Built for short-handed crews
Flashy on deck. Calm at 3 a.m.
WatchKeeper is an iPhone-first watch rotation app for short-handed crews, with offline schedules, handover alarms, support for up to 20 people in the rotation, and an Apple Watch app for at-a-glance watch status.
- Offline-first from setup to handover
- Recovery for active schedules after restart
- Apple Watch companion for quick checks
- Readable, low-light-first interface
Current watch
Skipper • 2m left
Recovery
Resumes schedule after restart
Focused on the essentials
Built for handovers, not clutter
WatchKeeper skips the usual marine app bloat and focuses on the things that matter during a tired handover: who is on watch now, what changes next, and whether the schedule still makes sense.
No cloud dependency at sea
Setup, alarms, overrides, and recovery all work without network coverage or account setup.
Pure watch logic under the hood
Delay, pause, swap, skip, and unavailable crew events ripple forward cleanly instead of corrupting the base rotation.
Alarms that ask for a real response
Acknowledge, delay, and recover the live state with a flow built for rough conditions and tired users.
Bright, clear, low-friction screens
High-contrast cards, oversized timing cues, and clear hierarchy keep the app useful in low light and under fatigue.
App screens
Real screens from setup to handover
These are actual WatchKeeper screens, spanning first-run setup, watch template selection, the live board, red-mode night display, and the alarm warning flow.
Onboarding
Live board
Templates
Alarm warning
Night mode
Simple on purpose
From departure to next handover in three beats
Build the watch plan
Enter crew, choose a watch length, and start from a clean, sensible template instead of a complicated nav system.
Run the live board
See current watch, next watch, countdown, and alarm timing at a glance without digging through menus.
Handle change without chaos
Delay, pause, swap, or mark crew unavailable while keeping the future schedule clear and easy to follow.
“The skipper can set up the watch plan quickly and keep the next handover visible during an overnight leg.”
From the project success criteriaFAQ
What this app is and what it is not
Does it need internet?
No. The core product is intentionally offline-first and does not rely on cloud accounts.
Is it trying to be a chartplotter?
No. There is no AIS, weather, charts, or navigation layer in the core experience.
Who is it for?
Short-handed sailing crews who want a watch rotation workflow on iPhone, with Apple Watch support for quick wrist-based checks.
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