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Old 04-07-2018, 07:20 AM   #21
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I use MXMariner (purchased 2 years ago from A/C) on a tablet as my sole chart plotter. Active Captain is used in trip planning for marinas mostly. Most hazards seem to be mis-marked or non existent. Take everything with a grain of salt.
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Old 04-07-2018, 08:49 AM   #22
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Email from Aquamap said they will update as soon as garmin releases the spec.
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Old 04-07-2018, 10:32 AM   #23
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Email from Aquamap said they will update as soon as garmin releases the spec.
This might be part of the issue. The timeline for this whole change has been very short. We first heard about it last month, with a cutoff of the old API in May. For any sort of professionally developed product, the release cycle is much longer than that. To learn of a change that will render your product incompatible with something moving forward, and only have 2 months to plan, implement, test, and release is ridiculous. Maybe not an issue for two guys and an iPhone app, but for a professional product, it's a problem, and at a minimum a huge disruption to whatever their plans were.

Getting back to Aquamap's comment, if the new API has not yet been fully specified and released, including something for people to test against, then I would expect a lot of companies to respond as SeaIQ has, which basically translates into "f-em, we'll do this when we have time and it fits in with our other priorities". In fact, even if specs and test platforms were available with 2 months notice, I would still expect the SeaIQ response. They do not live to jump at Garmin's or AC's command.
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Old 04-07-2018, 07:28 PM   #24
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I wonder what percentage of customers buy a specific nav program because it has Active Captain support. It is a requirement for me.
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Old 04-08-2018, 05:18 PM   #25
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In fact, even if specs and test platforms were available with 2 months notice, I would still expect the SeaIQ response. They do not live to jump at Garmin's or AC's command.
If it's true that they haven't even released the specs yet, no wonder some vendors are upset. I'd be furious. It's just mind-boggling to think they'd be so arrogant as to do that. But after all, this IS Garmin.

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I wonder what percentage of customers buy a specific nav program because it has Active Captain support. It is a requirement for me.
I used to. I doubt I ever will again. I've pretty much lost faith in AC and Garmin. I suspect I'm not alone in also losing any motivation I had to help the AC "community" by working for free posting reviews.
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Old 04-08-2018, 05:41 PM   #26
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Looks like an opportunity for someone to develop a new breed of Active Captain and make their own fortune...
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Old 04-09-2018, 08:13 AM   #27
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Looks like an opportunity for someone to develop a new breed of Active Captain and make their own fortune...
I've been looking at three options which could be replacements for AC:

- Squiddio plug-in for OpenCPN, the free and open-source charting tool.
- Waterway Guides, an already-established cruising guide.
- Zulu Waterways - Already well established down under, looking to expand to other areas. Complete with smart phone app.

I haven't actually used any of these underway yet. My own take is:
- Squiddio shows real promise, being associated with an open-source platform, but from what I can tell they haven't really finished fleshing out how to capture the specific data types cruisers need.
- Waterway Guides is an unabashedly for-profit company, but their primary product is and always was cruising information. They'll be around for the long term and you know exactly what your contributions are going for and how they will be used by other cruisers.
- Zulu Waterways is most like the old AC, and if they can get a toe hold in North America and/or Europe, could easily fill the gap that AC left behind.

At this point my own plan is to contribute to the WWG and Zulu, and keep an eye on Squiddio to see how the data storage format issue is resolved.
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Old 04-09-2018, 08:53 AM   #28
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Will Active Captain data go away on all/most non Garmin navigation systems? I doubt it. This is what I know and surmise:

Garmin has had to change Active Captain to comply with European privacy rules for data sharing, just like Facebook has to comply. These rules are scheduled for implementation next month but they are in a bit of flux. So Garmin can't issue its specifications to outside developers until the rules are finalized.

Sure that means that Garmin nav apps will implement the specs first and most others will have to wait while Garmin goes through the Beta changes before it can finalize the specs for others. That is normal.

I am a little surprised at the two announcements by PolarNav and SEAiq that they will go static and not update AC data after May 23, presumably the date the European rules go into effect. Going static while Garmin finalizes their spec is to be expected, but the announcements seem to say that they will not implement the new spec. Others like AquaMap say that they will implement the new spec.

I have no idea how hard implementing the spec will be and I suspect that Garmin won't support outsiders as well as Jeff did when he owned AC and all nav apps were outsiders to him. I think we will have to see how it goes, but I suspect competitive pressures will force SEAiq and PolarNav to go along. Many consider the availability of AC data to be critical. I do.

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Old 04-09-2018, 09:13 AM   #29
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Someone wake me when this is all sorted out.
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Old 04-09-2018, 10:21 AM   #30
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I was told by CE that they are reviewing AC. They would not commit either way, which means AC maybe on its way out for CE. I hope not.
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Old 04-16-2018, 06:47 PM   #31
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I'm now doing nav comments and marina reviews on waterwayguide.com

It's easy to do and I buy a couple of their guides so I have a hard copy for planning the old fashioned way with the chart out. (and the IPad)

WG has all the marina info - just missing boater reviews like AC. But AC has become too hard for me to use and the writing is on the wall.

WG really needs a internet connection outside of the navigation app. So I'm using SeaIQ to navigate and rather than poking at my navigation chart and making it disappear while I try to read an AC comment, I run up the second IPad (cheap used IPad Air can be found on Ebay) and call up Waterway Guide.
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Old 04-20-2018, 01:06 PM   #32
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Latest news from Garmin regarding support of Active Captain.
http://marketinginfo.garmin.com/u/gm...2215393_126224
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Old 04-20-2018, 01:37 PM   #33
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I saw in that announcement that Garmin intends to have Active Captain support in the Navionics Boating App by the end of 2018. That sure sounds good to me!
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Old 04-20-2018, 01:42 PM   #34
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Text copy of an email I received from Garmin. This all sounds very ecouraging to me......

---------------------------

ActiveCaptain Is Here for You
Our ActiveCaptain® Community will continue to be a free online site, connecting you with user-generated information that can bring added fun and know-how to your boating experience. Watch for upcoming announcements as we evolve the technology behind this fast-growing marine network.

A New Website Is Coming
Our new site, which will launch on May 23, allows us greater flexibility to expand the ActiveCaptain Community with new users and contributors — while continuing to provide useful, up-to-date information on marinas, anchorages and other points of interest.

We’re Integrating with Navionics
We’re happy to bring the ActiveCaptain Community to the Navionics® Boating app. We plan to have this available before year-end 2018.

You Built This Community
Remember — the more you participate and leave feedback for others in the ActiveCaptain Community, the more everybody benefits. We’re committed to growing the community with you. Watch for more updates coming soon.
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Old 04-20-2018, 02:36 PM   #35
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Bingo.
We probably all for the same email.
Does sound good.
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Old 04-20-2018, 03:07 PM   #36
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With the Garmin charts, I get a message some charts need to be updated but it doesnt tell me which charts. To download the new charts, takes forever, even on WiFi
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Old 04-20-2018, 04:15 PM   #37
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Bingo.
We probably all for the same email.
Does sound good.
It does in some ways, but is also interestingly silent in other ways.

It says the online site will continue. That's their web site, with a revamp coming on May 23rd. Ok, no surprise that the Garmin AC web site will continue.

They commit to adding AC to the Navionics App, which of course is now a Garmin app/product. No surprise there.

But it says absolutely nothing about 3rd party apps, and makes no commitment nor sets any expectations in that regard. So far I actually have not heard any public commitment from Garmin to continue to support 3rd parties. Now that doesn't mean they won't keep doing it, but that's different from standing up and making a pledge.
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Old 04-20-2018, 04:23 PM   #38
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Text copy of an email I received from Garmin. This all sounds very ecouraging to me......

---------------------------

ActiveCaptain Is Here for You
Our ActiveCaptain® Community will continue to be a free online site, connecting you with user-generated information that can bring added fun and know-how to your boating experience. Watch for upcoming announcements as we evolve the technology behind this fast-growing marine network.

A New Website Is Coming
Our new site, which will launch on May 23, allows us greater flexibility to expand the ActiveCaptain Community with new users and contributors — while continuing to provide useful, up-to-date information on marinas, anchorages and other points of interest.

We’re Integrating with Navionics
We’re happy to bring the ActiveCaptain Community to the Navionics® Boating app. We plan to have this available before year-end 2018.

You Built This Community
Remember — the more you participate and leave feedback for others in the ActiveCaptain Community, the more everybody benefits. We’re committed to growing the community with you. Watch for more updates coming soon.

This is great news
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Old 04-20-2018, 04:56 PM   #39
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This is great news
Yet no mention of third party apps integrating with AC, and no commitment about continuing to support that.

I think what they didn't say is way more significant than what they did say.
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Old 04-20-2018, 05:16 PM   #40
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Yet no mention of third party apps integrating with AC, and no commitment about continuing to support that.

I think what they didn't say is way more significant than what they did say.
I agree but compared to what we were hearing ealier

only time will tell if what Jeff built will be what we hope for.
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