Draft:Fishing Points

Fishing Points is a mobile fishing app used for saving locations & catches, viewing nautical charts and monitoring fishing forecasts. The mobile app is available on Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

It was created in 2013 by a young Slovenian Android developer, who was trying to help his father save exact coordinates of the best offshore fishing locations. By devoting more time to the development of the app's features and putting it on the Google Play Store it started to "gain traction". In 2016 his best friend and ex-high school classmate joined the project and helped with the monetisation and user acquisition due to his business background. Today Fishing Points stands at approx. 10 mio. downloads worldwide, it's available as a mobile app on Android & iOS app stores, as well as a web app on desktops. It's translated in 11 languages (English, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Indonesian, Polish, Slovenian & Croatian).

The app is free to download and use, however, to access all of the app's features it will require you to purchase either a monthly or a yearly subscription, which will start after a free 7-day trial period.

Map types
Users have access to various map layers, including normal, night, nautical, and hybrid/satellite maps. The app utilizes Google Maps for satellite imagery, ensuring regular updates and real-time information for users' areas of interest. Satellite maps allow users to identify features like oyster beds, shallow waters, bends, inlets, bridges, and other points relevant to fishing. Worldwide nautical charts provide information on depth contours, water bodies, sea beds, coastlines, hazards, and harbours for selected areas. US users can access offline mode with nautical charts provided by NOAA. Users can also enable map overlays, which for example show boat ramps, fish attractor locations, artificial reefs, etc.

Locations & catches
Users can save waypoints using GPS coordinates, manual entry, or by determining coordinates on the map. The app provides a range of icons and colours for customisation. Fishing Points supports data sharing between users through formats like GPX, KMZ, and KML, ensuring compatibility across various devices and platforms.

Furthermore, Fishing Points provides a customizable logbook feature where anglers can document their catches. This includes saving photos, catch details such as length, weight, and gear used, as well as additional notes. The app automatically records environmental conditions such as wind, weather, tide, waves, and solunar data for each catch depending on the location & time of the catch. Users can share their catches with others via messaging and social media platforms.

Fish activity
The fish activity score ranges from 0 to 100, indicating the likelihood of successful fishing conditions. Major times denote the best periods during the day for fishing, while minor times represent the second-best opportunities. The app integrates solunar theory and tide movements, to determine fish activity levels at chosen locations.

Tides
Users can access information about the current tide status, including whether it is rising or falling, as well as details such as the timing of the next low tide and the speed of the tide movement. With access to individual tide station data, users can retrieve tide information based on their selected location, either automatically or by manually selecting a tide station on the map.

Weather
The app displays hourly forecasts for temperature, wind dynamics, precipitation, and air pressure. Users can view rain intensity, wind speeds and directions, as well as monitor air pressure trends. It provides live weather alerts for severe conditions like floods, thunderstorms, and hurricanes. Users can also access information on current wind speed, gusts, and wind direction relative to their position.

Waves
Information on current wave conditions, including wave height, type, period between waves, and wave direction for the user's location. Users can access animations depicting wave swell and wind waves, along with details on their heights and directions. Hourly forecasts are available for all wave types. Additionally, the app provides data on sea temperature, as well as the speed and direction of sea currents for the user's location.

Solunar
The lunar calendar provides information on current moon phases, distances, illuminations, and new moon ages. Users can access visually presented data to understand the current position of the moon, including moonrise and moonset times, alongside moon movements. The visual representation divides the 24-hour day into segments of day, night, dawn, and dusk. Times for dawn start, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and dusk are provided, along with the current position of the sun relative to the time of day.

Other tools
Web app: a desktop version of the Fishing Points app, which was released in the summer of 2023, when the app was celebrating its 10-year anniversary.

Data synchronization: enables users to access their saved data and subscriptions across multiple devices (phone, tablet, computer, laptop, etc.).

Species & regulations: a database filled with information primarily on game fish species s

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uch as red snapper, spotted seatrout, largemouth & spotted bass, etc. It also provides detailed regulations for selected areas in the US (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina & North Carolina) and Australia (Queensland, New South Wales & Victoria).

Anchor mode: enables users to set a designated anchor point within a specified distance radius. The app monitors movement around this predetermined location and issues alerts if the user drifts beyond the permitted area.

Measure tool: measures distances between selected points on the map.

Other Fishing Points' tools:
 * Trolling path recorder
 * Trotline recorder
 * Compass