Active Captain functions

[Ken Cross]

Many people use Active Captain. I was disappointed that it quit working in my apps. I emailed MX Mariner to discover this is due to improvements in Active Captain not yet working in many apps. Here is the link they sent me: https://www.panbo.com/active-captain-community-app-support/

In my case I downloaded Aqua Map where I can get US and Canadian Charts for $29.95. or annually for $14.95. We'll see

Ken

 

[dlochner]

The list is not surprising. Any program that might be a competitor to Garmin products is not yet compatible (or might never be) with Active Captain.

Garmin didn't buy AC out of the goodness of their hearts, they bought it to bolster their product line. Why would they encourage third parties, like Navico/Simrad/Lowrance/B&G, Ray Marine, Navionics, Furuno, C-Maps etc. access to their pricey data which we boaters gladly and without compensation provided the company.

 

[jssailem]

Sounds good Ken. The AquaMap looks like an interesting app. Keep us informed about it”s function as you cruise. How the routing and the tide/currents are to use will be informative.
Your experience with the app in northern waters will be good to share.

 

[Davidasailor26]

The list is not surprising. Any program that might be a competitor to Garmin products is not yet compatible (or might never be) with Active Captain.

To be fair, Garmin is still making the data available, 3rd party developers just need to update their apps to access it in a new way.

 

[dlochner]

To be fair, Garmin is still making the data available, 3rd party developers just need to update their apps to access it in a new way.

We'll see how this works out. Take a look at the compatibility tables for C-Map and Navionics. I didn't see any mention of Garmin products. Perhaps Garmin will make the AC data available to their major competitors, I wonder at what cost.

 

[jssailem]

I just installed the Coastal Explorer June upgrade. It contains the new API for GarminAC. The links on the maps worked as in olden days. The ones I looked at were everywhere up here in the PacNW. Our own @Ken Cross's 2017 report on Friday Harbor in the San Juan's "We always stop here. 5 Stars. 08/04/2017" is live.

 

[uncledom]

The list is not surprising. Any program that might be a competitor to Garmin products is not yet compatible (or might never be) with Active Captain.

Garmin didn't buy AC out of the goodness of their hearts, they bought it to bolster their product line. Why would they encourage third parties, like Navico/Simrad/Lowrance/B&G, Ray Marine, Navionics, Furuno, C-Maps etc. access to their pricey data which we boaters gladly and without compensation provided the company.

We didn't supply the info to Garmin we supplied it to Jeffrey. He then profiteered. So you can't blame Garmin. They just snapped up an advantage while Jeff snapped up Red Head. Welcome to Capitalism at it's finest.

 

[dlochner]

We didn't supply the info to Garmin we supplied it to Jeffrey. He then profiteered. So you can't blame Garmin. They just snapped up an advantage while Jeff snapped up Red Head. Welcome to Capitalism at it's finest.

Most of that I don't have problems with, except selling the data that we volunteered. Jeffery sold not just the infrastructure but also the concept and the data we supplied that made his product valuable. Of course, somewhere deep in the Terms I'm sure there is a clause that makes our data his to do with what he wants.

I was always a bit puzzled by his business model, except for the part about selling the business. Now Garmin will offer seamless integration with their products and allow smaller "competitors" to access the data, probably for a fee.

 

[uncledom]

Here's the problem with the whole as I see it. We the end users profited from the information supplied by us because we were a community. If they don't make us feel as though we are what matters and that we get to freely share the fruits of our labor, we'll just stop updating and their app will turn into garbage. All one can do is hope for the best.

 

[StargazerP303]

"WE MUST LEARN FROM THIS" GrassHopper! We can turn the other cheek or fight back and reclaim our investments.
1. Make sure that any efforts to help build a database that the company you are helping agrees to a % buyout of the data you added in helping to build their database. EX: I entered 50 verifiable entries by the company. At the time the company is sold, there was a total of 50,000 entries made and the company sold for $200,000,000. This entitles you to $50,000 as a buy-out for your data entry that the company validated to be valid and sold to Garmin without your consent. The key here is don't help build a program without confirmation of the "What If's! "
That being said we do have a case here as long as we do a class action suit! Lawers love deep pockets...LOL
Chances are Both would settle out of court!
However, We should learn from this and that is not to trust "FREE"....LOL

 

[Davidasailor26]

Maybe I'm being pollyannish, but I don't really see what the problem is here. Garmin's original claim when they bought AC was that they wouldn't charge for the data. I haven't seen anything contradicting that since. None of the Panbo articles say there's a fee with the new API, and no third party devs have said they are coming to terms with fees. As far as I can tell there's just the matter of the API being changed out without adequate notice or testing time, but that was likely driven by GDPR.

Furthermore, Garmin isn't really incentivized to limit AC data access to its own platforms. The nature of AC data (shoaling, local knowledge on moorings, etc) is that it needs the community to maintain. I don't see very much long term value in the data itself; all the value is in the community. Garmin therefore should have an interest in keeping as many platforms and users engaged, so that they can market that their hardware has access to data from x-thousand other navigators.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

We'll see how this works out. Take a look at the compatibility tables for C-Map and Navionics. I didn't see any mention of Garmin products. Perhaps Garmin will make the AC data available to their major competitors, I wonder at what cost.

Navionics tried to do their own “community” things, with limited success. It looks like your Navionics concerns will soon be resolved https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/fishandhunt/garmin-acquires-navionics-marine-charts/

 

[ActiveCaptain]

Yikes! So much (incorrect and misguided) speculation.

First, the deal with me was that the community contributed the data and then had free access to it. That was true when I owned ActiveCaptain and it is equally true today with Garmin.

Next, there is no charge for any other developer to use ActiveCaptain. That includes today through Garmin. The blip is that Garmin's data model change has caused developers to update their apps for continued use. That was mainly driven by the European GDPR requirements that companies like Garmin must comply with. One by one, developers are releasing updates to their apps with updated support. Just this week, a new developer who never had ActiveCaptain access in their app released support for it too. Their cost for licensing the data from Garmin as a brand new licensee: $0.

Yesterday, Garmin released a free update for many of their chartplotters to now display all ActiveCaptain data on the chartplotter directly (with easy filtering and on/off layering).

A company like Garmin who views themselves as the market leader (which they certainly are by having the most sales of any other marine electronics company) often does things for the market without a means of directly making income. I believe this was the reason that Garmin acquired ActiveCaptain. They saw it as the right thing to do for their market even though they wouldn't make money directly from it and will even offer it for free to their competitors. You could assume that Garmin will likely have the best implementation of ActiveCaptain because, well, that's their job.

Garmin owns Navionics today. They've announced that the Navionics apps will have full ActiveCaptain support this year.

I'm no longer a Garmin employee nor do I have any ties to them at all. I have no non-compete and my comments are all my opinions based on my experiences.

Oh, and for what it's worth, my wife and I purchased Red Head over a year before Garmin acquired ActiveCaptain. In fact, we purchased the boat before the very first meeting with Garmin discussing the possibility of acquisition.

Try as you might to find the dark clouds, when you get the facts, you'll only find silver linings. If I thought something bad was happening with ActiveCaptain, I'd be the first one out there yelling about it. Right now though, except for them terminating the BlueChart Mobile app like they did, I think they're doing an excellent job.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Thanks for weighing in, Jeffrey.
With regard to terminating the BlueChart Mobile app -- If you're at liberty to disclose: Did they lose a key developer for that app, or is there another reason that you're aware of?

 

[ActiveCaptain]

To be honest...I don't know why the product was terminated. It made no sense to do it the way it was done, especially given the Navionics acquisition. The Garmin ActiveCaptain app is the app for Garmin chartplotter owners. BlueChart Mobile, and eventually the Navionics app, are be the app for non-Garmin chartplotter owners. I think it would have been a lot better to terminate BCM the moment the Navionics app was updated with ActiveCaptain Community data.

 

[Ken Cross]

Well, I tried Aqua Map the last couple of days. It works well, but I'm still learning how to use it. Active Captain indeed works with it. Google seems to help. It has lots of features and including maps it's cheap.

Ken

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

I’m using Aqua Map for the AC data and planning anchorage/ harbor stops. I also like that it can display raster charts. And I’m using Navionics as my main app for real-time navigating.
The chart plotter is now relegated to a supporting role, to overlay radar and AIS on charts (using B&G Zeus Touch and Navionics charts) and as a steering aid.
Edit: On a recent ICW trip, I would use the Navionics app to set a waypoint at the next opening bridge and set it as an Automatic Route. The ETA displayed in real-time would enable me vary boat speed to arrive just in time for the next opening. Nice

 

[All U Get]

The Garmin ActiveCaptain app is the app for Garmin chartplotter owners. BlueChart Mobile, and eventually the Navionics app, are be the app for non-Garmin chartplotter owners. I think it would have been a lot better to terminate BCM the moment the Navionics app was updated with ActiveCaptain Community data.

So since I use Blue Chart on my iPad, will I get a notice of how to upgrade since I just loaded it with maps in May. Will it all disappear the next time I have it on while using Wifi.

 

[3471]

Been a few months, but I have a couple of newbie questions. First, BlueChart on our iPad seems to be firing on all cylinders. We value it as a corroboration tool. Running Navico Zeus3 as our primary chart plotter system with some C>Map & Navionics. Also have my old 276C, and a used 478 I picked up when 276C was missing for a while.
When I try to register my old trusty Garmins above, no joy. Not recognized/supported, etc...

I do not think I can pair Active Captain with my WiFi enabled Zeus3. Or is there a workaround? It seems like the premise of AC is inclusivity. I hope Garmin, in their growing pains, keeps the good things. Navionics talks to my B&G; why not AC?

Thanks

 

[Bad Obsession]

I will say this quite plainly. I really HATE the new Active Captain since Garmin bought them out. The old version was easier to use and I really liked it.

I use to spend a lot of time on Active Captain in the winter day dreaming and planning different routes for cruises. Even now I use it to view charts for fishing since I am in between sailboats. Now, I spend less time on it and get irritated with it when I do go on it.

Often "Progress" on these programs just makes them more complicated, less useful, and makes you have to relearn them.