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$14.99
iPhone / iPad
Genres:
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  • Navigation
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Marine&Lakes: USA app review: the only Marine & Lakes app you’ll ever need

Reviews

Marine&Lakes: USA

Price: $9.99

Today is World Ocean Day! You can celebrate by downloading Marine&Lakes: USA by Navionics and get access to the world’s top-selling Marine & Lakes apps. The app was updated on May 23, 2013 and is available in five languages. It requires just under 28MB of storage space on your device.

User Experience
This app is obviously meant for fishermen (and women), water sports enthusiasts, and boaters in the United States. It covers a huge amount of water (see the screenshot below for area of coverage) and is chock-full of features.

The app is easy to use, is well-laid out, and is easy to search. It’s highly functional, but the auto routing update doesn’t seem to work, so avoid that in-app purchase for the time being.

If you’ve ever been lost on a body of water you’ll know what it feels like to know that you need help. This app can literally be a lifesaver, so if you’re planning on being out on a body of water, get this app now.


Features
This app is, as mentioned, full of features. You get charts, routes and tracks, weather and tides, community edits, a search function, a share function, different map options, a sync feature, access to magazines and guides, and optional in-app purchases.

You’ll have access to the charts even when you don’t have Internet coverage, and you can pan, zoom, and measure distance in these charts. You can also query any chart objects for more details.

You have the capability to create and edit routes based on your speed and fuel consumption. You can also record and view your tracks, capture pictures to make a virtual log, and more.

You have access to up-to-date current, wind speed and direction, tide, and sun and moon cycle info. This is great when planning trips.

There are 2000 community edits done every day: reviews of locations like marinas, repair shops, and more; obstructions; lights; and wrecks, all added by the Navionics community.

There’s a huge database of marine POIs available for you to search by latitude or longitude or category. Search for Waterfront Restaurants, Fuel Stations, Marine Repair, Marina, Boat Dealers, and more, all with “Drive To” or “Route To” guidance options.

You can tweet, Facebook, or email your photos, tracks, routes, or markers.

The Sync function automatically syncs your data among your devices.

Please note that when you run GPS continuously it will greatly decrease your battery life.


In-App Purchases
There are three in-app purchases you can make at this time: an Advanced Map Option for $3.99, the Nav Module for $1.99, and Autorouting for $3.99.


Update Info
Marine&Lakes: USA is currently operating on Version 4.6. The update made some optimizations and bug fixes. All updates are available to users with devices with iOS 4.3 or higher.


Customer Ratings and Feedback Comments
The current version has seven customer ratings with an average of 3.5 out of five stars. Feedback comments are mostly positive, with some complaints about the auto routing problem as mentioned as well as issues with problems with depth not being correctly shown.


Personal Comments by Reviewer
The app is super easy to use and I really like that you can download the maps on your device so that you don’t have to have Internet access. The downside is that you can only save 200 waypoints or markers, so if you fish or boat a lot and want to mark a lot of places, you’ll quickly use up that limit.

 


Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Tons of features
  • Can view maps offline
  • Optimized for iPhone 5


Cons

  • Depth doesn’t show correctly in some places
  • Auto routing function doesn’t work
  • Uses True North not Magnetic North
  • Only 200 waypoints to save


For: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad with iOS 4.3 or later. Marine&Lakes: USA is optimized for iPhone 5.

Boating USA

$14.99

Boating USA

$14.99

Boating USA

$14.99
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rebecca

Rebecca, a former police officer, is an experienced writer and editor. She has used all kinds of different tech and prefers Apple products and apps. Her areas of expertise are in all things Apple, health and fitness, the Paleo lifestyle, and legal topics.