Boat HUD

Application:  iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, iPod Touch 3&4 Gen

Function: Heads up Display, navigation, weather data

Rating: ***
Cost: $1.99

Boat HUD is a great little app that was apparently created by a sailor or boater.  The app works well on the water but can be used in any vehicle that you might be traveling in.  All of the information is thoughtfully incorporated into one screen. The screen looks a little busy at first glance but weigh that against all the useful data and it seems to work. 

Features:

• Speed indication
• Latitude/longitude
• Local NOAA weather
• Wind direction and velocity
• Wind indication with respect to the users heading
• Temperature
• Barometric pressure
• Sunrise and Sunset times
• Distance travelled
• Google Map position
• Timer
• Settings for both English and metric readings
• Data colors can be customized for better day and night vision
• Anchor Alarm

I have seen quite a few speedometer apps out there, but none with the integrated weather, maps and the customizable functions that Boat HUD has.

The app opens up to the main display. The vessels speed is indicated in the larger center text. The various other weather, heading and position data are shown around the outside of the display.  I like that the weather data is displayed on the same screen.  As a sailor the wind speed and direction are an added bonus.

The app requires a cell or Internet connection to pickup the weather data. The app searches for the closet NOAA weather site and downloads the needed data for display.

The settings screen can be accessed by tapping the small italics i in the lower right corner of the screen.  Units for all settings can be selected here for either English or metric units.

Additional settings are available to hide local clock, hide sunrise/sunset, hide GPS coordinates, hide pressure, hide stopwatch, disable screen saver and display heading in text form. The anchor alarm distance can also be set here.

Colors for the text can be changed for the speed and heading, temperature and pressure, wind, clock, sunrise/sunset and the background.  This is a nice feature that provides a lot of flexibility to adjust the colors for optimum contrast.  The wide range of colors makes it easy to find the best combination for both day and night vision.

I like the app, but there are a few other features that might make it even better.  It would be cool to have the ability to tap a reading and have it come to the center of the display and replace the speed indication. This would allow the user to highlight any of the readings needed at the time.

Another useful feature would be tap a data point and have it take you to another page and show a graph of the wind, pressure, temperature or speed.  When I am racing I like to see my speed in large text and graphed to see if I am losing or gaining speed.  A graph of the pressure might also show you indication of an approaching storm.  What features would you like to see added?.

The app is priced right at $1.99 and offers much more than just a basic speedometer app.