Ipad running navionics seems to freeze

[steve yates]

I have had this problem eryoccasionally over two wifi only ipads in the last 5 years paired to a garmin gps, so its not a bad elf issue.
The icon just freezes on the screen. I suspect the bluetooth between dongle and ipad myself, tho I wonder sometimes if its because the battery power was dropping in the dongle. Anyway, closing and rebooting navionics seems to fix it after a couple of minutes. Would be very disconcerting if using in a narrow channel and it happened tho.
I keep my phone handy with navionics open in any tricky areas just in case.

ps, its not autolock, i always switch that off when cruising

 

[chrisfpaul]

You’ll also drain the battery quicker

is the position updating .. ie boat icon moving even though no speed indicated when this happens on the iPad ?

Silly question ... but why swap Android to iPad if Android is working correctly ?? Seems a bit strange.

The Android is my phone. It is a much smaller screen than my iPad. I have my iPad mounted on my binnacle.

 

[roaringgirl]

Even most of the cheapest Android tablets have GPS built in ... as well as WiFi ....

They don't - this is very bad advice.

 

[chrisfpaul]

Thanks Steve: I will try to force quit Navionics and my iPad before we pull up anchor tomorrow.

I have had this problem eryoccasionally over two wifi only ipads in the last 5 years paired to a garmin gps, so its not a bad elf issue.
The icon just freezes on the screen. I suspect the bluetooth between dongle and ipad myself, tho I wonder sometimes if its because the battery power was dropping in the dongle. Anyway, closing and rebooting navionics seems to fix it after a couple of minutes. Would be very disconcerting if using in a narrow channel and it happened tho.
I keep my phone handy with navionics open in any tricky areas just in case.

ps, its not autolock, i always switch that off when cruising

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I run Imray navigator on my iPad paired to either the boats N2K network or my garmin in reach and don’t have this problem. I suspect it might be app related

 

[chrisfpaul]

No, the position is not updating when frozen.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Ok, couple of other ideas.

on your iPad…

In Settings check that Location Services is on, you find it in the Privacy & Security tab

In settings for the Navionics Boating app, check that Location is set to Always or While Using, and that Background App Refresh is ON

Did you check these?

 

[Buck Turgidson]

No, the position is not updating when frozen.

When you say the position is not updating do you mean in avionics or are you looking at the position in another app?

 

[chrisfpaul]

When you say the position is not updating do you mean in avionics or are you looking at the position in another app?

The position is not updating in Navionics. It is the only app running on my iPad.

 

[Refueler]

They don't - this is very bad advice.

Well go tell Banggood .... as example .... loads there at prices that make your pocket happy.

 

[Refueler]

The position is not updating in Navionics. It is the only app running on my iPad.

Can you open any other APP when this happens ? Just asking as this will show whether the freeze is Navionics or the iPad ...

 

[chrisfpaul]

New notes:

• Thanks for all of your suggestions. I believe that I have tried all of the suggestions in this thread and the problem still happens.
• It seems that people have been having this problem on iPads since 2011. See Ipad Navionics hang up. They report that it happens only at slow speeds. It works at slow speeds for at least one iPad user in this thread. Why doesn’t it work for some of us?
• I am trying to connect to Garmin/Navionics support now.

Recap of issue:

• I use Navionics Boating as the chart plotter on my sailboat.
• The Navionics screen freezes on my new iPad at slow speed (<5 knots) when leaving and entering a harbor. It works 100% of the time when I am at speed (>6 knots on my sailboat).
• Freeze: The speed drops to zero, my boat position does not change on the screen for 10+ seconds at a time, and tracking stops. There are times when the screen is not frozen that the red line that indicates direction of the boat on the screen moves randomly in arbitrary directions even if I am moving in one direction at 3+ knots.
• I never have the problem with Navionics on my Android phone. I now use Navionics on my Android to enter and leave harbors. And I use the larger screen iPad when I am at speed (>6 knots).
• iPad:
  • Settings:
    • Privacy & Security
      • Location Services: On
      • [Navionics] Boating: Always. Precise location.
      • Setting Time Zone: Off (legacy from fixing an issue with my old iPad with Bad Elf GPS. I no longer use Bad Elf. I use the GPS chip on my new iPad.
    • Display & Brightness: Auto-Lock: Never
    • Background App Refresh: “Wi-Fi & Cellular Data”. [The other options are “Off” and “Wi-Fi”.] The problem happens when Navionics is on the screen. So I would think that this option doesn’t matter.
    • Bluetooth: Off
  • 10th generation running iPadOS 16.4.1) with GPS chip
• Navionics:
  • Settings: Disable Auto-Lock while tracking: On
• It seems that people have been having this problem on iPads since 2011. See Ipad Navionics hang up. They report that it happens only at slow speeds. Does it work at slow speeds for any iPad users?
• I suspect that it's not a sleep problem because presumably that would happen whether I'm going slower or faster.

 

[chrisfpaul]

I got through to Garmin/Navionics support. They acknowledged that this has been a problem with some iOS devices for a very long time. They thought they had fixed this in the latest release (V19.1). But it did not. The problem seems to be associated with only some iOS devices. [My wife's iPhone works.] They said that they will notify me when they get a new fix. I will keep you all up to date.
For the record, I love Navionics Boating. I used it for over a year on my old iPad with Bad Elf. But that stopped working 3 weeks ago.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Ok thanks for the clear update. I’m out of ideas now, it works perfectly for me and I seem to have a similar setup to you, got a gen 5 iPad Pro Cellular with latest iPadOS.

 

[duncan99210]

Have you tried deleting the app and reinstalling it?

 

[Bathdave]

I got through to Garmin/Navionics support. They acknowledged that this has been a problem with some iOS devices for a very long time. They thought they had fixed this in the latest release (V19.1). But it did not. The problem seems to be associated with only some iOS devices. [My wife's iPhone works.] They said that they will notify me when they get a new fix. I will keep you all up to date.
For the record, I love Navionics Boating. I used it for over a year on my old iPad with Bad Elf. But that stopped working 3 weeks ago.

I’m interested in the timing …I use a Dual gps receiver I have had for maybe 8 years, it worked 4 weeks ago as normal, but last week my iPad simply couldn’t see the device …I haven’t spent anytime investigating as been busy, I speculated an IOS update or the very old gps device stopped working.

your comment about yours stopping working 3 weeks ago piqued my interest again

 

[roaringgirl]

Well go tell Banggood .... as example .... loads there at prices that make your pocket happy.

There are plenty of Android tablets that *do* have a GPS chip, our backup nav is on a tablet we bought for €60. However they don't *all* have GPS chips. It's important that someone buying a tablet for navigation knows they should check it has a GPS chip before parting with their cash.

 

[B27]

There are plenty of Android tablets that *do* have a GPS chip, our backup nav is on a tablet we bought for €60. However they don't *all* have GPS chips. It's important that someone buying a tablet for navigation knows they should check it has a GPS chip before parting with their cash.

Indeed.
It seems that there is a general tendency to either have 'phone' connectivity and GPS, or neither, noticeably among the premium makes of tablet, and I include ipads in that.
I was looking at LEnovo among other makes.
I think the two functions are often done by the same chips.

I bought a cheap no-name android tablet during covid, just for reading e-books really. It hangs often and runs slow.
It's motivated me to migrate to Apple.

I quite like that the tablet on the boat is not connected to the internet. It just does navionics and nothing else.
It's not updating itself or doing background google nonsense when you want to know where you are at 4AM.

 

[Refueler]

There are plenty of Android tablets that *do* have a GPS chip, our backup nav is on a tablet we bought for €60. However they don't *all* have GPS chips. It's important that someone buying a tablet for navigation knows they should check it has a GPS chip before parting with their cash.

If you read my original comment ... it said MOST ...

Here's a repeat of my post :

Even most of the cheapest Android tablets have GPS built in ... as well as WiFi ....

Please highlight where it says ALL ... as you imply ...

It doesn't.

 

[B27]

MOST of the cheapest tablets currently easily available in the UK don't have GPS.
MOST of the tablets which have GPS also seem to have a SIM slot and a phone module in them.

Beware that phone and tablet makers are shockers for selling different model variants in different markets.

If you go back 8 or 10 years, there were many more tablets with GPS but no GSM connectivity, the hudl, early ipads, Samsungs..... mainstream brands from big retailers.

If you want a cheap tablet for navionics boating, the ipad I have is an old A1474 model, which can be found on ebay for under £50.
I assume all A1474 models have GPS, but DYOR.
Maybe add a 5Ah battery pack which I got for a tenner. GPS does exercise the battery.