Closed beta

Wavio User Guide & FAQ

A practical guide to checking in, meeting nearby boaters, managing your boats, and controlling what you share.

Getting started

1. Create your account and verify your email address.
2. Add a boat, or choose Explore first and add one later from My Boat.
3. Choose your default status and visibility in My Boat.
4. Open Map and check in when you want to appear to the audience you selected.

Check-in, Map and Nearby

A check-in shares one stationary position. Wavio does not publish a continuous trail of your movement. Your check-in remains until you check out or its displayed expiry time is reached.

Your visibility controls who can discover the check-in:

• Public — other signed-in Wavio users.
• Friends — people you have privately marked as Friends.
• Lists — current members of the private lists you select.
• Invisible — nobody else can discover your check-in.

Change the default in My Boat, or change only the current check-in from its Map card. Blocking overrides the selected visibility.

Map shows boat markers and lets you browse boats inside your selected range. Nearby presents the same authorised discovery information as a list. Suggested place names can be missing or imperfect; use the pencil on an expanded check-in card to correct the displayed name.

Waves, conversations, Friends and Lists

Send a Wave to show that you would like to connect. A Conversation becomes available after the Wave is accepted. Conversations show delivery and read state where available, including Waves sent inside a Conversation.

Friends are private labels you control on your own account. The other person does not have to mark you as a Friend. Private Lists help organise accepted connections and control selected-list visibility; your Friends and Lists are not shown to other boaters.

Archiving hides a Conversation from the main list without deleting it. Moving one to Trash is also private to your account. A trashed Conversation can be restored during its 30-day countdown, and an incoming message restores it unless the sender is blocked. If the other participant has deleted their Wavio account, the retained Conversation is read-only and can be moved to Trash.

Boats, photos and Crew Profile

You can add several boats and choose one active boat. The active boat represents you in current Wavio surfaces. If you switch it during a check-in, Wavio transfers the check-in to the newly active boat. Deleting a boat removes that boat and its related current presence and photo, while your account, Friends, Lists and existing Conversations remain.

Boat and profile photos can be adjusted before upload. Tap a visible photo to open the full-size viewer. Wavio does not provide a dedicated action for saving another user’s photo.

Your Crew Profile is one account-level profile that can accompany the active boat. It stays private until Share crew profiles is on. Boat flag is a separate optional field for each boat. It also stays private until its own sharing control is on, and it describes the boat rather than anyone’s nationality.

Privacy, blocking and reporting

Use Privacy in My Boat to review your check-in audience and optional profile details. Crew Profile and Boat flag have separate sharing controls beside the places where you edit them.

Blocking removes mutual discovery and delivery. A blocked user may still appear to send from an older or retained screen, but the content is not delivered while the block remains. Use Report when behaviour or content needs review.

Wavio is a social discovery app—not a navigation, weather, tide, collision-avoidance, emergency, rescue or safety-of-life service. Locations, distances and place names can be delayed or inaccurate. Read the Community Guidelines and Safety Guidelines.

Common questions

Why can’t I see nearby boats?

Check your internet connection, selected distance range and current visibility. The other boat must have a current check-in that authorises you. If the screen remains stale after connectivity returns, reopen it or restart the beta app and send feedback.

Why is the place name wrong or missing?

Place suggestions are still being refined. Open the expanded check-in card, tap the pencil and choose or enter a more useful name. Please mention the area and result quality in beta feedback without including information you do not want to share.

Why did my check-in disappear?

Check-ins expire automatically at the time shown in the app. Check in again when you want to become discoverable. Temporary loss of a fresh GPS fix should keep the last stationary check-in position rather than moving it.

Why can’t I message from Archive or Trash?

Restore your own archived or trashed Conversation before sending. Conversations with a deleted participant remain read-only.

Why is a photo taking time to appear?

Uploads and cross-device refresh depend on network conditions. Keep Wavio open until the upload confirmation appears. If it fails, try again from Edit Boat or Edit Profile.

Can I use Wavio on a new device?

Sign in with the same verified account. Your account data is stored with the service, but device permissions such as notifications and location may need to be granted again.

Still need help?

Send beta feedback from My Boat so your build details are included, or email support@prekas.app.

This guide explains the current beta experience. The published Privacy Policy, Terms, Community Guidelines and Safety Guidelines remain the controlling documents.