Support

Message in a Bottle (bakbukim) · Contact: sklarski@me.com

Contact

For any question, problem, or something you want to report, write to sklarski@me.com. The app is run by one person; you will get a reply from them.

How it works

You write a message and launch it from a point at sea. It drifts on real ocean currents, one day at a time, and may reach another coast days or weeks later. Someone standing within a few kilometres of it can find it, open it, and keep it, discard it, or add a few words and send it back out. There is no chat and no reply: the sender is never told who found their bottle, and a finder never learns who sent it.

Reviewed before it can be found

Every message is read by a person before anyone can find it. A bottle enters the water immediately and drifts while it waits for review; it simply cannot be collected until it is approved. Messages that are abusive, threatening, sexual, or that try to identify or contact someone are not approved.

Blocking and reporting

• Block. After opening a bottle you can block its sender. You will never be shown anything from that sender again. They are not told, and you do not learn who they are.
• Report. After opening a bottle, tap Report this bottle and, if you like, say why. A person reads every report promptly and acts on it. You can also email sklarski@me.com.
• They are separate. Reporting a bottle does not block its sender, and blocking a sender does not report anything — you choose either, or both.

Your account

• You sign in with Apple. The app never sees your Apple password.
• You can delete your account in the app under About → Delete my account. What happens to your bottles is explained in the privacy policy.
• At present: one free launch a day from the nearest coast, and three sends a day in total.

Ocean data

Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information; https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00021

The currents that carry every bottle are the GLORYS12V1 global ocean reanalysis (product GLOBAL_MULTIYEAR_PHY_001_030) from the E.U. Copernicus Marine Service, sampled once a day at the sea surface. The service is not involved in this app and receives nothing about its users.

Coastlines are from Natural Earth (public domain).