i-Boating vs Navionics

[SirCranksalot]

This nay have been discussed on here before but I did not find it on my brief search.  I am considering buying for my I-phone. Navionics seem to be missing lots of smaller inland lakes. I get the impression that i-Boating has more. Any comments on which is best both in terms of coverage and usability? thx

[Hack_Fisherman]

 I’d be interested to know about this as well. Somebody told me that I could rig up a basic tablet/iPad  and a contractors case/mount for gps on the cheap. 

I was thrilled to have Navionics on my new helix 7 though I’m a little disappointed now to find it’s not as detailed as the bigger units or some of the competition.   

Looking forward to your findings 

[grimsbylander]

I’m not sure about iboating vs Nav but watch the iPad option...they hate sunshine and shut down fairly quickly due to heat. I don’t really see them as a main source unit. 
 

[Raycaster]

Like several guys here I have been a navionic user since the beginning. Early adopters have gone through many ups and downs, including Navionics “version updating” requiring purchasing the same app multiple times. Still to this day I swear the original app from years ago was the best.

Navionic is again “updating” and soon will require you to login online etc. My cell coverage sucks and can just imagine the headaches this will cause again.

Yes the new versions have some nice features but it still clobbers you with dumb stuff like constantly asking to updates maps while on the water etc. with limited data. The notification wont go away and takes up 25% of the screen. This is a typical Overkill procedure that you just put up with. At least it doesn't clobber you with addon ads like it did a year or so back.

A nice new feature is only 1 license is required for your android and ios device. I have a android phone and ipad on board. Remember iPads are useless unless you teather wifi on the boat or have a iPad with gps (only cell enabled ipad). Keeping the iPad out of sunlight and having a power supply (usb cigarette lighter Adapter etc.) make the iPad quite usable.

Navionic still clobbers me on the iPad disabling paid features because my Raymarine unit does not have a updated navionic chip. I use WiFish on my iPad for big screen but because of the non-updated unit chip things are wonky.

ANYWAYS, after all the rants I still use the navionics app as it works ok and $35 a year is ok for the piece of mind it provides (most of the time).

Many people here love the app and I don’t want to step on their toes but I sure have a love/hate relationship with the mobile app.

   

Edited August 21, 2020 by Raycaster
Learning to spell

[David Chong]

On 8/18/2020 at 3:26 PM, SirCranksalot said:

This nay have been discussed on here before but I did not find it on my brief search.  I am considering buying for my I-phone. Navionics seem to be missing lots of smaller inland lakes. I get the impression that i-Boating has more. Any comments on which is best both in terms of coverage and usability? thx

Unfortunately I'm not really familiar with the coverage of i-Boating but I can tell you that Navionics covers close to 2,400 bodies of water in Ontario alone! If fact most of the time, I'm surprised when we look for a smaller lake that the Navionics has data on it! You can check out the list of lakes at https://www.navionics.com/usa/navionics-regions-canada.html

[David Chong]

On 8/19/2020 at 4:23 PM, Hack_Fisherman said:

 I’d be interested to know about this as well. Somebody told me that I could rig up a basic tablet/iPad  and a contractors case/mount for gps on the cheap. 

I was thrilled to have Navionics on my new helix 7 though I’m a little disappointed now to find it’s not as detailed as the bigger units or some of the competition.   

Looking forward to your findings 

Curious as to why you don't believe that your unit is as detailed with your Navionics card? The screen is smaller than an 9", 10" or 12" but your detail should be the same, you just have to zoom in. I'm wondering if you don't have the Fish'N Chip option selected on your unit which gives you SonarCharts with 1 foot contours!

[Hack_Fisherman]

10 minutes ago, David Chong said:

Curious as to why you don't believe that your unit is as detailed with your Navionics card? The screen is smaller than an 9", 10" or 12" but your detail should be the same, you just have to zoom in. I'm wondering if you don't have the Fish'N Chip option selected on your unit which gives you SonarCharts with 1 foot contours!

Thanks so much, I will check!!

[SirCranksalot]

1 hour ago, David Chong said:

Unfortunately I'm not really familiar with the coverage of i-Boating but I can tell you that Navionics covers close to 2,400 bodies of water in Ontario alone! If fact most of the time, I'm surprised when we look for a smaller lake that the Navionics has data on it! You can check out the list of lakes at https://www.navionics.com/usa/navionics-regions-canada.html

Thx, but no charts for Big east or Horn near P sound

 

[LeXXington]

just in case you did not know about this

https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@6&key=slhiGjbpgN