BobberTight lines.

Support

Answers to the questions that come up most, and a way to reach a human if yours isn't here.

Frequently asked

Getting started — what do I do first?

Open the app and let it find your location, or add a spot on the map by hand. That's enough for the home screen to start scoring conditions.

After that the app gets more useful the more you log. Every catch you record freezes the conditions at that moment, and after a couple of dozen catches the Stats screen can tell you which pressure trends and wind directions actually produce for you.

What is the bite score, and where does it come from?

It's a 0–100 estimate of how likely fish are to feed, calculated on your device from seven weighted factors:

  • Pressure trend (24%) — falling pressure scores highest. It's the strongest single predictor and the one anglers and biologists broadly agree on.
  • Solunar period (20%) — major windows (moon overhead or underfoot) beat minor ones (moonrise and moonset).
  • Light (16%) — the 90 minutes either side of sunrise and sunset score highest.
  • Temperature (12%) — water against the feeding band for the species you're targeting.
  • Wind (12%) — a good ripple beats both a flat calm and a gale.
  • Cloud (8%) — overcast extends the low-light feeding window.
  • Rain (8%) — light drizzle is ideal; a downpour is not.

It's a model, not a promise. Treat it as a way to choose between Saturday morning and Saturday evening, not as a guarantee of fish.

Why does Bobber want my location?

To know which forecast to fetch. Pressure, wind and cloud vary over a few miles, and sunrise, sunset and the solunar periods all depend on where you are — so a forecast for the wrong place produces a bite score for the wrong place.

The app asks for approximate (kilometre-level) accuracy, not precise location, because that's all a weather forecast needs. Your coordinates go to the weather provider and nowhere else, with no name, account or device identifier attached.

You can decline. Add a spot by tapping the map instead and everything works normally.

What are the other permissions for?
  • Notifications — bite-window and pressure-drop alerts, sun times, session and trip reminders. All scheduled locally on your phone; there's no push server.
  • Camera — photographing a fish as you land it.
  • Photos — attaching an existing picture, and saving shareable catch cards.

All four are optional, all four are asked for in context after an explanation, and the app is fully usable if you decline every one.

Does it work with no signal?

Mostly, yes — which matters, because banks and beaches are where signal goes to die.

  • Your catches, spots, sessions, gear and pack lists are stored on the device and always readable.
  • Solunar periods, moon phase and sunrise/sunset are calculated on the device, so they work with no connection at all.
  • The last forecast is cached, so bite scores keep working from cached data. You'll see a "cached" marker and a timestamp so you know how old it is.
  • When signal returns, the app notices and refreshes on its own.
Can I get my data out?

Yes, at any time and without asking anyone. In Settings › Your data:

  • Export everything (JSON) — a complete, readable copy of catches, spots, sessions and gear, including every conditions snapshot.
  • Export catch log (CSV) — opens straight into any spreadsheet.

The same screen has Delete all my data, which removes everything including stored photos.

The forecast looks wrong, or won't load
  • Pull down on the home screen to force a refresh — drag the bobber under the surface and let go.
  • Check the app has location access, or that the spot you're focused on is where you think it is.
  • If a "cached" marker is showing, the last refresh failed and you're seeing older data. Tap retry once you have signal.
  • Water temperature only appears for coastal marks, where the marine forecast covers it. Inland, the app estimates from air temperature.
Nothing is animating / everything is animating too much

Settings › Appearance › Animation has three levels: Full, Reduced and Off.

The app also follows your system settings automatically. If Reduce Motion is on in iOS Accessibility settings, or Low Power Mode is on, ambient animation is scaled back regardless of what's chosen in the app — Settings will tell you when that's happening.

I've found a bug, or I want a feature

Use the form below. Pick Bug or Feature request as the topic and describe what happened and what you expected. For a bug, the steps that trigger it are the single most useful thing you can include.

Privacy — what happens to my fishing data?

It stays on your phone. There's no account and no server holding your catches or spots. The only things that leave the device are an approximate coordinate for the weather forecast, and anything you deliberately type into the form below.

The full privacy policy goes through it line by line.

Still stuck?

Send a message and you'll get a reply at the address you give.

So a reply can reach you. Used for nothing else.

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