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How to use Blue Edge

Short habits that keep your library useful on the water and organized at the dock— including backups you control, Companion map and library together, a trip file for the plotter, and map controls you can tune.

Steps below refer to Blue Edge on iPhone and iPad, and Blue Edge Companion on Mac. Recreational use only. Blue Edge isn’t a substitute for official charts or navigation equipment.

1. Name spots so you can find them later

When you drop or edit a waypoint, give it a clear name, type, and subtype. Add notes while the day is fresh (bait, tide, what worked). Favorites and ratings help you return to productive water without scrolling every mark. Type is what the pin is. Group is which trip it belongs to. See send a trip to the plotter.

2. Send a trip to the plotter, not the whole book

Mark it underway. Sort it at the house. The plotter file is a thin card: name, position, maybe a symbol and a note. Type, subtype, photos, catches, trips, and the rest of the library stay in Blue Edge. The unit is not the archive. A GPX file can be imported on a plotter. That is a file format, not a brand partnership.

Type is what the pin is. Group is which trip it belongs to. They are not the same thing.

On the phone, give every pin a type so the icon is right: Fishing, Diving, Navigation, Hazard, Landmark, or Manual. Subtype is optional. If this pin is part of a trip, put one group name on it. A pin can only be in one group.

An Area is a region on the map. It is not a group, and it is not what builds the plotter file.

The lean plotter file comes from Companion on the Mac, not from the iPhone.

  1. Sync the phone to Companion.
  2. Set the Library Group filter to that trip.
  3. Import / Export → Garmin Plotter or Navionics.

That file is the group you filtered. The type filter does not change export. Use type to find pins. Use group to build the card.

CSV, GPX, and backup are the whole library. Do not send those to the plotter when you only meant this trip.

The iPhone can export CSV/GPX for the entire library. It cannot build a group-scoped plotter file. For a trip card, sort it at the house.

3. Create your own areas and shade the map

Create areas and use map shading to show reefs, bottom, no-fish zones, ledges, wrecks, or any other zone you name. Areas are yours: you invent the labels. An Area is a region on the map. It is not a group, and it is not what builds the plotter file.

When several marks share an area name, zooming out on the map shows a labeled outline and shading for that region. Pins stay individual. Zoom in for each mark. Same-name spots are allowed in different areas, which keeps “Marker 12” usable across reefs without collisions.

Tip: use consistent names (e.g. Memorial Reef, No fish — inlet) so Mobile and Companion show the same area labels after sync.

4. Record trips while you fish

Start trip recording when you leave the dock or begin fishing. On Mobile, background location can continue the trail with the screen locked—stop the trip when you are done. Saving the trip keeps the track with the places and catches from that day, instead of a blank calendar entry.

5. Log catches where they happened

Use Fish On / catch logging on Mobile when a fish comes aboard (or as soon as it is safe). Tie catches to waypoints so history stays on the map. Edit details later on Companion if you prefer keyboard work at the dock.

6. Turn catch photos into waypoints

Import a photo with location metadata—or place it yourself—to create a waypoint and fish log together. Optionally use the photo as the map glyph so the pin shows the catch, not only a symbol. That closes the gap between camera roll and your fishing library.

7. Organize on Companion, fish on Mobile

Add and edit waypoints on either app. Sync over Wi‑Fi and Blue Edge keeps the latest changes so both devices share the same on-device library—still with no Blue Edge cloud of spots.

Use Companion for bulk edits, imports (GPX / ADM / CSV), cleaning names, and planning. Use Mobile for GPS follow, underway marks, and trip recording.

You build trip plans on the Mac. Push the waypoint and trip library you need for the next run.

8. Use Companion as map, library, or both

The Map and Library are separate windows. Use the Map to look around and the Library for names, types and bulk edits, or put them side by side with Window Layout.

When map and library are open together, selecting a waypoint on the map highlights the matching row, and selecting a row highlights that mark on the map. Use that loop to clean a zone without losing place.

9. Keep a working sync habit

10. Back up with the 1-2-3 rule

Because waypoints are not stored on a Blue Edge server, you are responsible for copies. Treat sync as convenience, not disaster recovery.

The 1-2-3 rule: keep three backups of your library. One is the device you fish with. Two is a second live copy (Companion after sync, or another device). Three is other stored media you control—an external drive, USB stick, or disk— ideally a .blu export you refresh after big trips or organize sessions.

11. Tune the map to how you fish

Quick checklist

Blue Edge Blue Edge Companion Support