Using an Android Tablet as a Basic Chartplotter

[snowbrd84]

I did a search and did not see this covered in the last year or so. I have 17' Bowrider that I use in the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay and it would not make any sense to purchase an actual chartplotter due to the cost... However, I have a 7" samsung tablet running android with a builtin GPS and there are some marine nav programs out there, but there isnt a lot of info/reviews on them that are up to date.

Do any of you guys use an android tablet/app as a chartplotter? If so, does anyone have any recommendations for which app is the best? It would be nice to find one that includes a compass/speed display that is actually readable while in the chart view...

 

[carey965]

Re: Using an Android Tablet as a Basic Chartplotter

I don't know if it counts as a chart plotter but i have navionics on my old DROID x2 and it works great. Definitely worth the 15 bucks. Next year I plan on getter a fish depth finder with navionics but this definitely helps for the time being

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Using an Android Tablet as a Basic Chartplotter

I don't know about Navionics. It says you don't need a data package to use it, but I loaded it on my Android phone and it looked to be working fine. Drove an hour up to a lake and went out and it said "download maps" and of course I have no way of doing that there.

 

[Alumarine]

Re: Using an Android Tablet as a Basic Chartplotter

I don't know about Navionics. It says you don't need a data package to use it, but I loaded it on my Android phone and it looked to be working fine. Drove an hour up to a lake and went out and it said "download maps" and of course I have no way of doing that there.

If you don't have a data plan or a data connection where you're going then you need to download the area you want to navigate using a wifi connection before you head out. I think the phone can only hold so much.

 

[Alumarine]

Re: Using an Android Tablet as a Basic Chartplotter

I did a search and did not see this covered in the last year or so. I have 17' Bowrider that I use in the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay and it would not make any sense to purchase an actual chartplotter due to the cost... However, I have a 7" samsung tablet running android with a builtin GPS and there are some marine nav programs out there, but there isnt a lot of info/reviews on them that are up to date.

Do any of you guys use an android tablet/app as a chartplotter? If so, does anyone have any recommendations for which app is the best? It would be nice to find one that includes a compass/speed display that is actually readable while in the chart view...

I use it on my Galaxy and my friend uses it on his Ipad and it works great. We can even download data to/from our Humminbirds that also have the Navionics charts.

 

[snowbrd84]

Re: Using an Android Tablet as a Basic Chartplotter

I do actually have navionics on my android tablet and used it a couple times last year. My issue is that it doesnt have the ability to display compass and speed, which is pretty silly to me.

 

[nmscuba]

Re: Using an Android Tablet as a Basic Chartplotter

I also have the navionics on my android Droid Razr and it does show speed but does not show or rotate with your direction of travel. It shows with a red line you direction of travel and works great on the lakes and its pretty accurate too.

 

[BatDaddy1887]

Re: Using an Android Tablet as a Basic Chartplotter

+1 for Navionics. I also have an android smartphone and use the Earth NC app. They have a basic free version, but I liked the app so much I bought the premium app for like 2 dollars or something.

http://earthnc.com/