Navionics webapp is no more...

[bluerm166]

I use OpenCPN on desktop in both windows or ubuntu to create routes etc. for planning purposes.This works well .And sharpen them up when/if transferrred to my tablets for navigation.Importing .gpx to Boating app doesnt go well as the specific name is lost and replaced by a number.

 

[lustyd]

Garmin is a major seller of expensive marine (and other) plotters.
It's maybe not in their interest to promote cheaper systems that run on other hardware?

The web app doesn’t really work like that, you need a permanent Internet connection for it to work. It would be extremely hard work to use it for live navigation, hence just being there to support the paid app which caches charts and interacts with onboard systems. The paid app hasn’t gone anywhere (yet) and can be used on any mobile platform.
I really do hope Garmin don’t ditch Navionics app for their Active Captain one, that would certainly lead me to cancel.

 

[B27]

The web app doesn’t really work like that, you need a permanent Internet connection for it to work. It would be extremely hard work to use it for live navigation, hence just being there to support the paid app which caches charts and interacts with onboard systems. The paid app hasn’t gone anywhere (yet) and can be used on any mobile platform.
I really do hope Garmin don’t ditch Navionics app for their Active Captain one, that would certainly lead me to cancel.

I don't think this is just about the web app, i's about where Garmin position the whole Navionics collection of offerings in the market.

 

[lustyd]

I don't think this is just about the web app, i's about where Garmin position the whole Navionics collection of offerings in the market.

The thread is literally about the webapp. The mobile app has not yet changed but a few people seem confused on that point. What Garmin do in the future might turn out to be disapointing, but they have not done that yet.

Regardless, the web app doesn't displace any devices, which is the point I was responding to. Nobody sensible was trying to use the webapp for navigation while on passage.

 

[B27]

Some people might like to talk about the web app in splendid isolation, it might be more useful to think about it in the context of the other offerings if you're actually going sailing?
Likewise, there is limited point to moaning about Navionics products without considering the alternatives and what people actually want and expect from these products.

There is also a big slice of Navionics market which is likely never off the interweb, lots of inshore and inland US fish botherers.
Some places, e.g. parts of Greece have pretty good 4G coverage afloat, simply because they have base stations on lots of islands.
In he same way that lots of people find web-based AIS apps quite handy afloat, maybe significant numbers of people were using the web app afloat?
Where I sail, 4G coverage is generally pretty good in the area 1 to 10 miles offshore, alas it gets sketchy close in where the rocks are.

Maybe nobody sensible is relying on it afloat, but there's a big market of people who aren't sensible, and a lot of people use these toys without 'relying' on them. I use Navionics on Android, but I'm not relying on it, in the sense that I have paper charts, a GPS, other mapping apps on my phone etc.

 

[DangerousPirate]

Yeah we need to talk about alternatives now since they ripped it off the market unfortunately.

 

[lustyd]

I use Navionics on Android, but I'm not relying on it

I think you're still conflating the mobile app, which is a useful tool at sea, with the web app which is a useful widget for idle planning. The Android and ios apps are both great at sea and work well. Nothing is changing there. The web app (which this thead is about) is not useful at sea in any way, but was convenient at home or at work for some "what if" sort of planning.
The web app is dead, the mobile apps are still there. Unfortunatlely nothing is able to replicate the web app, so those that used it have no credible alternative. Whether you had 4G or not, the web app was hopeless while at sea. It wasn't a navigation tool, it was a widget that was handy.

 

[DangerousPirate]

I think you're still conflating the mobile app, which is a useful tool at sea, with the web app which is a useful widget for idle planning. The Android and ios apps are both great at sea and work well. Nothing is changing there. The web app (which this thead is about) is not useful at sea in any way, but was convenient at home or at work for some "what if" sort of planning.
The web app is dead, the mobile apps are still there. Unfortunatlely nothing is able to replicate the web app, so those that used it have no credible alternative. Whether you had 4G or not, the web app was hopeless while at sea. It wasn't a navigation tool, it was a widget that was handy.

Just to clarify for others: web app means in the browser on the laptop. Not in the phone or tablet

 

[ylop]

In he same way that lots of people find web-based AIS apps quite handy afloat, maybe significant numbers of people were using the web app afloat?

But the web app didn’t show your current location - which seems like probably the most fundamental feature of a navigation tool!

It’s also what makes using the mobile app for planning a little clunkier than the web app - it defaults to showing me where I am (at home) not where I want to be planning!

 

[B27]

But the web app didn’t show your current location - which seems like probably the most fundamental feature of a navigation tool!

It’s also what makes using the mobile app for planning a little clunkier than the web app - it defaults to showing me where I am (at home) not where I want to be planning!

If you've got charts displayed in front of you, it's very easy to use another free app to show your position.
Much of the time you don't really need to know your precise position anyway.
People did used to go sailing before GPS. And when GPS came along, people didn't have chart plotters.

I think lots of people have been whining about the changes to the mobile app pricing model, I suspect Garmin feels too many of the users have failed to cough up, maybe they saw too many people just 'planning' on the web and not paying for anything?

The environment seems to have changed, 3 years ago, Navionics was a bargain, £32, load it on as many devices as you like, renew it every 4 years when you get a new phone. Wasn't really worth looking elsewhere.

 

[ylop]

B27 - I think you are imagining a very niche use case - someone who has a laptop on board, is in internet range, doesn’t mind N-up only (rather that course / heading up etc), is happy to read their position and manually superimpose that on the chart, is happy not to have speed/heading etc on the chart screen and is not willing to pay the relatively small (in terms of cost of boat operation) subscription for the app.

 

[Seven Spades]

The whole system is poorley designed from the start. For example. If you made a route using the app getting it to the chart plotter involves transfering files using an SD card reader ebven ghettig the routs from a Ipad to a plotter is a mission. Really the routes should just be stored in the cloud to your account and then downloadable by the chart plotter but that isn't the way it works it is nuts.

 

[B27]

B27 - I think you are imagining a very niche use case - someone who has a laptop on board, is in internet range, doesn’t mind N-up only (rather that course / heading up etc), is happy to read their position and manually superimpose that on the chart, is happy not to have speed/heading etc on the chart screen and is not willing to pay the relatively small (in terms of cost of boat operation) subscription for the app.

I could pick that apart, but the big picture is lots of boaters in the US (and elsewhere) are miffed with the new order of navionics and Garmin have seen fit to withdraw the web app.
You can join the dots as you wish and/or shout at some clouds.

 

[Daverw]

The whole system is poorley designed from the start. For example. If you made a route using the app getting it to the chart plotter involves transfering files using an SD card reader ebven ghettig the routs from a Ipad to a plotter is a mission. Really the routes should just be stored in the cloud to your account and then downloadable by the chart plotter but that isn't the way it works it is nuts.

Syncing iPad app and plotter very easy when you understand how to do it, the bit people miss is that the route file is placed in the plotter archive folder and needs to be imported via plotter menu to stored routes. Quick and easy when you do it before you set off. Doing it this way does not need internet connection to do it

 

[DangerousPirate]

Look, no one NEEDS the webapp necessarily. But it made life easier when you're just doodling around, making plans or just want to look at potential routes while away from the boat.

 

[WindyWindyWindy]

I miss the web app anyway. The garmin tweak has weirdly managed to remove all the value.
It should have been expanded tying in to the subscription, so you could look at tracks and sync routes.

 

[Sea-Fever]

To be fair on Garmin they are merely joining the rent-seeking behaviour of every other digital enterprise where you, the customer, will never own anything and they will charge you rent forever and get very rich in the process. Like Spotify, Netflix, etc, etc….any free to access content like the web app is anathema to a business like Garmin.

 

[TwoFish]

To be fair on Garmin they are merely joining the rent-seeking behaviour of every other digital enterprise where you, the customer, will never own anything and they will charge you rent forever and get very rich in the process. Like Spotify, Netflix, etc, etc….any free to access content like the web app is anathema to a business like Garmin.

I don't expect free-to-access. I'm happy to pay/rent. I just don't expect them to (ahem) 'bespoil' their own product/service, that I'm paying for.

 

[Seven Spades]

Syncing iPad app and plotter very easy when you understand how to do it, the bit people miss is that the route file is placed in the plotter archive folder and needs to be imported via plotter menu to stored routes. Quick and easy when you do it before you set off. Doing it this way does not need internet connection to do it

I have no idea how to do that. In the past I have saved the file to a lap top. Then I have to get it on an SD card with micro-chip. Then I have to remove the chart plotter because on the Axion 12 the chip is stored in the rear. Then take the chart chip,out and then “import it” from my chip then replace the navigation chart and then re-fir the plotter. I have given up now.

 

[Daverw]

Not sure how the axion syncs but would be surprised if was not similar, the mistake I see others make is not connecting the tablet via the plotters wifi first, its does not work over internet. Also a I’ve subs on both app and plotter chart. Garmin have user guide for each mfd and YouTube many how too’s also note that when syncing it will also update your plotter charts without you having to remove sd card and using pc to do this. I only take my card out if I get a new card