Installing the app

Get CREWWIZE onto your phone

The app is free and it comes off the box on your boat, not from a store. That is the reason it installs at anchor with no signal — and it means the last step needs the vessel's wifi, so do this once while you are aboard and it is done for the season.

You will need to be on the vessel's wifi for the final step. Everything before it can be done anywhere.

Your vessel's code

Type the boat's name and you get a code to scan. Show it on a laptop or another screen, join the vessel's wifi on the phone you want the app on, and scan.

Android

Looks like the device you are on

The app is a signed package the boat itself serves. There is no Play Store download, because a store needs internet at the moment you install — which is exactly what a boat does not have.

Join the vessel's wifi. The network name and password are on the join card by the companionway.
Open the boat's own address in Chrome. The card has a QR code for it.
Tap Install app. The file comes from the appliance aboard, not from the internet.
Confirm the install when Android asks. It cannot do this silently, and it will warn you about a file from outside the store — that warning is correct and expected.
If you want to check it, the page shows the package's fingerprint so you can compare it against the one in the ship's folder.

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iPhone and iPad

No App Store either, and none needed: the app installs from the boat straight to your home screen through Safari.

Join the vessel's wifi, from the join card by the companionway.
Open the boat's own address in Safari — it must be Safari, not Chrome, for the next step to exist.
Tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen.
Open it from the home screen. It runs full-screen, with the microphone, like any other app.
Allow the microphone when asked. Without it you can read everything and speak to nobody.

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Why there is no store download

Both app stores need an internet connection at the moment you install, and a boat at sea does not have one. That is not a limitation we are working around later — it is the reason the app is built the way it is. The package sits on the appliance aboard your vessel, signed by us, and the appliance hands it to your phone over its own wifi.

On Android that means you will see a warning about installing a file from outside the store. The warning is accurate and you should read it: the file comes from the box on your boat. The install page shows the package's fingerprint so it can be checked against the one in the ship's folder.

On iPhone there is nothing to download at all. Safari adds the app to your home screen from the vessel's own address, and it runs full-screen with microphone access like any other app.

Not sailing with a CREWWIZE boat yet?

An account is free, and it is what a skipper invites you to a voyage with. The app can wait until you are aboard.