SAIL - April 2015

22

APRIL 2015

UNDER SAIL

CRUISING

Apps for Sailors

Spyglass

By Donald A. McLennan

T

raditionally, sailors have used

a hand-bearing compass or

rangefinder binoculars to take

bearings on a mark, check the angle of

an approaching boat to avoid a collision,

determine their distance offshore, and

monitor their anchor position. Spyglass,

from Happymagenta, Ltd., combines the

best features of a hand-bearing compass

and rangefinder binoculars with digital

zoom, map overlays, date and time,

GPS position, elevation angle and

astronomical data.

When held flat, Spyglass shows a

compass rose displayed over a satellite,

hybrid or terrain map from Google,

Apple, Open Street, Open Cycle or

USGS. The traditional compass rose

is shown, along with the range finder,

elevation angle and other information.

When held vertically, the compass is

overlaid on live camera view with up to

32x zoom capability.

Along with the compass, Spyglass

shows the GPS position, date and time,

azimuth and magnetic declination,

vertical speed, and altitude. Within the

compass rose are shown the bearing

arrow, elevation, selected bearing(s),

and a small rangefinder (based on the

average person’s height) that allows

you to quickly measure distance. Along

the bottom are buttons for the camera,

range/distance calculators, zoom in/out,

tracking destinations, settings and help.

What sets Spyglass apart is the degree

to which you can customize the on-

screen display. In addition to the map or

augmented reality views, there are sev-

eral display settings performed by vari-

ous swipe actions on the screen. Swiping

horizontally changes the color of the

compass rose and text items. Swiping

vertically adds a colored background fil-

ter over the display. Swiping diagonally

changes the style of the compass rose.

Personalizing these settings is very help-

ful when using the compass in bright

sunlight or low light conditions.

Setting target destinations allows

you to manage and track one or more

bearings, which are set based on a map

location, your current location (for

your return) or your current bearing.

The bearing is displayed on the screen

for easy reference. As your direction

changes, the bearing display moves

within the compass rose to indicate

which way to turn. When sailing, this is

useful for sailing a fixed course or track-

ing the bearing angle of an approaching

ship. Destinations can be saved, edited,

deleted or shared.

The ability to calculate the distance to

an object (e.g., a lighthouse) based on

its height is a useful coastal navigation

skill. Spyglass supports this beautifully

and calculates distance based on the

measured angle. Another feature that

will interest mariners is that the location

of celestial objects, including the Sun,

Moon, Polaris and a built-in catalog of

the brightest stars, is displayed. This is

useful when planning celestial naviga-

tion sights and helps locate these objects

in the sky.

Spyglass is the most full-featured

compass app available. I give it 5 stars

for its full set of features and imple-

mented functionality. s

Name: Spyglass, Happymagenta, Ltd.

(happymagenta.com)

Available on: iTunes App Store

Price: $3.99

Score: (5 out of 5 stars)

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