The App is also a must have for boaters who have built in Navigation systems. I found this to be true last summer while fishing on a 19’ boat off the shore of Cape Cod and we were unexpectedly engulfed in fog. If you have a smaller boat without a built in navigation device you can use the App on your phone as a primary navigation device.
Marine Product Reviews believes that any boater with a smartphone or tablet device should own the Navionics App for their region. Think about using the App even when in ‘airplane’ mode on your next flight or sitting on your couch at home. The charts remain resident on your device so you can use the Apps to plan routes even when you have no wifi or mobile access.
Now the best part…with the Navionics Apps chart updates are FREE for the life of the App. The hardware will easily be $350, then you have to but the charts. Compare this price to what you would pay for a handheld GPS that involves hardware and software. The phone version for the US is under $15 while the iPad version is under $50 (other regions may be slightly more…but not much). The cost of these Apps are more than reasonable. The Apps also synch amongst each other if you have phone and tablet based versions.
What this means is that you create your routes on a device designed for input, such as the iPad, then upload to the onboard device that you use to ‘get you there’.
Navionics enables these routes to be synchronized with various onboard navigation systems including the Raymarine models: e-Series, c-Series (included built-in wifi) G Series, E Series and C Wide or E-Classic Series (a wireless routed is required: simply link both your plotter and iPhone/iPad to the same wireless net). You can then create and save routes to your favorite destinations. The Apps provide for easy on screen creation of waypoints (up to 200) and notes with just a simple touch. Route Planning is easy with the Navionics Marine Apps and is a core use for these Apps. The charts even include satellite overlay as well as the traditional chart view. These apps utilize the same quality Navionics vector charts and data available on ‘built-in’ navigation systems costing thousands of dollars. The iPad App is designed for the larger screen of an iPad (or iPad mini) and the iPhone/Android version is designed for the phone screen size. Having reviewed the iPad version, we feel the same way and believe that these will be the Apps that will make iPads essential onboard. We have used the iPhone version of the Navionics Marine – USA for several years now and consider it to be a ‘killer App’ for boaters. Although our review was not done on Android, there is an Android App version available. Marine Product Reviews has reviewed the Navionics Marine Apps for both the iPhone and iPad. On for our review of Navionics Marine Apps. Marine Product Review on multiple boating websites? Get the details here or contact Nautical Sites Media for more info. You interested in having your product or service featured in a future In this week’s Marine Product Review, we tested one of the leading marine smartphone apps.įor the latest installment of the Daily Boater's Marine Product Review, Mark Sutton of checked out the Navionics Marine & Lakes App on both the iPhone and iPad (there is also an Android version available).