The best tidal apps for cruising sailors

Tidal data is getting easier and cheaper to download. Sam Fortescue reviews the latest options in an increasingly crowded market and choses the best tidal apps for sailors There is

a huge range of inexpensive tidal apps to choose from, although most of the best tidal apps charge a subscription fee. The most basic of tidal apps will provide heights and times

that will allow you to figure out when to depart, round a headland or how deep to lay your anchor. Some do this free of charge and offline, but better-designed and more powerful

apps will also provide a tidal curve you can interrogate, to visualise the remaining rise or fall of tide, though some of these are generic curves that require some caution. Not

all tidal apps offer the same level of support, so check the the apps covers the area you sail. Remember, errors can be magnified in areas of eccentric tidal behaviour, notably the

Solent where there are two high waters and a very rapid ebb. Nor is it always specified whether the apps use UTC or local time, which can give rise to errors of an hour. Tidal apps

for sailors Tides Planner Developer: Imray£3.49 per year. www.imray.com Imray’s tides app is free to download and covers 8,000 global locations, with no network connection

required. It shows you heights and times, neaps and springs, and has a tidal curve that allows you to set a horizontal line for your minimum depth to illustrate when you have to

clear out. A vertical line lets you walk through the day’s curve, showing depth and time at different points. If you want to look ahead, you have to buy a £3.49 licence for the

calendar year, which allows you to see six days ahead in UK waters, the current day in France, and any day of the year in Italy, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and a handful of

others. If you want to broaden access to tidal data for any day of the year across all the territories, then you need an additional Hydrographic Office licence, costing an extra

£4.99. This also gives you access to tidal stream data for the UK and France. Interface is info-rich but dated, and the panning map function that lets you pinpoint the tiny dots

of weather stations requires eagle eyes and sharp fine-motor skills. A useful addition would be the ability to toggle between different tidal notation systems, such as French

coefficients, and adjust for different datums. Upgrades from £3.49/year. AyeTides Developer: Hahn Software£9.99, iOS only. www.ayetides.com Displays tide times and heights for

12,500 locations globally, which you can search for by name or navigate to on a map. The basic display for each station shows the day’s high and low water times and heights, with