Garmin for iPhones and iPad's

C

Casey

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For those of you who may not get the weekly newsletter from ActiveCaptain, here is some information they posted yesterday re Garmin's new app for iPhones and iPads.

!!! Late Breaking News !!!

Garmin's BlueChart Mobile for iPhone and iPad is being released today,
November 28 at 9 am EST in the Apple App Store. There have been hundreds
of you who have written to us asking about it over this last year and we
want to make sure everyone knows that it is now available.

We've been using and testing it heavily for 8 months. You do not need
Garmin chartplotters to use it - it's a stand-alone product all to itself.

It's our opinion that this is the most significant boating app that has
been released for iOS. If you have an iPhone or an iPad, this is the
product to buy (we make no fees on the product at all). If you don't have
an iPad, BlueChart Mobile is more than enough reason to buy one (get a
cellular, 32 GB, latest model).

There is so much we've been dying to write about this new software but
couldn't. We'll tell all next Wednesday.

It's hard to find the new app in iTunes - we're not sure why. But go to
this link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/garmin- ... 523635526#

and click on "View in iTunes". The app is free - charts are added for
very low prices. If these links don't work for you, please do not write
us - write to Garmin or wait until it's fully up in iTunes.
 
Thanks. I have the car version for use on my ipad3 on the highway and love it. I can finally see the map and so can Sally! Will have to try this one in the boat.

Charlie
 
I purchased it yesterday, and so far I like its features. I plan to give it an on-the-water test this weekend. The only thing that I have found tha I may not like is that there doesn't appear to be a night color scheme mode. I wrote to Garmin about that. I'll reserve final judgement until after I try it on the water with the standard color scheme dimmed for light level, or they write me back an educate me on how to enable the night color mode.
 
Yes, Casey. A dandy app.

We have used the Navionics chart apps with the GPS in the iPhone for years, and this is a free one-click app. Now with Garmin.

Thanks. It's a whole new world of nav instrumentation in the past few years.
 
You need iOS 6. Last time I updated OS (4 to 5) I lost my Navionics...so I am a bit reluctant to "upgrade"--I OS 6 looses the google maps, and the not as good "apple" maps are used, Also some issues with U Tube.

Too Bad--at this point I am not leaving I OS 5
 
I have used Navionics the last year and I'm very pleased with it so far. I'm always looking for something better and as Bill stated it gets better every year.

I downloaded the free Garmin app and took a look at the interface. Looks user friendly. I will hold off purchasing the maps until I hear more feed back. I have OS6 and ready to use it but I'm guessing it darn close to what Navionics looks like. I like having ActiveCaptain and it would be great to get back to it. As I said standing by for further updates.

Mike
 
On my IPad I switched from OS 5 to 6 & agree with Bob in not being happy with losing Google maps, but I didn't lose Navionics.

You get all the US & the Pacific coast of Canada between the lower 48 & Alaska all for $29, but the inland US rivers & lakes have almost no data compared to Navionics.

If you already have the IPad with OS 6, Casey's link takes you right to the free app & then a simple to do purchase & download for the charts.

To me well worth the money just to compare with Navionics. I'm sure there will be some glitches but they will no doubt be ironed out by future auto updates just like Navionics. Will be interesting to see if the Garmin app gives a course up view. Not having course up on Navionics is its major draw back to me. It made it difficult to jump back & forth with my eye's from Garmin charts to iPad when navigating complex passages.

Casey, thanks much for the heads up.

Jay
 
Thanks for posting this - and I'm reading the follow-up comments with interest too (as an iPad/Navionics is on my "list" for the boat).

Sunbeam
 
Looks to me that it has "head up" or north up views. The head up view would for me make it nice, since that is what I use for all of my applications. Having the navionics with head up or course up would be a benefit for me, but alas, no deal at this time. Ron
 
I like the Garmin app and the functionally.
When I upgraded to iOS 6 and I did a backup and restore after the update completed. I miss Google Maps, too but for driving I switched to TeleNav GPS plus.
 
Downloading Active Captain data to Garmin nautical now. The weather add on looks great! I use Garmin in the car for navigation too on the ipad3. Don't miss google maps at all, I think you can get them back even of you upgrade to IOS6 which I have but haven't bothered to try it yet. I think on the ipad you can auto dim the display for night vision.

Charlie
 
One of the key features I really like on Navionics --especially on inland waters--is the course line projection. This is a great feature especially on Lake Powell, and makes up for no Heads up navigation...I guess I just visually/mentally rotate the display, and it does not bother me.

Does this Garmin App have the same course line projection.?

I can also see having two different charts can be of value in some circumstances. I might try the upgrade on the i phone first....It was the i OS 4 to 5 where I lost all of my Navionics maps (including the Caribbean and Mexico. There didn't seem to be any way to back them up. I am probably missing something...I already have a map program which gives me Active Captain.
 
rogerbum":2txk8dz2 said:
Unfortunately, IOS6 is not available for my 1st gen iPad so I can't run this. I guess I'll have to install it on Joyce's iPhone.
Click to expand...
That settles it, since I have a 1st generation i pad I am happy with, and don't see the need to spend $700 for a new one.....

I'll ask Jeff why the app was designed to only work on the newer iPads.
 
Jeff Siegel, Active Captain, responded very rapidly about my inquiry ref. i OS 6 and the i pad, and Garmin. Basically the gen 1 i Pad only has 500 mb of RAM, and many of the applications of i OS 6 will crash because of the lack of RAM. The Gen2 had 1 gig and the gen 3 had 1.5 gig of RAM. Jeff suspects that is why Navionics does not do "Heads up" display. That sounds like a very logical explanation.

Jeff also mentioned that there is a lot of new data from AK on Active Captain.
 
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