AIS-catcher icon

AIS-catcher

by Jasper · GPL-3.0-only · open source

Turns your phone and a cheap RTL-SDR dongle into a portable AIS receiver for tracking ships, even offline.

Needs:RTL-SDR dongle · USB OTG

No known trackers in the code Signer matches IzzyOnDroid’s record

2113 Apps is independent, not affiliated with or endorsed by Jasper. Official sources: source code on GitHub.

Download APK · 32.5 MB v1.21 · checked
Version
1.21
Size
32.5 MB
Requires
Android 6.0+
Updated
2026-08-20

Screenshots

AIS-catcher screenshot 1AIS-catcher screenshot 2AIS-catcher reception summaryAIS-catcher message rate plotsAIS-catcher ship listAIS-catcher map menuAIS-catcher satellite map with a tracked vesselAIS-catcher map with a tracked vessel

Introduction

Ships broadcast their position, course and identity over AIS, a VHF radio system. Websites that show ship traffic collect those signals with receivers on shore. AIS-catcher turns your phone into one of those receivers. Plug in an inexpensive RTL-SDR dongle with an OTG cable, and it picks up AIS messages from nearby vessels directly, with no internet connection.

What it does

  • Receives on both AIS channels at once.
  • Talks to the USB dongle directly, with no extra driver app.
  • Sends decoded messages over UDP to chart plotting apps such as OpenCPN or Boat Beacon, on the phone or another device on the same network.
  • Works with common DVB-T / RTL-SDR dongles and AirSpy devices.

It makes a compact AIS receiver for travelling. It is useful on a boat, on a ferry, or anywhere near the coast.

What you need

  • An RTL-SDR dongle (a cheap DVB-T stick works) or an AirSpy, with an antenna suited to the marine VHF band around 162 MHz. Reception depends heavily on the antenna and its height.
  • A USB OTG cable or adapter.
  • A phone that can power USB devices over OTG. Most can.

What stands out in the APK

  • No trackers.
  • Location asks first, along with notifications. The project doesn’t explain what it uses location for.
  • A special foreground service keeps reception running with the screen off.

Getting started

  1. Install the APK.
  2. Connect the dongle through OTG and allow AIS-catcher to use the USB device when Android asks.
  3. Start reception. Messages appear as ships come within range.
  4. To see ships on a chart, set the UDP output to the address and port your plotting app listens on.

The project’s GitHub page has a short manual covering setup and settings.

Written by 2113, last reviewed . Sources: source code, release notes, IzzyOnDroid listing.

What’s inside the APK

Trackers

None found

No code matching the Exodus Privacy tracker signatures.

Native code

4 CPU types

Runs on 64-bit and older 32-bit ARM phones.

Android versions

Android 6.0 and up

Built for Android 14 (target API 34).

Permissions

9

3 of them need your approval first.

CPU types in this build: arm64-v8a (64-bit ARM, almost every phone since 2017); armeabi-v7a (32-bit ARM, older and budget phones); x86 (32-bit Intel, emulators); x86_64 (64-bit Intel, emulators and Chromebooks).

Asks you first (3)

Android shows a prompt before the app can use these.

  • Approximate location · ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION
  • Precise location · ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION
  • Show notifications (Android 13+) · POST_NOTIFICATIONS
Granted at install (5)

Low-risk permissions Android grants automatically, plus any we have not classified.

  • ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
  • FOREGROUND_SERVICE
  • FOREGROUND_SERVICE_SPECIAL_USE
  • INTERNET
  • WAKE_LOCK
Defined by other apps (1)

Permissions that belong to another app or to this app itself.

  • com.jvdegithub.aiscatcher.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION

More Information

Package name
com.jvdegithub.aiscatcher
Version
1.21 (build 121)
File size
32.5 MB (32,496,633 bytes)
Requires
Android 6.0 or later
License
GPL-3.0-only
Developer
Jasper
Released
Aug 20, 2026
Signer SHA-256
51e66fe88c480297b545d44c0b91edb33390bf875c92ba2f526c74cc4757fed2
File SHA-256
a84c8023e55f6d8a77ed125bdc2ab1a2a18a1a3aba4469902f8fb96b5afcedfe
Checked
, against the IzzyOnDroid index · how we check · verify it yourself

Common questions

Is this APK the official AIS-catcher release?

Yes. It is the developer’s own release of AIS-catcher 1.21, byte for byte as IzzyOnDroid distributes it. Its SHA-256 matches IzzyOnDroid’s signed index, and it is signed with the certificate IzzyOnDroid records for the app (SHA-256 51e66fe88c480297b545d44c0b91edb33390bf875c92ba2f526c74cc4757fed2).

What Android version does AIS-catcher need?

Android 6.0 or later (API level 23). Version 1.21 is built for Android 14 (target API 34). Runs on 64-bit and older 32-bit ARM phones.

Can AIS-catcher access the internet?

Yes. The APK requests Android’s internet permission. In total it declares 9 permissions, and 3 of them need your approval first.

Does AIS-catcher contain trackers?

No known trackers: our scan of version 1.21 found no code matching the Exodus Privacy tracker signatures. The scan covers known tracker libraries; it doesn’t show what data the app itself sends.

Is AIS-catcher open source?

Yes. AIS-catcher is released under the GPL-3.0-only licence, and its source code is published at https://github.com/jvde-github/AIS-catcher-for-Android.

Recent releases

Version Released Size Requires
v1.21 · this download Aug 20, 2026 32.5 MB Android 6.0+
v1.18 Aug 9, 2026 32.3 MB Android 6.0+

Versions currently kept in the IzzyOnDroid repository. We host and check only the newest one. Full changelog.