SeaHelp vs HikeTracker

SeaHelp – the breakdown service at sea   With this kind of service, SeaHelp App is offering to all skippers the possibilty of asking for professional help on short notice in breakdown or emergency situations in the areas of Croatia, Slovenia, Northern Italy and the Balearic Islands.   After activating the application, the help button has just to be pressed once in order to generate a SMS which will be received by the SeaHelp operations centre, tranferring the coordinates of the actual position, the mobile phone number and, in the case of a SeaHelp membership, as well the membership number. The SeaHelp operations centre will then promptly contact the skipper of the damaged boat by phone to get more detailed information and then will initiate the necessary supporting measures.  This service is aimed at all skippers in the operational area as mentioned above. Nevertheless, SeaHelp would like to point out that, given the case of several simultaneous emergency calls, there will be priority treatment for SeaHelp members. This service, though, on no account, is meant as a replacement for the conventional emergency alarm scenarios as established in seamanship but, at best, may serve as a supplement.    No internet link is required for the application of the SeaHelp emergency call function. Although, when using abroad roaming fees might occur, so, please contact your provider for information about the rates for using SMS and telephone services abroad.   Persons seeking help and not being SeaHelp members will be charged the accruing costs as indicated on the pricelist stated on our website under www.sea-help.eu . Please inform yourself before using this application for the first time.   In case you should find any mistakes within the information contained, we kindly ask you to advise us accordingly via the support sites indicated.   Range of functions: • Appeal for help via SMS to the SeaHelp operations centre indicating the coordinates of the actual position of the person seeking help, the mobile phone number for recalls from the SeaHelp operations centre and the SeaHelp membership number guaranteeing priority treatment in the case of several simultaneous requests for help. • Possibility of applying via iPhone for a SeaHelp membership, the breakdown service at sea and support point partner of the ADAC for the Croatia region as well as a cooperation partner of the ÖAMTC, the Austrian Sailing Federation and the Austrian Cruiser Federation.  Please note: activation of memebership will be made 24 hours after the application and receipt of payment by SeaHelp. • Direct access to the SeaHelp website. • Free of charge download of the printed edition of the SeaMagazine rehashed for iPhones.        Important notice: No liability will be assumed for the correct determination of the GPS coordinates by means of the iPhone as well as for the delivery of the SMS to SeaHelp.    This information is supplied without liability.

Why another tracking app? ACCURACY - GPS receivers, including smartphones, can record locations every second but have inherent and unavoidable errors that are small compared to the distance traveled in that second by an automobile, airplane or cruise missile but are large enough to overwhelm the data when used in human-powered activities like • Hiking • Walking • Running and Cycling This is especially true In situations where the GPS satellite signals can be compromised by things that block or absorb microwaves: • Hills and mountains • Heavy tree cover • Rain and clouds SIMPLICITY - Most apps have a lot of features that may be very useful for some folks but they often make the user hunt for the simple stuff. Also I have occasionally lost all my data when I accidentally touched the wrong thing on a busy and complicated screen HikeTracker was designed with Accuracy and Simplicity in mind to support hiking in the mountains of the beautiful Pacific Northwest but it works just as well for less challenging activities like walking and biking around town. It uses several strategies to combine and curate the raw GPS data, filtering out some of the inherent errors and saving only enough points to get a smooth and accurate picture of the user’s track and accurate distance measurements. But all that fancy-schmancy stuff is kept out of sight - to use it you just: • Open HikeTracker • Press “Start” • Go What it does • Makes an accurate GPS-based track of your activity • Shows accurate distance traveled and elevation gained • Saves that info in a standard GPX (GPS file exchange format) file that can be saved and/or shared with other apps and programs What it lacks • No social media • No ads • No in-app purchases • No saving or sharing of personal data • iPhone only • Currently lacks support for languages other than English