Tester guide — from signup to day 15

Thank you for testing. This page walks you through the whole thing in order. Total effort: about 10 minutes to start, then just open the app a few times over two weeks. No reports, no forms. Google Play only lets us publish after real testers have used the app for 14 days — you are that proof.

Day 0Join & install

Day 1First open

Day 2–143 small tasks

AnytimeTell us if it breaks (optional)

Day 153,000 points

1Join the tester list Day 0 · 1 minute

Use the Google account your phone uses for Google Play — the same address you applied with. Google only lets that account in.

Send the pre-filled emailOpens your mail app with everything filled in. Just press Send.→

Prefer a web page? Open the group and tap Join group. Email route: Google replies with a “Confirm your subscription” email — reply to it (any text) and you are in. Web route: you are in immediately. Either way no approval from us is needed; a “welcome to the group” email follows, nothing to do with it.

2Become a tester and install Day 0 · 2 minutes

Pick one app (the one you would actually open at sea), tap its link on the phone, tap Become a tester, then install from Google Play.

Seafarer Job Wizarddeck officers — 14 offline bridge calculatorsBecome a tester →

SJW DG Segregationcontainer / general cargo — IMDG segregation on the bay planBecome a tester →

MSI MAPnavigators — NAVTEX/EGC warnings on your routeBecome a tester →

Ship Drawing Mapengineers and deck — drawings & manuals, searchable offlineBecome a tester →

Play says “not available” or “item not found”?

Wait 5–10 minutes after step 1 — the list is still syncing — then open the link again.
Make sure the phone's Play Store is signed in with the same Google account you used in step 1 (Play Store → profile picture → check the account).
Still stuck after an hour? Reply to your welcome email and we will check the list by hand.

3First open Day 1 · 3 minutes

Open the app once today so Google registers you as active. Then do the first task for your app:

Seafarer Job Wizard: run Squat & UKC with your own ship's draft and speed.
DG Segregation: check segregation between two UN numbers you have carried.
MSI MAP: find the warnings for the area you are sailing in now.
Ship Drawing Map: add one PDF drawing or manual from your phone.

Everything works offline. No account, no login needed for the calculators and tools.

4Use it a few times Day 2–14

Open the app a few times over the two weeks — that is genuinely all Google needs to see. If you want ideas for what to try:

Seafarer Job Wizard: any second calculator you use on watch (ETA, gyro error, compass error, tides…) · scan one page of a document with the OCR tool.
DG Segregation: open the bay plan and place two dangerous-goods containers · rotate the phone to landscape once and see if anything breaks.
MSI MAP: open one NAVTEX message and check it reads correctly · switch the phone to flight mode and open the app once.
Ship Drawing Map: search for a word you know is in the document (e.g. “pilot ladder”) · double-tap a drawing to zoom and pan around it.

Please do not uninstall or “Leave the program” before day 15. Google counts 14 consecutive days; if you opt out on day 10, your 10 days are lost for both of us. Not using it for a few days is fine — leaving the test is not.

5If something breaks, tell us Optional

No weekly reports. But if something breaks or confuses you, one line to your welcome email (or [email protected]) helps a lot. Anything counts:

“Squat result looked right for my ship, but the tide field was confusing — is it height of tide or depth?”

“Bay plan: landscape mode cut off the last row.”

“Nothing broke. The warning list loads slow on 2G.”

Every note gets a number and shows up in the next update's release notes as “tester note #n”, so you can see it was fixed.

6Day 15 — your points Day 15

On day 15 you get one more email from us — that is the last one about this test.
If you signed in to the app's Community tab (Google or Apple) and opened the app on a few different days, 3,000 community points (about USD 23) are already in that account when the email arrives — enough for the Pro pack of any app, or for documents and routes other officers sell in the market.
Used it offline only, or never signed in? The email says so. Reply “done” with the email you sign in with on the Community tab (sign in once if you haven't), and we add the points by hand within a day.

After day 15 you may stay in the test (updates arrive first) or leave it — your points stay.

Questions people ask

Does it cost anything?

No. The apps are free; the points are a thank-you. Nothing in the test asks for payment.

Can I test on iPhone?

This round is Android only — the iOS versions are already on the App Store. If you have both, use the Android phone for the test.

What do you do with my email?

Only this: add you to the Play test list and contact you about the test and your points. Nothing else, and it is deleted when you ask — privacy policy.

I'm at sea with almost no internet.

Perfect — that is who the apps are for. Install while you have a signal (port, Wi-Fi, 3G is enough), then everything works offline. If you only used it offline, the day-15 reply can wait until the next signal; the 14 days still count.

I want to test more than one app.

Great — tap “Become a tester” on each app you want. The points come once per person, whichever apps you tested.