4 Best iPhone Chartplotter App 2023

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If you are looking for the Best iPhone Chartplotter App to download for free, look no further.

Our expert panel of reviewers has tested dozens of apps and we have compiled a list of the 4 Best iPhone Chartplotter App that passed our tests.

Contents

Check out our list of the 4 Best iPhone Chartplotter App, tried and tested by our expert reviewers.

4 Best iPhone Chartplotter App

1. Aqua Map: Marine & Lake charts

“An app to satisfy all your Fishing and Boating’s needs, developed with the help of expert boaters. Download the best up-to-date Nautical Charts to safely enjoy the new boating season. With the Aqua Map Master transform your device in a real ChartPlotter.

►► Features:
• Optimised for both iPhone and iPad
• Download the charts on the device for offline use
• Plan and navigate your Routes and Tracks with real-time information
• Anchor alarm with advanced configuration
• Tide & Current predictions and simulations (North America & Australia)
• Overlay the USACE surveys and USCG List of lights on your charts (only US)
• Share and load tracks, markers and routes (KMZ and GPX)
• Connect to your friends using the Live Sharing function
• ActiveCaptain & Waterway Guide community integration
• Connect your NMEA devices through WiFi
• Display AIS info from external devices with automatic collision detection
• Powerful search with advanced settings
• Overlay the Satellite images on your map
• Fully support Light/Dark aspect
• Measure distances on the map
• Check all the bridges, hazards and best fuel prices along your route
• Works perfectly in iPad multi-screen mode
• Optimized battery usage

► MAPS
Aqua Map uses only official Nautical charts with depth contours, buoys, lights, etc. to enjoy the best boating experience. You can download the maps at home within your device and use them on the boat offline (no more Internet connection required).

► ROUTES and WAYPOINTS
Plan your trip, insert and edit waypoints. Navigate your route and your track (NEW) to monitor distance, time (ETA) and direction toward your next waypoint or your final destination.

► ANCHOR ALARM
This function will check in realtime your GPS position against your anchor position previously defined. An acoustic and visual alarm will run as soon as your GPS position is out of the defined range.

► TIDES & CURRENTS
You can calculate the prediction for more than 7500 stations in US, Canada, Bahamas & Australia. See the T&C trend on the map and simulate any future date.

► LOADING and SHARING
You can share your favorite’s markers on Facebook or send an email with your last daily track. Not only, you can also load any KML, KMZ, GPX (also zipped) found in internet or received from your friends.

► LIVE SHARING
Enable the exchange of your data with the Aqua Map community and follow your favorite users on the screen. See all active users around you.
You can chat with them and send to them (and receive) your preferred routes/tracks/markers without leaving the Aqua Map application

► ActiveCaptain
Join the community of more than 100.000 boaters who write reviews, update data and provide up to date hazard information.

► Waterway Guide
Marinas, hazards, anchorages, bridges, free docks and much more to cover the entire US coastline.

► Aqua Map Master
Connect your NMEA (and SignalK) devices through the WiFi and use their data for all the App functions.
Display the AIS targets on the map with automatic collision detection.
Display the last USACE surveys and the last USCG List of Lights (only US).
Consult the Route Explorer with anchorages, bridges, hazards, marinas and best fuel prices (now available also for tracks).

► TYPE OF PURCHASES
– Unlimited: you can download and update your charts forever
– Subscription: it is a one year auto-renewable subscription, it will automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase

2. Boating Marine & Lakes

“Let us be your guide. An indispensable app for cruising, fishing, sailing, diving and all your activities on the water. Get the same detailed marine and lake nautical charts and advanced features as on the best GPS plotters, and more.

> TRY FOR FREE: Download the app and try all charts and features for a limited time.
> SUBSCRIBE: Start your 1-year subscription to:
– Download chart layers for offline use (permanent)
– Access daily updates, chart overlays and advanced features (renewable)
Use your subscription across your compatible smartphones and tablets by logging in to the Boating app with the same account.

THE SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES:
> CHART LAYERS FOR OFFLINE USE
– NAUTICAL CHART: A comprehensive cartography resource for lakes, rivers and marine areas.
– SONARCHART™: An exclusive 1’ (0.5 meters) HD bathymetry map features extraordinary bottom contour detail enhanced by millions of sonar logs contributed by boaters.
– COMMUNITY EDITS and ACTIVECAPTAIN® COMMUNITY: Crowd-sourced local information and points of interest shared by the Navionics® and Garmin ActiveCaptain boating communities.
– U.S. GOVERNMENT CHARTS (NOAA): Available with the following coverage areas: U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Caribbean to Brazil, Pacific Islands, Asia and Africa.

> DAILY CHART UPDATES: The latest charts are available via download, with up to 5,000 updates every day.

> FEATURES
– CHART OVERLAYS
SONARCHART SHADING: A detailed rendering of the seafloor and lake bottoms in varying shades of blue offers a unique perspective of underwater topography at a glance.
RELIEF SHADING: Highly detailed shading combines color and shadow to provide an easy-to-interpret, clearer view of bottom structure.
SONAR IMAGERY: Shows bottom hardness in vivid color to easily identify transition areas. Available on select U.S. lakes.
TERRAIN: Shows roads and useful points of interest on land.
SATELLITE: Satellite images provided by a third party.
– DOCK-TO-DOCK AUTOROUTING*: Start your trip with a suggested route based on chart data and navigation aids for advanced route planning that offers ETA, distance to arrival, heading to waypoint, fuel consumption and more.
– CONNECTIONS: Stay in touch with friends and fellow boaters on and off the water. Share your profile, tracks, routes, markers and live location with your boating community.
ADVANCED MAP OPTIONS: Customize your chart views to change chart-overlay combination, highlight shallow areas, target multiple fishing ranges and more.
– WEATHER AND TIDES: Access real-time weather data, daily and hourly forecasts, as well as wind, weather buoys, tides and currents overlaid on your map.
– GPX IMPORT/EXPORT: Easily handle your tracks, routes and markers. Share, store and display them on various apps, plotters and other compatible devices.
– AIS: Connect the app to a compatible AIS receiver with Wi-Fi® connectivity to see nearby marine traffic overlaid on the map in real time. No internet connection needed.
-PLOTTER SYNC: Transfer routes and markers, update charts and more to compatible plotters.
-TIMELINE: Enjoy looking back at your trips in the track timeline.

RENEW SUBSCRIPTION
After 1 year, you can renew your subscription or keep using your maps with free features.
FREE FEATURES
-SONARCHART™ LIVE: Create your own 1’ (0.5 meters) HD bathymetry maps that display in real time while navigating. Connect the Boating app wirelessly to a compatible sonar/plotter. You can also automatically share your sonar logs, which helps us improve charts.
-Includes track, route, markers, share location and more.

NOTES:
Updates are available with iOS 12.0 or higher. An iPad® device with Wi-Fi connectivity locates your approximate position if it is connected to Wi-Fi. An iPad Wi-Fi + 3G model operates similarly to an iPhone device with GPS.
*Autorouting is for planning purposes only and does not replace safe navigation operations.
Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.”

3. i-Boating: Marine Charts & Gps

“This App offers access to Marine Charts for USA,Canada,UK/Ireland,Germany,Netherlands/Holland &
Europe Rivers (Danube,Drava,Rhein etc). Coverage includes NOAA marine vector
charts,freshwater lake maps,USACE inland river maps (HD/1ft/3ft bathymetry
included where available),charts derived from UKHO & CHS data. First marine GPS app to have route assistance with Voice Prompts for marine navigation. You can create new boating routes or import existing GPX/KML routes. It supports Nautical Charts course up orientation. Includes Tide & Currents prediction.

►FEATURES
√ Beautiful & detailed Hardware/GPU accelerated vector charts (text stays upright on rotation)
√ Long press to query the details of Marine object (Buoy,Lights,Obstruction etc).
√ Customizable depth(Ft/Fathom/Meter) & distance units(km/mi/NM)
√ Customizable Shallow Depth.
√ Record tracks,Autofollow with real-time track overlay & predicted path vector.
√ Voice Prompts for marine navigation (requires GPS )
√ 1ft / 3ft depth contour maps for anglers for selected lake maps.
√ Supports GPX/KML for boating route editing/import.
√ Tide & Currents prediction.
√ Seamless chart quilting of marine charts
√ Enter or import Waypoints.

► MAPS
It includes unlimited updates for 1 year.
√USA: The maps include coverage of all NOAA marine vector charts (ENC),USACE inland river maps,freshwater lake maps for more than 7K lakes. The charts include HD/1ft/3ft bathymetry where available.Incl. NOAA raster where ENC not available.
√Canada:Incl. CHS data(incl. major Lakes).
√UK/Ireland: Derived from UKHO charts.
√Australia
√Germany: All BSH Charts.
√Europe Inland Rivers:Donau/Dunaja,Rhine,Garonne,Moselle,Drava,Sava,etc
√Norway
√Finland
√Sweden
√Croatia
√Ukraine(Black Sea)
√Caribbean
√New Zealand
√Spain
√Brazil
√Argentina
√Cyprus
√Falklands
√Seychelles& Mauritius
√Denmark
√Malta,Cyprus & S. Mediterranean
√S. China&Malaysia
√South Africa

►ROUTE MANAGEMENT / TRIP PLANNING
√ Create New Route/Edit Existing Routes
√ Move Points
√ Add points to an existing route leg
√ Delete / Rename points
√ Import GPX,KML & KMZ files
√ Plot/Edit Routes
√ Enter Waypoints
√ Share/Export Routes,Tracks&Markers
√ Reverse Routes

►GPS FEATURES
√ Auto Follow
* Real Time Track Overlay
* Predicted Path Vector
* Course Up(Text stays upright)
* Speed & Heading
√ Route Assistance With Voice Prompts
* Prompts when approaching a boating route marker
* Continous distance & ETA updates
* Alerts when sailing/boating off route
* Alerts when boating in wrong direction
√ Record Tracks
►TIDE & CURRENTS
* For US,Canada,UK,Germany & New Zealand
* High/Low Tides
* Tidal Current Prediction
* Active Current Stations
►Instrumentation
√ Marine AIS & (NMEA AIS and GPS over TCP/UDP)
√ Wind direction & Speed,Marine Sonar depth,Water temperature
√ Auto Pilot

► SHARING
* Share tracks/routes/markers on Facebook & Twitter
* Export tracks/routes/markers as GPX files.

SUGARLOAF KEY-KEY WEST
PORT RICHEY TAMPA BAY – CLEARWATER HBR
EAST BAY-WEST BAY FLORIDA
INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY MATECUMBE-GRASSY KEY
CHESAPEAKE BAY CAPE CHARLES-NORFOLK HARBOR
ANCLOTE KEYS-CRYSTAL RIVER
ST JOSEPH SOUND
MIAMI HARBOR
Minnesota lakes – Kabetogama,Minnetonka,Waconia,Leech,Mille Lacs
Lake Keowee,Jocassee,Hartwell,Greenwood,Lake Murray
Mark Twain,Ozarks,Table Rock
Lake St.Clair
Lake Kentucky
KEY WEST-THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
SAN PEDRO CHANNEL
LAKE MICHIGAN STONY LAKE-POINT BETSIE
APALACHICOLA BAY-CAPE SAN BLAS
EAST CAPE-MORMON KEY
CAPE HENLOPEN-INDIAN RIVER
CHESAPEAKE BAY CAPE HENRY-THIMBLE SHOAL
DULUTH-SUPERIOR
MONHEGAN ISLAND-CAPE ELIZABETH
ONTARIO – CLAYTON-FALSE DUCKS
Winnipesaukee
MIAMI-MARATHON,FLORIDA
CAPE MAY-FENWICK ISLAND
MISSISSIPPI RIVER-GALVESTON
CAPE CANAVERAL-KEY
DELAWARE RIVER WILMINGTON-PHILADELPHIA
FLORIDA KEYS SOMBRERO KEY-SAND KEY
SAN PABLO BAY
RAINY LAKE BIG ISLAND MINN-OAKPOINT ISL
INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY – BISCAYNE BAY
EVERGLADES NTL PARK
HURON
TAHOE
CHESAPEAKE DELAWARE CANAL
*Continued use of GPS in the background can decrease battery life*”

4. iNavX: Marine Navigation

“Marine navigation is made easy with iNavX – the world’s #1 handheld Chartplotter. Access marine charts, maps, weather, AIS and more!

iNavX is the only app to give you complete worldwide chart coverage, from all your favorite charts providers, including the ALL NEW iNavX Professional+ Global Chart! Fully enabled with one-touch access, iNavX gives users access to the broadest set of marine charts and maps from multiple providers including:

• iNavX Professional+ Charts
• Blue Latitude
• Explorer
• Theyr Weather
• Waterway Guide
• … and more

How does iNavX take handheld marine navigation to the next level?
• Sailors – Plan sailing routes with waypoint and route management. Get proactive sail management with GRIB weather forecasts and then keep watch with AIS overlays and integration with your onboard systems. Plus, you can remember your great sailing locations by geotagging photos.
• Boaters – Stay up to date on boating conditions with forecasts that include currents, winds, and swells. Manage your boating equipment with nautical instrument integration and then save great boating routes to share with the track log.
• Anglers – Discover new fishing spots by scouting out holes and inlets. Locate the best fishing conditions by identifying cold fronts and save your best fishing spots with unlimited markers.

Advanced features – iNavX is the most feature rich app available for all sailing and boating needs at a great price:

Advanced Chart Plotter
• Plot your position in real-time using your device’s built-in GPS
• Pan, zoom, and rotate charts (including course up)
• Print detailed charts to use in combination with the app

Advanced Navigation
• Create waypoints and plan routes to navigate between them
• Track log allows you to record your route
• Import/export data in KML (Google Earth) or GPX format

Advanced Instrumentation
• Supports NMEA data over TCP/IP (using Wifi)
• Integrates with external GPS, AIS receivers & transponders
• Connect nautical instruments: Depth, Speed, Wind, Engine, Batteries, etc.

Essential Toolkit
• GRIB weather forecast
• Tides/currents
• Anchor alarm
• AIS integration
• Port/navaid search

Download iNavX TODAY and automatically receive a complimentary copy of the official and up-to-date high-resolution NOAA RNC United States marine raster charts.

REVIEWS

“iNavX is the original and still one of the best navigation apps.”
– Practical Sailor

“The most full-featured navigation app around and viewed by many as the standard”
– Sail Magazine

“The #1 recommended marine charting app”
– iMarineApps

iNavX is Compatible with: C-MAP, Theyr Weather, Waterway Guide, AIS, Brookhouse, DigitalYacht, ShipModul, vYacht, Vesper Marine, NMEA 2000, Chetco and more.

NEW CHART STORE
Purchase all your favorite charts. Chart subscriptions vary by chart and provider from $9.99 to $199.99 annually, charged to your iTunes Account, which will automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Auto-renew can be turned off anytime by going to your Account Settings in iTunes after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period.

NOTE: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

MORE INFO
Website: http://inavx.com/
User’s Guide: http://inavx.com/help/

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