SeaMaps US HD

Application: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Function: Nautical Chart Viewer
Cost: $.99 iPhone, $1.99 iPad
Rating: *

Chris Lukassen is a busy guy. He has developed a library of apps for the nautical community. These include SeaMaps US, SeaMaps, DeckHand, SeaMaps Baltic, SeaMaps EU, Track By Mail, Holmes, Anchor Watch and World Tides.

SeaMaps US for iPhone and the HD version for iPad are his latest versions released this month in the App Store. This is a basic chart viewer that allows you to view NOAA nautical charts.  There are no GPS navigation features included.  The app allows you to download and view the free official NOAA Raster charts.

Features:

• NOAA US raster charts
• 1700 charts covering US, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
• 5 different zoom levels
• Offline use of maps stored on your device

This is a basic chart viewer which can be used for planning purposes. The app does a nice job of displaying, panning and zooming of the charts.  Beyond the charts viewer there are not alot of bells an whistles in the app. There is no quilting of the charts so you have to select the chart you want to view in an area.

I hope the developer will add some navigation and GPS features to take the app to the next level.  I know there is a lot of competition our there for navigation apps but another player would be welcomed.