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Nav apps for android phones?

52K views 80 replies 30 participants last post by  Heinous 
#1 ·
I just acquired an android phone and, although it has a built-in GPS which seems to work very well, I have not been able to find any app for marine navigation -- like those available for the iPhone.

Does anyone have any info on android nav apps?
 
#54 ·
hi

if you're interested, i put a bunch of screen pics up on a different thread:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/65143-android-navionics-app-pics-comments.html

its on the android market - searching "navionics" brings up a bunch of apps including BC, US east coast, Great Lakes, Caribbean & central americal, US Central, US west, etc. I have BC and Caribbean/Central America, i.e.:

[/URL][/IMG]

i know the android market is slightly different in Canada, but i think we get all the same apps as the US - i find it hard to believe we can buy something you cant - usually its the other way around - although the prices are listed in euros, so maybe.

if so, i'm sure they're forthcoming shortly - they include a lot of maps (i.e. the whole of the caribbean or the whole of the BC coast or all of the great lakes) in the single purchase, i.e.:

[/URL][/IMG]
 
#55 ·
Out of curiosity, what version of Android are you using? I updated to 2.2 (Froyo) and I know some apps are missing from the market because the devs haven't updated their apps to match Froyo's fingerprint.

I'm pretty sure folks in the US have installed Navionics for Android...hopefully it's just a matter of Navionics updating their apps.
 
#57 ·
Argle- Thanks for all the nice pics and responses.

As it turns out, Google has not updated the app market to recognize phones running Froyo as having a valid "fingerprint" that is needed to access copy-protected apps such as those by Navionics. Apparently this happens with each new OS update, the market being updated to recognize the new OS fingerprint within a few days of the official release. I manually updated my Nexus and so am likely ahead of the official timeline for the market update.

The "missing apps" syndrome for new OS version users is apparently well known, as I have learned. There are workarounds for anyone else experiencing this issue. A search for "missing apps" in the xda forums will bring it right up.

-brian
 
#59 ·
This is a great thread, even if it did go off topic a bit here and there. I wish I had seen it a few months ago.

I have been a developer and designer for more than 20 years, started in C, then C++ and then Java. My expertise is in OO design, not performance, but these days, Java competes quite well in performance against native C/C++. Of course the real performance pureists will even bash C++ and insist upon C, but then again you don't see them going to hand coded assembly.

I also grabbed a Moto Droid the first day it was out. I'm lucky, I was unable to get a Storm even weeks after it was released, and that worked out well, since android is so much better. In particular, the display on my Moto Droid can't be beat.

I saw an Incredible the other day and was impressed with it and its 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. I'll watch for the signal issues to be resolved.

I think I'll have a look at BC Racer... I have a full set of nexus instruments on my boat, but for $4.00 or whatever it might be fun to play with.
 
#60 ·
jarcher.

From the little bit I've actually used BC Racer, it's a pretty cool app. I especially like the start mode since it gives you a good idea of your ETA to the starting line based on your current speed and course.

I also downloaded and installed the Navionics app, Lakes: US East. For the most part, I'm impressed. The data provided in the app is pretty good although some of the contact information is a little outdated. The app does have a few quirks and I've notified the developers of the problems I've found. Some of the things I noticed are that it doesn't provide any type of night mode. Most Android based phones (that aren't hacked anyway) aren't able to dim the screen to a point where the bright colors of the app won't interfere with one's night vision. Another annoying shortcoming is that the app doesn't provide a means to keep the display on. If you don't manually disable your screen timeout (which isn't possible using the regular settings) then the phone display will shut off on it's own. Something else that makes it a little difficult to use is that the font sizes for depth contours and features is a bit too small for my liking and isn't adjustable.

The good news is that's it's fairly cheap considering what you get. Depending on the region it costs 10-20 euros and is does work fairly well. They've already released an update so it should only get better.
 
#62 ·
The Navionics charts require firmware 1.6. My HTC Hero uses 1.5, with an updated expected in the near future (whole other topic). I do not need the charts, but they would be a nice touch.
 
#63 ·
The Navionics apps don't show up in the Android Marketplace on my phone... and I'm running v. 2.1 of android. UGH.
 
#65 ·
Hi
The app is not available in all countries.
You need a sim card from at country that will give you all apps on Android market.
I had the same problem but the sollution was to buy a cheap sim card for UK and dowload the app with wifi with this sim card in the phone, and pay with the google account

Anyway I can't get the app working as it should on my Galaxy i 9000- I cannot see the map details yet but hope to fix that.
Donæt know if my phone is compatible even if it has Android 2.1
-NP
 
#64 ·
Hello All,

Treat this as an un-paid informercial, but we are in beta right now for our Android Nav app. It will include all of the NOAA Raster charts and Vector navaids, true GPS support, tracking and routing (eventually) and a few other goodies.

If you're interested in participating in the our beta, please follow this link EarthNC Android Beta | Google Groups for instructions. Otherwise, we'll continue monitoring this and other threads for what we should be building.

Kind Regards,

Brad
EarthNC, Inc.
www.earthnc.com
 
#68 ·
The HTC Slide, otherwise known as T-mobile MyTouch 3G Slide.
 
#69 ·
Markcj—

Thank you for spamming the forums with ads for your own app. If you want to advertise it, please take out an advertisement. You've posted about your app THREE times in this thread. Also, you do need to follow the SPECIAL INTEREST DISCLOSURE rules as posted in the Boat Buying fora.
 
#72 ·
Thanks for that

Any comments / reviews?

Jack
 
#73 ·
Hi,

yes, there is plenty of information on their website. mobilegrib dot com.

You can watch a demo video there and see it in action.

This is the info from the website:

mobileGRIB is a GRIB2 viewer for Android. It enables sailors and hobby meteorologists to have detailed weather information always available. This is done by downloading GRIB files of any region of interest. Source for the Gridded Binaries is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Forecast times and variables can be chosen from pressure, wind arrows, temperature, cloud cover, humidity and precipitation for the upcoming 6 days and between a resolution of 1° x 1° or, for even more detail, 0.5° x 0.5°. By selecting only what the user needs, this procedure will keep the size of the downloaded GRIB file low, making it especially convenient for low bandwidth regions covered only by Edge or GPRS networks, or simply regions with low cellular coverage.

A free version of mobileGRIB is available under the name of mobileGRIB light and can be used for evaluation purposes. It is a fully functional version with outdated GRIB files. To receive actual GRIB forecasts, please purchase the full version.

upcoming features:

remember zoom level
choose forecast interval and period before downloading the GRIB file
offline maps for even less data transfers
offline GRIB file browser
GPS positioning and track
Latitude and Longitude lines
L and H signs for pressure
Isotherms to determine cold and hot fronts and resulting occlusions
weather animation
language support for up to 9 languages

Homepage: mobilegrib dot com (screenshots and demo video here)
Follow mobilegrib on twitter and facebook


Hope this helps,

reagards,

kubante
 
#75 ·
Gribs

Then Navionics app has the ability to download and overlay the gribs too.

Hi,

yes, there is plenty of information on their website. mobilegrib dot com.

You can watch a demo video there and see it in action.

This is the info from the website:

mobileGRIB is a GRIB2 viewer for Android. It enables sailors and hobby meteorologists to have detailed weather information always available. This is done by downloading GRIB files of any region of interest. Source for the Gridded Binaries is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Forecast times and variables can be chosen from pressure, wind arrows, temperature, cloud cover, humidity and precipitation for the upcoming 6 days and between a resolution of 1° x 1° or, for even more detail, 0.5° x 0.5°. By selecting only what the user needs, this procedure will keep the size of the downloaded GRIB file low, making it especially convenient for low bandwidth regions covered only by Edge or GPRS networks, or simply regions with low cellular coverage.

A free version of mobileGRIB is available under the name of mobileGRIB light and can be used for evaluation purposes. It is a fully functional version with outdated GRIB files. To receive actual GRIB forecasts, please purchase the full version.

upcoming features:

remember zoom level
choose forecast interval and period before downloading the GRIB file
offline maps for even less data transfers
offline GRIB file browser
GPS positioning and track
Latitude and Longitude lines
L and H signs for pressure
Isotherms to determine cold and hot fronts and resulting occlusions
weather animation
language support for up to 9 languages

Homepage: mobilegrib dot com (screenshots and demo video here)
Follow mobilegrib on twitter and facebook

Hope this helps,

reagards,

kubante
 
#74 ·
update on old thread.. It never ceases to amaze me that people who claim technical experience can be in error so much. And more amazing that they will put it in a public forum. ie java vs C.. Just because one knew the limits of the JIT version does not mean they understand the realtime capabilities of advance compiled code. If your old enough you would have used interpreted BASIC and thought it would never be fast.. but Visual BASIC and other compiled versions have proven very capable. Of couse It is 2011 and things changed. there are more nav apps for the I-phone but the Droid phones have some of the same and the GPS is as good as any standard one and the I-phone as it uses the same technology..
 
#77 ·
Hi,

I wrote and use Boat Beacon - Marine AIS Navigation, based on my own needs sailing in the Bristol Channel. It plots your own boat's position and receives other ship positions via AIS in real time and , unlike other apps, I mean real time, down to the second. I have just completed and released the Android version.

It also provides continuous collision detection out to 30 miles and can share your position too so other Boat Beacon users can see you and if you have an MMSI you can also appear on Global AIS systems like Marine Traffic, ShipFinder, AIS-Hub and Vessel Tracker etc. You can find it in the Play Store or visit the web site boatbeaconapp.com

It is not a substitute for real AIS and relies on a mobile data connection - so can only be used around Coastal and Inland waters.

I have 3 free copies to give away to the first 3 folks who PM me.
 
#79 · (Edited)
I have just downloaded this app on my I PAD and it seems to be as advertised initially with updates within 2 minutes on all boats positions (it tells you the time since the last update and most are within 30 seconds)

I contacted the OP and asked about the updating and his reply-

> Does it really do AIS in real time unlike Marine Traffic.-chef2sail
The majority of our feeds are direct in real time from the AIS Receivers (over 70%). Our servers are handling over 20MB/s of data arriving. For instance in the UK around the Isle of Wight we get updates from the fast ferries every 2s and their updates appear in Boat Beacon within a second of being received.

All the other data is accurately time stamped at source and collated over 1 minute. On average this is only 30s behind real time and is displayed with the corrected time (and interpolated position) in Boat Beacon. You also have to remember that AIS transmissions from ships are sent at varying intervals from once every 3 minutes to every 2s depending on their status and speed. So for example a ship at Anchor can show a status that is 3 to 4 minutes old. Also the transmissions are not guaranteed and can be easily blocked by passing ships, bridges and island's etc.Rorythepilot
I will test against the AIS on the boat when I get down to it.

Good show,
 
#81 ·
Since the original info on this thread is year's old, we might as well update.

I've been using Navionics Marine US West on my android phones, and aside from lacking a night time mode for retaining night vision, it's pretty handy and full featured. All map data is stored locally on the device so you don't need a data connection if you are away from land. I've been waiting for this app to become available on my Nexus 7, but the developers seems to be dragging their feet.

I'm going to have to check out mobileGRIB and Pocket Grib.

I had another app that let you plot your anchor position and scope, and it would alert you if you started dragging. I forgot what it was called, but made sleeping on the hook a little easier.
 
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