If you own a boat, and an Android or tablet, there is a good chance you have come across marine navigation apps in Google&#;s Play Store.
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There are a lot of them to look through, so to save you considerable time and energy I have compiled a list of my top 5.
Naturally, the top apps for Android are actually the same as the top apps for iOS, and they all feature in my list of the Top 8 Marine Navigation Apps.
During my testing, it became apparent that the best and most popular ones are available cross-platform, presumably so that they reach the widest possible audience.
I tested a few that are specific to Android, but I found that none of them could compete with the ones on this list.
Cost: Free app, with in-app purchases for charts. Chart subscriptions include advanced app features.
Well designed and reasonably priced, Navionics was the overall winner in my tests. It was clear why this is the most popular boating app, with 1,000,000+ downloads from the Play Store.
The app includes features like route planning & monitoring, currents & tides, NMEA integration and unique data overlays.
The vast Navionics community contributes edits to their charts, giving an extra dimension to your sailing experience through local knowledge.
Navigating using Navionics an easy and intuitive, and has clearly been optimised for use by recreational boaters.
I was particularly impressed with the way Navionics displays just the right amount of information around the edge of the screen in a very unobtrusive way.
Its main weakness is that there are fewer customisations available in comparison to other apps. Given the design of Navionics, however, you probably won&#;t feel like you need to customise anything anyway.
Read my full Navionics review: Navionics App: Reviewed By A Professional Navigator
Cost: Free app, with in-app purchases for charts and advanced features.
Created by Transas (now Wärtsilä), iSailor is based on one of the most popular commercial navigation systems. The app itself is very popular in the Play Store, with over 100,000 downloads.
iSailor was probably the most advanced app that I tested, with passage planning features including cross-track-distance (XTD) and turn radius available as standard.
Navigating with iSailor is great, with its sliding sidebar to display all the navigational information you need for your passage.
The main weakness with iSailor on Android is that it requires a modern to be able to download.
Read my full iSailor review: iSailor: Reviewed By A Professional Navigator.
Cost: Free app, with an in-app purchase to save charts to your device and activate Premium features.
Recognised across the industry, the C-Map app is a great adaptation of an already successful commercial navigation system.
The app itself is incredibly popular, with over 500,000 downloads from the Play Store.
C-Map uniquely offers free worldwide charts, as long as you have an internet connection. Once you activate Premium, you gain the ability to download up to charts to your device.
Chart customisation in C-Map is brilliant, with a vast array of layer controls. You can instantly de-clutter the screen if it starts to look busy.
Navigation in C-Map is incredibly easy, with intuitive manual or automatic route creation and a simple way of following your track.
C-Map&#;s main weakness is that some navigational information can be hard to read on the screen, especially if you are using a small tablet.
Read my full C-Map review: C-Map: Reviewed By A Professional Navigator.
Cost: Free app, with in-app purchases for charts. US charts are free.
With over 100,000 downloads from the Play Store, iNavX is a popular app, and easily the most customisable one that I tested.
iNavX is capable of drawing on almost every NMEA data type imaginable and displaying it directly on your navigational screen.
Users in the US can benefit from free raster charts from NOAA, and everyone else will get access to easily the most extensive app-based chart store. iNavX can run charts from many different providers.
The navigation experience within iNavX is very much subject to the customisations you make. As you gain experience with the app, you&#;ll find navigation easy and fun.
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The main weakness of iNavX is its complexity because even simple actions seem more complicated than they do in other apps. With regular use, however, you will grow to love iNavX.
Read my full iNavX review: iNavX: Reviewed By A Professional Navigator.
Cost: Free basic app, with an in-app purchase for the Premium app. Charts are available as additional in-app purchases.
One of my favourite apps on test, Seapilot from Raymarine is a popular boating app with over 100,000 downloads from the Play Store.
The charts in Seapilot were the closest match to the commercial systems that I am used to, making the entire app feel very familiar.
Its menu system gives you access to a whole range of controls, and its customisable navigation screen places the data you need in easy sight.
The main weakness with Seapilot is that it feels a bit more like a computer program rather than an app. The menu system, while functional, is not the most efficient for use in a touch screen device.
Read my full Seapilot review: Seapilot: Reviewed By A Professional Navigator.
If you are considering purchasing a marine navigation app for Android, there are a few things you should look out for.
Android is different to iOS in that there is a huge variance in the versions of Android that are prevalent in the community.
Over time, marine navigation apps get updated and no longer work on older versions of Android. This is especially true with navigation apps that use modern features on phones.
I found that some apps would not even load on my , despite only being 2 years old.
All marine navigation apps have a different pricing structure. Most of them will offer a free app, then charge you for the charts.
You can check their websites to find out the price that you can expect to pay for charts before you become attached to an app.
Some people will use their app as a stand-alone device, using the &#;s internal GPS. Others will want to integrate with their boat&#;s NMEA network.
Not all apps offer full NMEA connectivity. Be sure to check the app that you are considering.
After testing so many different apps, I couldn&#;t believe how different my view was compared to other reviews that I had read.
Most apps offer a free trial, so make use of it and put a few to the test yourself.
I supply ready to navigation tablets or navigation laptops with marine navigation software, charts and GPS antennas. Sometimes, my clients ask me what other marine navigation app for tablet or they can run on my units or on their own or tablet as a back up. Therefore, I am assembling an up to date list here. All other lists of marine navigation apps I found online was either out of date, or very incomplete. These marine navigation apps run on iOS (iPhone, iPad) or Android devices. I also have a separate list of marine navigation software for PC&#;s which run on Windows based computers such as the midrange Toughbooks I supply. This can be much more affordable than buying an expensive MFD from one of the major brands. My heavy duty marine grade Toughbooks are perfectly suited for a marine environment, if you are interested in taking a look at one. They can be used outside in the elements (such as in a sailboat cockpit in all weather) and feature outdoor viewable screens on some models. Feel free to contact me with any questions!
If your tablet does not have a hardware GPS antenna, it won&#;t work track your location properly. For example, non-LTE (that is WiFi only) iPad versions, including even the iPad Pro don&#;t have a GPS antenna! You can certainly make it work with an external Bluetooth antenna, but without it the location will never be accurate enough to navigate with. The navigation tablets I supply loaded with Navionics charts have a built in GPS antenna. Therefore, please refer to your tablet&#;s manual to confirm that it has a hardware GPS antenna built in. Almost all phones, fortunately, do have an integrated GPS antenna.
This one of the most popular and well known marine navigation apps for or tablet in the world. This is what I supply loaded in my navigation tablets! The standout feature would the ability to switch between navigation charts and SonarChart (high amount of depth contours), as well as the Relief Shading. Great if you need lots of bottom detail for fishing. Excellent value, and constant updates. Does automatic routing, but you need to have an active subscription for that. You can connect a wireless AIS receiver to it, and it will work offline! On the whole, an excellent choice for your mobile device. You can view their charts online for free to see if they suit your needs here. Available for Android devices here, and for Apple iOS here. Quick video overview here!
These guys have good coverage, and they amalgamate a lot of chart sources here. However, you cannot choose different chart sets in any given area. It&#;s basically whatever they chose at this time. However, nice value and functionality! I&#;d say the user interface is a bit outdated, in my opinion. You can connect an AIS receiver, and you can have satellite overlays. They have iOS, Android and even a Windows 10 or 11 version! If you want to check out the charts for your area online, the viewer is here.
Detailed charts? Check. Pretty good interface? Check. Automatic routing? Check. Cannot connect an AIS device to it directly, though. No satellite overlays either. If you don&#;t need those two, it&#;s a great option. Online chart viewer is here, so just take a look! Available for Android here, and iOS here. Here&#;s a quick video overview.
This app has some unique features compared to the rest. Pretty cool 3D display features, and has Furuno DRS4W wireless radar support. It only works on iPhone and iPad, however. It&#;s very complete and comprehensive. An excellent higher end option. Available for iOS here.
iSailor has some excellent customization options for passage planning, with the ability to easily add XTD (Cross Track Distance), and turn radius to every leg. Overall, a pretty unique interface, reminiscent of commercial ECDIS systems on cargo ships. iSailor uses vector charts compiled using data from various national hydro graphic services around the world. Available for iOS here, but no longer available on Android.
This app is much more customizable than the rest. However, this also makes it more complex for beginners. As you use it a lot, it&#;s really impressive, though! It does give you access to various chart sources. You can connect almost any NMEA device and display it with this app. Available for iOS here and for Android here. Quick video overview here.
The charts here are colored in the standard S-57/S-63 commercial ECDIS fashion. Ie they may be familiar to some, but bleak looking to others. The user interface is less intuitive / flexible than some of the other options here, and is more similar to the kind of navigation software you would find on a Windows machine rather than a tablet. There&#;s pretty could course projection and ring-around-ship customization options in SeaPilot. Available for Android here, and for iOS here. Quick video overview here.
AquaMap is a navigation app available for Android and iOS devices. It&#;s not as well known as some of the other options above. These charts have a pretty unique color scheme. Definitely not a bad alternative! They have a chart viewer here. iOS version here, Android version here. Here is a detailed video overview.
My navigation laptops or tablets can be much more affordable than Garmin, Lowrance, Simrad, B&G, Furuno, Humminbird, Raymarine, Si-Tex. I will also support the GPS laptop your purchase forever! Furthermore, I believe that some of the commercial chart plotter brands gouge their customers. Large companies force their clients to upgrade. They stop supporting older units with chart and software updates. In addition, they charge outrageous fees for simple things like a larger screen size. I don&#;t do any of these things, and never will &#; guaranteed! Moreover, please take a look at other advantages as well. Therefore, my systems offer a compelling alternative to the major brands!
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