Navionics on iPad - is it worth it

[Corry]

In both boats I've got units that are a little small. One is running a 95SV Garmin, the other is a Lowrance Elite 7 Ti.
I did contemplate getting a second unit so that one can be used for sounder, and the other for the chart. Looking around it has lead me to Navionics on my iPad. Reading reviews, there are mixed experiences with this type of set up.
Has anyone used Navionics on a mobile device? What has your experience been?
It would mean that I need to get the ram mounts, a waterproof case etc, but it would give me the flexibility of being able to take it from boat to boat easily.

Thoughts?

[NAGG]

I've been using the Navionics app on my IPad for the past 4 years .

The detail you get from the app is better than the charts ...... so rather than just the contour lines you get a relief map (shallow water only)

Navionics app.jpg

As you can see , the detail is quite amazing .

If your tablet has a sim card then you can get all the latest updates etc .

You are correct in noting exposure etc for a Tablet - since I added the clears it's less of a concern .

*I added a Railblazer star mount & a tablet holder ....... but be aware that they do not recommend using it whilst underway ( they can fall out) . RAM mount would be a better option .

Now I dont use my Tablet as a primary source of navigation .... I rely on a Navionics platinum card for that . Where I use the tablet (app) is when I'm looking at a location & want to look at more detail when I'm putting around sounding a location .
The other way I use it is when planning a trip to a new area - I can find isolated bommies etc get the GPS coordinates & then punch it into my sounder as a new mark ...... then when I get up to say Etty Bay I now have my starting points rather than going out with no idea .

I certainly find the app a useful tool - but not a primary navigation tool ....... remember that a tablet is not as robust or waterproof like a sounder / chart plotter is

Chris

[ranmar850]

I agree with Nagg on all this except for the comparative level of detail--I have the latest navionics Platinum + , and the level of detail on the plotter just blows me away. I have the Navionics app on my phone, and use it a lot for journey planning or just plain day dreaming. having the layers enabled is good, just doesnt zoom down as well as the Platinum + card on the plotter. Agree with everything else, including relying on them as a primary navigation source--how big is your boat, how well enclosed is your helm area? This idea of using them instead of a dedicated plotter has come up a lot over the years, and, from my recollection, it usually ends up with the user going back to a dedicated unit. Just the fact that they are touch only works against them with wet fingers/rolling pitching boat, tec.

[Corry]

Thanks for the replies, I might be better just going for another sounder. I don't really use it for bottom structure at all as most fishing is estuary fishing, it's more for just navigating. Boats are 4m and 5m. Little one is for smaller creeks and solo fishing when chasing Barra, 5m is set up for off road for the likes of Roper River mouth, NT/Nth QLD remote trips. It also gets used around Whitsundays and Smith's Group, but I've got a bucket load of spots out that way so just need a waypoint to get to.
My main concern is I want to have the down and side scan bigger for my aging vision.

[NAGG]

I agree with Nagg on all this except for the comparative level of detail--I have the latest navionics Platinum + , and the level of detail on the plotter just blows me away. I have the Navionics app on my phone, and use it a lot for journey planning or just plain day dreaming. having the layers enabled is good, just doesnt zoom down as well as the Platinum + card on the plotter. Agree with everything else, including relying on them as a primary navigation source--how big is your boat, how well enclosed is your helm area? This idea of using them instead of a dedicated plotter has come up a lot over the years, and, from my recollection, it usually ends up with the user going back to a dedicated unit. Just the fact that they are touch only works against them with wet fingers/rolling pitching boat, tec.

Maybe I must be doing something wrong - even updating my Platinum plus today .... I cant get the level of detail that I get out of the app

Chris

[ranmar850]

Strange--I'll do some comparative screenshots of the same place and put them up. The original poster got me thinking, I'd never got around to loading the navionics app on my ipad, which only gets used as a drone screen, but it's all under the same subscription, so its' on there now.

[Ducksnutz]

I’ve been using the Navionics App on my iPad for years now. I would definitely recommend it.
I have it mounted on a Ram mount in my console.
Great bit of kit and worth the coin if you have an iPad already.

[ranmar850]

Ok, I got them all out and did a comparison. Now that I have updated to Platinum, I am getting exactly the same thing on my plotter as on my chart app. The only difference I can find is that I actually lose the relief shading on the plotter if I zoom in to the limit. But this is actually a greater degree of zoom than the app will give me--run the plotter into the the max app zoom, all the same, go beyond, you are back to just contour lines. So, effectively, no difference. I tried in on a couple of difference places I am familiar with, a thousand kilometres apart, and the results were the same. But it may be different where you are operating.The re-draw speed is approximately the same-the iPad in use is the newest one, but lowest spec, I only bought it to use as a drone interface. But it will now be coming with me as a backup for remote area travel.

[Corry]

That's perfect ranmar850, thanks for that.
I take it everything else is the same as far as waypoints, routes, navigation etc?
I think I'd be better off with the iPad version as it can go from boat to boat easier, just put it in a weatherproof case that's all.

[ranmar850]

I take it everything else is the same as far as waypoints, routes, navigation etc?

This is the bit I can't comment on, as I have never tried to use it for actually entering and using waypoints, only for overall planning. According to the Navionics website, you can enter them on the tablet/phone and then transfer them to your plotter. But you wont be able to use those routes to direct an autopilot, for example, no problem if you don't have one.I'll have a bit of a play with it and see how I go. But there is one thing which you can do on a networked /split screen system you probably won't be able to do, and that is seeing an interesting bit of bottom you didn't see as you passed over it, but is still visible on the sounder screen--being able to just touch the screen and mark that in is just gold, in my opinion.

[ranmar850]

Ok, I had a go at routes and waypoints. It appears to work OK, with the usual disclaimer associated with pure touchscreen devices on boats. Route creation and saving is simple, whether from your current position or another location. Waypoints can be created on your current position or by touch on the screen. There is a basic range of different mark shapes. If you are not habituated to using a really good system like Raymarines with their Hybrid Touch , which lets you use touch OR actual, configurable buttons and a knob, it is probably an OK system.
I'll have a play with working out how you can create on the App and transfer to your main device, apparently it is wi-Fi?

[bluefin59]

Ok, I had a go at routes and waypoints. It appears to work OK, with the usual disclaimer associated with pure touchscreen devices on boats. Route creation and saving is simple, whether from your current position or another location. Waypoints can be created on your current position or by touch on the screen. There is a basic range of different mark shapes. If you are not habituated to using a really good system like Raymarines with their Hybrid Touch , which lets you use touch OR actual, configurable buttons and a knob, it is probably an OK system.
I'll have a play with working out how you can create on the App and transfer to your main device, apparently it is wi-Fi?

I used to run navionics on my iPad as I only had the Ballina to Bundy card in my Navman ,but when I used to take my boat to Airlie and up that way I’d use my I pad but once I stopped paying the subscription yearly I lost all my marks I had on the iPad . Matt

[ranmar850]

Just an update. Back from a nor'west trip cut short by the very unseasonal low which came in, causing us to run for it after only 6 six days. But glad we did.

Levels of detail on the Platinum card were absolutely invaluable. We were in a maze of channels, sandflats and reefs out at the Montebellos-although it is quite well charted, the satellite overlay was my default until we got well out. It even got us some brilliant fishing. We were inside the reef westside, with a big swell running outside, murky water everywhere. Gazing the the satellite layer detail, I noticed a patch that wasnt' breaking consistently, and appeared to show a narrow channel through the coral, ending up in a big sandpatch inside the break, with a big patch of coral in the middle. This screamed Spango to me, and I wanted one for a fish curry that night, so the detail shown allowed me to anchor ( in 4 metres, couldn't see bottom) on the sand, away from the coral, and cast lightly weighted 9/0 circles and a big chunk of squid.. Instant hookups, first one in the boat was 68cm, and most of the rest weren't much smaller. Kept a little 55cm job for dinner, released the rest. Oh, and a big Chinaman just on 80cm came aboard as well. Only stopped when the sharks turned up and started eating the baits. Turn off satellite overlay, and all you could see was the solid green that denotes shallow water. Picking the deepest channel across a big area of flats on an overcast day has never been easier.

One thing I did notice--when zoomed down to where satellite overlay comes in, you lose marked boundaries, such as marine parks. Simple matter to hit Settings>Layers> Overlays>None. Just something to remember if you are flirting around the edges of zones.

edit, additional--yes everything else works the same with the satellite layer enabled, with the exception of the finer depth contours when you zoom right down, and the above-mentioned boundaries.

[seastrength]

Thanks Ranmar, You have convinced me to upgrade to Platinum from Navionics plus card when my subscription falls due at the end of the year, Cheers SS.

[ranmar850]

I've convinced my mate. He was a bit sceptical, bells and whistles and all that, then I showed him how i had found those spangos--he was out with us, fishing a few miles away with no luck. Then, on the way home early, due to the Pilbara weather, we dropped into Shark Bay as the weather was looking brilliant for a couple of days. Went out on his 2300 to show him around. I headed into a spot called Boat Haven, which has a deep channel running a long way through shallow seagrass beds. I was trying to use the contour lines on the normal Navionics card, kept ending up in the shallows. It was heavily overcast and glass calm. I followed one edge of the channel on our way out, putting marks on the west edge. They didn't follow the chart contours. When we got back, i loaded my card into his unit, turned on Satellite in layers, lo and behold, there was the channel. I had marked it well on the way out, marks lined up with the satellite overlay, and you could see where our track had taken us off into the shallows on th way in. he's a firm believer now.