Author Topic: Navigation apps (Read 16904 times)

dugong · « **Reply #20 on:** August 24, 2012, 08:26:27 AM »

Ahaaaa, you are like my wife.........eyes everywhere!! Well done.

Shaun17 · « **Reply #21 on:** August 24, 2012, 09:08:40 AM »

Ok, so i've downloaded Navionics, i-Sailor & Plan2Nav which currently cost $74.99, $24.99 & $37.99 respectively to have the East African maps installed....
I only downloaded i-Sailor & Plan2Nav this week and therefore only used Navionics on my boat so far. I'm by no means an expert and seriously lack technical knowledge but hopefully this will help somewhat in your choice of apps. If anyone needs particular screenshots, give me a shout.

Navionics
The most expensive app of the 3. User friendly app which allows for tracking, entering of routes,google overlays and entering of waypoints. Only able to zoom in to 53m max and lacks in detail compared to the other 2 apps. The app also doesnt make use of the full 7" screen so the image is much smaller than the other 2 apps. A cool feature of this app allows for photos to be taken and saved at the GPS location it was taken at...

i-Sailor
The cheapest of the 3 apps. As the name suggests, the app is geared more towards sailing, however the level of detail far exceeds that of Navionics. The biggest drawback of this app is the inability to enter waypoints - Transas claim on their website that this will be a feature added in the future, but for now i have limited use for this app. App allows for tracking, routes, warning alarms and zooming in to 10m.

Plan2Nav
My app of choice (without testing it on the boat). Half the price of Navionics. Level of detail comes close to, or equals that of i-Sailor. Waypoints entered easily enough, ability to download current weather conditions at your given location (dependant on cellular coverage). App also allows for tracking, routes, zooming into 10m and is able to add a compass onto the screen. Additional cool features include Anchor Drift as well as the ability to rotate the maps and create a "3D" image.

dugong · « **Reply #22 on:** August 24, 2012, 11:36:50 AM »

Thanks Shaun, do you use your iPad on the boat or have you just compared to your plotter?? It seems like a cheap option, if you add a waterproof sleeve at about R400 you have an excellent plotter for R1000 compared to R10-15k??

trevz · « **Reply #23 on:** August 24, 2012, 12:02:29 PM »

does the map detail come close to the garmin bluecharts and is it compatible to the samsung galaxy tab

dugong · « **Reply #24 on:** August 24, 2012, 12:06:28 PM »

Not sure compared to bluechart but the detail is very very good, all you need. I don't think they are available on Android yet.

Shaun17 · « **Reply #25 on:** August 24, 2012, 03:42:14 PM »

Quote from: dugongboy on August 24, 2012, 11:36:50 AM

Thanks Shaun, do you use your iPad on the boat or have you just compared to your plotter?? It seems like a cheap option, if you add a waterproof sleeve at about R400 you have an excellent plotter for R1000 compared to R10-15k??

I was using it on my boat but purchased a new GPS unit recently. I had a waterproof slev and mounted it on a RAM mount....

Trevz, I haven't used the Garmin Bluecharts so can't compare...

Prego · « **Reply #26 on:** August 27, 2012, 09:22:02 AM »

John from Lowrance showed us the new fishing charts from Lowrance at the show the detail is brilliant and a much needed upgrade.

dugong · « **Reply #27 on:** August 27, 2012, 03:39:44 PM »

The cost of the software is what really burns my ass, they have you over a barrel - you have to spend another 30-40% more for the charts - robbers!!

Prego · « **Reply #28 on:** August 27, 2012, 03:43:21 PM »

I hear you on that, the new chart Platinum fishing chart (which are incredible btw) is R3000 odd and the nav planner for the pc is another R1400.

dugong · « **Reply #29 on:** August 27, 2012, 03:49:34 PM »

And 99% of the time my R2k handheld is as effective a R20k chart plotter - I would rather spend the bulk of the bucks on a decent sounder.

jaenswart · « **Reply #30 on:** August 27, 2012, 08:03:19 PM »

I bought navionics for my iphone. Then again for my samsung s2...same purchase worked on my galaxy tab 10.1

Now i pull up with ipad and guess what, have to buy again as thr iphone and ipad versions are seperate purchases. Exploit....

Btw, garmin is working on a bluechart g2 vision ipad app as we speak.

Regarding other apps...navionics and garmin make use of 2 different map providers, but they are the best ones. There might be better apps, but not better maps. Be careful of fake contours being interpolated, thus creating illusion of better maps.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=114005&ra=true

TUNAMAN · « **Reply #31 on:** August 29, 2012, 11:12:46 AM »

Here is an example of same area with Garmin Charts to compare to what Shaun17 posted.

TUNAMAN · « **Reply #32 on:** August 29, 2012, 11:18:13 AM »

This is to compare the Lowrance new Platinum to Garmin's old. Please note that firstly Garmin zooms in to 20m and increases the detail as you zoom in so all detail is not captured on a screen shot and added to this Garmin has just launched more detailed and improve mapsets that is better than anything on the market currently.

Area is Sodwana.

Shaun17 · « **Reply #33 on:** August 29, 2012, 11:49:40 AM »

Is anyone using the new Garmin maps so that we can compare? Those Lowrance Platinum maps look pretty damn good to me... How are the new Garmin & Lowrance maps priced?

Prego · « **Reply #34 on:** August 29, 2012, 11:51:36 AM »

Lowrance +- R3500.00

TUNAMAN · « **Reply #35 on:** August 29, 2012, 12:03:16 PM »

Shaun17 BigVan has the new Garmin maps and he has been using the old ones. He is very chuffed with them. I would gestimate that the Lowrance Platinum is similar to the previous version of Garmin. Will however only be able to give more info once I have used a new set.

Shaun17 · « **Reply #36 on:** September 06, 2012, 08:14:28 PM »

Just got an update notification from iSailor that they've added several new functions including manual waypoint entering. Will check it up in the morning...

Shaun17 · « **Reply #37 on:** September 06, 2012, 08:16:47 PM »

Here is the full list of the new features:
- Completely redesigned interface with multiple layouts;
- Free cursor / Locator tool;
- Waypoint monitoring: XTE and ETA parameters are added;
- Additional Electronic Range and Bearing Line tool referenced to own ship symbol;
- Support of long time track recording;
- Manual input of coordinates for Waypoint and User info objects;
- Support of GPX for import and export;
- The problem with chart disappearing due to limited device memory space has been fixed.
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dugong · « **Reply #38 on:** September 07, 2012, 04:20:48 PM »

I downloaded the revision last night, much better but no wpt list?? Also when you create a wpt you can have either the name or symbol, not both?
Can you store your current position as a wpt?
Maybe I am missing something - need to play some more.

jaenswart · « **Reply #39 on:** September 08, 2012, 07:28:36 PM »

It's not Lawrence platinum, it's navionics platinum. Lowrance doesn't do charts. And those platinum chart have been around a couple of years. They do not provide more detail on our coastline in regards to contours, only google satellite imagery overlays.

Author Topic: Navigation apps (Read 16904 times)

TUNAMAN

TUNAMAN

TUNAMAN