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Drop the anchor, open Hooked, and tap "Set Anchor." The app records your anchor position and draws a watch radius around it. While the session is active, it continuously checks your boat's GPS position against that radius. If you drift outside it, Hooked sends an alert — even if your phone is locked or the app is in the background.

Yes — that's what Premium's Remote Monitoring feature is for. A second device (a phone ashore, the restaurant, or your berth) can watch the live position, track, battery level, and sensor readings in real time via iCloud. If the alarm triggers on the boat, a push notification is sent to all connected remote viewers.

The anchor alarm works fully offline — no internet connection is required to set a watch and receive local alerts. Remote monitoring does require an internet connection on both devices to sync data via iCloud or our cloud backend.

GPS accuracy can vary with weather, obstructions, or a weak satellite fix. Hooked filters out low-accuracy position fixes to reduce false alarms, but in some conditions a brief outlier can slip through. Try increasing your watch radius slightly, or make sure your device has a clear view of the sky. If false alarms persist, contact us — we're happy to help diagnose the issue.

This is usually Apple's WiFi-based location guessing at your position — not a Hooked bug.

Hooked needs real GPS to work reliably, so WiFi-only iPads aren't well supported — only WiFi+Cellular models have a GPS chip at all. If that's you, you'll need an external instrument (step 1 below).

If you have a WiFi+Cellular iPad and still see this: iPhones and iPads with GPS quietly remember where WiFi networks are and share that with Apple, so any device can guess its location just from the WiFi networks nearby, even without GPS. That guess isn't live, so it can be out of date. On the water this can look like: your position frozen in one spot even though the time keeps updating; your position stuck at one edge of your anchor radius instead of moving with the boat; or, anchored close to shore, your position jumping toward a house or building's WiFi — it doesn't even have to be your own network.

Hooked tries to flag this with an orange "No GPS signal" warning — but detection isn't foolproof, so don't assume your position is accurate just because you don't see it. What helps:

1. Connect a WiFi-networked instrument — a chartplotter, AIS receiver, or NMEA-WiFi gateway on your boat's own network (Settings → Instruments). The most reliable fix, and the only real option for WiFi-only iPads.
2. Check that "Include WiFi-based (non GPS) locations" is off in Settings → Advanced Features → Location Sources — it's off by default, so this is usually just a quick confirmation, not something you need to change.
3. Turn WiFi off, even briefly. This forces your iPad back onto its own GPS chip — works whether or not you have an active cellular plan.
4. Restart your iPad. Clears out its last-known position and forces a fresh GPS fix on the next launch.
5. Last resort: rename your boat's WiFi (router, chartplotter hotspot, Starlink) to end in _nomap, e.g. MyBoat_nomap. This only helps if your position is jumping back to a previous anchorage or marina — it stops Apple and Google from remembering your own network's old location. It won't help if your position is jumping toward shore, since that's someone else's WiFi, not yours to rename. Renaming a network you're actively using can also disconnect other devices briefly, so it's worth trying the other options first.

A note on external GPS accessories: some, like Bad Elf, work at the system level and improve every app's location automatically, no setup needed. Others, like the Garmin GLO 2, only work with specific apps over Bluetooth and won't help in Hooked today. For a guaranteed fix, use step 1.

Go to Settings → Instruments in the app and add a new connection. Hooked supports TCP/UDP NMEA 0183 streams over Wi-Fi, as well as direct integrations with Vesper AIS transponders and Peplink routers. Your chartplotter typically broadcasts on its local IP address on port 10110 or similar — check your chartplotter's settings for the exact address.

Free gives you the full anchor alarm, GPS tracking, and recent history — no subscription needed.

Essential ($4.99/yr) adds unlimited sessions, full track history, track customization, Family Sharing, and remote drag alerts so others can be notified if your anchor drags.

Premium ($17.99/yr or $2.99/mo) adds everything in Essential plus remote live viewing (watch your boat's live position and track from anywhere), custom alerts for wind speed, depth, battery level, status check-ins, and more, along with iCloud sync, AIS vessel overlay, bearing restrictions, and NMEA sensor integration. Comes with a free 3-month trial.

With a Premium subscription, open an active session and tap the share icon. You can share via a link. The other device opens the link in Hooked and joins as a remote viewer. Both devices will see the same live map, track, and sensor data.

Subscriptions are managed entirely through Apple. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions, find Hooked, and tap Cancel Subscription. You'll keep access until the end of the current billing period.