Navionics boating app power consumption

[Williamp]

Hi Guys

Long time since I’ve posted but.. we are taking my yacht up the Irish coast and are using the navionics app on 2 iPads and iPhone. We are having issues with power consumption on the iPads. The scanstrut 2.1 amp supply is struggling to keep one charged when using the app and the batteries are only last a couple of hours when disconnected. All other apps are shut down. The are connected by Wi-Fi to a vesper xb8000. Any one else having a similar experience or solution?

Thanks

Will

[Greatest Lakes]

Screen brightness consumes battery more quickly, which is common to have way up when outside, they also charge less efficiently when they get warm. They shouldn't need wifi to operate the app. The harder the devices have to search for location signals, cell service and wifi consumes power as well. You might try running it in airplane mode, it will still work.

[Williamp]

Hi, connected to vesper to get ais data (works well) we did do a bit better last night on the power consumption but still an issue. My crew ended up using inavx which was much better

[Off Trail]

Navionics also consumes more power while running an active route.

[ChrisJHC]

The big power hogs are the screen, wifi and some apps.

If you reduce the luminosity of the screen, put the iPad / iPhone into aeroplane mode and close down all apps you’re not using, you should see an improvement in battery life.

Note that your iDevice will quite happily get a GPS signal while in flight mode.

Oh, another tip is don’t use it all the time - just turn it on when needed.

[Williamp]

Will try aeroplane mode tomorrow when we leave Bangor and our last Irish pint. Managed to get a navionics chart locally for the plotter so normal service resumed. Thanks for the input.

[Jamme]

I see you are using a 2.1A charger. Depending on the iPad model, you could try a larger charger; even older iPads support at least 2.4A charge. Also make sure the charger you are using is not 2.1A “maximum” (i.e, if you plug in two devices at the same time, the 2.1A gets shared so that each device only gets ~1A).

[Stmurray62]

Go on line and get at least a 50 Watt USB “plug in” to insert into the dc outlet.

The problem is the pads consume more current (amps X volts = Watts) than the 2.1 amp or so usb plug ins you are using. The alternative is the plug in the AC charger and turn ion the inverter, although that would work, from an overall consumption perspective it is counterproductive.

[wholybee]

Replace the scanstrut with a USB3.0 socket with QC.
It's not purely an Amperage problem. Newer charging tech will negotiate a higher voltage for more watts at the same current. You need a charger that supports that, not a basic USB charger.
About $15 on Amazon.

[Alastair G]

I’m having exactly the same problems with my iPad Pro and the Navionics App. Even plugged into USB whilst using it still drains the battery. Have the App on iPhone as backup.

Got a shock when arriving at anchorage to be told I had 2% power left! 🤣

[Alastair G]

Any suggestions for the best battery charger for an 12.9” iPad Pro?!

[SV Tom Crean]

Originally Posted by Alastair G

Any suggestions for the best battery charger for an 12.9” iPad Pro?!

Just search Amazon for 30w iPad Pro charger. 20w might do but mine are generic 30w chargers and work fine.

[ChrisJHC]

Originally Posted by Alastair G

I’m having exactly the same problems with my iPad Pro and the Navionics App. Even plugged into USB whilst using it still drains the battery. Have the App on iPhone as backup.

Got a shock when arriving at anchorage to be told I had 2% power left! [emoji1787]

Do you put it in Aeroplane mode?
That will significantly reduce the power usage while still allowing Navionics to work happily.

Other tips:
Reduce the brightness of the screen.
Turn off wifi unless you’re using it.
Close Navionics down unless you are actually using it.
Check what else you have running in the background and close everything you don’t need.

[Alastair G]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

Do you put it in Aeroplane mode?
That will significantly reduce the power usage while still allowing Navionics to work happily.

Other tips:
Reduce the brightness of the screen.
Turn off wifi unless you’re using it.
Close Navionics down unless you are actually using it.
Check what else you have running in the background and close everything you don’t need.

Thanks. I have to use a Garmin GPS device as my iPad doesn’t have it. This connects by Bluetooth which I think means I can’t use airplane mode?

[requiem]

Originally Posted by Alastair G

Thanks. I have to use a Garmin GPS device as my iPad doesn’t have it. This connects by Bluetooth which I think means I can’t use airplane mode?

Bluetooth should work fine in airplane mode; all that does is shut off the device screaming its little head off looking for mobile coverage. Airplane mode should be the first thing you do when out of mobile coverage, otherwise your battery will drain very quickly.