iPhone questions

I tried to post this using my iphone but after typing the message I got returned to the login screen when I tried to make the post... had to give up. Pretty sure the problem is with the phone/Safari but can't be sure. Typing on the iphone is relatively tedious (even compared with my Blackberry Curve) so I'm using a real computer this time.

A few folks have mentioned the Navionics iphone app. I used it too, for a while, but got very tired of the frequent updates which you have to download using a computer. The program is big, 125Mb, and not quick to download. Then you have to upload it to the phone. The reason for these shenanigans is that the ATT/iphone cell network won't allow direct downloads over 10Mb. It is one of the reasons I switched to iNavX. Other reasons are iNavX's use of raster charts (electronic versions of paper charts), and its ability to use GRIB files (weather) and AIS targets. It has many other capabilities. The program is, of course, far from perfect and I'm sure ActiveCaptain's upcoming review will discuss its shortcomings.

iNavX downloads directly into the phone over the cell network. All the NOAA charts are downloadable into the phone from inside iNavX for free and on demand. Each takes up about 1Mb so you can download thousands if you wish. It takes about a minute to download a chart. Provided you have a cell signal you can download any chart you need (or iNavX itself for that matter) easily and quickly, including on the water. The program costs $50 for life, quite a bit more than the Navionics program (whose price recently almost doubled), but hey, the (involuntary) data plan for the iPhone costs $350 a year and nav software usually costs a lot too. All things considered iNavX is a great deal.

PS iPhone users: check out this app: Ship Finder. Based on AIS data it shows on Google earth the location and other ship information of ships in any areas you designate. Useful and fun!
 
YACD":3a4s1eta said:
The program is, of course, far from perfect and I'm sure ActiveCaptain's upcoming review will discuss its shortcomings.
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I agree that iNavX has some nice capabilities. If you just want to watch where you are on nautical charts, it's pretty good. But using it as a planning tool or just "looking around" at other harbors and charts is an exercise in frustration.

Just one example...

Let's say you're looking at a chart in iNavX and come to the edge. You can't just continue on with the next chart off the edge. I don't mean quilting because that would be more than what I would expect today. I just mean, "take me to the adjacent chart" type of movement. You can't do that. Instead, you scale out to the chart with less detail. That centers the chart on the display. Now you pan over to where you think the chart edge was located (but you might not be able to pan all the way because it won't allow the chart limits to be off the display) - then scale in to the next chart with more details. That again centers the chart on the display. So you pan over and realize that you missed...and now start that frustrating process all over again. Get in an area where there are skewed charts and you need to be Einstein to figure out which way to pan and scale.

One more example...

It's true that downloading each chart takes only a minute or so. But there are hundreds for the east coast alone and you can only download them on the iPhone itself. For each one you have to load the list, scroll to the chart you want next, and download it. Trust me, it gets quite annoying after the first 20 when you realize you have hundreds still to go. It took me 4 days to download the east coast charts.

That said...

They have some interesting grib weather support. I tried it and found the X-Traverse interaction a big cumbersome. Not anything you'd want to use quickly for decisions right now. The weather overlay is a nice idea though. Give it a few more versions and I'm sure it'll get better.

Another real problem that hasn't been addressed is the lack of quality for the GPS hardware in the iPhone. I don't get this. I have many phones integrated with GPS. They all work well except for the iPhone. Getting consistent and accurate SOG/COG data is hard to do in any iPhone application pointing to issues with the hardware. Has anyone else seen this? My 1984 Garmin 45 honestly does a better job than the GPS in my 2009 iPhone 3GS. How come?

Navionics, on the other hand, does a pretty good job. It's true that they keep coming up with new updates - not really a bad thing. You have to download a hundred megabytes or so and you can't do it on the iPhone without WiFi. So I just wait until I have WiFi - and I've had to wait a few weeks between updates on the boat at times. I'd rather have the update and wait than have no chance at an update!

Navionics has outstanding integrated tide/current support. With iNavX there is AyeTides that will work alongside that is pretty good although it costs as much as buying the whole Navionics product integrated all together. I use the Navionics for tide and current handling every day I'm moving the boat. It is the best tide/current app for a handheld device that I have ever seen.

Our advice for iPhone users is to buy the Navionics product now. It was an unbelievable deal at $4.99 this Summer. It's still incredible at $9.99 now. For iNavX and AyeTides, hold off. You'll find you won't want it and the Navionics software will meet your needs better at a much lower price. You'll find plenty of other $2 apps to put the $60 you'll save towards - for instance, check out Swellinfo and BuoyData - both valuable apps for a couple of bucks.
 
ActiveCaptain":1skplufn said:
There has been a reference to ActiveCaptain's iPhone article in this thread.
...
I'll post an update when the articles are up. We're stuck for weather on the Chesapeake Bay right now and it's a perfect time to finish up the edits!
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I promised to inform the forum when our article series was updated. Due to incredibly poor weather on the Chesapeake Bay over the last week, we've been updating the articles. All of the updates are now live to the 19 part series. In particular, major re-writes were done on the iPhone and navigation articles. A lot more iPhone information was put into all of the articles where appropriate.

The introduction article can be found here:
http://www.activecaptain.com/articles/m ... /intro.php

The iPhone article is here:
http://www.activecaptain.com/articles/m ... iPhone.php

And the navigation article is here:
http://www.activecaptain.com/articles/m ... gating.php


We were extremely critical of the iPhone and exposed all of the things you should know about it before jumping off to use it in boating situations. In the end though, we admit that we love the iPhone and use it every day as our main phone.
 
Don't want to say this real loud, but the girls are getting iPhones (Jamie got hers yesterday and Tiffany gets her upgrade Tuesday) - and they talked their dyed-in-the-wool BlackBerry totin' grandpa into trying one. Well, I got it yesterday and decided already I'm keeping it. Don't tell Daydream Pat please.
 
I mentioned on our cruising thread that I bought a Droid when they came out on Friday. After playing with it over the weekend, I am very impressed... the web sites load just as fast as on my laptop; e-mail is faster.

Is anyone aware of any navigation software available for this OS? I bought the Navionics east coast chart, with the idea that I could use it on my iPod Touch, but it won't run on the first gen Touch. Doing a search on the 10,000+ apps, I haven't found anything for marine navigation.

I did download a good weather app and a fuel finder app that I know I will get good use of: using the onboard GPS, it lists gas stations in whatever radius you plug in by price... so as you're traveling, you can see who has the best price on your route ahead. :thup

Not the iPhone that I was hoping for (being a Mac kinda guy), but this is certainly quite a capable little unit.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Not being an iPhone might be a good thing, Jim. This thing is junk and I'm going back to the BlackBerry. Here at work the Internet speed is a fraction of my BB on the same network. And the battery is down to 34% already. It's a cool toy but that's all.
 
For some reason--probably due to taking on more customers, our Verizon service had been going down hill at the house, so we visited the Verizon and AT&T stores on last Friday. Verizon technical did call us on Sat, but AT&T had better signals by far. (I realize that Verizon is over all better coverage). A deal maker for us, is that all of our family members have AT&T, plus both SIL and daughter have switched from Blackberry to I phones. So we bit the bullets--and got an I phone on Saturday. I have a long way to go, with being good at using it's aps. But I was impressed with the GPS and maps. It even shows the lot lines in our subdivision--plus puts the position at the right place on the lot. Directions seemed good. I have a long way to go, plus have to figure out Marie's new Pantec phone (much simpler, but still have to get all systems working for her).
 
I have used a Blackberry, it is a piece of junk compared to an iPhone. I am not saying iPhones are perfect, but as far as smart phones nothing touches it.
 
And you think Microsoft is proprietary. Apple won't even let me work with my own files on my own phone without using their dorky iTunes. I think not. Battery at 19% now. BlackBerry goes from wake up to bedtime every time.
 
mshepherd":1o2j64bc said:
If you are wondering what smart phone people are most satisfied with here is a recent article, obviously as we can read above not everyone likes the iPhone :).
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My previous phone was a Krazr... a miserable phone to use, with crappy battery life, numbers you couldn't read, etc, etc. I waited to upgrade, hoping Verizon and Apple would come together. I have to say that I was a bit apprehensive about the Motorola Droid... but, I REALLY like this phone. Yeah, it's early on. I've had an iPod Touch for a couple years, so I have a bit of an idea what the iPhone is like... I think the Droid will be a big positive step for Motorola. (Ask me again a a couple months. :wink: )

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
I too have entered Droidhood, this AM, and although I have nothing to compare it to, so far it is pretty impressive. The touch screen is very sensitive but there is a learning curve to everything. Like Jim says, the next few months will tell.
 
mshepherd":vo122jym said:
If you are wondering what smart phone people are most satisfied with here is a recent article, obviously as we can read above not everyone likes the iPhone :).
[/url]
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When I kicked Verizon out the door and went back to ATT, I got the simplest phone I could. Disabled texting, internet and any/all other crap like that. I've even gone to a dial style ring tone. Retro Grouch!!!!!!
 
Still got the iPhone. I decided to give it a few more days trying since I have 30 days to take it back. The internet was going real fast on it today, so I think yesterday's slowness was a network problem which would have affected the BB too. I made a couple of changes on the phone to reduce battery drain. I also plugged it in the car for the drive to work giving me an hour jump on the battery usage. After four hours with a lot of net use the battery was about 65%. I plugged it in for ~1/2 hour at work and made the day no problem Yeah yeah yeah. I can probably live with that. If the screen wasn't so much bigger than the BB I couldn't live with it, but I gotta say the screen size is nice. If I keep it for another week or so until the new BB comes out, I will probably think the screen is so small that I keep the iPhone and am stuck with iTunes forever. I swear if I had any hair left I would pull it out.
 
TyBoo":xifl7zpe said:
And you think Microsoft is proprietary. Apple won't even let me work with my own files on my own phone without using their dorky iTunes. I think not. Battery at 19% now. BlackBerry goes from wake up to bedtime every time.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Nokia E71x. It's a simple smartphone for simpletons like me. Here's why I chose it over the BBerry and IPhone.

1. Two day battery
2. Very bright screen
3. Compact. Fits nicely in pants or jacket pocket.
4. Real keyboard
5. Tough. I've dropped it twice onto the driveway and it didn't even scratch. Hard case backing.
6. $50 price

Also, it tethers easily to my laptop. We're ditching the Sprint wireless card because of this feature.

Good camera!

-Greg
 
In the next few days I plan on getting my first smart phone as a part of the equipment list for my new to me C-Dory. Are there any more recent impressions or opinions from those who recently acquired either the Iphone or the Driod? Is AT&T coverage really as poor in the PNW as Verizon leads us to believe? Appreciate your time.
 
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