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What’s New in mySailing 1.7.0–1.7.2: Instruments, Performance, and Polish

The last six weeks have been some of the most intense development in mySailing’s history. Three minor releases — 1.7.0, 1.7.1, and 1.7.2 — delivered a live NMEA instrument panel, a complete backup system, massive performance improvements for large trip logs, and the first glimpse of AIS vessel tracking. Here’s everything that changed.

Live Instruments Dashboard

The headline feature of 1.7.0. The new Instruments view turns your phone or tablet into a live instrument panel fed by your boat’s NMEA 0183 network over WiFi. Wind speed and direction (true and apparent), SOG, COG, depth, engine RPM, log distance, and GPS position all update in real time — with large, glanceable gauges designed for cockpit readability.

GPS data is treated as a distinct stream from NMEA, so you can run instruments from your NMEA network while using the phone’s GPS for position, or disable GPS entirely with the new “Off” location source option (1.7.2) to save battery on long passages when an external GPS is available.

Pro tip: Tap any instrument gauge for a detailed time-series chart of that sensor’s data over the last hour.

Backup & Restore (.msbak)

With 1.7.0, you can now export your entire app configuration — sailors, yachts, shipowners, templates, and settings — as a single .msbak file. Restore it on a new device, after a reinstall, or share it with your fleet manager. Trip data continues to use the .msts format for individual trip sharing.

Backup/Restore

Performance: 50,000 Events? No Problem

If you record NMEA data continuously on a long passage, your trip log can easily reach tens of thousands of events. Versions before 1.7.1 struggled — the event list would slow down, and opening the map view could freeze the app entirely.

We rewrote the data layer from the ground up:

  • Typed location columns (latitude/longitude on the events table) eliminated repeated JSON parsing across 12 different code paths. The map view, GPX export, CSV export, and trip sharing all got faster.
  • Epoch-based timestamps replaced ISO 8601 text storage — integer comparisons are ~10× faster, and a new database index ensures every query hits the right rows immediately.
  • Zoom-aware marker rendering caps map markers at 50–2000 depending on zoom level, while the full-route polyline remains visible at any scale. Zoom into a harbor and you’ll see dense markers only where they matter; zoom out to the world view and the map stays responsive.

The result: a trip with 50,000 location events opens instantly on the map and scrolls smoothly in the list — even on a three-year-old phone.

AIS Vessel Tracking (Early Access)

AIS targets received over NMEA are now plotted on the instruments map and the full-screen events map. Vessel markers show position and heading in real time, giving you a clear picture of traffic around you. This is an early implementation — more AIS features are coming in 1.8.

AIS view on Instruments AIS view on map

Online Sailor Profiles (Beta)

1.7.1 introduced the first version of online personal sailor profiles. Your profile card now displays total nautical miles and engine hours sailed across all trips. A new QR code button lets you share your profile with other skippers. Available for testing — opt in from the Sailors tab.

Quality of Life Improvements

  • Android file open fix: Opening .msts files directly from a file manager no longer shows a black screen (1.7.2).
  • Flexible file imports: Trip files with unexpected extensions (e.g., renamed or downloaded without .msts) can now be opened after a confirmation prompt (1.7.2).
  • Startup speed: Application launch time improved significantly in 1.7.2.
  • Background NMEA: NMEA processing in the background is now more reliable, with proper notification permissions on Android.

Full Changelog

1.7.2 (July 2026)

  • Improved location data storage for faster map rendering and exports
  • Improved date/time storage in events
  • Instruments: “Off” option for location source (battery saving)
  • AIS vessel markers on instruments and full-screen map
  • Trip files with unexpected extensions now openable
  • Fixed black screen when opening trip files on Android
  • Background NMEA processing improvements
  • Faster application startup

1.7.1 (June–July 2026)

  • Sailor profile card shows total miles and hours sailed
  • QR code button for sharing sailor profiles
  • Online personal sailor profiles (beta)
  • Removed event import limit — import trips of any size
  • Fixed event list performance with large trip logs

1.7.0 (June 2026)

  • New: Live NMEA/GPS Instruments view
  • New: Backup and restore (.msbak) for sailors, yachts, shipowners, templates, and settings
  • Fixed GPS running when NMEA was disconnected but instruments were on
  • Fixed AWA/TWA angle display in tracking events
  • Improved trip import action clarity

mySailing is available now on the App Store and Google Play.

If you’re testing new features like AIS or online profiles, we’d love your feedback — reach out at mysailing.app or join the conversation on Facebook.

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UTC, NMEA and new event types

Nautical chart of Gloucester and Cape Ann with sailing route marked from Gloucester Harbor to Marblehead including waypoints W1 to W6

Work on version 1.6.0 is underway, and testers may already be spotting some changes on deck. Here’s what’s been happening in the app lately:

  • ⛵️🧭 More fixes to NMEA event logging. Long story short — every event coming in from NMEA 0183 will now have its position and timestamp filled from NMEA data rather than the phone’s clock.
  • ⏳ Running alongside that, the way trip time and events are stored has had a thorough refit. All events will now store their data in UTC, while ship time (the trip’s time zone, stored in the trip description next to start/end dates) will be used for display. A dedicated event for changing the time zone mid-voyage is coming soon — handy for longer passages. This also affects data export — a UTC column should now be available. One side effect: your older trips won’t have this handled automatically.
  • New event types: I’ve finally added the ability to define new event types online and roll them out to sailors without needing a full app release (unless a new handling method is required). A small change, but it opens up a lot of flexibility.

Testers — come on aboard! Everyone else — thanks for your patience, we’re nearly there. 🙏

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Precision GPS Recording: NMEA0183 Improvements Now Available in mySailing

How we fixed GPS timestamp handling, duplicate event prevention, and wind data accuracy.

Accurate GPS data is essential for sailing trip logging. In the latest update to mySailing (v1.6.0+305), we’ve made significant improvements to how the application processes NMEA0183 data from your GPS receiver. These fixes address timing issues, prevent duplicate events, and improve data accuracy—all designed to give you more reliable sailing records.

What Changed?

1. GPS Timestamps Now Drive Event Timing (The Big One)

The Problem:

Previously, mySailing used your device’s internal timer to decide when to record location events. This created a timing mismatch when testing with NMEA data playback—events would fire at the wrong intervals compared to the actual GPS timestamps in your data stream.The Fix:

We now use GPS timestamps directly from the NMEA sentences to determine event intervals. This means location events are recorded based on GPS time, not phone time.

NMEA connection settings in mySailing. The improved timestamp handling works seamlessly in the background.

Why It Matters:

  • ✅ Location events now respect your configured interval (default: 60 seconds) based on actual GPS time
  • ✅ Testing with fast data replay works correctly
  • ✅ Better consistency between your device time and GPS data

Technical Detail: Location events are now emitted using the same NMEA-time-driven logic as all other telemetry events (wind speed, COG, SOG, etc.).

2. Fixed “Stuck” Events on Connection Problems

The Problem:

All telemetry event types (Beaufort, RPM, wind direction, log state, COG, SOG, VAR) had a “busy flag” that could leak under certain conditions. If no active trip was available when an event was about to be recorded, the flag wouldn’t reset, causing events to get stuck and stop being recorded.

The Fix:

We now properly reset the busy flag whenever a trip isn’t available, allowing events to resume normally.

Why It Matters:

  • ✅ Events won’t get stuck after starting without an active trip
  • ✅ More reliable event recording throughout your session
  • ✅ Better behavior during NMEA connection issues

3. True Wind Only—No More Conflicting Wind Data

The Problem:

Your GPS receiver may send two types of wind data:

  • True Wind (WIMWD) — wind relative to the water/Earth
  • Relative Wind (WIMWV) — wind relative to your boat’s heading

mySailing was processing both, which could create conflicting wind speed and direction values depending on which sentence arrived last.

The Fix:

We’ve disabled processing of relative wind (WIMWV) sentences. The application now uses only true wind data (WIMWD), which is more useful for sailing analysis and weather logging. But in near future we will allow to register both types of wind values.

Why It Matters:

  • ✅ No more conflicting wind values in your trip log
  • ✅ Clearer wind data for analysis and export
  • ✅ The code for relative wind is preserved, so we can re-enable it in the future if needed

4. Event Throttling Now Works as Intended

The Problem:

The logic that decides whether to record an event had a subtle bug. It wasn’t correctly handling the “either-or” condition: record if either the value changes significantly or enough time has elapsed.

The Fix:

Fixed the throttling logic to properly respect both threshold conditions:

  • Event recorded if value changes beyond the configured threshold, OR
  • Event recorded if sufficient time has elapsed since the last event (whichever comes first)

Why It Matters:

  • ✅ Slower events (like wind direction) are still captured at regular intervals
  • ✅ Fast-changing values don’t get over-sampled
  • ✅ Your trip logs have complete event coverage without excessive duplication

Who Benefits From These Fixes?

NMEA Device Users

If you use a marine GPS receiver or NMEA multiplexer connected to your device, these fixes ensure more accurate and reliable event recording. Your sailing logs will have timestamps that align with actual GPS time, not phone time.

Fast Data Replay (Testing & Analysis)

If you use mySailing with test NMEA files for software testing or post-trip analysis, the GPS-timestamp-driven timing now works correctly even during fast replay. Test scenarios that previously failed now pass.

Multi-Sensor Setups

If your boat has multiple sensors (wind, depth, speed, heading) connected via NMEA, this update provides cleaner, more consistent data with fewer conflicts. Wind data is now unified around a single, reliable source.

Quick Comparison: Before & After

AspectBefore FixAfter Fix
Event TimingDevice timer (phone clock)GPS timestamp (actual data) ✅
Stuck EventsPossible after connection issuesCleared automatically ✅
Wind DataMay show conflicting valuesSingle consistent source (true wind) ✅
Event ThrottlingPartial (not both conditions)Full (either threshold OR time) ✅
Test Replay AccuracyIncorrect intervalsCorrect intervals ✅

How to Update

These improvements are included in mySailing v1.6.0 and later:

Simply update your app to get these improvements. NMEA data handling will work more reliably from the moment you launch the updated version.

What’s Next?

We’re continuing to improve GPS and NMEA support. Future updates may include:

  • Support for additional NMEA sentence types
  • Configurable wind data preferences
  • Enhanced event filtering options
  • Real-time diagnostic logs for NMEA troubleshooting

Questions or Issues?

If you experience any issues with NMEA data recording after updating, please reach out to our support team with:

  • Your NMEA device model
  • A sample of your trip log (or NMEA test file)
  • Description of the issue

We’re here to help! Your feedback helps us continue improving mySailing.

Happy sailing! Update mySailing today and enjoy more reliable GPS data tracking on your next trip.

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Quick Events Dashboard in 1.5.1

Small but expected update by some users. Finally you can mark some events in Events Types tree as favorite for quick access.

Then using dashboard button on Trips List view you can quickly add events to Current Trip.

In this version also you can double tap icon on bottom table bar to return to previous view in this tab. And fixes of course 🙂

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mySailing Trips 1.5.0 Released

We’ve shipped a significant update with new tools to simplify crew management and keep your sailing data safe. Here’s what’s new.

Sailor Profile Portfolio – Save Your Crew Once

The biggest addition in 1.5.0 is the ability to create permanent sailor profiles. Instead of re-entering crew information for every trip, you can now save sailor details once and reuse them across trips

When you add a crew member, you can link them to a saved sailor profile. The app remembers your regular crew and makes suggestions, so onboarding becomes a one-click process.

What you can do:

  • Create permanent profiles with contact info, certificates, and emergency contacts
  • Link crew members to profiles for instant setup on future trips
  • View each sailor’s complete trip history
  • See which crew members are linked to profiles at a glance

Google Drive Backup & Restore – Your Data, Always Safe

Your crew database is important. Version 1.5.0 adds automatic backup to Google Drive, so your sailor profiles and user data stay protected.

With one tap, you can back up all your data. If you switch devices or need to restore information, it’s just a click away. The app handles version conflicts automatically, and you can restore to any backup point.

Features:

  • One-tap backup of all sailor profiles
  • Automatic updates as you add crew details
  • Encrypted through your Google Drive account
  • Restore to any point with a single tap
  • Seamless multi-device sync

QR Codes for Sailor Profiles – Share in Seconds

Need to share a crew member’s information with another skipper? Generate a QR code from any sailor profile. Other users scan it and instantly import the sailor to their app.

This is useful for:

  • Sharing crew details between skippers
  • Quick onboarding at sailing clubs
  • Digital crew exchanges
  • Archiving crew information

Smart Trip Duration Calculator

When you change a crew member’s joining or leaving date, the app now automatically calculates and suggests the trip duration. No more manual math – just adjust the dates and let the system do the work.

Dark Mode Refinements

We’ve polished dark mode throughout the app. Sailor profile cards, crew information cards, and stat displays now render properly in low-light conditions. Dark mode is now fully consistent across all crew management features.

Update Now

mySailing Trips 1.5.0 is available on:

Have feedback or suggestions? We’d like to hear from you. Rate us on the app stores or reach out directly.

Happy sailing!

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Building Your Crew Network: Introducing Sailor Profiles in mySailing

Managing sailing crews just got easier – here’s what we’re working on

One of the biggest challenges for sailing enthusiasts is keeping track of crew members. You meet talented sailors, sailing friends, and experienced crew members on different trips, but storing and organizing that information? That’s been a manual process for most sailors.

We’re changing that.

The Problem We’re Solving

Imagine this: You’re planning your next sailing trip and want to bring together your favorite crew from previous adventures. But where do you find their contact information? Their experience level? Their certifications? Most sailors end up with scattered notes, phone contacts, or worse – they just can’t remember who sailed with them last year.

Plus, if you’re the captain or trip organizer, you need to quickly assess who brings what skills to the table.

Introducing Sailor Profiles

We’re building a new Sailor Profiles feature that lets you create a personal database of sailors – your own crew network, right in the mySailing app.

What You Can Do

Create Your Sailor Profile

Store your personal sailor information in one place. Your name, contact details, certifications, maritime experience – everything a crew organizer needs to know about you.

Build Your Crew Database

Save profiles of sailors you’ve worked with – crew members, friends, colleagues. Create a quick reference library of people you trust and want to sail with again.

Manage Important Information

Store maritime documents, certification details, professional qualifications, and personal notes. Keep track of who has what certifications and experience levels.

Add Crew in Seconds

When you’re organizing a trip, simply select a saved sailor from your database and add them directly to your crew. No more typing out contact info or trying to remember their experience level.

Offline Access

Your sailor profiles are always available, even when you don’t have an internet connection. Perfect for remote anchorages or areas with spotty connectivity.

Why This Matters

For trip organizers and captains, this feature saves hours of administrative work. For crew members, it’s a way to build your sailing reputation – keep your profile updated with your latest certifications and experience.

But more than that, it’s about community. It’s about maintaining your network of sailing friends and making it easy to get back on the water together.

Still in Development

We’re actively working on this feature and plan to include it in an upcoming release. We’re focusing on making it intuitive, fast, and useful for real-world sailing scenarios.

Have ideas about what should be in a sailor profile? Want to see specific features? We’d love to hear from you – drop a comment or reach out through the app.

Fair winds! ⛵

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Watch planner in testing

Ongoing work on Watch Planner – on one side grouping crew in Watch, on the other side preparing Watch schedule. Introduced 4/4 and 3/3 setup. At first you can use predefined schedules, editors will come later.

New features comes in English, Polish, Spanish and Catalan.

As usual testers needed

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Buscamos testers para mySailing Trips en español

¡Tripulaciones al habla! En mySailing Trips estamos afinando la nueva localización al español y necesitamos navegantes con ganas de probar la app y contarnos qué tal funciona a bordo.

¿Qué puedes hacer con mySailing Trips?

  • Registrar el cuaderno de bitácora con eventos detallados: maniobras, cambios de guardia, condiciones meteorológicas y más.
  • Generar rutas y exportaciones GPX para compartir tu travesía con la tripulación o con quienes te esperan en tierra.
  • Organizar a tu equipo en grupos de guardia, asignar oficiales y mantener todo el plan de cubierta en orden.
  • Consultar procedimientos de radio (Mayday, Pan-Pan, Securité) listos para usar, con textos que rellenan tus datos automáticamente.

¿Te animas a testear?

Estamos buscando feedback sobre la experiencia en español: textos, terminología náutica, mensajes dentro de la app y cualquier detalle que pueda mejorar. Cuéntanos cómo la usas, qué te resulta útil y qué podríamos pulir.

Cómo participar

  1. Descarga mySailing Trips desde tu tienda habitual o usa el enlace a TestFlight / Google Play Beta.
  2. Configura la app en español (ajustes → idioma).
  3. Utilízala en tu próxima salida y, al regresar, comparte tus impresiones: capturas, omentarios
    o sugerencias. Tu experiencia real en cubierta nos ayuda a que la app hable el mismo idioma que la tripulación.
    ¡Gracias por embarcarte con nosotros!
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Share Your Sailing Adventures with Fellow Sailors

Finally! Share your sailing trips with crew via encrypted files. Works iOS to Android. As easy as sending a photo.

Finally! Share Your Trips with Crew Members

Ever finished a brilliant passage and wished you could share the complete logbook with your crew? Or needed to send your sailing records to the yacht owner? Maybe you just want to back up that once-in-a-lifetime voyage?

Good news, shipmates! mySailing Trips now lets you share complete sailing trips between devices – iPhone to Android, iPad to tablet, or anywhere you need your logbook to go.

How It Works (Dead Simple)

Think of it like sharing a photo, but you’re sharing an entire trip:

On Your Device:

  1. Swipe right on any trip in your logbook
  2. Tap the purple “Share” button
  3. Choose what to include (we’ll get to that in a sec)
  4. Set a 4-digit PIN – like your credit card
  5. Share it via WhatsApp, email, AirDrop – whatever you normally use

Your Crew Receives:

They get a file called something like Atlantic_Crossing_Blue_Moon_2024-06-15.msts (yes, it includes the boat name and date – pretty handy when you’re organizing files).

They tap it, enter your PIN, and boom – they’ve got the whole trip in their logbook. Takes about 30 seconds.

What Can You Share?

Here’s where it gets interesting. You’re not stuck sharing everything – pick and choose:

Trip sharing options screen showing events, crew, and photos selections
Trip sharing options screen showing events, crew, and photos selections

The Basics:

  • Trip dates and ports
  • Total miles and engine hours
  • Weather notes
  • All your logged events

Your Crew:

  • Who was aboard
  • Everyone’s duty hours (handy for professional crew)
  • Watch schedules

The Boat:

  • Yacht details and registration
  • Owner information (useful for charter companies)

The Good Stuff:

  • All your photos from the trip
  • GPS positions
  • Those brilliant sunset shots

Select what matters for that particular share. Sending to the owner? Include everything. Just sharing the route with a mate? Maybe skip the crew details.

Why Skippers Love This

“Sent the trip to all five crew after our Channel crossing. Everyone has the logbook now – no more ‘what was that anchorage called?'”
– James, Hallberg-Rassy 42

For Professional Crew:

Charter captains and sailing schools, this one’s for you. Share trip templates with incoming skippers. Export completed passages for the management office. Keep records organized without paperwork.

For Cruising Couples:

Both of you keep the logbook synced. You log on your iPhone, partner imports on their Android tablet. No more “whose phone has the latest entry?”

For Rally Participants:

Share your route with fellow rally boats. Compare passages. Swap GPX tracks for next season’s planning.

About That Security Thing

Now, I know what you’re thinking – “Is my data floating around on some server?”

Nope. Here’s the deal:

The file is encrypted – properly encrypted, not just password-protected. Think of it like those diplomatic briefcases in spy movies. Without your PIN, it’s just gibberish.

No internet needed. No cloud uploads. It’s peer-to-peer, skipper to skipper. You create the file on your phone, send it however you want, and the recipient opens it with your PIN.

We use the same encryption banks use (AES-256, if you’re curious). Your PIN gets run through something called PBKDF2 – basically means even if someone intercepts the file, they’d need about 10,000 years of computer time to crack it.

But here’s the important bit: Send your PIN separately from the file. Share the file via email, send the PIN via text. Or tell them in person at the marina bar.

Works Everywhere

iPhone to iPhone? Sure – use AirDrop.
iPhone to Android? Email works great.
Android to your iPad? WhatsApp, Telegram, whatever you’ve got.

When someone receives your file, their phone knows what to do with it. Tap the file, mySailing opens automatically, shows a preview, asks for the PIN, done.

Tested it with:

  • Gmail attachments (works)
  • WhatsApp file sharing (works)
  • Telegram (works)
  • AirDrop between iPhones (works beautifully)
  • Saving to Google Drive then sharing the link (yep, works too)

GPX Tracks Too

For the chartplotters and navigation geeks:

You can also export your track as a standard GPX file. That’s the universal format that works with:

  • Navionics
  • OpenCPN
  • Garmin BaseCamp
  • Google Earth
  • Pretty much any nav software

Want to analyze your route in detail? Export the GPX. Want to share with someone who doesn’t use mySailing? GPX works anywhere.

The GPX includes your full track with timestamps, waypoints, and speed data. Load it into your chartplotter for next season’s planning.

Smart About Filenames

Remember that filename I mentioned? Atlantic_Crossing_Blue_Moon_2024-06-15.msts

It automatically includes:

  • Your trip name
  • The boat name (if you’ve entered one)
  • The start date

No more trip_export_final_v3_ACTUALLY_FINAL.msts nonsense. When you’ve got 20 trips shared in your Downloads folder, you’ll appreciate this.

Real-World Uses We’ve Seen

Delivery Skippers:

“I deliver yachts for a living. Now I send the owner a complete record when I hand over the keys – every hour logged, fuel consumed, everything. Professional and easy.”

Sailing Schools:

“Our instructors share the day’s sailing with students. They can review their maneuvers, see the track we sailed, remember what we covered. Better than any debrief notes.”

Cruising Communities:

“Our ARC group shares routes between boats. Someone finds a great anchorage? They share the trip. We’ve all got it logged.”

Personal Archive:

“I export every trip and save to Google Drive. It’s my backup. If I drop my phone overboard (again), I’ve got everything.”

The Import Part

When your crew gets your trip file, here’s what they see:

Preview Screen:

Shows them what’s in the file before importing:

  • Trip name and dates
  • Number of events and photos
  • Crew count
  • Whether yacht details are included

They can see exactly what they’re getting. No surprises.

Enter PIN:

They type your 4-digit code (or longer password if you’re security-conscious).

Import:

Tap the button. Done.

The app’s smart about it – if they already have some of that crew or yacht information, it doesn’t create duplicates. It just adds the new trip and updates any relevant details.

Tips from the Helm

Tip #1: Share immediately
Right after docking, share the trip while everyone’s still aboard. They’ll have it before they reach the car park.

Tip #2: Different shares for different folks
Owner gets everything. Crew get the trip minus owner details. Rally friend gets just the route and GPX. You choose each time.

Tip #3: Name your trips well
Descriptive trip names make better filenames. “Summer Cruise” becomes Summer_Cruise_2024-07-20.msts. “Falmouth to Cherbourg” becomes Falmouth_to_Cherbourg_2024-07-20.msts. See the difference?

Tip #4: Test it first
Share a trip to yourself. Send it to your own email, open it on the same device or another one you own. See how it works. Then you’ll be confident when sharing with crew.

Tip #5: PIN security matters
Use at least 4 digits, better yet 6. Don’t use 1234 or your birth year. But also don’t make it so complex you forget it – you can’t recover the file without the PIN.

What’s Next?

We’re watching how you use this feature. Some ideas we’re considering:

  • Share multiple trips at once
  • Share trip templates (empty trip with just the yacht and standard crew)
  • Direct boat-to-boat transfer via Bluetooth
  • QR code sharing (scan to download)

Let us know what would help you most. We built this feature because skippers asked for it. Keep the feedback coming.

Get Started

The trip sharing feature is in the latest version of mySailing Trips (v1.3.3+).

Already installed? Update via the App Store or Google Play.
New skipper? Download mySailing Trips – it’s free to try.

Open your logbook, swipe on a trip, and you’ll see that purple Share button waiting.

Fair Winds

This feature’s been in testing for months. We’ve shared trips across oceans (literally – our test crew includes skippers in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Pacific).

It works. It’s secure. It’s simple enough to use while the boat’s still rocking at anchor.

So next time your crew asks “can you send me the logbook?”, you can say “check your WhatsApp.”

Got questions about trip sharing? Drop them in the comments or hit us up on the contact page. Always happy to help a fellow sailor.