BoatDriver GmbH Reviews 463

Clear precise explanations and a very enjoyable experience.

Good and comprehensive material for optimal preparation for the corresponding exams. Very good concept, great support and absolutely up to date in terms of IT.

Uncomplicated and easy to use. Customer service was really helpful and efficient - Got the job done.
Thank you.

The good: The BoatDriver GmbH company seems to be reliable, has good reviews, process of buying was clear and easy, even while the company is (for me ) abroad. I like the online environment, easy to login and see and use the courses someone bought.

What I did not like so much:
I bought access for a year to a simulator of maritime VHF radio. The cost was around 100 euro's. Which works reasonable well, but various functions are 'not implemented' That means if I go to the menu's in the VHF that contain other than the main functionality I get a popup with 'not implemented' this was not clearly mentioned to me before buying. I think 100 euro's is a lot of money to ask for a software product that has still a set of not implemented functionality. Especially that it was not clearly mentioned to me upfront, made me disappointed. What I would recommend is to at least sell it with a big warning like this is not finished, it misses x y and z. Then I could have decided to buy it or not. It might be that not everyone needs that functionality but others might. Give the info clearly before selling and let the client decide upfront if the missing functionality is acceptable to him/her.

Overall:
I think BoatDriver GmbH is a good company and the product is ok but there are still some things that could be improved, both in the product and in the communication upfront when buying it. What I really appreciate is that the company asks for feedback on Trustpilot proactively.

It seems to be the only app we can use to prepare for the boat exam here. But comes with too many problems.
I list them here so I hope the developers read and improve the app.
My first comments are towards the overall behavior of the app. Not related to the specific English version.

- App is too expensive with 30chf for how it operates. I would value it as 9-10 chf.
- App crashes here and there. Needs to relaunch to operate again.
- When I come to the last question of the simulated exams, and marking only one of the 2 correct radio buttons app automatically prompts if I should evaluate the exam. This option should come after I complete making my choices. In some cases it doesn’t even allow me to make the second choice. It crashes.
- App reminds me to upgrade even I paid 30 chf for it. It is quite stupid to pop a request to get the full version while I have 360 or so days before it expires. First of all, after paying 30 chf you must give the app away indefinitely. When you prompt with another upgrade it only makes us feel like we are on a trial version. If you want us to upgrade it again then bring the prompt in the last one month of the 365 days, no earlier. Why should I upgrade it again after paying while I still have over 360 days to use it.
- it asks me to log in too often. It’s an app on my personal mobile device, no other apps I have here asks me to log in again except my banking apps. What is so protective with a boat-license-study-app that needs re login often.
- There are errors in the theory section.
Example. I completed all the chapters 100% but it shows I didn’t complete one of the chapters (to be specific: “Territorial waters”). Mean time my overall completion shows as 102%. ???
So I completed more than 100% but one chapter seems to be still missing.
- needs a better design. Such as some of the buttons we use during the simulated exams should be larger. “Show solution” and “next” buttons are too small on the page. You should come up with gestures to swipe to make the progression of pages more smooth and easy.
- we shouldn’t have to make choices in a question to see the upcoming or previous pages. Ditch that requirement.
- graphics/illustrations are pretty decent. Compliments. I took the official exam and the graphics in the exam were worse. I believe the official app images are photoshopped with vectorized looking filtering for the app. So the images on your app are more clear than the official exam graphics. This can be good but also bad. If the questions are identical with the official exam better to keep the images as identical too.

Remaining comments are towards English version of the app.

- most important problem I experienced is, the High Rhein section of the exam is NOT offered in English version. When I switch the language to German, French and Italian it shows that section where we can study and simulate the exams. But in English version this section doesn’t show up.
I contacted the developers with this question. The answer was a lousy one. I was shortly informed as “I am also not aware that you can take the exam for the Hochrhein in English”
It doesn’t matter if the official exam offered is in English or not. We actually study and learn the rules for how to ride a boat in Switzerland - not just to pass the exam. Would be kind of you that you create the section for English users so we can also learn how to ride boat in High Rhein regardless how the exams are running. If not then you should offer a partial discount for English users with the missing parts of the app. By the way, for your information, there are more people speaking English in Switzerland than Italian speaking even though it is not an official language. It is unofficial but more accepted language. For your information, I am also not a native English speaker. I am a world traveler and as it happens in every airport and international transportation platform, English is always officially provided - in every country in the world. Would be nice this app addresses this reality since it is about learning how to operate devices in the international waters of Switzerland.
I communicated with the developer (Niels) and expected some level of mercy or understanding of the situation. And expected a discount at least a partial refund. No luck.
- There are a lot of translation problems. Sometimes even typos.

For 30 chf this app behaves very lazy.
I can’t recommend it to anyone however I believe it is the only app for such a specific subject. Perhaps better to find the open source information which might be provided somewhere. I was limited reaching that information because of not speaking German.

I have already took the official exam and passed it with the score of 175.
This app helped me to pass the test indeed. After all it did the job. The experience was annoying, cumbersome.
Most importantly it was too expensive for what it is.

Even better English translations than the real exam!

Just 1 mistakes on examination) Thank you so much)))

The whole program is good. I do speak French, but the complexity of the Theory (terminology, procedures) is more complicated than taking the History / Environmental / Culture Exam for the Swiss passport. So in English makes it a lot more understandable - especially when very strict procedures and rules need to be followed - although in practical, you will need to know the French terminology - but learning as you physically practice is easier.

The only small comment i would make, is that there are some errors in the translation, and some of the theory is not covered to answer the whole questions, but suppose this is where you learn purely by trail and error doing the practice exams over and over.

The software is clear and simple. The prolongation process has been easy.

Need to do a better job with the translation for the questions and answers.

Very useful, easy to use and super helpful!

To date study is going well. Website is easy to navigate in English. I will update review on course completion

Great! Recomended

I am only 26% through the course and have found many errors and inconsistencies. I have provided some feedback to Madeleine. A major problem is that the information you provided is insufficient to answer the following questions. I have many examples. Another problem is some of the translation from German to English is very poor. As a consequence the English is intelligible. I am willing to provide more feedback. My worry is, whether your course will prepare me to pass the theory exam. This feedback I am giving you should be understood in a positive way, I am willing to help you design a better English course, so let me know what you think of my review and comments.

I have renewed boatdriver a number of times but on my most recent purchase the video content was not working and/or loading issues on the pages. The user experience is very poor to what it used to be previously!

All is ok, except English translation. It’s very not correct. Sometimes it’s hard to understand even question in English.