Navionics Mobile Upgrade

Navionics Marine and Lakes 1.0.1 "NEW" Release

Application: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Function: Marine Navigation, Charting
Cost: $9.99
Rating: ****

Navionics has some new releases, but are they worth it?  Navionics 1.0.1 has been released and they have decreased the number of Marine apps from 30 down to 7 regions. The regions now include; Marine and Lakes USA, Marine and Lakes USA and Canada, Marine Caribbean and South America, Marine Australia and Africa, Marine Europe, Marine UK and Holland and Marine Denmark and Greenland. The new Marine and Lakes USA includes the ability to download Lakes in any state plus Marine charts for coastal regions. The two major changes are that the NEW apps now include User Generated Content (UGC) and a selection box that you size to select an area to download maps.

UGC is a neat feature that allows users to add information to their charts and have this information available to all user. The addition of this "local knowledge" will make the charts more usable, accurate and up to date. It will be much like having your old paper charts and being able to pencil in notes and points of interest right to the chart electronically. Under Menu make sure the Community Layer is turned "ON".

To add an UGC object to the chart simply Tap and hold the map on the spot where you wish to add an object. Next tap Edit Your Map. Next Select Object. Choose from the major categories that appear, they include Rocks and Wrecks, Buoys, Beacon and Signs, Lights, Shops and Repairs, Ports and Marinas, and Anchorages and Moorings. Once you have selected the Category then select the subcategory your object falls under, fill in the fields and save. You also have the option to edit move or delete an object. These changes will be save to the chart and shared with the Navionics server and community.

The other new feature is the map download. The old set of 30 apps were broken up that way to make the file sizes manageable. The seven NEW apps have a feature where you select what area of the region you want to download.  This is done with a selection box that you can adjust by moving the four corner to enclose the area of the maps that you want. Simply select download and those maps are then saved to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. You will have to be connected to WiFi or a cell network connection to download the maps and share your UGC content.

The NEW version of the apps are not available for the iPad yet.  Although the HD version for iPad has been upgrade to version 5.0 which has the new UGC feature. The iPhone and iPod touch can continue to use the retired 5.0 versions. The added features to the NEW versions are nice but probably not worth buying the app again unless your like me and always need the latest and greatest version.