MyShipTracking

Wrong time, wrong tracking, wrong location, wrong information!

It’s been a while since the overhaul (which happened sometime last spring or summer I believe), but I wanted to wait until I had a chance to use it properly before I left an updated review. My previous review, I mentioned how the app was inferior to the website version. I’m happy to say that is no longer the case. It’s at least as good as the website version, if not better. I use this app for ship watching in the Great Lakes area (Usually around Duluth/Superior). The app was very useful for that before, but it’s even better now. Two of the major changes I loved are: —Increased AIS range. The ships remain in-range across most of Lake Superior now, instead of going out of range an hour or two after leaving a port. —Being able to see the ETA/ETD of ships. Before, you could only see the ETA once it got close to the port. Now, as long as the ship has reported its ETA/ETD, the app will tell you what it is. —Improved ship information cards. Previously, the information given on ships when you pressed on them was a little lacking. Now, it tells you practically everything you’d want to know. The size of the ship, its location, past port calls, destination, etc. There are others, but we’d be here all day if I continued talking about what I liked. There are a few things I disliked, but they’re minor and not deserving of making those review a 4 star. Here’s what they are: —Ads. I understand that this is a free-to-use app that takes money to maintain, and most of the ads are unobtrusive and therefore don’t bother me. However, the full-screen ads that show up when you first open the information on a ship after launching the app can be quite annoying—especially when some are videos that last upwards of 30 seconds. —There is no button to take you to the location of the ship from its information page. You can look at the track of the ship, but that’s it. I think the ‘Map’ button should take you to the ship’s current location on the map. Idk if it’s supposed to do this, but it returns you to the same part of the map you were at before searching for the ship. Overall, this app is great. Easily the best AIS app I’ve used. Marine Traffic seems to be the preference among the ship watcher community, but in my experience it’s slow & buggy compared to this app, and also requires you to pay for a subscription to see all the information on the ship—most of which you could search up online anyway. Also, Marine Traffic tends to tell you in accurate ETAs for ships. For example,

The app was great until a recent update a few months back. Now it is full of ads, the vessel pictures are gone, other details are hidden or difficult to find (vessel track, draft, etc), and the user interface is terrible. Hopefully they revert back to the old form. I do not recommend.

You have GOT to be kidding with this update, right? You took away literally EVERYTHING that made the old app great, you eliminated ship picture. I’m adjusting my review slightly. It seems like you didn’t put key features behind a paywall; it’s just that you got rid of all the stuff that made your app great to begin with. When I used to click on the Arthur M. Anderson or the Edward L. Ryerson, I’d get a picture and details. Now when I click on them in my fleet, literally nothing happens. It’s a non responsive button! I do feel bad about being hard on you, because I think it’s clear that you genuinely want to make a good app. You’re not a villain, you’re not trying to force us into a subscription or exorbitant fees or anything like that. But here’s the thing: you already HAD a 5-star app. You had already achieved greatness, and for some reason, you decided to change it. What’s done in error can always be undone, my friend, so hopefully you won’t be too proud to really look long and hard at all the functionality this update has taken away and consider reversing course.

I’ve had this app for over a year. Just recently… Presumably from an update… I get nonstop ads, all the photos of ships are gone, and it’s just really horrible to use. I wish I could go back to the way it was. The update is horrible!

Useless for the most part until or unless you purchase an upgrade. Not the free tracking app you’ll get much from despite the description.

The app overall is great, however, in certain areas, the ships lose coverage and you can no longer see them. To prevent that from happening they should make it so after it receives the position it keeps moving like the way it is on the website. And please add a 3d view

I love this app it is amazing It is well-made I love using it

Used to work much better… no more

Now at least a couple of days old information and sometimes not even on the right coast.