Install & Connect

What you need

Android version	8.0 or newer
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Low Energy, which every phone of that age has
Internet	Only the first time you look at a map area, to fetch the tiles

Map tiles are cached once fetched, so a course you have already looked at still draws with no signal — worth doing on shore before you go out.

Installing the app

The app is distributed as a direct download rather than through the Play Store. The Downloads page has the current build and walks through the two extra steps Android asks for when a file does not come from the Play Store.

It will not update itself

Because it is installed outside the Play Store, the app does not auto-update. When a new version is released, download and install it the same way.

Permissions

Without the permission the buoy cannot be found. The button takes you straight to Android's own prompt.

Which permission Android asks for depends on its version:

Android version	Permission asked for
12 and newer	Nearby devices
11 and older	Location

Why an app about buoys asks for Location

On Android 11 and older, Location is what Android required before it would allow any Bluetooth scan at all. The app uses it only to permit the scan — it never reads your phone’s position. Nothing in the app needs to know where your phone is; the positions on the map come from the buoy’s own GPS.

Tap Grant permission on the scan screen and Android’s own prompt appears. If Bluetooth itself is switched off, a Turn on Bluetooth button appears in the same place.

Finding the buoy

Each row gives the name, the Bluetooth address underneath and the signal strength on the right. Tap it to connect.

Switch the buoy on, press Scan for buoys, and it should appear within a few seconds. Each row shows:

• The name, such as CMU30-0117
• The Bluetooth address underneath it
• The signal strength in dBm on the right

Signal strength is a rough distance cue: closer to zero is stronger. If two buoys are listed, the stronger one is usually the one next to you.

Tap an entry to connect. The header changes to Connecting to…, and the Live screen opens once the buoy answers.

The scan looks for buoys, not names

The app filters on the service the buoy advertises rather than on its name, so a buoy whose name has not arrived yet is still found — it simply appears as DrifterBuoy until the name catches up. Only DrifterBuoys are listed, so everything you see in the list is connectable.

If nothing appears, the screen says so: No buoy found yet. Make sure the device is powered on and nearby, then scan. See Troubleshooting.

If the app is older than the buoy

If the buoy speaks a newer protocol than the app understands, a warning appears saying which version the buoy is speaking and asking you to update the app.

Do not trust readings past that warning

The app may still show numbers, but it cannot be relied on to read the newer protocol correctly. Update the app before using the readings for anything.

Next steps

• Measuring — the Live screen and running a measurement
• Map — plotting the day’s measurements
• Getting Started — setting up the buoy itself