Which iPad Navigation App is the Best?

[edokarura]

Need your opinions, folks.

Which iPad nav app do you prefer and why?

Also, riddle me this, Boatmen: Why would anyone spend thousands on a chart plotter when they could spend hundreds on a GPS iPad and some nav apps?

Cheers!

[Tayana42]

I am happy with my iPad 2 (wifi and 3G with built in GPS) running iNavX and free charts from NOAA. In Mexico I'll be using Navionics charts. I have a Lifeproof case and I use it at the helm all the time. I also have a chart plotter at the nav station. I thought the iPad would be my back up unit but now the fixed chart plotter is the back up and the iPad is the primary.

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by edokarura

Need your opinions, folks.

Which iPad nav app do you prefer and why?

For my recent cruise from the BVIs to Florida I had the Garmin app and maps installed on both my iPad and Iphone. While it may not offer some of the features that InavX and other apps offer, for a total of just $50 ($30 if you don't need the D.R.) for the app (free) and maps of the entire U.S. and Caribbean, I thought it was a great bargain and very useful.

My boat had a hard wired Raymarine chart plotter but I've learned not to trust their charts in the Bahamas. The charts Garmin uses are much more accurate. I found planning and overview to be much, much easier on my Ipad than on any GPS I've ever used. I also found the larger screen and scrolling to be very helpful where detailed navigation was needed.

Originally Posted by edokarura

Also, riddle me this, Boatmen: Why would anyone spend thousands on a chart plotter when they could spend hundreds on a GPS iPad and some nav apps?

Regardless of the app used, I don't think an Ipad, is a true substitute for a marine GPS, at least not outside in the cockpit. It's not built for a marine environment, though a good case can help to some degree. It's not hard wired, and I have yet to own any plug in device that didn't eventually corrode when constantly used in the cockpit. It also heated up quite a bit some of the time and once even shut itself off for that reason. (may not be true of other nav. apps)

Also, my Ipad will not charge directly from a 12-volt outlet, (Iphone or Ipod touch will) requiring an inverter to be used, which again is a limitation to using it in the cockpit as well as a power consumption and charging issue compared to my hard wired GPS. Again, this may not be a limitation for everyone, but it was for me.

Also, there are good, hard-wired GPS units costing far less than the price you mentioned.

[Vlad70]

Originally Posted by edokarura

Need your opinions, folks.

Which iPad nav app do you prefer and why?

Also, riddle me this, Boatmen: Why would anyone spend thousands on a chart plotter when they could spend hundreds on a GPS iPad and some nav apps?

Cheers!

Try explain in 2 worlds - this haven't one answer for all, look short examples in file - it's just for make choice what better for You.

in short version why thousands of dollars for MFD? - because it's work, work warranty in all condition, readable on direct sun and etc. Progress not all time good - You install new version of Navionics before start and lost all charts, or it start crash You iPad - it's still normal for new software. And of course - You already purchased charts.

[Sid at SailAway]

Originally Posted by Tayana42

I am happy with my iPad 2 (wifi and 3G with built in GPS) running iNavX and free charts from NOAA. In Mexico I'll be using Navionics charts. I have a Lifeproof case and I use it at the helm all the time. I also have a chart plotter at the nav station. I thought the iPad would be my back up unit but now the fixed chart plotter is the back up and the iPad is the primary.

I would use my iPad at the helm but can't seem to overcome the screen glare. How do you manage this Tayana42?

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by edokarura

Need your opinions, folks.

Which iPad nav app do you prefer and why?

Also, riddle me this, Boatmen: Why would anyone spend thousands on a chart plotter when they could spend hundreds on a GPS iPad and some nav apps?

Cheers!

I just saw a note about Jeppesen's Plan2Nav which works on both iOS and Android platforms and uses C-Map charts. Haven't looked at it much, but I've used C-Map charts before and found them decent enough.

Ref the riddle, partly because:
- recent marine color chartplotters are easily visible in full sunlight
- plotters are built to be waterproof, boatproof
- marine GPS antennas have been optimized to support plotters
- a plotter display can be about twice as large as a 10" tablet (ours, not the largest, is almost exactly twice the size of a 7" tablet)
- tablets weren't particularly mature until fairly recently -- and some apps are only approaching usable now -- while decent plotters have been available for donkey's years
- some apps may need network connectivity to be fully enabled (cellular when within range, Wi-Fi when within range, maybe you lose features when not in range)
- some plotters offer extended features like 3D, overhead photography, split screens, engine, weather, and controls connectivity, and I think many of the apps on tablets aren't completely there yet (off-the-cuff remark, not completely researched)
- plotters can be easily (?) networked to accept radar, FLIR, camera (including underwater camera), depth, and fishfinder overlays
- fixed-mounted marine systems allow the helmsman freedom of movement with wheel, throttle, sheets, etc. (i.e., hands-free navigation, sorta)
- and so forth, prob'ly not all-inclusive

The state of the state is changing, of course.

BTW, if it helps, I did look at that Plan2Nav thing on a 7' tablet long enough to know it's nowhere near a big enough screen for my purposes. A 10" screen would only be marginal. I find my plotter's 12' screen to be OK but it becomes marginal for split-screen stuff (split into two, it renders almost exactly two 7" screens side by side). Our upcoming experiment with the tablet will be about whether it makes a decent tertiary addition to our current redundant navigation suite.

-Chris

[Tayana42]

Originally Posted by Sid at SailAway

I would use my iPad at the helm but can't seem to overcome the screen glare. How do you manage this Tayana42?

Glare is not too much of a problem. I'm under the Bimini. It took me a bit to recognize that with polarized sunglasses I had to keep the screen in the landscape, not the portrait, orientation.

[RolfP]

I use an iPad above deck and a small Raymarine c70 with radar below. The iPad does have some glare issues, It lasts about 8 hours. I charge it in a dc plug using 3rd party plug, works okay. Also have a small inverter for it and some other devices. If needed. I would prefer the Raymarine at the helm and the iPad below, and that is my long term strategy. I can leave the iPad plugged in then.

I use iSailor on the great lakes, Alaska, and the Mediterranean. I will also use iNavx on the Great Lakes and Alaska for the free charts, but not the med. I prefer iSailor mostly because it doesn't require switching charts as you move along, but it lacks the shoreline details that exist on the nOAA charts for iNavx. I am more comfortable with iSailor plotting capabilities.

After the 750 or so spent on the iPad 2 with 32 GB ( not needed), cell capabilities and built in GPS, I spent 40 for iNavx and got the charts for free, and 0 for iSailor and got what I needed for L Superior, Southern Alaska, and the Italian and Sicilian coasts for a total of about 50. Most parts of the world look like about $30.

I bought my Raymarine plotter and radar for 800 used, but only have one chip, that includes the Great Lakes. 6 to one, half dozen the other? I do like the "marine" aspect of the Raymarine, and at this time I done think I'd go off shore far without the Raymarine and lots of backup, iPad and iPhone included.

[Kenomac]

INavX for the ipad with GPS built in antenna is super! I think there was a full write up on it in last months or this months Cruising World magazine. We use it almost exclusively along with Nobletec on a PC. The Nobelec software will give you 3D flyovers, weather etc and can be used with the INavX.

I rarely steer from the helm, instead I have my ipad inside a pocket on the dodger/sprayhood where I can sit protected. Then I check it once every ten minutes or so and lean forward to make course corrections on the auto pilot. With a nearly obsolete dedicated chartplotter, I'd be required to get up and go behind the helm each time in order to do the same thing. For those who say the ipad isn't as weather proof, a waterproof and glare resistant case is available for around $100. My wife has her own ipad for redundancy, but we also use paper charts as backup, because she prefers to chart with a map; and of course the Nobeltec software is also there to use.

I purchased all the charts for the Med and the rest of Europe including all the inland waterways for about $70 for the INavX app.

[jeremiason]

We started using an IPAD 4 last fall when we were down in Panama. We use the Navionics Software, since we had Navionics on the Raymarine unit in the cockpit.

We found the Navionics software was very accurate throughout the Caribbean side of Central America and Mexico. Once in the states, it was even better.

The nice thing about Navionics is they allow you to add information, which is shared with other users. So for example you can mark a nice dive spot and it will be sent all the other IPAD Navionics users

[Rick R]

Originally Posted by edokarura

Need your opinions, folks.

Which iPad nav app do you prefer and why?

Also, riddle me this, Boatmen: Why would anyone spend thousands on a chart plotter when they could spend hundreds on a GPS iPad and some nav apps?

Cheers!

That is like asking what is the best kind of boat, or the best kind of first mate. Every one has a different opinion. I use iNavX, but you may prefer something else. A comprehensive list of APPs is here i-Marine Apps.

Our iPad charges from a 12V outlet. We use a RAM mount so we can swivel the screen away from the sun. But an anti-glare screen cover (available at computer stores) helps too.

The biggest advantage that iPad charting has over old style chart plotters is that the charts are free or low cost. Therefore there is never any reason to use out of date charts. We update ours twice a year.

Ipads (and other pads) have caused a fundamental change in electronic navigation. We are no longer stuck using the hardware manufacturers software and charts. Now we can choose what is best for us.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by nautical62

My boat had a hard wired Raymarine chart plotter but I've learned not to trust their charts in the Bahamas. The charts Garmin uses are much more accurate. I found planning and overview to be much, much easier on my Ipad than on any GPS I've ever used. I also found the larger screen and scrolling to be very helpful where detailed navigation was needed.

In another thread, about navigating in the Exumas, I think some comment seems to say the new C-Map charts (our previous Raymarine plotter used C-Maps) are better for Bahamas now... Maybe chart updates can improve?

-Chris

[estarzinger]

I use and like iNav X, but have not tried others so can't say if its "best". It does have several obvious 'opportunities for improvement'.

I also think Ayetides is an absolutely terrific tides and current program. They absolutely nailed it.

[edokarura]

Also, my Ipad will not charge directly from a 12-volt outlet, (Iphone or Ipod touch will) requiring an inverter to be used, which again is a limitation to using it in the cockpit as well as a power consumption and charging issue compared to my hard wired GPS. Again, this may not be a limitation for everyone, but it was for me.

Really? Which iPad do you have? I charge my 3 from a cigarette lighter plug all the time. Is at new thing with the 4 with that new plug?

[capttman]

I use navionics I like it a lot but I'm thinking I sailor is a close second......