Cloud Syncing and Accounts
Published on Sept 30, 2021 by Jared Rada · 2 min read
Sea Drive is now enabled with cloud syncing! All of your data including markers, routes, tracks, vessel information, and preferences are securely stored in the cloud. This opens up many new possibilities- you can build a route on your iPad and later use your phone at the helm to help navigate. You can record a track on your Apple Watch and later view the route on the website version of Sea Drive at app.seadriveapp.com.
One of the downsides, in my opinion, is that such a feature requires user accounts. When I first began building Sea Drive I always envisioned it as a free, low friction, democratized way to access marine navigation data. As soon as you introduce accounts and email verification it detracts from the experience and slows getting to the chart. I tend to think of it as a necessary evil. However, we attempted to make it as seamless as possible and integrated with social login options from Apple, Google, and Facebook. The account requirement also make it trivial to set up new devices. The last benefit I'd mention is your data is now (safely) stored in the cloud. Sea Drive maintains its commitment to never sell your data in any way to another company. We did however have to update our Privacy Policy- we earlier made it clear we store no data whatsoever. Now data is stored, but never accessed, except by your own account and any internal Sea Drive analyses we run to help improve the product.
Regardless of the overhead, it's awesome to see a marker created on your phone pop up on your tablet. The save process occurs whenever a route/track/marker is created, updated, or deleted. Other devices will pick up the changes when the app is launched, or you can force a manual sync by going into the settings. We hope you enjoy cloud sycning and we genuinely welcome feedback.