SeaChart
6-Month Update — Thank You for Your Continued Support!
Another month has passed, and SeaChart has now been available for approximately six months!
First of all, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has downloaded, tried, and continued using SeaChart.
As an independent developer, seeing people around the world using something I've built is incredibly encouraging. Your feedback, suggestions, and support continue to motivate me to improve the app.
📱 Development Progress
Over the past month, I've released 6 app updates and completed one batch of marine chart updates.
These updates included bug fixes, performance improvements, and new features based on user feedback.
Another important milestone is that the SeaChart website is now officially live!
The project has successfully migrated from its previous subdomain, marine.aitinytools.com, to its new home:
🌐 Official Website: https://seachart.app
🗺️ Online Marine Charts: https://seachart.app/chart/
💬 Community Forum: https://seachart.app/bbs
The new website brings the community forum and online marine charts together under one domain, making it easier for everyone to access SeaChart's services and share their experiences.
🌍 Community Growth
Over the past 30 days, 981 users from around the world have accessed SeaChart through the app.
It is exciting to see SeaChart gradually reaching users across different countries and regions.
Although SeaChart is still a small and relatively young project, every new user and every piece of feedback means a lot to me.
📡 AIS Development
I also have some good news regarding AIS!
The AIS equipment I purchased for real-world testing has finally arrived, and most of the AIS functionality testing and debugging is now complete.
Having actual AIS hardware allows me to test communication, data reception, and target information much more reliably than relying entirely on simulated data.
I'll continue improving AIS stability and functionality in future updates.
🗺️ Marine Chart Updates — Temporary Pause
Unfortunately, I also have some less encouraging news regarding marine chart processing.
The original global chart dataset is approximately 32 TB, and I've estimated that processing and preparing the next stages of the chart system may require approximately 40 TB of temporary storage space.
My current server infrastructure is simply not sufficient for this workload.
To make matters worse, one of my existing server storage drives has failed after prolonged intensive workloads and has been sent back to the manufacturer for warranty repair.
While waiting for the replacement and preparing additional storage capacity, I will need to temporarily pause marine chart updates for approximately two months.
During this period:
- Existing marine charts will remain available.
- No new chart data updates are currently planned.
- Chart download speeds may occasionally be slower than usual.
I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.
My priority is to keep the existing services running reliably while preparing the infrastructure required for future chart updates.
Once the storage situation is resolved, I'll resume processing and releasing new chart data.
🍎 iOS Release Updates
The iOS version is still progressing through Apple's App Review process.
Recently, review times have become unusually long. In some cases, a single submission has taken approximately two weeks just to receive feedback.
I'm not entirely sure what is causing these delays, and unfortunately, Apple's review schedule is outside my control.
I'm continuing to respond to review requests and make any necessary adjustments.
Thank you to everyone waiting for the iOS version. I really appreciate your patience!
💰 Project Expenses and Financial Support
I also want to continue being transparent about the financial side of SeaChart.
Here are the latest figures:
- Total personal investment: Approximately NZD 85,000
- Donations received this month: NZD 0
- Current paid subscribers: 0
The total investment includes development hardware, servers, storage, marine chart data processing, AIS equipment, Apple hardware, software services, and other project-related expenses.
Compared with last month's update, my total investment has increased from approximately NZD 70,000 to NZD 85,000.
SeaChart remains an independently developed and self-funded project.
Although there have been no new donations or paid subscriptions this month, I will continue developing and improving SeaChart as much as my time and resources allow.
I want to emphasize again that financial support is entirely optional.
Simply using SeaChart, reporting bugs, suggesting improvements, or recommending it to others is already a meaningful contribution.
🎁 Upcoming SeaChart Pro Special Offer
To celebrate SeaChart's first six months and thank everyone for their continued support, I'm preparing a special promotion for the SeaChart Pro 6-month subscription.
The promotion will include an 18-day free trial of SeaChart Pro, available to the first 200 users who redeem the offer.
Both new and existing users are welcome to participate.
I'll publish a separate announcement in the SeaChart Community Forum with the promotional code, redemption instructions, and full details.
Please keep an eye on the forum if you're interested!
⭐ A Small Request — Please Consider Leaving a Review
If you enjoy using SeaChart and find it useful, I would really appreciate it if you could take a moment to leave an honest rating or review on the app store.
As a small independent developer, I don't have a large marketing budget or a dedicated promotional team.
Positive reviews and personal recommendations can make a real difference in helping more people discover SeaChart.
And if something isn't working well, please don't hesitate to report it through the feedback system or community forum.
Every review, bug report, and feature suggestion helps me make SeaChart better.
❤️ Thank You for Six Months of Support!
Six months ago, SeaChart was just beginning its journey.
Today, users from around the world are trying the app, sharing feedback, and helping shape its future.
There are still many challenges ahead, especially with server infrastructure, global chart processing, and the iOS release.
But I'm committed to continuing this project and making SeaChart more accurate, reliable, and useful.
Thank you again to everyone who has downloaded SeaChart, tested new features, reported issues, shared suggestions, or simply continued using the app.
Your support means more than you might realize.
Here's to the next six months of SeaChart! 🚀