Sailonline for Mac and iOS Help Pages

For in-depth help, select one of the sections above.

If you're a Sailonline veteran, here's a list of the less obvious features in the Mac and iOS app:

Menu access

  • For iOS 13 users, long-press the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to access the additional menu. The left-most gauge tool icon is used to cycle through hiding and showing the instruments, weather slider, and race message.
  • For iOS 14 (and later) users, open the menu with the left-most icon, the one that looks like a menu. Long-pressing the toolbar doesn't do anything.
  • Why the difference? Because iOS 14 allows menus on the toolbar as a new feature.
  • For Mac users, menus are at the top of the screen, as usual. The left-most icon on the bottom toolbar has additional items when appropriate.

Route Import

  • You can bring in routes and other line drawings by sharing them from other apps (iOS only). If from another computer, you can either AirDrop them in, or send them through Mail, Message, Dropbox, or any other sharing method and share them from those apps. If the file type is recognized by Sailonline, you will see Sailonline as a choice of app to share with (you may need to press More… in the sharing panel if it doesn't appear as one of the top apps).
  • Sailonline recognizes KML, GPX, and qtVlm routes in JSON format.
  • These imported drawings are assigned to the first course you look at where the starting point of the drawing is inside the race boundaries. Once assigned, the drawing will always show on that race, until erased from the bottom toolbar menu.
  • On the Mac, use the File->Open Route File menu command.

NMEA Broadcast

  • There's a built-in NMEA server that will send out your position and course information to any apps on your network. Turn it on from the Settings menu. See the NMEA help page for more details.
  • If you just need your coordinates, clicking on the latitude or longitude at the top of the screen will copy those out. Click twice to copy both latitude and longitude. Note that the coordinates are for the center of the screen, so use "Find My Boat" in the menu to center the screen on your boat. The coordinate format can be changed to decimal in Settings.

Delayed Commands

  • In the Delayed Commands (DC) panel you can delete a single DC by swiping left (the standard Delete gesture for iOS tables; for Macs, the usual setup is to swipe with 2 fingers).
  • Clicking on the DC will take you to the Navigation panel, where you can adjust the time and/or the command. Clicking on "Update Delayed Command" will delete the old DC and replace it with the new instructions.

Dark Mode

  • Try out Dark Mode from your iOS device's Settings app, under Display & Brightness (General, Appearance on the Mac).
  • darkmode
    If you switch this often, in iOS, enable the quick switch in the Control Center (swipe down from the top right corner). To edit switches in the Control Center, look in the device's Settings app, under Control Center. The Mac has a similar Control Center.

Settings

  • Take a look through the Settings menu for a variety of capabilities that you can turn on or off. Most features are turned on by default, but you may want to reduce the number of instruments shown, especially if you're on a small-screen iPhone. Settings apply to all races and are remembered if you restart the app later.