Support

Is there a subscription?

No. CoastFinder is bought once, for $6.99. There is no subscription, no in-app purchase and no advertising. Regions added later are included.

Can I move CoastFinder to a new phone without paying again?

Yes. Sign in to the App Store on the new phone with the same Apple ID you bought it with, search for CoastFinder (or open its App Store page) and download it again. There is no charge. If the App Store asks you to pay a second time, that is a billing fault rather than a policy, and Apple can reverse it.

Purchases cannot move between Apple and Google. A copy bought on the App Store does not carry over to an Android phone.

I was charged twice, or I want a refund

Purchases and refunds are handled by Apple, not by us. We cannot see your payment or issue a refund ourselves. Ask Apple at getsupport.apple.com, or through the purchase history in your Apple account.

I cannot find CoastFinder after buying it

Open the App Store, search for CoastFinder and tap Open, or the download icon if it is not installed on this phone. If it is installed but you cannot see it, swipe down on the home screen and search for it there.

Almost nothing is labeled from the beach

This is the app working correctly, and it is the first thing worth understanding.

Unlike a mountain range, nearly everything CoastFinder names is low or underwater. From an eye height of two meters, the horizon is about five kilometers away, and a wreck lying on the bottom has no height at all to lift it into view. From the beach at Cape Hatteras, of more than 50 notable features within 60 km, only the lighthouse behind you is in sight. That is the sea, not a bug.

CoastFinder does not delete the rest. Two things help:

• Below-horizon features. Hidden features stay marked on the horizon at their true bearing. Point at one, or tap its mark, for its name, its distance and why it is hidden. You cannot see them, and the app does not pretend you can, but you know what is out there and which way it lies. The switch is Show what is below the horizon in More.
• Eye height. The slider on the camera screen is the one control that changes what the curve of the earth lets you see. Set it to where you actually are, about 2 m on a beach, 4 m on a boat, 6 m on a pier, 20 m on a bridge, then raise it to look over the curve. It is exact rather than a cheat: eye height is precisely what sets the horizon distance, so every bearing and distance stays true at any height. The same setting is in More, under Observer.

Zooming in will never help with this. Magnification makes distant things bigger; it cannot show you something the earth is in front of. Height is the only thing that does.

The labels do not line up with what I see

A phone compass wanders, and it is worst near metal. Do these in order.

1. Calibrate the phone's compass first. Wave the phone in a figure of eight a few times, away from car dashboards, boat electronics, rigging, speakers and anything magnetic. A phone held near steel can be tens of degrees out, and no setting in this app can fix that.
2. Use Align. Tap Align in the toolbar on the camera screen. Drag up or down until the dashed line sits on the real horizon; get this right first, because a tilted view makes a correct bearing look wrong. Then find something you can positively identify, a lighthouse is ideal, and drag sideways until its label sits on it. Every label moves together. Reset clears both corrections and Done puts the tool away. Align is offered when the app is using your real position, not in manual location.
3. Hold still for a moment. Once aligned, the app holds the heading on the phone's gyroscope, so the labels stay where you put them while you stand still, and follow a pan without lag. If you walk somewhere new, the compass takes over again on its own; align once more there.

When Align has turned the labels, More shows how far, with Reset alignment to clear it.

The screen is cluttered, or too sparse

In More, under Detail level, there are four levels:

• Notable: every lighthouse, and the wrecks worth the walk, the ones visible from shore, on a dive list, in Wikipedia or on the National Register. This is the default.
• Named: named wrecks and dive sites, the barrier islands, every lighthouse and named shoal.
• Named + visible: adds wrecks showing above the water, mid-size islands and unnamed artificial reefs.
• Everything: every symbol on the chart, including anonymous dangerous wrecks and marsh hammocks. Useful, but many charted wrecks are recorded only as "Dangerous wreck".

Each category can also be switched off on the Map screen, and the Search range setting limits how far out the app looks.

Why is a label drawn as a span instead of a point?

Every feature records where its position came from and how far off it could be. When that doubt, seen from where you stand, is wider than about five degrees, the label is drawn as a dashed span with end stops: the feature is somewhere along it. It is usually a wreck or reef whose position comes from an old or approximate record, at a range where it could be mistaken for something else.

How do I find one particular wreck?

Search for it by name. Choose it from the results and a compass arrow turns you onto its bearing, even when the curve of the earth is hiding it.

Can I look from somewhere I am not standing?

Yes. In More, under Location, turn on Manual location. Pick one of the spots under Try a spot, or enter coordinates, and drag to look around. It is a good way to see what is out there before you go.

Getting a position onto my chartplotter

Open any feature and its coordinates sit under the description, with two buttons. Copy puts the latitude and longitude on the clipboard. GPX exports it as a waypoint file, which iOS then offers to the apps that can take it: a chartplotter or navigation app, a dive log, AirDrop to another device, Files, or Mail.

Submerged sites carry their charted depth as a negative elevation, which most software reads as a point on the seabed. The waypoint symbol follows the common Garmin naming, so a wreck arrives as a wreck on devices that recognize it and as a plain pin on those that do not.

The exported description repeats the datum, the source and the warning: these are reference positions, not navigational ones.

Do I need a signal?

No. A region is stored on the phone, and the overlay, map, search and detail cards all work with the radio off, which matters because coverage is worst exactly where this app is useful. Each region carries its own tide predictions, so depth estimates work offline too.

Where does the data come from?

NOAA electronic navigational charts, the NOAA wreck and obstruction database, the US Coast Guard Light List, NOAA coastal bathymetry and tide predictions, the North and South Carolina artificial reef programs, and OpenStreetMap. Every detail card names its source, and the Data sources list in More credits each one. The full list, with licenses, is on the Data sources page.

The depth does not match my chart

Depths are measured the way your chart measures them, from Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), an average of the lowest tides. A feature's card turns that into plain figures: the water over its top at the next low and high tide, using predictions from the nearest NOAA tide station, the water over it right now, and the depth of the seabed around it. If your chart and the app disagree on the charted figure, the app is probably reading a different survey than your chart's edition, and your chart wins.

The seafloor cross-section is a different thing and a weaker one. It is interpolated from charted spot soundings onto a coarse grid, not a survey, and the panel says so. Use it to understand the shape of the bottom ahead of you, never to decide whether you can pass over something.

Something on the chart is wrong

Occasionally it will be. Positions come from public charts and records, and those contain errors, out-of-date surveys and wrecks recorded to the nearest fraction of a minute a century ago. Every detail card names the source it came from, which is a good first check.

The quickest way to tell us is from the app. At the bottom of the feature's detail card, tap Know this spot? Help improve it and say what is wrong: the place, the name, the depth or height, or that it is not there. If it is in the wrong place, take a sighting: aim the center of the screen at the real thing. Press Send and it reaches our review queue with the feature, the region pack, the app version and your position filled in, and nothing that identifies you. You can send it by email from your own mail app instead if you prefer. Something missing altogether? Search for it, and if nothing matches, tap Tell us about it.

If you cannot use the app for it, email support@coastfinder.app with as much of this as you have:

• The name shown in the app, and the region.
• What is wrong: the position, the depth, the name, the category, or the description.
• What you believe is correct, and where that comes from: a chart number and edition, a survey, a local authority.
• Where you were standing and roughly when, if it is about something you could or could not see.

Corrections go into the region pack and reach everyone at the next update.

Which regions are covered, and can I request one?

Two regions come with the app and between them cover the whole North Carolina coast: the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast, from the Virginia line to Bogue Banks and Onslow Bay, and Cape Fear and the Grand Strand, from Topsail Island down into South Carolina as far as Winyah Bay. Others follow as their data is checked, which is the slow part: charts, wreck records and light lists all have to be reconciled before a region is worth shipping. Tell us where you sail, dive or walk and it helps decide the order.

Do I need an account?

No. There is no account to create and nothing to log in to.

Does CoastFinder send my location anywhere?

Your position, heading and tilt are used on the phone to work out what is in front of you, and are not transmitted. A position of yours leaves the phone only when you save a view or a pin, or when you send a problem report yourself. The privacy policy sets out each case.

Does the app record the camera?

No. The camera shows the live view the labels are drawn over. No photo or video is saved, and no image is analyzed, uploaded or sent anywhere.

Can I use it without camera or location access?

Yes. You can decline either and still use the map, search and manual location.

Can I navigate with CoastFinder?

No. CoastFinder is for looking at the water, not for navigating on it. It is not a substitute for official charts, a chartplotter or a proper lookout, and no depth in it should be used to decide whether you can pass over something. Depths are estimates and conditions change. Please do not use it that way.

Is there an Android version?

CoastFinder is for iPhone first. An Android version is coming later. Until then, the web version runs the same engine in any browser.

How do I get in touch?

Email support@coastfinder.app. Tell us which iPhone you have and which version of iOS. Expect a reply within a couple of days.