Favorite iOS Nav app

[sp91]

Are you able to receive AIS and NMEA on DRS4W WiFi?
Thanks

 

[Moonfish]

Thanks. Are you happy with it? I like the Time Zero.

Very happy with it. Love the overlay on Time Zero charts. As we don't have any repeater screens up on the flybridge, it's so cool that I can take my iPhone (or an iPad) up there and monitor everything.

If you are interested in getting one, we do have them in our online store with a promo code that makes the price $995. Use either the Trawler Forum code TFDRS4W or WIRELESS100 to get the additional $100 off.

 

[Moonfish]

Are you able to receive AIS and NMEA on DRS4W WiFi?
Thanks

The Time Zero app will display AIS (with the AIS module), over which the DRS4W will overlay.

 

[jeff brown]

Placida...Gasparilla

Just did league city to Gasparilla. Sorry you have to go there the weather and water is not comparable to Florida. However the people and Seabrook Marina were very nice.

 

[Bellakins]

Aqua Map

We have used Aqua Map on an iPad since buying our trawler in Clearwater and bringing it back to NC. There was an old, very outdated Furono on the boat. We supplemented with Aqua Map and used it a lot. If in doubt, we went with Aqua Map. Since then we have changed to a Raymarine unit, which, every time we have used it, has lost the GPS and had no idea where the boat is. Aqua Map to the rescue. Supposedly the Raymarine has been fixed with the addition of an antenna for the GPS, but I will still use Aqua Map. It has great info that is missing in the Raymarine. Love it. As I recall, it's about $50.

 

[GoldenDawn]

The Raymarine C series still provides good basic navigation. I would check the date of your chip and see if there is an update of the charts. On our vessel (SAR) it is linked w radar and AIS.

 

[cosmopete]

I use opencpn. It’s free. Runs on multiple OS and will interface with autopilot, AiS. Etc. Allows overlaying of weather forecasts etc.

It is available here. Https://opencpn.org

 

[MRD]

Baker, last year we bought a boat in Houston and brought it back to Central Florida. Used our cell phones and 10 inch android tablet with Navionics. The app was great. Also I don't know if you have one or not but I wouldn't make the trip again without an AIS.

 

[Bigsfish]

MRD and all

Interesting, I do have AIS and it only came into play once in six years, when crossing the Gulf Stream to Cat Cay I was on a collision course with Russian freighter. I was just about to turn south to let the freighter go before my boat when I got a call from the freighter. In a thick Russian accent he call my boat on VHF 16 and informed that he would slow down and let me go first. I thanked him and sped up. It was nice but that’s the only time I felt it came in handy. Granted I don’t go at night and don’t have to worry about fog.

 

[Baker]

MRD and all

Interesting, I do have AIS and it only came into play once in six years, when crossing the Gulf Stream to Cat Cay I was on a collision course with Russian freighter. I was just about to turn south to let the freighter go before my boat when I got a call from the freighter. In a thick Russian accent he call my boat on VHF 16 and informed that he would slow down and let me go first. I thanked him and sped up. It was nice but that’s the only time I felt it came in handy. Granted I don’t go at night and don’t have to worry about fog.

On the gulfcoast west of NOLA, there is a TREMENDOUS amount of commercial traffic...all of which squawk AIS. It is VERY helpful when dealing with the coordination of commercial traffic when you can call them by name before you can even see them. AIS is hugely helpful down here on the third coast!!!

 

[mjoplin]

iPad with a suction mount and Navionics did a great job in getting me from Sarasota to Kemah a year ago. Be sure and have a carrier-enabled iPad as the WiFi only versions do not have a gps chip. We ran the ipad in airplane mode to conserve power.

The Navionics app allows you to plot out the route beforehand. It also saves your tracks and attacks to pictures taken along the way. Works great!

 

[rbigsby]

Half way thru the Great Loop (2015/16) we were introduced to the Navionics app for iPad. Before that we were relying on our Garmin chart plotter; the plotter often had our position as being 50 yds on land while the Navionics/iPad was dead on. We ended up using the Garmin just for the Active Captain info. Now Garmin owns Navionics and it too has Active Captain. We now are in the San Francisco Bay Area and still find the Navionics to be invaluable.

 

[Baker]

The Navionics app allows you to plot out the route beforehand. It also saves your tracks and attacks to pictures taken along the way. Works great!

Hey Mike, you can also plan a route on your iPad on Navionics and upload to your GARMIN chart plotter via wifi or Bluetooth. Can you do that with that Raymarine stuff???

 

[ranger58sb]

We've gotten a bit more familiar with the USACE survey data in Aquamap over these last few ICW segments, and it's proving to be as useful as I was guessing earlier.

Oddly, though, survey data on one tablet disappeared in a few stretches... and Waterway Guide markers disappeared altogether; can't tell if that had to do with whenever I last updated that relevant chart tile on that tablet, or if it's another flaw in the app. It wasn't critical, in those cases...

Having to download so many individual chart tiles has it's pros/cons. One of our tablets is challenged for storage space, so having fewer tiles loaded can be a good thing. OTOH, that's the tablet with the larger screen so we prefer it... and while the other tablet has a smaller screen, at least there's plenty of storage space available to support more advanced planning. But then downloads on these WiFi-only tablets is at the mercy of a WiFi signal... which happens to be shakey at the current marina. It helps to have a cellular hotspot backup...

-Chris

 

[mjoplin]

Hey Mike, you can also plan a route on your iPad on Navionics and upload to your GARMIN chart plotter via wifi or Bluetooth. Can you do that with that Raymarine stuff???

Well, absolutely! I have EVEN been able to do the route on Navionics and export the gpx files and upload to a Garmin as well (although it takes a few more steps...)

I was planning in Navionics and uploading wirelessly to Raymarine in this boat and the last one.

It’s actually pretty cool with the replay functions and attaching to pictures you take with your iPhone while on the trip. Nicely done app.

 

[Woodland Hills]

A $130 Bluetooth gps will let you use any pad. I think it is cheaper to get an external gps than to jump up one level in iPads to the one with an internal gps.

 

[localboy]

This article is about 2 yrs old, but they provide a useful spreadsheet comparing all the available apps.

https://www.waterwayguide.com/lates...utm_campaign=News&utm_content=News+03-14-2018

A $130 Bluetooth gps will let you use any pad.

We had a non-GPS iPad so I just bought a “Bad Elf” external GPS unit. Works fine. About $100 on Amazon.

 

[jrhodes777]

IOS Navigation Apps

We use both Navioinics and Aqua Map. Navionics is on my IPAD and Iphone and Reymarine MFD. Aqua Maps is on IPAD and Iphone. We use Navionics for planning routes at home which are uploaded to our chart plotter. We use Aqua Maps to check routing information such as depth profiles and Active Captain inputs. In route we navigate with our MFD but have Aqua Maps on and IPAD along side. I also allow AIS to diplay on the IPAD with Aqua Maps and the Raymarine MFD.

 

[Baker]

We use both Navioinics and Aqua Map. Navionics is on my IPAD and Iphone and Reymarine MFD. Aqua Maps is on IPAD and Iphone. We use Navionics for planning routes at home which are uploaded to our chart plotter. We use Aqua Maps to check routing information such as depth profiles and Active Captain inputs. In route we navigate with our MFD but have Aqua Maps on and IPAD along side. I also allow AIS to diplay on the IPAD with Aqua Maps and the Raymarine MFD.

Where does the AIS information come from?

 

[sp91]

Aqua Map and Navionics receive AIS data from onboard AIS transponder through a NMEA to WiFi gateway, some apps instead have "online AIS" but data arrive with a delay and are not available out of cell coverage.

 

[Cigatoo]

Where does the AIS information come from?

https://www2.vespermarine.com/watchmate-smartais

 

[sp91]

Just found this recent article

https://www.panbo.com/a-few-valuable-boating-apps-and-whats-your-favorite/

 

[sp91]

Impressive upgrade, just mail them to know about the Android version.
https://youtu.be/Gs2NHnSfUFY

 

[Fletcher500]

I have always liked Navionics, but downloaded Aqua Maps recently for access to Active Captain and some other features after reading this thread. The display is nice, and a good resource overall but one thing I did not like: The chart does not pan forward while the boat is moving to keep the boat icon in the center of the chart so I have to continually get out of the helm chair and do it manually. Is it just me, or do others also experience this?

Edit, I am using a large IPad with a built in GPS.

 

[sp91]

I have always liked Navionics, but downloaded Aqua Maps recently for access to Active Captain and some other features after reading this thread. The display is nice, and a good resource overall but one thing I did not like: The chart does not pan forward while the boat is moving to keep the boat icon in the center of the chart so I have to continually get out of the helm chair and do it manually. Is it just me, or do others also experience this?

Edit, I am using a large IPad with a built in GPS.

Simply tap on the upper left icon.
Aqua Map - App GPS function

 

[Woodland Hills]

I used to prefer Navionics, but since I hooked AquaMaps to my Vesper gps/AIS I am leaning to it. With the Vesper gps input it exactly matches the Furuno position when traveling and when docked it is accurate down to the position in the slip. Navionics is always a bit off although it is much easier to use for route planning with the automatic feature.

 

[Fletcher500]

Thanks SP. i went through their tutorial, and I believe I tapped that button (a couple times), but will try it again.

WH, connecting the AIS to the App is on my list. Good to hear it works well for you.

 

[cruiserChick]

I agree with a lot of folks here- Navionics has been a great resource for us. We have used it for the last 6 or 7 years. Pricing models have changed through the years but it's always well worth the price (it's always relatively small!)
It's great for planning routes, saving tracks, marking spots, and even getting updates from other boaters (through Community Edits which allows boaters to add spots and comments).

 

[tom.gohring]

Ditto on the iOS version of AC

We mostly use Garmin Active Captain on our phones (we pulled the maps down from our Garmin 7612xsv chartplotter) but we also have Navionics. Nice to have options and to be able to crosscheck.

I do something very similar. I use Garmin AC on an iPad mini. I can use it to mirror my Garmin MFD when on the fly bridge or I can use it independently with the AC software.

A big advantage of the iPad version: in the Calif. Delta, it shows a form of animated tidal current vectors. Very useful.

A note of caution, if you're using the iPad version independently, it will only work if you buy the "cell" version of the iPad. You don't have to activate the cell function (I haven't), but this hardware version is the only iPad that has a built-in GPS chip.

 

[nemier]

Wow, three pages into this thread and no one has mentioned Wartsila iSailor yet? I use this iPad app, almost exclusively now on INFINITY (although I run a 2009 version of Nobeltec alongside it, for back up).

I've used the iSailor from Hawaii to Australia on our own vessel, and again on a professional delivery from Norway to Singapore. The program performed flawlessly in all situations, and any hicupps were from the iPad itself, rather than the nav software. I'm a fan. I'm 5 years of use into this program, and I really like it so I'm happy to recommend it here.

Wärtsilä iSailor - Marine Navigation, Chart Plotter and AIS Viewer for iPhone and iPad







.