Troubleshooting & FAQ
Most surprises in MuirWave aren't faults — they're the app being honest about what it knows. Here are the questions that come up most, with a plain answer to each.
A control or toggle is greyed out
That control belongs to a paid edition you don't currently have. MuirWave never hides features — it shows them dimmed so you know they exist. Tapping one opens a screen explaining what it unlocks.
| If this is greyed out… | You need… |
|---|---|
| Live data chips (SSP · WIND · CURRENTS) | MuirWave Live |
| Regional Forecast packs (live ocean-model data) | MuirWave Live |
| Propagation Report · Impact Assessment · any Markdown / CSV / GeoJSON / Figure (PNG) export | MuirWave Pro |
| Offline Climatology & Bathymetry packs · watermarked Brief Sheet | Free — never greyed out |
Working offline / no signal at sea
MuirWave is offline-first. Every core prediction — ray paths, transmission loss, the sound field, detection and impact ranges — runs entirely on data bundled in the app, with no connection needed. You can work all day at sea with the network off.
- Placing pins & running predictions anywhere on Earth
- Global bathymetry, sediments and WOA23 climatology
- All readouts, plots and impact ranges
- Any regional packs you downloaded while online
- Fetching live ocean/weather conditions (the LIVE chips)
- Downloading new regional data packs
A live-data chip shows "fallback" or looks dim
The chips at the top (SSP, WIND, CURRENTS) report where the current reading comes from. This is a feature — it keeps every prediction honest and auditable.
| Chip state | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ● LIVE | A fresh real-time reading is in use (requires MuirWave Live + a connection). |
| CLIMATOLOGY | Using the built-in WOA23 baseline — either offline, no Live subscription, or the live feed was unreachable. |
A readout is blank or a plot is empty
This is by design. When Depth Excess is negative (a depth deficit), MuirWave shows no number — it's a well-defined state that doesn't need a figure. Any positive value is shown and colour-coded (see Reference → Depth-Excess bands).
A prediction needs a complete scenario. If you haven't set the source and the key geometry yet, the solver waits rather than showing a half-finished answer. Fill in the remaining inputs (the app marks which are still needed) and the results appear.
Measured entries: unit traps & staleness
The two mistakes that put a wrong number into a measured-noise entry, and what the STALE chip actually means.
The chip says STALE — is my prediction broken? No. A measured entry older than 24 hours is flagged amber ◆ SSP · MEASURED · STALE but keeps driving the solver — MuirWave never blocks or pops up. When you're ready, tap the chip and choose REVERT TO MODEL (your entry is kept), or just enter a fresh observation. The same token ambers on distance once you're ~30 nm from where you measured.
Restoring a purchase on a new device
Your purchases are tied to your Apple ID, so they move with you. On a new iPad, or if an upgrade looks missing:
- Sign in to the same Apple ID you purchased with.
- Open MuirWave → Settings → Restore Purchases.
- Your MuirWave Pro and/or active MuirWave Live entitlement re-enable within a few seconds.
“Your projects library was reset”
If MuirWave ever shows this message at launch, it found that the file holding your saved projects had been damaged — usually by a device running out of storage mid‑save, or a shutdown during a sync. Rather than refusing to open, MuirWave sets the damaged file aside and starts a clean one.
- If you use iCloud — your saved projects sync back down on their own. Give it a minute on a connection and check Saved Projects again.
- If you don’t use iCloud — the damaged file is still on your device, and it may be recoverable. Contact support before you delete or reinstall the app, because reinstalling erases it for good.
Still stuck?
If something here didn't cover it, we'd genuinely like to know — it's how the app and this guide get better.