The death of Active Captain

[Peregrine1983]

Don't want to jinx it, but I am still able to view all the same Active Captain data I was before the Garmin purchase on my Sea Nav app and when I click "MAP" on the new Garmin Active Captain website. Not sure what the fuss is about.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by DotDun

The new AC app may be good for those with Garmin equipment installed on their boat. But for those of us whose only Garmin product was the Bluechart app, it sucks. To use the AC app the we did the Bluechart app, the charts now cost ~4 times the price and they want your life story for a BoatCard.

This change certainly doesn't add enthusiasm towards the Garmin brand when time comes to overhaul the electronic gear on the boat!!

I'll use Bluechart until I find another tablet based planning tool I like. I don't get excited about the ability to upload waypoints from tablet to chartplotter, hence that feature isn't valuable to me. I would rather they are independent sources of information for comparison purposes.

It's hard to believe that $45/yr for charts on the Bluechart app wasn't a good business model. But, I guess if you quadruple the price and lose half the customers that equates to a bigger bottom line.

As of last weekend you can no longer update the AC database on BCM (BlueChart Marine) Worst they changed it so that you had to constantly download the whole database as it deleted itself every few days. So now I'm not left with old AC data, I have no AC data at all! I liked Garmin products but this is pushing me away bit by bit!

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Bleemus

Why can't the PR team at Garmin put out a a simple press release outlining the future of Active Captain and it's availability on the web and products other than Garmin branded ones? As a guy who was married to a high profile PR person for many years this current lack of clarity would be unacceptable. They are damaging their brand, encouraging people to migrate to the inferior Waterways Guide, and basically showing the PR policy of amateurs. Tsk tsk.

Thats what you get with Big Corps....where every release has to be reviewed by the legal team and cubical drones. Think Big Government and how sluggish it responds. The bigger the organization the the fewer people have the power to Fix things. But lets also realize the over the top nasty emails sent to Jeff in the opening posts. They are the perfect example of why some organizations are hesitant and always have to be guarded when talking to clients some people always assume the worst and a quick to spread it online and social media as we've seen here.

[billknny]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Don't want to jinx it, but I am still able to view all the same Active Captain data I was before the Garmin purchase on my Sea Nav app and when I click "MAP" on the new Garmin Active Captain website. Not sure what the fuss is about.

The fuss is because it is the internet and people will whine...

I am not a big fan of crowd sourced data, I find it unreliable and full of whining, but it does have its place. ActiveCaptain is a planning tool. NOT a tool for navigation. I do all my planning on my laptop, and have never considered wanting ActiveCapt data displayed on my MFD or other device.

So like you, Peregrine, I can not understand what all the fuss is about.

Now if Garmin shut down the web interface to ActiveCapt, and made it ONLY available on property devices, that would make me a tiny bit sad, but not likely to post a whine here.

I still trust my printed cruising guides way more than the "crowd." I have met too many of the crowd to trust them as a whole.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by billknny

I still trust my printed cruising guides way more than the "crowd." I have met too many of the crowd to trust them as a whole.

….and just imagine the same folks that post on Cruisers Forum and FakeBook are the same ones posting data on the Crowd Sourced sites...

[CaptTom]

I've found the crowd-sourced data on AC very helpful, planning and underway. Yes, there are some idiots who fail to include any details about a place (prices, services available, etc.) they visited, or whine about something that's irrelevant to most people. There are different opinions on what the star ratings mean. But overall, you get real opinions from real cruisers who have actually been there recently. That's got value.

No offense, but to me, real cruising means NOT having every overnight stop planned in advance. I like to have some options figured out ahead of time. But many factors can make me decide to stop early, push on farther, or just decide I don't like some place when I get there. So, I reference AC fairly frequently underway.

[jackheape]

Don't know about the apps because I never used AC for Navigation. Just planning. I do think that Garmin is ruining the whole AC experience. You can still use it online. Problem is, my whole profile has disappeared. The change they just made within the last month will not let me migrate my old data, routes, etc. And when you go to support, you are immediately sucked into the Garmin support website black hole.
I have to agree with the PR comments. Once Jeff released the reins I have not seen one email or had any contact from Garmin about any changes.
My prediction? AC will become a corporate kludge that becomes unusable and abandoned by its users. Garmin will ruin it trying to monetize it (IMO they already have).
I remember posting about AC on the Cruisers forum right after Jeff sold it in October of last year. He said then that AC would remain virtually the same, just better (with the old flash map still being available). One of he biggest gripes then was the boat cards you had to create. Now... they are gone. Anyone think its the same? Or better?

[sailorboy1]

I’m still using AC on my Aqua Map app and can even do reviews on it that upload to AC

[BobHorn]

Just logged in to the NEW AC website, I absolutely hate it. More than half the screen is stuff that could be a popup and the map/chart would be much more usable. What a waste.

[Bleemus]

Originally Posted by jackheape

. Anyone think its the same? Or better?

I find the website to work fine. Mostly used for anchorages reviews, tips etc. Does what I need it to do.

It's not a navigation app.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by BobHorn

Just logged in to the NEW AC website, I absolutely hate it. More than half the screen is stuff that could be a popup and the map/chart would be much more usable. What a waste.

You make a good point. Those left-hand columns could be made collapsible. On a mobile device the way they did it actually starts to make more sense.

This is pretty much the new web design concept. Minimal data and not too cluttered, to fit better on a small screen. Overall I'm not a huge fan of clutter, but there are times when I'm really only after the data, and don't care whether or not the site makes a clean first impression.

Everything's a compromise. Since most people spend more time on a cell phone or tablet than on a full-sized computer or laptop, it's inevitable that the small screen gets priority in design.

[zboss]

I really dislike the new active captain design. Obviously developed by people that have no concept that there are people using it over a 200 kilobit connection.

Does anyone at Garmin actually have a boat or been cruising? They miss their mark every time.

[Bleemus]

You are all obiviously using it different from me. It is a passage planning tool. I mark target anchorages and backup anchorages in case of delays on the paper chart before departure while sitting at my desk. I have no need to see it in real time on a chartplotter.

[BobHorn]

I have it on my tablet using C-Map charting program. That still seems to work fine. I likes to use it on my laptop for planning. But now the map/chart display only covers less than half the screen, but that is the part I want to work with. Also it used to remember where you left it, now it always starts with the world map and you have to start from scratch to get to the area you are interested in.

[RobertLeask]

What's not clear to me is whether or not it is still possible to use AC without buying Garmin hardware/software. Obviously Garmin bought it to sell more products but some here seem to still be using it without those. If someone here could write a step by step set of setup instructions for how to get around buying proprietary Garmin stuff, that would be greatly appreciated.