By carolynroberts - 24 Apr 2012
Has anyone compared the Navionics UK & Holland app with the Imray charts app?
I don 't know which to purchase for the Ipad. The Imray app appears to be much bigger, taking a long time to download (they advise via computer then synch to the Ipad). One is vector, the other rastar, so what difference would that make for UK coastal passages?
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By simoncurrin - 24 Apr 2012
Carolyn,
I have both and a clear preference for the Navionics. When I bought the Imray app it came with just 2 charts of the Channel and, being raster, you have to choose and load the chart you want to view. Navionics, however, has seemlessly scrollable and zoomable charts of the whole of the UK, Holland and bits of France. It looks and feels just like the plotter version but is inevitably more up to date. The interface too is more intuitive.
I understand that recent versions of the Navionics App have had various bugs but mine has always worked well on both iPhone and iPad. The latest version was released yesterday which apologizes for previous bugs and promises to have fixed all. It is still working well on my iPad so they don 't seem to have created more problems.
I would be interested to hear which you choose and how you get on.
Simon
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By carolynroberts - 24 Apr 2012
Simon
Thank you for your prompt reply. I had intended to get the Navionics, as I had heard very enthusiastic reports - but then it disappeared from the app store, so I looked for an alternative. Now that it has become available again I am going to get the Navionics. I will report my experience at the end of the summer.
Thanks.
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By archive - 8 May 2012
We have used Navionics charts in The Netherlands as well as many other areas and find them to be excellent.
I did get the Navionics App for my iPad, but I have now switched to using the iNavX app and I like it better, both in features and ease of use.
I still don 't understand why the Navionics charts for my chartplotter are US$300 -400 and the same chart on my iPad is $40-60.
Jim
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By carolynroberts - 9 May 2012
Jim
Thank you for your response. I will be trying out the Navionics app at sea next week, having played around with it a bit (in the Cotswolds!)
Carolyn
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By carolynroberts - 21 Jun 2012
I have now had a chance to try out the Navionics app off the west coast of Scotland, and once I got used to it I found it to be very useful. I like being able to zoom in and out so smoothly, so useful for passage planning instead of switching from small to large scale charts and back again in the tiny space available on the chart table! Tidal information with curves also very useful, although it did take some time to work out how to access the standard ports. My main criticism would be that there is not enough instruction for someone completely new to the app - it relies on the user being able to work it out intuitively, which in my case took a long time.
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By neilm - 7 Aug 2012
We have used Navionics on the iPad in Scotland, Norway, down round Sweden and Denmark, to finland and St Petersburg, mostly with Nobeltec on our PC also. (alternatively with Nimble Navigator on PC)
In most cases the chart info is identical. In small bays sometimec one is better than the other.
We use iPad in cockpit and PC below.
Occasionally, the iPad seems to lose GPS signal for a minute whereas the PC does not.
In the very complex waters of parts of Norway, Stockholm archipelago and Aland, the iPad zooms dramatically faster than the PC. In Scotland and most areas, no difference.
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