Getting started
Boatlink needs at least two devices: one to host, and one to join.
- Get everyone onto the same wifi. That can be a router aboard the boat, or one phone's Personal Hotspot. It does not need an internet connection — the crew only need to be on the same network as each other.
- One person hosts. On that device, start the boat. It runs the small server that everyone else connects to. Keep the app open on the host while the crew is using the intercom.
- Everyone else scans the QR code. The host's screen shows a QR code; each other device scans it with the camera and is aboard.
- Set your name and colour so the rest of the crew knows who is talking. A small profile photo is optional.
Trying it on one device?
You will see an empty "Find the boat" screen and nothing else, and that is correct behaviour. Boatlink is an intercom between devices: there has to be a second phone or tablet on the same wifi, with one of them hosting, before there is anything to see. A single device on its own has no one to talk to.
Troubleshooting
I can't find the boat
The joining device cannot see the host. Check, in this order:
- Both devices are on the same wifi. This is the usual cause. If the host is using a Personal Hotspot, the other devices must be joined to that hotspot, not to a marina network. A device on mobile data instead of wifi will never find the boat.
- Local network permission was allowed. Boatlink needs it to see the other devices. If it was declined the first time it was asked, turn it on in the device's Settings, under Boatlink, then restart the app.
- The host still has Boatlink open and is still hosting.
No sound
- Check mute — on your own device and on the device you expect to hear from.
- Check the VOX sensitivity. If it is set too high a threshold, a normal speaking voice will not open the line; if it is too low, wind and engine noise will hold the line open. Adjust it until your voice opens the line and the background does not.
- Check the microphone permission for Boatlink in the device's Settings. Without it, nothing you say is carried.
The QR code won't scan
- Check the camera permission for Boatlink in the device's Settings — scanning is what the camera is for. (The app takes no photos or video.)
- Or skip the QR code entirely and use the four-letter code instead: have the host read it out, and type it in on the joining device. Across a noisy cockpit this is often quicker than lining up a camera.
Good to know
- Voice is live only. Nothing is recorded or saved.
- Traffic between crew devices is encrypted using a key derived from your boat's join code, so a device in the next berth can neither join nor listen in.
- Your name, colour, photo and audio preferences are kept on your own device. Deleting the app clears them.
- The camera light can flash when someone rings you, which helps in noise or at night.
- Boatlink is free, with no purchases.
Contact support
Email LIVELYN78@yahoo.com
It helps to say which devices you are using, which one was hosting, and what the joining device showed on screen.
Privacy
Boatlink has no server, no account and no tracking, and nothing leaves the boat's local network. The full details are in the privacy policy.