Want to keep the light for a night? Lighthouse is free on TestFlight: turn your wrist, hold the beam on a ship, and bring it home. Join the beta (version 1.0 (2); this invitation is good through January 22, 2027).

You can play on Apple Watch or on iPhone, and on Apple Watch without an iPhone. Lighthouse steers by compass, so it needs a Watch or iPhone that has one. On iPhone Duo, the chart takes one screen and the keeper's log the other.

Lost at sea? Start here.

How do I play?

Open Lighthouse and tap the title card to trim the wick. The beam points the way the top of your Apple Watch or iPhone points, so turn until a ship is in the light, then hold it there for a beat. The ship sees the rocks and turns for open water. A ship the beam never finds runs aground on a reef. When every ship is home or lost, it is dawn, and a tap starts another night.

Does the screen steer?

No. On Apple Watch and on iPhone the compass does all the steering. Touch and the Digital Crown do not move the beam.

What is the Figure 8 card?

When the compass is unsure of itself, the night pauses and a card asks you to wave the device in a figure 8. When the compass settles, the night goes on. You can also tap the card to play on anyway.

What are the ships and reefs?

Fourteen ships come in over one night, about two and a half minutes from dusk to first light. Smacks are slow and forgiving. Clippers are quick and need less time in the light. A rowboat's lantern shows only to the middle of the beam, so aim true. Five reefs sit around the lamp: the Teeth, Mud Hen Bar, Crab Biscuit, Redfish Ledge and Skillet Shoal. Every ship's course crosses one of them.

What are the flags?

The flags are from the International Code. A blue, white and red striped flag (C) is hoisted for each ship brought home, and a red and white checked flag (U) for each ship lost. The blue and white checked flag (N) marks north on the brass ring.

What does the weather do?

The wind rises through the night and nudges the beam. Fog rolls in at about a minute and ten seconds, and a squall at about a minute and three quarters narrows the beam.

What is the logbook?

On iPhone, tap Logbook in the keeper's log. Every ship you lose writes one page: a real shipwreck from the Northeast coast, with a photograph, its credit and its true story. There are 11 wrecks, and when every page is written they come round again. On Apple Watch, the dawn card names the first wreck logged that night. The links on a page (the sources, the photo page) open in your browser.

What are the Northeast Lights?

Tap Northeast Lights on iPhone for 40 lighthouses from Maine to New Jersey, on a chart you can pinch to zoom and in a list. Each has a photograph, the years it was lit, and whether it is lit, dark or gone. Where we found the group that keeps a light standing, its page links them.

Can I turn the sound or the haptics off?

Yes. On iPhone, tap the round brass button at the top left of the keeper's log. On Apple Watch, tap Options on the title or dawn card. Sound and haptics each have a switch, and Acknowledgments credits the photographs, the bell and the wind.

Do I need an iPhone, or an Apple Watch?

Neither is required. Lighthouse plays fully on Apple Watch with no iPhone, and the iPhone plays the same night on its own. Either one needs a compass: a device without one shows a card that says a keeper needs a compass.

Does it need an account or the internet?

No. There are no accounts, and playing never uses the internet. Only the source links in the logbook and the lights open your browser.

Contact

Found a bug, a ship that should have been saved, or an idea? Email studio@releaf.site.