Getting started
Your first session, from download to first track.
Is Hydrove free?
Yes. Live conditions, GPS session tracking, the location map, favorites and events are all free, with no account needed to view conditions for a spot or trail. Hydrove Plus adds an ad-free experience, offline map downloads, an extended weather forecast, 3D trail previews, live location sharing and extra shareable overlay styles.
Which devices does Hydrove work on?
iPhone on iOS 15 and later, and Android phones on Android 8.0 (SDK 26) and later. There is no smartwatch companion app yet.
How do I record my first session?
Open Track, choose your activity (paddleboarding, kayaking, surfing and more), wait for the GPS lock indicator to turn solid, then tap Start. Lock your phone and put it somewhere dry — tracking continues with the screen off. Tap Finish when you are back on land.
Can I change units?
Yes, in your profile settings. Switching between Imperial and Metric changes distance, speed, height and temperature units together — they are not set independently per measurement.
Account & login
Sign-in, email changes, and moving your data to a new phone.
What sign-in options are there?
Apple, Google, or an email address and password.
How do I change my email address?
Update it from your profile. You will need to verify the new address before it's fully active; your sessions, spots and subscription stay on the same account.
I got a new phone — how do I get my sessions back?
Sign in with the same method you used before and everything syncs back down to your account, except downloaded locations — download those again on the new phone.
How do I delete my account?
From your profile. This is permanent and immediate: your account, sessions and saved/favorited locations are deleted straight away. Locations or trails you have contributed to the map stay published, just unlinked from your name.
Subscriptions & billing
Hydrove Plus, trials, receipts and refunds.
What do I get with Hydrove Plus?
An ad-free experience, offline map downloads, an extended weather forecast beyond today, 3D trail previews, live location sharing, and extra shareable overlay styles for your sessions.
How do I cancel or change my plan?
Subscriptions are billed by Apple or Google, so manage them there: on iOS, Settings → your name → Subscriptions; on Android, Play Store → Payments and subscriptions. Plus features stay active until the end of the period you have paid for.
Can I get a refund?
Refunds are handled by the store that took the payment. Apple: reportaproblem.apple.com. Google: Play Store → Order history → Request a refund. If a store declines a refund you believe is fair, email us and we will advocate for it.
I paid but Plus is not showing
Go to Profile → Settings → Manage subscriptions → Restore purchases, using the same store account that paid. If it still does not appear, send us the store receipt and we will attach Plus to your account manually.
Does Plus work across my devices?
Yes, on any device signed in to the same Hydrove account. There is no Family Sharing and accounts cannot be shared — each account supports one active login at a time.
Tracking a session
GPS accuracy, background recording, editing and exporting sessions.
Does tracking keep running with the screen off?
Yes. Hydrove records in the background. On Android, exclude Hydrove from battery optimisation (Settings → Apps → Hydrove → Battery → Unrestricted) or the system may suspend recording mid-session.
My route looks jagged or the distance is wrong
This is usually weak GPS or mobile signal. It can also happen if the app is terminated in the background — some phones aggressively kill background location to save battery, which stops recording until you reopen the app.
I forgot to stop the session
There is currently no way to edit a session after recording — the distance, duration and route are locked in from what was tracked.
Can I add a session I did not track live?
Yes — you can log a session without tracking a GPS path, but manual sessions are limited to spot-based activities, not trail routes.
How do I export a session as GPX?
Open the session → the share icon → Export GPX. This is free for every account.
Live conditions & safety
Where the forecast comes from, how alerts work, and what they do not do.
Where does the tide and weather data come from?
Tide, wind, swell and sea temperature come from TidesAtlas. Today's conditions are free for every account; the forecast for the days ahead is a Hydrove Plus feature.
How accurate is the forecast for a small cove?
Model resolution is coarser than a cove. Treat the forecast as the conditions for that stretch of coast, not for one exact metre of shoreline — local wind bends around headlands and tidal streams accelerate through narrows in ways no model fully captures.
How do I set up alerts?
Watch a tide port from a spot's conditions screen and you'll get a push notification for storm warnings and spring tide warnings affecting that port. There aren't currently separate 'good conditions' alerts or custom thresholds per discipline — alerts are limited to these two safety events for now.
Can I rely on Hydrove to decide if it is safe?
No. Hydrove gives you better information, not a safety decision. Conditions change faster than any forecast, and only you can judge your own kit, skill and group. Always tell someone your plan, carry a means of calling for help, and if in doubt do not launch.
Locations & offline maps
Verified locations, contributing your own, and using the map with no signal.
What does a verified location mean?
It has been checked and verified by our admin team before publishing. Unverified submissions stay private to their author until that check is done.
How do I add a spot or trail?
You can't add a location directly. Track a session at a spot or trail that isn't already on the map, then from that session you can suggest it as a new location for the team to review.
A location has wrong or unsafe information
Open the location and look for a way to suggest an edit, and tell us what has changed. Access rights, private slipways and seasonal restrictions change often, and reports about hazards or access are prioritised.
How do offline maps work?
Offline map downloads are a Hydrove Plus feature. Download an area before you lose signal, and it keeps working without a connection. Live wind and swell still need a connection, so check conditions before you go offline.
Can I keep a location to myself?
Not currently — anything you submit goes through review to be published on the shared map. If you'd rather not share a location publicly, don't submit it.
Community & events
Meetups, clubs, RSVPs and posting your own event.
How do I find events near me?
Events shows what's happening sorted by distance, filterable by activity and date.
Can I post my own event?
Yes. From Events, create one and choose whether it is open to anyone or invite-only, and share it with a link.
What happens if an event is cancelled?
The organiser can cancel or update the event from its page, and attendees are notified.
How do I report a person or a post?
Look for a report option on the relevant profile, event or comment. We review reports ourselves, and we remove anything that pressures people into unsafe conditions.
Troubleshooting
When something is not behaving — start here.
The app cannot get a GPS fix
Check location permission is set to Always (iOS: Settings → Hydrove → Location; Android: Settings → Apps → Hydrove → Permissions), turn on Precise location, then step outside away from buildings for about thirty seconds. Airplane mode and battery saver both block location on some Android skins.
I am not getting alerts
Check notifications are allowed for Hydrove in system settings, and that you are watching the port for the area you care about. On Android, also set battery usage for Hydrove to Unrestricted.
A session is missing after a paddle
Sessions save to your device first, then sync once you have a connection. Pull down to refresh on the Sessions list while connected. Important: an unsynced session is deleted if you reinstall the app, so make sure you have signal and let it sync before reinstalling or clearing app data.
Tracking drains my battery fast
Keep the screen off during the session, and download the map area beforehand so the app is not fetching tiles over a weak mobile signal.
The app crashes or freezes
Update to the latest version, then restart the phone. If it continues, send us your app version, phone model and OS version, and roughly what you were doing — that is usually enough for us to reproduce it.
Privacy & data
What we collect, who can see your tracks, and how to get your data out.
Are my sessions visible to other people?
Not by default. Live location sharing is a separate, explicit action you take per session, and it is protected by a private link — session data itself is not publicly available.
What location data do you keep?
The GPS track of sessions you record, and the locations you save, held against your account so they sync across devices. We do not sell location data to anyone.
Can I get a copy of my data?
Email us at [email protected] and we will help with your request.
Who is the data controller?
Hydrove Ltd, registered in England. Full detail is in the privacy policy, and you can reach our data contact at [email protected].