Navionics (ipad app) and light characteristics

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lampshuk

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I seem to be falling out of love with Navionics.
It's always been cumbersome (to put it politely) to display light characteristics on Navionics,
but with the latest update it's now impossible to see light characteristics for buoys.

I am using the latest (1.4.2) update on an ipad 2.

I can prod the chart near a buoy, and the buoy appears on one prong of the "cross-hair" .
But if I select that icon, no information about the buoy is displayed.

Their webapp behaves differently. No buoy icon on the crosshairs this time, but the "?" does contain the light info
(these screenshots are from the webapp, I haven't spent the time to dump screenshots from my ipad)

Capture1.JPG

Capture2.JPG

Capture3.JPG

On my iPad the "?" does not show the buoy. Presumably because they have given it an icon of its own, but then forgotten to attach the light info!

Again, it's rather poor for lighthouses (I don't think this is new, but since I'm having a rant I might as well carry on).

Take Hurst castle:

Each sector has a different "light" entry.
Capture5.JPG

But it just regurgitates the characteristics string - incidentally failing to distinguish the "m" from "M".

And the legend on the chart gives no help whatsoever regarding the location of the sectors.

Capture4.JPG

So, yes, I know you can't rely on navigation apps, and I do carry paper charts (and raster on a different tablet) but Navionics is so good in other respects that it annoys me when they do something goofy like this.

I would be interested to know if this "missing light info" bug also applies to other app versions. I have submitted a report to Navionics and they say they are "looking in to it".
 
I’ve just looked at my copy of the app and it shows all the usual light details for buoys and lighthouses (location, height, light characteristics). Put the cross hairs on the buoy/light and tap the icon on the top of the vertical cross hair and it shows the details you were looking for. I updated the app yesterday.
Only thing I can think of is that you say you’re using an iPad 2, which is presumably running an older iOS version than the current 12.4. Navionics running under these older versions seems to be prone to niggles: the recent thread on AIS display bugs all featured older iOS versions. That may be the root cause of bug you’re experiencing.
 
If I position a lighted buoy in the cross hairs it is shown at the end of the vertical leg. Clicking on it then displays the characteristics and a description. (Android boating hd version). Sorry don't seem to be able to import screenshot on my phone.
 
Duncan ^^^^ may be right re older iPads. I'm running an ipad2 with navionics and I can't see light characteristics despite lining up light on the crosshairs.
 
Confirming fredrussell and others: this seems specific to ipad2 and the older iOS, as Duncan99210 suggests.
It's still listed as a supported platform on the Navionics website, though.
 
I have reported this to Navionics a few weeks ago. First line support advised reinstalling etc but as this did not fix the problem they have passed it to the application development team. Not heard anything back yet.
I recommend that everyone also report this and it may get fixed.

Regards........... Andrew
 
Just heard back from Navionics
They advised me to replace my iPad 2 with a new one as Navionics is now incompatible with older versions of iOS.
If you have an iPad 2 and the older version of Navionics then DON’T UPGRADE!
Rubbish that it is not backwardly compatible. Not sure what I am going to do ☹️
 
Well, they need to update their website, then ...
They have offered me a refund on my upgrade subscription, which I have not yet accepted. In fact they just told me that there's an update "that fixes your problem", but they have spun that yarn before, and I thihnk it's just wishful thinking.
I'll give it one more try this weekend, then it's refund time, and perhaps a move across to an Android tablet. Looks like the least cost route to get a tablet with waterproof case that will fit my binnacle-mounted clamp.
 
Take care about moving to Android. I have just bought a cheap chinese tablet and installed Navionics (despite all of the warnings that 'this product is about to be discontinued' and ' your device might not be compatible etc' and I was suprised to find that there is no info on the flashing characteristics of buoys. I thought that because my tablet is brand new (although incredibly cheap) that it would have enough whoomph. Not so.
I am not complaining, they did warn me.
 
Scala, the problem is that if your iPad or Android tablet isn’t running a reasonably up to date operating system, then some of the functionality of Navionics doesnt work. That said, I’ve got an iPad running iOS 10.3.4 which displays all the usual navigation information as you pointed out. I know that the problem existed when this thread started but perhaps Navionics has put something together that sorts the problem.
 
Scala said:
Ok. Why would the iPad iOS version affect what is in the Navionics data?
Click to expand...
No idea! I’m simply reporting what WAS going on with earlier version of the updated Navionics, which wouldn’t display some of the data layers on older iOS versions. As I said, it now seems to have been fixed, although I don’t know if the AIS display problem has been resolved; can’t test that as my boat is in Greece and I’m not!
 
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