My-Villages launches iPad app for The Boat Village

HOBE SOUND, Fla. – The Boat Village, the marine industry’s leading online service coordination and digital boat management platform from My-Villages, is now available as an iPad application for its Premium subscription users, making it easier for boaters to manage their vessels—even when they are out on the water without Internet connectivity. The iPad app will be officially launched at the United States Powerboat Show in Annapolis, Md., Oct. 16-19. Show attendees can see a demo of the new app at the show’s Luxury Pavilion, which My-Villages is sponsoring this year.

While The Boat Village has long been accessible on mobile devices via the Internet, the new iPad app is the first in the industry to make it easy to coordinate service and troubleshoot issues while out on the water without an Internet connection. Using the app, boaters can work offline to create service requests with supporting photos or video and access operating manuals, how-to videos, and service history. All information is queued up and sent to their service provider when connectivity becomes available.

“This is where all consumer industries are going or have gone. We already use apps for banking, travel, and shopping to name a few. Coordinating service and managing a boat using an app rather than email, voicemail, text messages, or paper allows the information to be accessible and shared more easily,” said Kevin Hutchinson, the founder and CEO of My-Villages, which created The Boat Village. “Our new iPad application’s ability to sync with our web app and store information offline is critically important to our users.”

Dave Granstaff, the After Sales Manager at Ferretti Group America, said, “The Boat Village iPad app is the perfect complement to The Boat Village Premium service that we already provide with each new vessel sold. Our customers will be excited to have one application where they can access all of their operation and service-related information 24/7, even when without an internet connection.”

The Boat Village is an online boat management and service coordination tool that simplifies boat maintenance. It keeps an inventory of a boat’s onboard equipment, personalized with digital manuals and a custom maintenance plan based on manufacturer recommendations. Owners can receive electronic maintenance reminders, access operational advice, and send online service requests, including photos and video—all in the same application. A boat’s installed equipment, important documents, service history, usage trends and other valuable information are also readily available.

The Boat Village iPad app allows owners to keep a running trip log while out on the water, and to log hours of critical equipment, such as engines and generators. These logs are used to generate automatic reminders when service is required. Boaters can also manage an inventory of spare parts and maintain to-do lists, such as work to be done or supplies that are needed.

Using the new app requires a premium subscription to The Boat Village. Boaters who are already using The Boat Village Premium service can head straight to Apple’s App Store to download the free application, and log in using their username and password. Those who require a subscription can upgrade their free account or sign up for the Premium service at www.theboatvillage.com.

“We were proud to be the first to bring true online service coordination to the industry,” said Hutchinson. ”We are equally proud to be the first to deliver it in a native iPad app. This changes how consumers think about owning and managing a boat.”