A new navigation app with multiple safety features, offering raster charts, and supporting traditional navigational techniques
AngelNav is a new app for iOS developed in collaboration with Tom Cunliffe. Primarily it is a full chart plotter currently favouring raster charts, but it has many additional features including the ability to carry out traditional navigation directly on the screen.
The capacity to generate classical chart work is vitally important in the event of a GPS failure, but hitherto has required pencil, plotters, and paper charts. AngelNav allows traditional techniques to be carried out using an iPad or iPhone screen instead of a paper chart. An estimated position can be plotted, position lines drawn from sighted bearings and fixes recorded. Course-to-steer diagrams are readily constructed.
AngelNav can read most types of raster chart including the UKHO subscription charts, as well as KAP/BSB files and GeoTIFF files. It can easily create georeferenced satellite charts for offline use.
AngelNav can take GNSS navigation data from a variety of sources, including the device's stand-alone GPS, the boat's NMEA over WiFi, and SignalK. It will also display AIS information if available.
Annual subscriptions are available as in-app purchases for UKHO, SHOM, and Imray charts covering the whole of the UK, France, Spain, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. These are divided into folios so that you can subscribe only to the charts that you need.
The app is free to use in its basic form, with additional functions and charts available as in-app purchases. This allows a user to fully evaluate the app without charge, and then to purchase the features and charts required.
Free features:
Chart plotter (Demo chart included)
Traditional navigation techniques
Waypoints and Routes
Track recording and display
Reads navigational data
Simulation mode
Paid for features (in-app purchases):
Open KAP/BSB files
Open GeoTIFF files
Open Satellite charts
Display AIS targets (if AIS information is available)
Tidal information for the British Isles
Subscription Charts:
Charts derived from UKHO data covering the coastal waters of the British isles, the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal including the Atlantic islands.
SHOM charts of the coasts of France
Imray charts of of the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and others
Key features:
Brand new app written from the ground up
Carry out traditional navigation techniques on screen
Free to download to for evaluation, with in-app purchases to add only the features required
Frequent updates of subscription charts including handling of notice to mariners
Custom keyboard for entry of waypoint latitude and longitude
Open KPA/BSB and GeoTIFF files (in-app purchase required)
Create Satellite charts for off line use (in-app purchase required)
Display AIS targets on the chart (in-app purchase required)
NOTE: The continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life
Have used this extensively over about 2,500 miles of cruising around UK & Ireland alongside other navigational programs. It enables you to keep your traditional skills up to date without paying a fortune (and finding space for) a plethora of paper charts. It provides an immediate back up to your MFD and once you make the effort to understand how to switch between charts it’s all rather simple. However, accessing tidal diamonds to plan a long passage (particularly with cyclical tides) is a pain; it would be great if the developer could make this easier with perhaps animated tides *in addition* to providing the basic info. Such a mod would make it worth 5+ stars.
Developer Response
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. I can confirm that our method of changing charts (rather than having a continuous pan and zoom) is a deliberate design decision aimed at leveraging the advantages of rasters over vectors, but it doesn't have to be clunky. For example consider the question of whether there is more detail available at a particular point on a chart. With a vector chart, the only way to answer it is to keep zooming in until more detail appears (or not). With AngelNav the answer is available instantly, either by observing the border of a larger scaled chart or by using the 'long tap' function. In addition, while on passage you can set the charts to load automatically so the best detail is always available. Currently we don't include tidal information, but that is planned for a future release.
I like the look of this but…
iamnotspartacus
This looks like a really interesting app. Unfortunately the base map is just a blur. It would be helpful to have a time limited sample map (of my area) to evaluate whether this works for me.Although Navionics (and others) offer a cheaper way to get map coverage the reality is that most of us don’t move that far from our cruising areas and the cost of a folio is pretty reasonable given the additional detail.One question: Is it possible to sync routes etc. with chart plotters or other apps?
Developer Response
Thanks you very much for your review, and we are delighted you think its interesting. The included UK map is certainly small scale, but it shouldn't be blurred and it does allow all features of the app to be evaluated prior to purchasing a folio of UKHO charts. The next version (out soon) allows export of routes as GPX files for import into other apps.
Interesting app
Robert Horsford
I see the very useful potential here of using trad nav on electronics, I get it. However I have the Memory Map app which I purchased to use the excellent Antares Charts. I recall that it was a requirement to purchase the Admiralty charts to make Antares work, though I don’t recall the detail. I don’t want to purchase the Admiralty charts twice so I backed up the charts from MemoryMap to another folder and set AngelNav to use this folder for chart data - but it seems that AngelNav won’t read these chart files. Any ideas?
Developer Response
Our understanding is that the licence associated with UKHO charts does not permit copying or sharing of charts between different applications or users. However, AngelNav should be able to read unencrypted raster charts of any sort (including Antares charts), so please contact us using the support email in the app.
Support
PhilipBC23
Whether or not you like the idea of being able to use traditional nav techniques in an app the support for this app is second to none. Offline help is built into the app and there is a free forum where you can post questions which are answered often within minutes if not hours. The new tides module gave me excellent information when planning a passage around the Mull of Kintyre and a full regional UKHO folio subscription for £25 seems reasonable value to me
Adds the ability to set any time on the device without affecting chart store security
Version 2.0.12
The developer, SailTrack Limited, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Purchases
Identifiers
Privacy practices may vary based, for example, on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Provider
SailTrack Limited
Size
126.2 MB
Category
Navigation
Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.5 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 15.5 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 15.5 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 15.5 or later.
Apple Vision Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
Location
This app may use your location even when it is not open, which can decrease device battery life.
