iPhone Navigation

[colin_jones]

We are preparing a major study of iPhone navigation for (probably) the February2010 issue of PBO. The main contender is Navionics, which both myself and a cruising mate have used this year.

However, if anybody has any comment on iPhone Apps for straight navigation, or as other useful aids, or has any anecdote which they would like to share with PBO readers, this would be welcome, either as a reply here, or by PM to me, when I could also make phone or email contact for any in-fill.

Some aspects of Navionics and iPhone seem to be the way in which electronic navigation will (slowly) move, so the project is very interesting and the more reader input we get the better.

 

[ghostlymoron]

iphone navigation app

I do not have one of these myself but it has been demonstrated to me by my sailing pal. The software is very good and has tide information (current and future) and the accuracy spot on. It showed us on the correct marina berth in Pwllheli. And all for £15 on top of the cost of the phone of course. If I had spare cash, I would get one. The display is small however and difficult to see in sunlight.

 

[bitman]

iPod touch / iGPS-360 / Navionics

i use the ipod touch with the igps-360 and those navionics charts. works great as a small and cheap hand held in the cockpit, or just want to check the tides.

don't want to think what happened when navigating with an iphone and then getting a phone call...

 

[Cantata]

Not exactly nav but did you know that Imray have launched the first of some i-Phone apps providing sailing reference material - mentioned on their homepage www.imray.com

 

[Twister_Ken]

I have the iPhone 3G with Navionics. I often find a problem with the GPS function picking up exactly where I am - for example, it showed me in Newtown Creek IOW when I was actually about half a mile to the north. Is it true GPS, or does it rely on triangulation from telephone cells?

I also have Tides Planner from Tucabo, which is a very nice app.

 

[Neil]

I have the iPhone 3G with Navionics. I often find a problem with the GPS function picking up exactly where I am - for example, it showed me in Newtown Creek IOW when I was actually about half a mile to the north. Is it true GPS, or does it rely on triangulation from telephone cells?

I also have Tides Planner from Tucabo, which is a very nice app.

I also have the 3G with Navionics. There are occasions when the phone seems to default to cell antennae triangulation, rather than the internal GPS. I've seen this with the Google MAP App too. In the case of my Garmin, it will say that it can't get a fix, but the Iphone just automatically moves on to triangulation. My son reported that he had to switch off 3G/Edge, which forced the iPhone to default to GPS, and thereafter had no problems.

For myself, it will firstly show the 'wrong' (triangluated) position until the GPS unit gets a fix, and then it will be automatically used and the correct position shown.

In addition to "Day Tides", I have WeatherPro, which in addition to the usual, gives radar and satellite animations.

 

[Neil]

I have the iPhone 3G with Navionics. I often find a problem with the GPS function picking up exactly where I am - for example, it showed me in Newtown Creek IOW when I was actually about half a mile to the north. Is it true GPS, or does it rely on triangulation from telephone cells?

I also have Tides Planner from Tucabo, which is a very nice app.

I also have the 3G with Navionics. There are occasions when the phone seems to default to cell antennae triangulation, rather than the internal GPS. I've seen this with the Google MAP App too. In the case of my Garmin, it will say that it can't get a fix, but the Iphone just automatically moves on to triangulation. My son reported that he had to switch off 3G/Edge, which forced the iPhone to default to GPS, and thereafter had no problems.

For myself, it will firstly show the 'wrong' (triangluated) position until the GPS unit gets a fix, and then it will be automatically used and the correct position shown.

In addition to "Day Tides", I have WeatherPro, which in addition to the usual, gives radar and satellite animations.

I have a little clear waterproof pouch that goes round the neck, and the touch screen works through it ok.

 

[IanR]

Iphone as a chart plotter receiver

I have tried the Iphone with Navionics and an external screen, I have been generally pleased with it as the Navionics app seems to be fairly frequently updated and is clearly exceptional value.

I have noticed that the Iphone sometimes goes off watch mid channel and needs a restart on a couple of occasions I have noted that without a phone signal that the GPS software also seems to be disabled, this is something that I have not been able to reproduce.

I am delighted with its performance, however I am happy to use it cautiously as an additional source of information rather than a primary source.

The internet apps are excellent for tides, weather etc what we could do with is a grib viewer, shan't be long I expect. Needless to say all of the other apps for office use are much more reliable than any functionality previously available on MSMobile etc.

 

[Dyflin]

Has anyone tried the anchor alarm? http://chrisparsons.net/iphone/

 

[sticky]

IPhone and Navionics

From March to May I delivered a boat from Dartmouth to Croatia. A somewhat parsimonious owner was a trifle mean with the paper charts, but I managed more than adequately with my IPhone and the Navionics charts. Originally there was a facility to make the charts darken so that using the phone at night did not destroy night vision, this facility was then removed. I have asked Navionics to reintroduce this very useful and effective means of piloting at night. I piloted the boat into three harbours at night, two without the help large scale paper charts. The ability to zoom in, the accuracy of our position, identification of lights were all of a very high standard. My only problem was on sailing up the Adriatic, on two occasions my position fix was 50M out for over half an hour. Fortunately this was very obvious, and I did have paper charts of the correct scale at the time.

I too, have a waterproof walllet in which to keep my phone and the touch screen is sufficiently sensitive to react to finger movement through this additional cover. I rate the applications highly, to have chart coverage from St Petersburg, right the way round the UK, down the Atlantic coast, through the Med to the east coast of the Black Sea for £120 is incredible!

 

[john_morris_uk]

Just bought an iPhone 3GS and am exploring the apps that I can put on it. Haven't got the Navionics stuff yet - but will let you know if I get it.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

I have tried the Iphone with Navionics and an external screen, I have been generally pleased with it as the Navionics app seems to be fairly frequently updated and is clearly exceptional value.

I have noticed that the Iphone sometimes goes off watch mid channel and needs a restart on a couple of occasions I have noted that without a phone signal that the GPS software also seems to be disabled, this is something that I have not been able to reproduce.

I am delighted with its performance, however I am happy to use it cautiously as an additional source of information rather than a primary source.

The internet apps are excellent for tides, weather etc what we could do with is a grib viewer, shan't be long I expect. Needless to say all of the other apps for office use are much more reliable than any functionality previously available on MSMobile etc.

My phone has hung just once but I've heard of others doing it to. Apple have just issued a bug-fix release to cure this and few others which I'm running fine at the moment. The comments below are from MacRumors.Com

Apple today released iPhone OS 3.1.2, addressing several issues regarding waking from sleep, network service disruption, and crashing during video streaming. iPhone users should connect their iPhones to iTunes and click the "Check for Update" button to obtain the new version.

This update contains bug fixes and improvements, including the following:

- Resolves sporadic issue that may cause iPhone to not wake from sleep
- Resolves intermittent issue that may interrupt cellular network services until restart
- Fixes bug that could cause occasional crash during video streaming

The update is compatible with all iPhone models and weighs in at approximately 240 MB. Apple introduced iPhone OS 3.1 almost exactly one month ago, bringing a number of new features including Genius recommendation for applications, Genius Mixes for music and purchasing of pre-cut ringtones.

Update: A corresponding update is also available for the iPod touch.

Also, the iPhone OS 3.1.2 update for iPhone in U.S. is accompanied by an update to AT&T's carrier settings file, which brings the settings to version 5.6.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I got my 3GS yesterday, and have been having great fun playing with all the apps....

Two that I particularly like....

'Boatie' which has a decent GPS screen, a good weather display and a useful lights and shapes reference

'Planets' which shows visible stars and planets, with some interesting background info, as well as nautical and civil twilights - and its free!

Navionics is absolutely superb.... very appealing price, and the ability to put pictures on the charts, plus send routes to Google Earth and Google maps is sheer brilliance...

I also maintain a blog, and can now take photos, drop them into Photobucket, and make a blog entry with the photos all straight from the device.... and I can do the same with Youtube...

I am seriously impressed with the phone.

 

[Alessandra Navionics]

Navionics for iPhone

Hello, I'm Alessandra and work for Navionics. All your reviews and comments are very nice and interesting and mean a lot to us.
All along summer '09, our developer staff has worked hard to try adding more and more features requested by our customers by email, and if you are pleased with the app, this makes us even more proud and happy.
Nevertheless we keep working on the app, and for those of you who have experienced inaccuracy in the GPS positioning, I inform you that 3.2 updates are available in these days on App Store for improving the GPS function.
Should you need information on the app, or have suggestions, please use our dedicated email box: mobile@navionics.com or even our Facebook page.
We're also on Twitter.

Thanks again for appreciating our App!!!!!

 

[Blue Fox]

I use the West Europe chart on my iphone and I am certainly most impressed. Simple to use and even the inland charts are very detailed and up to date. I have the phone in an aquapack and it is watertight and readable in open sunlight.
The only thing that irritates me, is that if you try to find the tidal current in a particular area, you get a list of completely incomprehensible spots, for instance: 1405 Dover (c) 21,5 NM. Mind you, this must be somewhere near Terschelling (!), but it cannot be found on the chart itself.
But otherwise: unbelievable value!

 

[Elessar]

We are preparing a major study of iPhone navigation for (probably) the February2010 issue of PBO. The main contender is Navionics, which both myself and a cruising mate have used this year.

However, if anybody has any comment on iPhone Apps for straight navigation, or as other useful aids, or has any anecdote which they would like to share with PBO readers, this would be welcome, either as a reply here, or by PM to me, when I could also make phone or email contact for any in-fill.

Some aspects of Navionics and iPhone seem to be the way in which electronic navigation will (slowly) move, so the project is very interesting and the more reader input we get the better.

I agree with all the praise - it is unbelievable value and a super backup, and great to have in your pocket when going on other people's boats.

My nautical page on the iphone has navionics, day tides, and links to my most used web pages ie bramblemet, chimet, XC weather. Did you know you can get, say, Southampton, up on XC then put that shortcut on the home screen? 1 button forecasting for your area.

Other great non nautical apps - tom tom, ebay, tube map, carpenter and the moron test.

 

[PembrokeshirePromise]

Have used a friends for a few days whilst out on survey. Generally very good - and as others have said amazing value.

I did find the speed indicator (doing about 6kts in a dinghy) tended to drop in and out a fair bit and produce some wrongish readings - maybe due to inappropriate averaging.

Only other criticism is common to may IPhone apps - if you have to switch away to another app (e.g. answer a call !) - it doesn't seem to save you defaults etc - and can take a while to get back to where you were before.

But for £15 its fantastic - if I had an IPhone I'd definitely have it - just waiting for them to produce a smartphone version ....

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I own the App but only use it to have a look at for interest, so I will not comment on suitability for navigation. I do wonder though if such an App will make the ignorant more confident in going down to the sea!

 

[sjclewes]

brilliant product for £15 shame if you supported them when they first brought it out by paying full price?