WatchMate vs Doyle Guides
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
WatchMate
This app provides remote control and situational awareness for your Vesper Marine AIS Transponder. View AIS targets, manage alarms, and control transponder settings directly from your mobile device.
- View AIS targets
- Manage collision prevention alarms
- Control Anchor Watch alarm
- View GPS position, course, and speed
- Remote control transponder settings
- Configure vessel AIS static data
- Perform firmware upgrades
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The WatchMate App connects with your Vesper Marine AIS Transponder to place remote control functionality and situational awareness in the palm of your hand on your iPhone or on your iPad. The WatchMate App becomes the user interface for configuring and remote control of your Vesper Marine AIS Transponder, especially where it does not have its own display such as the Vesper Marine XB-8000. - View AIS Targets received by your Vesper Marine AIS Transponder. - Setup and manage collision prevention alarm profiles. - Manage your MOB alarms. - Control and view your Anchor Watch alarm. - View your AIS Transponder's own GPS Position, Course and Speed. - Check the operational status of your AIS Transponder. - Remote control of your AIS Transponder settings. - Switch easily between Silent Mode and Normal Transmitting mode. - Configure your Vessel's AIS Static data. (MMSI, Call Sign, Vessel Type, Vessel Size) - Perform firmware upgrades. Connects to your WatchMate device's WIFI access point or by being on the same wifi network. - Supports Vesper Marine XB-8000 AIS Transponder. - Supports Vesper Marine WatchMate Vision®. The complex nature of our innovative WatchMate App makes coding mishaps difficult to eliminate despite the superhuman efforts of our developers so please remember Vesper Marine does not warrant that this product is error-free. As the adventurous user it's your job to exercise common sense and the best navigational judgement you can muster. Although we think the WatchMate App is awesome nothing beats using all your human senses, so best you still rely on these at least as much as you rely on the WatchMate App for making navigational safety decisions. Our advice is; even with the WatchMate App it’s still a clever idea to maintain a permanent watch and use more than one aid for navigation.
Doyle Guides
Access comprehensive sailing guides for the southern Caribbean, featuring nautical charts, regulations, services, and points of interest. The app offers an interactive map with user-generated comments and corrections, all free to use. In-app purchases provide access to detailed guide book content.
- Comprehensive sailing guides
- Nautical charts and navigation
- Interactive satellite map
- 3000+ points of interest database
- User comments and corrections
- Island-specific content bundles
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Doyle Guides produces the southern Caribbean's most comprehensive and up-to-date sailing guides, complete with nautical charts and navigational information, details on regulations, customs and immigration, general and technical yacht services, marinas, restaurants, provisioning, shore-based attractions, and more. The Doyle Guides mobile app allows users to search our comprehensive 3000+ point of interest database with results shown based on distance from the user and displayed on an interactive satellite map where users can leave public comments as well as suggest corrections and new points of interest, all free of charge. Subscriptions to guide book content is available on both long and short term basis, as well as bundled by island.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Doyle Guides at 4.3 against WatchMate's 3.5. Doyle Guides also leads on review sentiment (60% vs 44%) and ratings volume (50 vs 11). WatchMate's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 18) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Doyle Guides sells 18 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. WatchMate asks for nothing beyond the download.
Doyle Guides holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 50 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of WatchMate's written reviews are positive against 60% of Doyle Guides's.
WatchMate ships an update every 2 months, Doyle Guides every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | WatchMate | Doyle Guides |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (11 ratings) | 4.3 (50 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 44.4% of reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11 | 50 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Garmin New Zealand Ltd | Chris Doyle Publishing Limited |
Customer experience
WatchMate
Doyle Guides
In-app purchases
WatchMate
No in-app purchases
Doyle Guides
- Trinidad & Tobago - 1 month3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Martinique Sailing Guide3 Days trial$19.991 Month
- St. Lucia Sailing Guide3 Days trial$19.991 Month
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- St. Vincent Sailing Guide3 Days trial$19.991 Month
- Grenada Package - 1 month3 Days trial$19.991 Month
- Trinidad Tobago Sailing Guide7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Martinique Sailing Guide7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- St. Lucia Sailing Guide7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- St. Vincent Sailing Guide7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Grenada Package - 12 months7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Southern Leeward Sailing Guide3 Days trial$24.991 Month
- Northern Leeward Sailing Guide3 Days trial$24.991 Month
- Windward Islands Guide3 Days trial$29.991 Month
- BVI Cruising Guide3 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Windward Islands Guide7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Virgin Islands Cruising Guide3 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Leeward Islands Sailing Guide3 Days trial$39.991 Month
- Leeward Islands Sailing Guide7 Days trial$59.991 Year








