WatchMate

For one this does not appear to stay active while in the background on iPadOS. Does not appear as a an app in Background App Refresh settings. Then it does not recognize when a target has passed and continues to alarm if I bring it into the foreground. As much as I don’t care for Navionics AIS it does seem to provide reasonable and appropriate collision alerts. Considering they are both Garmin owned now you would think they could benefit from each other. However this seems to be a classic problem as companies are swept up.

It was great to see an update to the app after 2 years as I had feared Garmin had abandoned this software. Unfortunately, they introduced a new bug whereby AIS tracks plot at the wrong distance from your position relative to the range rings (the track details display the correct target range).

Software has bugs. I regularly need to force close the app and re-open to get my anchor data to load. No alarm history. Basic functionality for AIS. No Ability to “silence” an AIS target for 10 minutes, the alarm just constantly goes off every few seconds. Random WFi connection issues.

I know the GPS coordinates of my anchor. Why can’t I enter or at least see the coordinates? Twenty five foot increments for distance limits is too large. If I have dragged even 10 feet I should be warned.

IPhone and iPad do not connect to the Vesper XB-8000. Can not use the WatchMate app. When trying to connect to the Vesper XB-8000 device it just says ‘No Internet Connection’ and never connects. Have been in contact with Vesper and they can not resolve. Do not waste your time with this app or any other, such as Navionics, that you want to connect to the Vesper WiFi.

Vesper’s AIS unit is excellent, and this app enables essentially full remote control of the device. It appears very reliable, and I find it extremely useful when on passage, as well as when anchored. So, almost always... Vesper’s Vision unit has a very well thought out anchor alarm, and being able to quickly see the anchor alarm display when away from the nav station is very useful. Ditto for AIS data, of course... Highly recommended for Vesper AIS owners.

If you own a VesperMarine AIS, then you'll want this app on your phone/pad. My Watchmate Vision is down at the navstation because I didn't want that many more wires being routed through the binnacle. This app makes it easy to use the new anchor watch system when dropping the anchor.

Good

The addition of the plotter view took this app from merely useful to fantastic. Now it functions as a great backup to the chartplotter while at sea.