#Navionics desktop app for mac download#

If you plan to sail in remote areas and you are looking for a cheaper navigation app, read the section below on alternatives to the Navionics app.ĭespite the clear benefits, the Navionics app isn’t for everyone. The United Kingdom, Ireland, and Holland – $39.99Īs you can see, charts for popular cruising areas are generally very affordable on the app, while more remote cruising grounds tend to cost much more.Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America to Brazil – $28.99.The Mediterranean and Black Sea – $19.99.The Indian Ocean and South China – $26.99.Chile, Argentina, and Easter Island – $54.99.The Canaries, Azores and Madeira – $23.99.When the trip is over, you have the option to either save or delete the track and trip data. If you plan to sail in remote regions, make sure that your device is able to receive GPS coordinates without a cell tower signal, or you may lose your position as soon as you sail outside areas that are covered by normal cell phone reception. The app also shows sea current and tidal information for many areas. Of course, the depths may have changed since the data was collected, so it’s always a good idea to use the app in conjunction with a reliable depth sounder. The app will now show your current position and boat speed, as well as track the time and distance that your vessel has covered underway.Īs you sail, you can use the app to keep track of depth and watch out for hazards to navigation. When you are ready to go sailing, open the app and press the “start” button.

#Navionics desktop app for mac download#

I like to download as many charts as possible right away so that I don’t have to do it later as I am approaching a new cruising ground. In this guide, we will cover everything that you need to know to start navigating with the Navionics app yourself. If you want to learn more about the Navionics app or are thinking about downloading the app to use on your own vessel, keep reading. All of those separate charts have been consolidated into one app, and it’s safe to say that paper charts are now a thing of the past.

Today, it’s possible to navigate all the way around the world with just the smartphone in your pocket and the Navionics web app. A world cruise could cost thousands of dollars in charts alone! A single chart could easily cost 50 dollars or more, and most vessels needed dozens of paper charts to cover a single cruising ground. Paper charts were loved by mariners because they were always reliable and didn’t depend on electricity or finicky electronic equipment, but they were extremely expensive.

Even the boats that were equipped with early models of GPS and chart plotters carried backup paper charts for their cruising grounds since GPS was often unreliable and prone to failure. When I first started sailing in the early nineties, pretty much every boat on the water used paper charts for navigation.