14 iPad navigation apps evaluated

[jssailem]

Pacific Northwest (Peget Sound, San Juan Islands, gulf islands)

Local correction “Puget Sound”.
On universal tool is Deep Zoom. http://www.deepzoom.com/ It lets you see (as long as you have an internet connection) the tide and currents with effective graphics to help you understand Ebb and Flood timing.
I acquired “Coastal Explorer” a PC based charting program which uses NOAA charts and includes the graphical features of DeepZoom. It helps to chart the currents and develop actual route times. Only thing missing is the wind info for sails. But then I like “Windy.com” to help with the wind info over a course.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

@DrJudyB Nobeltec Visual Navigation Suite for PC does incorporate current into route calcs and it will tell you the best departure times. I abandoned that long ago, and there may be newer software that also does that. Rose Point Navigation Coastal Explorer software will adjust route calcs if you manually associate a nearby current prediction station with each route leg (by dragging each to the line). Primitive by comparison, yet years newer.

 

[JRT]

I'm not an IPhone / iPad knowledgeable guy but would consider the new iPad if I can get reliable GPS maps in the car and a Nav / depth app for my sailing area. Any help would be appreciated from those who know. I'm considering the new iPad that just came out, specs say GPS but I read before this may not work with out data / wifi connection. We are heading to Italy in a month so I'd like to get this, try it for nav in Italy and then get a app for the boat for depth, heading, and speed.

https://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/

 

[Jackdaw]

I'm not an IPhone / iPad knowledgeable guy but would consider the new iPad if I can get reliable GPS maps in the car and a Nav / depth app for my sailing area. Any help would be appreciated from those who know. I'm considering the new iPad that just came out, specs say GPS but I read before this may not work with out data / wifi connection. We are heading to Italy in a month so I'd like to get this, try it for nav in Italy and then get a app for the boat for depth, heading, and speed.

https://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/

As always, the new iPad models have GPS capability ONLY on models that have cellular data capability. This is because the GPS capability is built into the cellular chipset. You do NOT have to have wireless turned on (or even have a dataplan for the device), but you MUST have a cellular wireless capable model.

 

[JRT]

Excellent , that is exactly what I need to know!

 

[LeslieTroyer]

Road gps in Europe tends to be expensive. I use copilot here in US. They have maps for Europe don’t know prices

 

[Jackdaw]

Road gps in Europe tends to be expensive. I use copilot here in US. They have maps for Europe don’t know prices

Google maps can be used for navigation in off-line mode. You can download large areas via your Wi-Fi, and use them without a data connection .

 

[JRT]

That is what I was planning to do actually, also if we get an unlocked iPad I assume I can get a sim card in country for the week we are there. Still need to research if that is worth it or not.

Back on the subject matter one thing I've noticed with my Apps on my Android phone the speed isn't very consistent, especially if there is any rocking or rolling. Do any of these offer improvement on that issue? I propyl need to add a true knotmeter to the O'Day instead.

 

[Gunni]

All iPads are unlocked. And they are quad-band provisioned.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

That is what I was planning to do actually, also if we get an unlocked iPad I assume I can get a sim card in country for the week we are there. Still need to research if that is worth it or not.

Back on the subject matter one thing I've noticed with my Apps on my Android phone the speed isn't very consistent, especially if there is any rocking or rolling. Do any of these offer improvement on that issue? I propyl need to add a true knotmeter to the O'Day instead.

I think you will find the iPad internal GPS response is sufficient to give you a solid and accurate reading for navigation.