TZ iBoat app, first released in 2016, has been a challenging yet rewarding project for the TIMEZERO team. First brought to the market with the objective to be the all-in one solution for maritime navigation, the efforts to improve and reach that objective have not ceased one bit in these past years.
Since its launch, new features and updates have been released to improve the app capabilities and user experience. Now, we have reached version 2.2, available for iPhones and iPads. For this new version, as done in the past, we listened closely to our customers and partners to find out which improvements were the most important.
Today, we want to present the new features through the eyes of a couple of avid users—Daniel Joram from the NOBELTEC team in the United States and Santiago Sanchez, head of MARKETMAR, a navigation school in Spain.
Let’s start with Daniel, who shared his experience using two of the new features: The Anchor watch alarm and the Tides and Currents display.
“The Anchor watch alarm. With this new feature, you can set your anchor watch alarm from your iPhone either with your position when you drop the hook or with our point feature using the internal compass and manually entering the amount of road you have out. Once that’s done, any internet-connected compatible device onboard will send the boat’s position and depth to the server, allowing you to remotely monitor the boat’s position, speed, depth, and wind speed.
You can log in to the TIMEZERO Web platform and check the position from any phone, tablet, or PC. Additionally, you can set up e-mail or text message notifications in the event of an anchor warning or alarm. This is a great piece of mind when you are out onshore for a hike, in town at a restaurant, or grabbing groceries. I also set the phone up next to my bunk when I go to bed, in case there is an issue, and it makes it super easy to wake up, check things and go back to bed.
Tides and Currents display has been updated with the same power as found in TZ Navigator or TZ Professional, with the ability to easily scroll forward a couple of days to check the tide’s height and speed of the current where you want to anchor.
There is also a new tides and currents NavData that allows you to quickly see the stations closest to your position. We keep our boat in a bit of a challenging marina, where we can only get in above a +1′ tide. We prefer to enter close to slack, as the currents can run up to 4 knots in the channel. This combination is important to pay attention to, and with the new NavData options, it’s easier to plan for the correct time”.
And now, let’s take a look at the new Search function, explained by Santiago, who tested it this past Eastern navigating from Valencia to the Island of Ibiza off the coast of Spain.
“For my navigations, I rely primarily on the app. When I saw this new Search function, I thought of it as a minor update that would not affect my navigation practices much, but I soon discovered how useful it was. I know well the route from Valencia to Ibiza, so commonly, I do not set a destination for my route. However, anytime the conditions change, or we detour slightly, it was very advantageous to get back on track with just a couple of taps thanks to this new function.
Moreover, as some of my crew members were not very experienced, it was great to be able to easily explain to them how to find the routes and marks and how to display the route we wanted to work on with just a few taps.”
In addition to these features, version 2.2 of the TZ iBoat app includes other improvements such as:
- User guide available directly on the app
- Data sharing with TZ Navigator
- Faster chart download
- Retina display management for an even more accurate image
Click here to find more information and download the app.