Questions, answered

Because the radio side is the one thing nothing else on the market does. Plenty of apps do charts and AIS tracking — the name points straight at what's actually different: word-perfect scripts spoken aloud, ready to key and send over your real VHF radio, and a safety relay that keys and sends that Mayday itself if you go overboard alone.

Everything else — the charts, the collision alerts, the interception — earns its place because it supports that core job, not instead of it.

It speaks your VHF calls for you. You pick or fill in a script — a Sécurité, a Pan-Pan, a marina call, a routine radio check — and the app reads it aloud clearly for you to hold up to your radio's mic and send.

Alongside that it tracks nearby AIS traffic with collision (CPA/TCPA) alerts, holds offline nautical charts, and runs an automated Single-Handed MOB distress relay — the one situation where it keys the radio's PTT itself too, since there's no one aboard left to do it.

I asked an RYA trainer what you're supposed to do on the radio if you have a stammer. His answer was "speak slowly." That's not an answer — a stammer doesn't work like that. I built VHF Radio Assistant because that gap needed a real one.

Sailors and mariners who find live VHF radio calls stressful — whether that's general mic fright, a stammer or stutter, or simply not wanting to fumble a Mayday call when it matters. It's also useful for anyone who'd rather have a checked, consistent script than compose a call on the fly.

Just as much, it's for any UK or Irish Sea sailor who wants a real safety net running in the background — live AIS tracking with collision (CPA/TCPA) alerts, vessel interception, offline charts, and an automated Single-Handed MOB relay — whether or not the radio itself is ever an issue for you.

Android tablets and iPads, mounted at the helm. It's built for a fixed, glanceable position on the boat rather than a phone in your pocket. One feature is Android-only for now: the Single-Handed MOB automated distress relay, which relies on a connected Digirig interface to key the radio's PTT automatically.

Not for everyday calls — hold the tablet's speaker up to your radio's mic and it reads the script aloud clearly for you to key and send, same as always. The one place hardware comes in is the Single-Handed MOB relay: a Digirig Mobile interface wired to your radio lets the app key PTT automatically, since by definition there's no one aboard to press it.

It reads standard NMEA data over a network connection, so any AIS unit that broadcasts NMEA 0183 over TCP or a compatible WiFi bridge should work, including Digital Yacht, Actisense, and Yacht Devices gateways.

Yes for the core features — nautical charts are stored offline on the device, and call scripting, AIS tracking and MOB relay all run without a data connection. A connection is only needed for the initial chart download and app updates.

Yes — a direct Bluetooth link between two tablets, no internet involved. It can sync custom buttons, quick replies and saved marinas in bulk, or share a single live target — an intercept point or a plotted position — so whoever's on the second screen sees exactly what you see.

No. You still need a valid VHF/SRC (or equivalent) qualification to operate a marine radio. VHF Radio Assistant is there to help you deliver calls clearly and confidently once you're licensed to make them — it's an aid at the mic, not a substitute for knowing the procedure.

If a registered personal safety beacon activates and the vessel is unmanned, the app automatically broadcasts a VHF Mayday with the beacon's coordinates over your vessel's own radio — no call to compose or read out in the moment. It repeats on a fixed schedule with a built-in safety cap, and stops automatically if Search and Rescue gets close enough, or can be silenced remotely at any time.

It flags them in red, running quietly in the background whichever screen you're on, with a COLREG-aligned call already filled in — vessel names and position included. Open it and you get the Collision Risk View: a clear picture of every nearby vessel's heading, not just the one that triggered the alert. Trial a turn at your current speed and see the resulting distance before you commit to it, and it warns you if that same turn would put you on a new collision course with someone else.

It's the same trial-maneuver concept commercial ship bridges are required to carry on their ARPA radar — brought down to your own tablet, running on AIS instead of industrial radar hardware.

Included. Once you're subscribed, TTS calling is part of the same all-inclusive price as everything else — there's no separate add-on or additional paywall for it inside the app.

No. We're a separate product from an unrelated developer — if you've come across another app with a similar name, it isn't us.

£5.99 a month, or £49.99 a year — a 30% saving if you commit annually. Either way it's one price, everything included: AIS tracking, offline charts, Single-Handed MOB relay, Collision Risk View, TTS calling, and the full call-scripting library. No separate add-ons or extra paywalls once you're subscribed.

Yes — a 30-day trial, so you've got a realistic run of the season to try it before committing.

Yes — Demo Mode. Switch it on and the app populates itself with realistic vessel traffic, marinas and a simulated position — every button, script and screen works exactly as it would at sea, with nothing actually transmitted. Press a reply button and you get a proper response back too, so you can run through a full exchange, not just read a script into silence. It's the whole app, not a cut-down preview.

Yes — a one-time purchase of £149 is available as an alternative to the subscription, for anyone who'd rather pay once.

Email us with your device, tablet model, and what you were doing when it happened. If it's a hardware-path issue (Digirig, PTT, native TTS), the app's own startup warnings will usually tell you which specific connection is missing.

Google Play and the Apple App Store. Feature parity between Android and iOS is close, with two exceptions on iOS: no Digirig hardware integration, and no Single-Handed MOB automated relay.

Email us — a real inbox, checked directly, not a ticket queue.