owner: removing a Boat Buddy
- Under “Boat Buddies (x/y)” you see each friend’s name, email and “Buddy since {date}”. Tap the friend and confirm “Remove {name} from this boat?”. Access to your boat ends immediately.
As the invitee: accepting or declining an invitation
- Pending invitations appear in the overview (Menu › “Home”) as a card: “{name} invited you to become Boat Buddy of {boat}.”
- Tap the green tick to accept. The boat appears under “Buddy Boats”.
- Tap the cross to decline.
The invitation is matched by your email address. If you only register after the invitation, you see it a few minutes after registering.
As a Boat Buddy: no longer following a boat
- Under “Buddy Boats” tap the boat and confirm “Remove {boat}?”.
Requirements
- Owner: Smartboatia ID, a boat with a name (without a name the app says: “Your boat needs a name before you can invite someone.”), internet.
- Boat Buddy: Smartboatia ID with the same email address the invitation was sent to, and internet. You do not need a Hub of your own.
Permissions and subscription
How many Boat Buddies a boat can have
| Boat subscription | Boat Buddies |
|---|---|
| Without a subscription (called “Free” in the app) | 3 |
| Standard subscription | 25 |
- The subscription assigned to the boat counts, not your own.
- Open invitations take up a place, including expired ones, until you withdraw them or the invitee declines.
- If you switch to a smaller subscription, you keep all existing Boat Buddies. Only new invitations are then limited.
- When the limit is reached, the app says: “Sorry, you need to upgrade your subscription to invite more Boat Buddies.” You buy a subscription in the online shop on smartboatia.com and assign it to your boat in the app.
How up to date your Boat Buddy’s view of your boat is
- Without a subscription: Live values every minute as long as the Hub is on Wi-Fi, a coarse live track right away and the complete history in full resolution with a delay of up to 6 hours.
- With the Standard subscription in addition: Live values every 5 seconds and the full resolution after about a minute. If the boat has no internet, the live state comes over Hub cellular, once per minute.
Who may do what
| What | Boat Buddy (remotely) | Owner (remotely) | Anyone connected to the Hub on board |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boat in the overview and on the chart, live | yes | yes | not applicable |
| Dashboard, boat monitoring, environment | yes | yes | yes |
| Entire history | yes | yes | yes |
| Read logbook including notes | yes | yes | yes |
| Edit logbook notes | no | yes | yes |
| Create, change, delete logbook entries | no | on board only | yes |
| #sailorsgram | yes | yes | yes |
| Export polars | no | yes, with the Standard subscription | no |
| GPX export | no | yes, with the Standard subscription | not applicable |
| Push for casting off and berthing | yes | yes | not applicable |
| Push for anchor and battery alarm | no | yes | notice in the app on board |
| Set alarms | no | on board only | yes |
| Change boat profile | no | yes | yes |
| Invite and remove Boat Buddies | no | yes | not applicable |
| Manage subscription and Hubs | no | yes | not applicable |
| Plotter, AIS, onboard systems, Hub health | no | on board only | yes |
Safety notice
- No alarm push for Boat Buddies. A Boat Buddy only sees a running anchor or battery alarm if they look at boat monitoring.
Notifications
| When | To whom | How |
|---|---|---|
| Invitation sent | Invitee | Email in the chosen language, with links to the App Store and Google Play; if they have no account yet, with the request to create a Smartboatia ID |
| Invitation sent, invitee already uses the app | Invitee | additionally push |
| Invitation accepted | Owner | Push |
| Invitation declined | Owner | Push |
| Boat casts off or is berthed (at the pontoon, at the mooring, at anchor) | Owner and all Boat Buddies | Push with place and boat name |
- If you withdraw an invitation or remove a Boat Buddy, they are not notified. The boat disappears from their list the next time it loads.
Messages and special cases
| Situation | Message in the app |
|---|---|
| You invite yourself | “Sorry, you can’t invite yourself.” |
| The person already follows your boat | “Sorry, the person you are inviting is already a Boat Buddy of your boat.” |
| Invitation successful | “Invitation sent successfully.” |
| Boat Buddy removed | “Boat Buddy removed successfully.” |
| Invitation has been withdrawn in the meantime | “Sorry, your invitation was revoked by the inviter.” |
| Invitation expired (after 14 days) | “Sorry, the invitation has expired. Please ask the boat owner to renew their invite.” Accepting is then no longer possible, only declining. |
| You are signed in with a different account than the invited one | “Sorry, our mistake. You haven’t been invited.” |
| The boat no longer exists | “Sorry, the boat was not found. It has likely been deleted by its owner.” |
| No internet in the friends list | “No internet. Pull down to retry.” |
| Unknown error | “Unknown error. Please try again later.” |
Offline behaviour
- “Buddy Boats”, your Boat Buddies and your pending invitations are also shown by the app offline from the phone’s storage.
- You do not see incoming invitations offline.
- Inviting, accepting, declining and removing need internet.
- Friends’ boats on the chart need internet on the phone.
Frequently asked questions
How do I invite someone as a Boat Buddy?
Open Menu › "Smartboatia ID" › "My Fleet" › your boat, tap the person-with-plus symbol next to "Pending invites", enter the email address and choose the language of the invitation. The invited person does not need an account yet.
How many Boat Buddies can I invite?
Up to 3 without a subscription, up to 25 with the Standard subscription. The subscription assigned to the boat counts, and open invitations also take up a place.
Do my Boat Buddies need their own Hub or a subscription?
No. They need a Smartboatia ID with the email address the invitation was sent to, and internet. How up to date their view of your boat is depends on your boat's subscription.
What do my Boat Buddies see?
Your boat live on the chart, Dashboard, boat monitoring, the entire history and your logbook with notes, including from before the invitation. Everything is read only, a Boat Buddy cannot change anything.
Do my Boat Buddies get push notifications?
Yes, when your boat casts off or is berthed, with the place and boat name. Boat Buddies do not get a push notification for an anchor or battery alarm.
How do I remove a Boat Buddy?
Under "Boat Buddies" tap the friend and confirm "Remove {name} from this boat?". Access ends immediately, and they are not notified.