How to Set Up the Sailor & Cruise Weather Widget

From first start to a card on the home screen there are seven steps. Most take one tap. The one worth doing slowly is the second: the permissions decide whether weather and port detection keep working while the phone is in your pocket.

The seven steps

1. Read the first screen. The app opens with a short notice, BEFORE YOU START. Confirm it.
2. Give access. One orange button asks for everything in order: location, notifications and port detection. Each switch turns orange the moment its permission is there. Port detection needs precise location and "Always". The weather works with less. Community News stays off unless you switch it on yourself.
3. Choose your view. Seafarer or Crew, Cruise Ship Guest, or Ship Enthusiast.
4. Choose your ship. Vessel type, then hull color. Guests pick a cruise line and a class.
5. Enter your dates. The day you join and the day you leave. The app then asks whether you already had port calls on this trip, so the count starts where you are. Ship enthusiasts skip this step.
6. Launch. The Preview tab shows your card. The orange button under it shows an ad and then saves the setup.
7. Place the widget. How depends on the phone. See below.

What the finished card shows is described on the main widget page.

Placing the widget on an iPhone

Touch and hold an empty spot on the home screen until the icons move. Tap Edit or the plus sign in the top corner and choose Add Widget. Search for "Sailor & Cruise", take the medium size and add it. Then drag it where you want it.

Placing the widget on Android

After the launch the app opens the system dialog for adding the widget. Confirm it. If you closed the dialog, touch and hold the home screen, open Widgets, find Sailor & Cruise and drag the card out.

When a phone holds the widget back

Some Android phones stop apps in the background to save battery. The widget then stops refreshing and port detection goes quiet. The app checks for this. A grey switch on the Access tab means a permission or a phone setting is in the way. Tap the grey row and it takes you there.

Xiaomi. Two settings matter: battery set to "No restrictions" and autostart switched on for the app. The setup opens both pages for you.

Android 14 and newer. The phone asks for "Alarms & reminders". Allow it. Exact timing, like the change at midnight, relies on it.

iPhone. iOS lets a widget plan only a limited time ahead. The counters run for at least eight days without the app. Open the app once a week and you will never notice.

No connection. The card keeps the last weather it loaded, and the counters keep running. At sea that is normal.

Changing things later

A new sign-off date goes in on the Dates tab and is saved at once, with no new launch. A tap on the ship in the widget opens the vessel list. The menu item My Widget leads back to the preview. If the port counter is what you came for, the port call counter page has the detail.

Setup questions