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Changelog

What's new, improved, and fixed in Master's Mate.

v2.9.1 2026-04-10

Improved

  • Improved Server stability — Fixed a process management issue that could cause background services to accumulate over time, consuming memory. The system now runs lean with automatic self-healing.
  • Improved Automated backups — Your platform data is now backed up automatically every night, encrypted, and stored both locally and in the cloud with 30-day retention. The system monitors backup health and alerts if anything goes wrong.
v2.9.0 2026-04-10

New

  • New Navigation chart overlay — Full nautical chart coverage from Maine to Grenada. See depth soundings, channel markers, aids to navigation, restricted areas, and anchorages directly on your map. Toggle between NOAA official charts (US waters) and full Navionics-quality charts (entire Caribbean, Bahamas, Atlantic).
  • New Chart layer picker — Choose your chart source in Display Settings: NOAA Charts for free US government data, Full Charts for worldwide Navionics-quality coverage, or Vector Chart for interactive ENC data. Quick on/off toggle available in the map layer control.
  • New Offline chart caching — Chart tiles are cached locally on the server and in your browser. Charts load instantly on revisit and remain available during intermittent connectivity. Background processes continuously pre-cache your sailing region.
  • New System Status tab — New Status sub-tab under Settings shows PWA status, notification permissions, API health, software version, and live chart cache statistics.
v2.8.3 2026-04-09

Improved

  • Improved Mobile route experience — Viewing, editing, and creating routes on mobile now happens entirely within the bottom drawer. No more modals or tab switching — tap a route to see details, tap Edit to modify, use the back button to navigate. The map stays visible and interactive throughout.
  • Improved Route editor buttons — Polished back button (rounded card with chevron icon) and Edit button (accent-colored pill with pencil icon) for a cleaner, more professional look on mobile.
v2.8.2 2026-04-07

Improved

  • Improved Help documentation — Comprehensive rewrite of all help pages to cover every feature added since v2.7.0: alarm tiers, groups & permissions, escalation chains, dead man's switch, activity log, Android app, Google sign-in, self-service signup, and mobile drawer panels.
v2.8.1 2026-04-07

Improved

  • Improved Mobile drawer panels — Places, Tracks, and Routes now have a draggable bottom drawer on mobile. Tap the handle to peek, drag up for full scrollable access to lists and details.
  • Improved Google sign-in reliability — Fixed session handoff between Chrome and the app, multi-boat account linking, and boat picker navigation.
  • Improved Consistent frosted-glass handle styling across all mobile drawers and HUD panel
v2.8.0 2026-04-07

New

  • New Android app — Native Android APK available. Install it, sign in, and get push notifications even with the screen off.
  • New FCM push notifications — Anchor drag alarms now loop with a custom siren sound and vibration pattern until you dismiss them. Works with the screen off.
  • New Google sign-in — Sign up or sign in with your Google account. One tap, no passwords to remember.
  • New Self-service signup — Get your boat online in under a minute. Free forever on the Deckhand plan. Name your boat, get a unique subdomain, start managing.
  • New Multi-boat access — One Google account can access multiple boats with different roles (Owner, Crew, Guest). A boat picker lets you choose which vessel to manage.

Improved

  • Improved Navigation tabs reordered to match real-world workflow: Chart, HUD, Weather, Routes, Tracks, Places
  • Improved App landing page redesigned with light nautical theme and lifestyle photography
v2.7.1 2026-04-06

New

  • New Universal app login — Android APK and direct visitors to app.mastersmate.com now get a clean login screen where they enter their boat name, username, and password. Recent accounts are saved in a dropdown for quick access on return visits.
v2.7.0 2026-04-05

New

  • New Three-tier alarm system — Emergency alarms (anchor drag critical) sound a continuous siren and require manual acknowledgment. Warning alarms cycle 10 seconds on/off. Notifications play a single chime and stay in your notification tray until cleared.
  • New Groups & Permissions — Create groups (Owner, Crew, Passenger, Guest) with fine-grained permissions for every feature. Control who receives which alarm tier, who can set anchor, write the logbook, manage crew, and more.
  • New Escalation chain — If an emergency alarm goes unacknowledged, the system escalates: SMS after a configurable number of minutes, then an automated phone call. Never miss an anchor drag at 3am.
  • New Dead man's switch — When anchored with no user activity for a configurable number of hours, the system sends a welfare check to your emergency contacts via email and SMS.
  • New Activity log — Full audit timeline of who did what and when. Filter by user, category, date, or search. Admin-only, under Settings.
  • New Logbook WYSIWYG editor — Rich text editing for logbook notes with bold, italic, lists, links, and blockquotes. Entries now record who wrote them.
  • New Alarm settings panel — Toggle each alarm type on or off, configure escalation timeouts, dead man's switch hours, and buddy boat proximity range.

Improved

  • Improved Buddy boat proximity alerts now send push notifications (previously dashboard-only) with configurable range
  • Improved Push notifications are routed by group permissions — passengers and guests won't be woken by emergency alarms unless you want them to be
  • Improved Logbook now requires a start date/time and records the author for every entry
  • Improved Added "Passage" to logbook categories
v2.6.3 2026-04-05

New

  • New Push notifications — anchor drag alerts now arrive as real browser push notifications, even when the app tab is in the background or minimized
  • New Notification channels — alerts can be delivered via dashboard, push, email, SMS, or WhatsApp depending on your configuration

Improved

  • Improved Automatic push subscription — the app registers for push notifications as soon as you grant permission, no manual setup needed
  • Improved Help documentation updated across all sections with expanded notification guides and corrected settings references
v2.6.2 2026-04-05

New

  • New Chart context menu — right-click or long-press the chart for 6 quick actions: Save Favorite, Add Forecast Location, Drop Waypoint, Set Anchor Here, Set Docked Here, Copy Coordinates
  • New Drop Waypoint — one-tap waypoint with auto-naming (WPT-001, WPT-002, ...)
  • New Add Forecast Location from the chart — no need to navigate to Weather first

Improved

  • Improved Favorite place category is now a clean fixed dropdown with 14 categories (replaced learning-mode combobox)
v2.6.1 2026-04-05

New

  • New Boat Type setting — choose your vessel type (monohull, catamaran, trimaran, trawler, motor yacht, center console, dinghy) in Settings
  • New Hull silhouette on chart — a to-scale outline of your boat is drawn behind the boat icon, sized from your LOA and beam, rotating with heading
  • New 7 unique hull/rig renderers with type-specific details: sails, masts, flybridges, outboard motors, pontoon tubes, T-tops, and more
v2.6.0 2026-04-04

New

  • New Vessel Mode Selector — tap the status pill to switch between Anchored, Docked, and Underway modes with smart contextual flows
  • New Docked Mode — set your dock position, save it as a home berth for quick reuse
  • New Auto-Departure — automatically switches to Underway and starts track recording when your boat starts moving (configurable in Settings)
  • New Guest Self-Registration — guests can request access via email from your boat's public page, pending your approval
  • New Track Auto-Record setting — enable in Settings to automatically start recording when switching to Underway

Improved

  • Improved Disarming anchor now sets "Mode Not Set" instead of auto-switching to Underway — you choose what happens next
  • Improved Track recording prompt when selecting Underway — set name, color, and sample rate, or skip
  • Improved If a track is recording when you set anchor, you're offered to stop it (instead of being blocked)
  • Improved Help documentation updated across all sections for new features
v2.5.1 2026-04-04

Improved

  • Improved Dashboard always opens to the Chart (boat map) after login
  • Improved Logo click returns to the main chart view
  • Improved Comprehensive help documentation updates across all sections

Fixed

  • Fixed Near Me background seeder completing full batches without timeout
  • Fixed Near Me category label: "Food & Drink" corrected to "Restaurant"
v2.5.0 2026-04-03

New

  • Near Me — discover marinas, marine services, restaurants, supermarkets, fuel, pharmacies, banks, hardware stores, laundromats, and dive centers near your current position
  • Results from OpenStreetMap, Google Places, and community contributions — merged for the most complete coverage
  • Click any result to see full contact details (phone, website, hours) — fetched automatically if not already available
  • Star places to save them to your Favorites and Contacts in one tap, with optional rating and review
  • Community sharing: your starred places and reviews help other cruisers discover local services
  • Pre-loaded data for every major harbor from Trinidad to Bar Harbor, Maine
  • 10 category filters: Marinas, Marine Services, Provisioning, Food & Drink, Fuel, Medical, Financial, Hardware, Laundry, Dive
  • Route builder: click on any route leg to insert a new waypoint — great for routing around obstructions

Improved

  • Favorites now expand on click to show contact details with animated map locator
  • Weather forecast locations can be deleted with the X button
  • Route map updates immediately after saving changes (no refresh needed)
  • Smarter search with configurable keyword matching
v2.4.3 2026-04-03

New

  • Passage track recording is now fully server-side — recording continues even with your browser closed
  • Configurable sample interval when starting a track (10s to 5 min)
  • Direction chevrons on recorded tracks showing heading along the route
  • Hover over any track to see boat speed, time, and historical weather conditions
  • Navigation state persists across page refresh — stay on the page you were on
  • Delete saved weather forecast locations with the X button

Improved

  • Cinematic fly-in zoom when the app loads — starts wide, smoothly zooms to your boat
  • Map tooltips no longer hidden behind the sidebar
  • AIS table columns properly aligned under their headers
  • Track weather tooltip respects your unit preferences (knots/km/h, °F/°C, hPa/inHg)

Fixed

  • Server stability: added swap space and memory limits to prevent service crashes
  • Fixed anchor trace ghost lines caused by GPS smoothing initialization
  • Migrated web server from nginx to Caddy — eliminated port conflicts on restart
v2.4.2 2026-04-02

Improved

  • Anchor traces now record server-side every 5 seconds — no browser window required
  • Database migration process uses safe SQLite backup method to prevent corruption
v2.4.1 2026-04-02

Improved

  • Anchor trace lines now align with your boat icon — no more visual offset between traces and boat position
  • Dev and production environments fully isolated for safer development

Fixed

  • Fixed server recovery after out-of-memory events (Caddy/Tailscale port conflict)
  • Fixed legacy database path references across all background services
v2.4.0 2026-04-01

New

  • New Weather forecast locations — save locations, switch forecasts, share with model selection, 10-day forecast
  • New Anchorage review system — holding quality, compass rose wind protection, amenities, photo upload on anchor disarm
  • New Multi-tenant orchestrator — automatic per-tenant NMEA listeners and reminder workers
  • New Automatic database migration across all tenants on every deploy
  • New Set anchor modal with three position options: GPS, last anchor, or custom DMS coordinates

Improved

  • Improved Places: category SVG icons, forecast location markers, DMS coordinate editor
  • Improved AIS: own ship filtered from target list by MMSI
  • Improved Anchor disarm: clean stats cards replace canvas snapshot, auto-suggested anchorage name
  • Improved Default theme set to light, anchor defaults updated (250ft/50ft/200ft)

Fixed

  • Fixed Database lock contention under heavy NMEA writes (busy timeout 5s → 30s)
  • Fixed AIS tooltip clipping in scroll containers (now position:fixed)
  • Fixed MC tenant provisioning: schema path, admin user seeding, password reset
v2.3.1 2026-04-01

New

  • New 12-hour / 24-hour time format setting — applied across all time displays system-wide
  • New Snooze reminders with custom duration (minutes to years) or specific date/time
  • New Expired share links show a branded "This Link Has Sailed" page

Fixed

  • Fixed Unregistered subdomains no longer show tenant data — redirected to marketing signup
  • Fixed Deckhand plan price showing "$undefined" on marketing site
  • Fixed Pricing grid now defaults to annual billing
v2.3.0 2026-04-01

New

  • New Crew Manager — full crew profiles with passport upload, phone tag cloud, medical records, passage readiness dashboard, clearance log, and crew list PDF export
  • New Shared link system — all shareable assets (routes, documents, crew datasheets) now support expiry timers, view tracking, and IP logging
  • New Shared Links report under Settings — monitor, copy, or expire all shared links from one place
  • New My Profile — self-service password change for all user roles
  • New Crew datasheet sharing — generate a formatted public page for any crew member
  • New Document pinning — star up to 10 documents to keep them at the top
  • New Travel Credential document type with auto-expiry reminders

Improved

  • Improved Buddy boat (Pals) cards — added boat type learning dropdown and improved layout
  • Improved Route weather ETA — smooth interpolation along route segments instead of snapping to waypoints
  • Improved Document grid — square thumbnails with pin star overlay

Fixed

  • Fixed Route departure times no longer shifted by timezone offset
  • Fixed Route weather tooltips now work on Routes tab map (not just main chart)
v2.2.0 2026-04-01

New

  • New Document Manager — upload, organize, and track vessel documents, manuals, photos, and videos with expiration alerts
  • New Route sharing — generate a public link for any route with interactive map, waypoints, and weather forecast on hover
  • New Weather forecast model selector — choose from 18 free models including ECMWF IFS, GFS, ICON, Météo-France AROME, and Google GraphCast AI
  • New Per-plan storage quotas with usage tracking in Mission Control

Improved

  • Improved Route weather tooltips now work on the Routes tab map (previously only on main chart)
  • Improved ETA interpolation — smooth, accurate time display as you drag along a route line
  • Improved Expiring documents auto-create reminders with multi-channel notification support

Fixed

  • Fixed Departure times no longer shifted by timezone offset on route tooltips and ETAs
v2.1.1 2026-03-31

New

  • New Nautical chart overlays — Seamarks (OpenSeaMap) and NOAA Charts as independent, toggleable layers on any base map
  • New Free Deckhand tier — dashboard, GPS, logbook, weather, and tides at no cost
  • New Password visibility toggle on user creation form

Improved

  • Improved Base map and nautical overlays are now independent — combine satellite or street maps with seamarks and NOAA charts
  • Improved Overlay preferences persist across all maps (chart, tracks, routes, places)
  • Improved Logo click navigates back to home map
  • Improved All chart overlays now available on public view
v2.1.0 2026-03-31

New

  • New Route planner with docked side panel, live stats, drag-to-reposition waypoints, and snap-to-favorites
  • New AIS ghost zone — targets dropping off range appear as ghost markers with last-seen time
  • New 48-hour interactive tide chart with harmonic predictions
  • New Places — split map with category-colored markers and proximity alerts
  • New Pressure unit support (hPa, mb, inHg)

Improved

  • Improved AIS data retained permanently — no more automatic pruning
  • Improved Reminder categories now use learning dropdown
  • Improved New compass logo across all properties

Fixed

  • Fixed Route weather tooltip crash
  • Fixed Route departure_at persistence bug
  • Fixed Stray raw-decimal coordinates in weather tooltips
  • Fixed AIS position sanity check — reject decoded positions >30nm from own ship
v2.0.0 2026-03-24

Initial Release

  • Multi-tenant architecture with per-tenant databases
  • Full NMEA 2000 instrument integration
  • Anchor watch with drift detection and push notifications
  • AIS collision detection with CPA/TCPA
  • Passage track recording and digital logbook
  • Maintenance tracker, inventory, expense tracking
  • Smart reminders (datetime, recurring, location-based)
  • Camera surveillance (RTSP), marine weather, route planning
  • Multi-channel notifications (push, email, SMS, WhatsApp)
  • PWA with offline caching
  • Role-based access (admin, viewer, guest)