Android GPS app

[BigTerp]

Looking for some kind of GPS/mapping sort of app to download to my Android phone that would allow me to mark and save target areas. I have Google earth on my phone, but unless I'm missing something, I can't figure out an option to mark and save target areas. Something like this would be really helpfull for marking areas where we find ducks/geese during scouting, marking good fishing spots, marking treacherous areas on the river, etc. Anybody know of anything like this?

 

[jethro]

Absolutely. Look up Navionics and pay the $10 and enjoy the goodness. You can thank me later. Seriously, it's the single best app for a phone any fisherman could ever hope for. Depth charts for everywhere, downloadable maps, waypoints... I love it.

You mentioned marking trouble spots... I wouldn't doubt they will be marked for you already!! Seriously, I have been to some stupidly small and obscure lakes that Navionics has all the details on including hazards, channels, sandbars...

 

[FerrisBueller]

x2

Navionics app is awesome

 

[BigTerp]

Thanks. Just checked it out. Seems nice. But it seems to be geared more towards lakes and larger bodies of water. I'm rarely out on any lakes, mostly just the river. How is it for rivers? Specifically the upper branch of the Potomac river in Maryland?

 

[03sp500]

I hate these kind of questions all it does is lead me to spend 10.00 and be happy. The app looks great downloading now. :roll:

 

[jethro]

03sp500 » 23 Aug 2013, 11:09[/url]"]I hate these kind of questions all it does is lead me to spend 10.00 and be happy. The app looks great downloading now. :roll:

Just so you know, after owning the app for a few years, if it was $50 I would still be suggesting it. It's truly just an awesome app for anyone who navigates water and/or fishes. You an even download maps so when you are in an area without a data connection you can still use it.

 

[TheBassinBarber]

A really cool, FREE App is GPS Essentials. It allows you to mark waypoints and is really customizable. There is a paid version, but its basically a donation to help with the running of it and its only a dollar and change I believe. I was going to use navionics, but I think it was taken off the play store.

 

[Team Colibri]

I have the Navionics on my IPhone, on my IPad and even on a chip for my chartplotter. I have no idea how good the charts on it will be in your neck of the woods, but around here it's as good as it gets.

If you go to www.navionics.com and look at their webapp under products, you will get an idea of what it will look like. The webapp can't be used for navigation or saving wp, but it gives you a hint of what it might look like on your smartphone.

 

[acabtp]

jethro » 23 Aug 2013, 11:17[/url]"]Just so you know, after owning the app for a few years, if it was $50 I would still be suggesting it. It's truly just an awesome app for anyone who navigates water and/or fishes. You an even download maps so when you are in an area without a data connection you can still use it.

Hmm... the HD version for tablets and high resolution devices is $50. Really still recommend it?

 

[Team Colibri]

acabtp » Yesterday, 10:59[/url]"]

jethro » 23 Aug 2013, 11:17[/url]"]Just so you know, after owning the app for a few years, if it was $50 I would still be suggesting it. It's truly just an awesome app for anyone who navigates water and/or fishes. You an even download maps so when you are in an area without a data connection you can still use it.

Hmm... the HD version for tablets and high resolution devices is $50. Really still recommend it?

Hey, it's 77 USD where I sit, and I still recommend it. But check the webapp first to see if the charts are any good for your area. (The chip for my chartplotter is 350 USD, and has precisely the same mapdata. So that makes the app for my IPad a bargain.)

 

[jethro]

acabtp » 26 Aug 2013, 03:59[/url]"]
Hmm... the HD version for tablets and high resolution devices is $50. Really still recommend it?

Absolutely. Although I can't see why any kind of HD would be necessary. You are just looking at lake charts with depth contours and hazard markers, buoys... etc.

 

[dc9loser]

Um, Nav software is only good where you don't need it. You know well traveled and well marked places full of boats and deep water.

Once you get off into rivers, swamps, and remote places forget about it.... it is a big blank.

I just wasted 60 bucks buying Navionics from the glowing reports above for my phone and pad. It fits my explanation above to a tee.

 

[FerrisBueller]

If you're simply looking to mark a spot on a map, consider finding a good GPS app.

Navionics is for lake maps and larger rivers essentially. It might not suite those who are looking for maps of small streams and rivers.

Navionics is like everyone has said before, its an awesome app for fisherman and those looking for basic charts on lakes and larger rivers.

You can always contact the company or even check online to see if it supports the areas you travel.

There's a reason small rivers/streams and swamps aren't charted well, one being that they are always changing due to currents, water levels, and debris. Another is the basics of supply and demand.

 

[jethro]

dc9loser » 29 Aug 2013, 15:35[/url]"]
Once you get off into rivers, swamps, and remote places forget about it.... it is a big blank.

Ok, so are there paper charts available for the rivers and swamps and remote places you go? If there are, then I can appreciate your frustration. However, if there aren't then I don't really have any sympathy for you, because it's like you are asking for the recipe for cold fusion. Rivers and swamps aren't places you would typically use navigation software anyway, it doesn't do you much good. For those areas, a simple GPS is a better choice. I use a GPS in conjunction with Navionics. This is navigation software- it will mark depth contours (not really applicable for small rivers and swamps), hazards and channels (also not applicable) speed and heading, distances, waypoints...

I didn't think it needed mentioning, but obviously it does, that you can go to Navionics website and review the coverage for your area. Anyone that wants info for small, obscure or otherwise likely uncharted waters should review this first. Here in the Northeast I am amazed at the tiny less than 8 acre ponds that are fully charted:

https://www.navionics.com/en/marine-lakes-usa

 

[jethro]

dc9loser » 29 Aug 2013, 15:35[/url]"]Um, Nav software is only good where you don't need it.

You must not fish for coldwater species at all. To me, having depth contours is of the utmost importance on every lake I troll.

 

[FerrisBueller]

must not fish for coldwater species at all. To me, having depth contours is of the utmost importance on every lake I troll.

Couldn't agree more.

Like you had said, who's going to waste their time depth charting a small river where after 2 weeks your data is innacurate and only a handful of people would even consider using that data in the first place.

In the first place Bigterp was simply looking for ideas on something for marking maps with anyhow, and if at the least the rivers are imaged on the app you can mark it. As far as having depths and details you can forget that, but I dont think he was expecting anything like that.

 

[dc9loser]

BigTerp » 23 Aug 2013, 11:06[/url]"]Thanks. Just checked it out. Seems nice. But it seems to be geared more towards lakes and larger bodies of water. I'm rarely out on any lakes, mostly just the river. How is it for rivers? Specifically the upper branch of the Potomac river in Maryland?

That quote was from the guy who started this thread. And no, Navionics will probably not do a thing for him on the upper Potomac, not even mark the main channel.

I live in Florida - the 8th most densely populated state and probably the number one state for boating. AND yet huge areas are not charted even fairly large lakes and the coast. That is because it costs lots of money to survey depth contours etc.

So, folks like Navionics mostly repackage old government survey data and only do their own surveys where lots of boats go.

People use maps so they can navigate. Software like this is akin to using a road map of the interstate system to explore off-road.

If it covers where you go, rock on. For me it is very helpful where I need the least help.

 

[dc9loser]

FerrisBueller » 29 Aug 2013, 16:37[/url]"]

must not fish for coldwater species at all. To me, having depth contours is of the utmost importance on every lake I troll.

Couldn't agree more.

Like you had said, who's going to waste their time depth charting a small river where after 2 weeks your data is innacurate and only a handful of people would even consider using that data in the first place.

In the first place Bigterp was simply looking for ideas on something for marking maps with anyhow, and if at the least the rivers are imaged on the app you can mark it. As far as having depths and details you can forget that, but I dont think he was expecting anything like that.

Except it doesn't cover fairly large rivers either. The Suwannee in Florida is a thousand feet wide and 30 or more feet deep along a good portion of its course. Yet not a single sounding.

 

[FerrisBueller]

As I said before:

if at the least the rivers are imaged on the app you can mark it. As far as having depths and details you can forget that

The Suwannee river is mapped like any other river, you can go on the app and mark spots, it's not going to give you a contour map that only has a few weeks of relevance. Even the Mississippi isn't depth charted to any point worth using.

 

[FerrisBueller]

I understand completely where your coming from though, expecting to have depths for a river you use and find out there's nothing but a map, but I guess what can you expect from a $10 phone app. You win some, you lose some.