Navionics - phone vs tablet version

[STELLA L]

This might not be the place to ask this question but if I recall from previous posts there are some real experts out there on Navionics. I loaded the Canadian / U.S. one last summer ( $54.00 for Samsung tablet) before we went north to Canada and turned around at Bella Bella. I cannot recommend Navionics highly enough if only for backup reasons.

So, a friend calls and we are discussing a backup chart plotter for when he hits the Canadian waters this summer. He just bought a 10" Samsung and downloaded the Navionics Canadian / U.S. charts for $14.95. I told him something does not compute as the tablet version is aprox $54.00. After a short discussion he is convinced he has the same maps, charts, etc I have on my tablet.

After we got off the phone I went to the Navionics download page and found that there is a Canadian / U.S. download for that price $14.95 - for CELL PHONES. Can anyone out there address this since I have to believe there has to be some major difference between a phone version vs a tablet version.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Well this does explain my problem. After reading the mentioned rave reviews on Navionics I downloaded the app to my Samsung Tab S with the ultra high rez screen. The results were so bad that the ONLY time I would use it would be as a last resort. So now I'm thinking maybe I have the Android phone version. :?:

 

[JamesTXSD]

Early on with Navionics (mobile app), the phone charts were the only option. When the iPad first came out, it took Navionics a while to catch up with that technology, but the phone app could be used on the iPad... with considerably less resolution than the iPad was capable of showing. Having used both for several years since then, I don't see much difference between the phone app and the iPad app (or the Droid app when I used one of those). Actually, the phone app allows you "one click" to call a marina or marine service provider.

 

[nzfisher]

It looks like Garmin does not see a revenue stream in supporting Navionics which might give some pause to Garmin users. This is a quote form the ad regarding the new Gamin 7612-

"With BlueChart Mobile, a free app downloaded from the App Store, you can plan marine routes on your iPad or iPhone then wirelessly transfer them to your boat’s compatible networked Garmin chartplotter. Even if you don’t have a Garmin chartplotter, you can still take advantage of the tremendous features of BlueChart on your Apple device."

It might be a tough rode for Navionics to compete with a company as large and globally diverse as Garmin as they go forward hand in hand with Apple.

 

[Crewdog]

I have the Navionics app on the iPad air and it has worked well as a backup to the Garmin and as a planning tool when at home or docked.

The map updates are immediate, and while i haven't used to make complex routes with multiple turns, it does work without wi-fi or cell service in Canada, Gulf Stream to Bahamas, across the Gulf of Mexico, and on our home freshwater Lake Allatoona (even showing the routes of the old roadbeds from days before it was dammed up.)

The charts are separate and proprietary from Garmin, whose charts are also proprietary, so I really don't think they will ever mesh unless one buys the other in a merger/acquisition.

In using and comparing the 2 different charting systems, it became apparent that occasionally neither was right on as to shoals, ridges, obstructions, but both were current for navigational aids, marinas, bridges, etc.

I have not download the Navionics for iPhone, as I already have to use +1.75 reader glasses to use the small phone screen, and i realize that with a 16 gb phone, there's too much stuff on already and have been deleting unused apps, old emails and photos etc to get enough room to handle updates.

Anyway, what really matters is that we're all on the water having fun.

Bill