iSailGPS : NOAA USA RNC Charts App Reviews

44 add

Canada?

We thought this would be a good app as we seen good reviews.....does not work for Canadian waters......did not even get to try.....waste of money for us

Terrible

Can only get very large scale maps for Canadian waters. Dont buy for Canada

Doesnt work for me

There are no maps for the Tennessee River, I want my money back.

Server problems

Constantly fails when downloading charts. Do not buy!

Great apps!

I purchased both iSail and iHike apps this year and they are both TERRIFIC! They were easy to download and easy to used. I sailed both offshore and inside small harbors in New England and found the iSail app to be incredibly useful. I chartered a sailboat this year and the chartplotter mounted on the boat was old and lacked detail. I found the iSail app especially useful when going in and out of small harbors, which required knowing precisely where I was relative to the shallow areas, which I needed to stay away from. It was no problem holding my iphone while steering the boat. I still brought hard copy maps and used the boats compass, but this app greatly enhanced my ability to safely navigate, especially in tight places. iHike performed just as well when I went horseback riding on 80 miles of unmarked trails in Colorado in a area that was "off the grid" (I gave a separate review on the iHike site). Thanks for making such great apps!

Excellent navigation app!

I use this app every time I sail. It is accurate, has many great options and has a very detailed help section. I reported a minor issue and a new version with the fix was released within a few days.

Not recommended

This app seems to consume the processor, as zooming in / out and moving the map around takes several seconds to respond, and battery life is short when its running. It was the only app I could find to show GPS position on a NOAA chart, but it really needs work to make it more responsive.

Garbage

Save your money!!! The writers of the software took photos of the nav charts. What is worse is that some such as Everglades City area, were not taken directly above chart. Also when the chart has panels the match lines have spaces..... You get what you pay for! Cheapo software.

Superb App

Accessing the charts is quick and easy. Amateur sailors such as myself will find this to be the perfect app. While it has tracks and waypoints, its not bloated with extra bells and whistles that would only confuse me. For me, all those fancy do-dahs only hinder my experience. These charts are the real deal, just like the paper charts only on my iphone. The price is great too. Highly recommended.

X marks the spot

Great for me. Besides a backup Nav-aid Ive been using iSailGPS for sharing the location of ship wrecks and dives spots with my buddies. I love that we can all import/export each others waypoints at anytime. If your into sailing, diving and/or underwater photography then I can definitely recommend this app.

Almost good enough

The photographed map images are obviously not as good as those generated directly from NOAA data, but are quite readable and will be pleasantly familiar to those who have worked with traditional charts. Waypoint management is simple and intuitive, but its a shame that you cannot stack a set of waypoints as a single route. This is especially unfortunate since the waypoints use dead simple route planning, and no effort is made to keep your vessel afloat, The Track display is disappointing, since it ignores position-at-time, opting instead to display total distance travelled against instantaneous speed. Even with these complaints, I find this to be my favorite (current) marine navigation app in its price range.

Keeps crashing

I like the detail of the charts. However, it crashed within the first minute of use multiple times. I couldnt get far enough into features to know if they worked or not. After giving up, I shutdown all apps and rebooted iPad. A lot more stable now. Apparently this app doesnt like sharing resources. I do have several other apps open now and so far no crashes. I love the ability to share Waypoints. Its been great prepping for an upcoming trip where I can send back and forth to our travel party our Waypoints for dive sites and moorings along the way. Still nervous about initial instability. will update post following trip where Ill give all the features a good test. Would love to see a bug fix update posted ASAP. On the surface this appears to be a nice utility for those of us bareboating in unfamiliar waters.

Well done raster charting

iSailGPS displays raster charts - essentially photo copies of the printed NOAA charts. It shows your position. It can record your track. It can set and store waypoints (but not routes). For $8, thats a huge bargain. There are some problems: The method for downloading charts (theyre free) is quirky. The interface has to be learned. But these are small issues compared to the utility of the app.

ios5 Problems

ios5 problems maps do not display This app is a good value in nautical gps navigation. Its uses NOAA charts that are downloaded and stored on the iPad. The charts are free. It displays realtime location and tracking via gps, wifi or cell phone provider. It will use internal or external gps devices depending on your devices capabilities. Would like to see satellite imagery overlay as a future feature. Good job.

Needs a little work.

The program is okay, but it has a ways to go. For the price I guess it is adequate.

good app

I Think this is a good app, for the money. I was able to download the NOAA charts for the Great Lakes with little trouble. The GPS tracking worked well. For little $$, I have a good working navigation program.

Love it!

My wife and I have a 38 Hughes sloop and we put this app to the test this past weekend on Monterey Bay with flawless results. Get yourself a waterproof iPad case, download the charts for your area (make sure to get harbor detail charts), setup your routes in advance and youre good to go. I had just received new hard copies of local charts and those downloaded in iSail (free) were identical. While it wasnt a necessity, I tested route following from Monterey to Moss Landing via a few designated waypoints on Friday with perfect results. I then used the tracking feature to track my distance traveled under sail and average speeds during a leisurely sail on Sunday with equally perfect results. Ive also shown this app to a few other sailors who have since downloaded and are equally impressed. Thank you iSail!

Great App and Great Support

My husband and I downloaded this app to use on a race. There was one aspect that we couldnt figure out and we had an answer to our question almost immediately via -mail. Locator works very well. The waypoints were accurate and easy to read. We loved the fact that you could add notes so we knew if we were to make a Port or Starboard turn. Deserves all 5 stars!! Gene and Nellie S/V Sun Chaser

Robert C. Fern

Ive never written a review before and Ive purchased hundreds of apps but this app is so bad that I felt compelled to warn anyone that they should not buy it. AWEFUL!!!

sailor/boater/etc

First, this isnt going to replace your chart plotter or other $500+ device, so if thats your purpose move on; however, for a reasonable cost ($8), this program does provide great tracking and waypoint information against free NOAA charts. I found it to be user friendly, instructions page is concise and well laid out, and it displays information well. Its a strong recommendation from my experience, for sailing and boating

  • send link to app