Active Captain for non-Garmin??

I know that AC was acquired by Garmin in 2017. I had registered for a "boater's card," or whatever it's called, just before the acquisition, but haven't used AC for several months. Today I tried to bring it up on my iPad, independent of any other plotting s/w. I get the impression I need a Garmin plotter, or at least need to buy a $200 chart to get it to work. I discovered the activecaptain.com website, which I gather is for non-Garmin users. It found my profile, so it is working to some extent. But I could not get it to do or display anything else.
So, is AC dead unless you are a Garmin user, or have I just not figured it out yet?
I don't need to interface it to my new Raymarine Axiom plotter system, I just want to be able to get at the reviews via my iPad.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Oldersalt
"Everything on your boat is broken. You just don't know it yet."

Still works fine on my Mac laptop.....

Active Captain is a "layer of information" which can be applied to many different navigation apps. Many of us accessed this content using it with the Garmin Bluechart app. on smartphone or a tablet. Garmin Bluechart is the navigation part of it, AC is merely the cruising content. There are probably hundreds of apps which allow you to access the AC cruising content. We have the AC content available on our PC navigation program, Coastal Explorer, and on a navigation app, SeaIQ, as well as Garmin Bluechart app.

Garmin is no longer going to update Garmin Bluechart app charts. You can still use it, but the charts will never be updated. Still, the AC content will be updated as it always was. So you can still see the cruising information on you iPhone or iPad, but as charts are updated, you charts in that particular app will not be updated. Still, we like the very smooth and simple integration of the AC content with the Garmin charts, so we continue to use our Garmin Bluechart app, but merely as if it were a cruising guide and not a navigation app. If up to date charts are important to you, then you will need to use a different navigation app. I like the Navionics app very much, but it does not have the AC content, which is why I use SeaIQ also. Sea IQ app on my tablet has the latest NOAA charts (yes, for a fee) and the AC content.

So far, Garmin has said they will continue to offer the AC content on any and all apps that wish to use it. For Garmin users there will be a cross platform application so you will only have to have one subscription which will share via WiFi all the AC content and all the cartography across all your different pieces of hardware.

Oldersalt said:

So, is AC dead unless you are a Garmin user, or have I just not figured it out yet?

Click to expand...

I suspect the latter.

AC markers still work with our nav apps (TimeZero, MX Mariner, Plan2Nav) and the AC website version works from a browser, too.

-Chris

ranger42c said:

I suspect the latter.

AC markers still work with our nav apps (TimeZero, MX Mariner, Plan2Nav) and the AC website version works from a browser, too.

-Chris

Click to expand...

The separate boat card died and now just one AC sign on and access.

I use Active Captain on my computers but not my telephone. It still works but since the "upgrade", it reverts back to a world view and a map when I bring it up. The old version remembered my preferences and the last place I was looking at.

Problem Solved

As the OP, I can say without insulting anyone that this was a case of "pilot error" all the way. If I had spent a little more time looking at the activecaptain.com first page I would have pushed the right button! And I resolve to add more reviews to keep the site current, especially for the left coast.
Thanks for everybody's comments.
Oldersalt

Oldersalt said:

I know that AC was acquired by Garmin in 2017. I had registered for a "boater's card," or whatever it's called, just before the acquisition, but haven't used AC for several months. Today I tried to bring it up on my iPad, independent of any other plotting s/w. I get the impression I need a Garmin plotter, or at least need to buy a $200 chart to get it to work. I discovered the activecaptain.com website, which I gather is for non-Garmin users. It found my profile, so it is working to some extent. But I could not get it to do or display anything else.
So, is AC dead unless you are a Garmin user, or have I just not figured it out yet?
I don't need to interface it to my new Raymarine Axiom plotter system, I just want to be able to get at the reviews via my iPad.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Oldersalt
"Everything on your boat is broken. You just don't know it yet."

Click to expand...

Problem Solved

As the OP, I can say without insulting anyone that this was a case of "pilot error" all the way. If I had spent a little more time looking at the activecaptain.com first page I would have pushed the right button! And I resolve to add more reviews to keep the site current, especially for the left coast.
Thanks for everybody's comments.
Oldersalt

Oldersalt said:

I know that AC was acquired by Garmin in 2017. I had registered for a "boater's card," or whatever it's called, just before the acquisition, but haven't used AC for several months. Today I tried to bring it up on my iPad, independent of any other plotting s/w. I get the impression I need a Garmin plotter, or at least need to buy a $200 chart to get it to work. I discovered the activecaptain.com website, which I gather is for non-Garmin users. It found my profile, so it is working to some extent. But I could not get it to do or display anything else.
So, is AC dead unless you are a Garmin user, or have I just not figured it out yet?
I don't need to interface it to my new Raymarine Axiom plotter system, I just want to be able to get at the reviews via my iPad.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Oldersalt
"Everything on your boat is broken. You just don't know it yet."

Click to expand...