C-MAP: Boating 4+

Has some annoying bugs

App requests feedback too often, the pop-up interrupts me when I’m trying to use the app. When creating a route the auto zoom out is very annoying, if I zoom into an area I want it to stay there while I create the route. When tracking a route and trying to zoom in or out you have to hit the recenter button a couple of times to track your vessel movement, it should stay tracking your vessel movement while you are able to zoom in and out. While tracking a route the option to look ahead rather than keep the vessel icon center in the screen (like most chart plotters) should be available, I don’t need to know what the map looks like behind me, I’d rather see further ahead.

Beautiful. Fast. Intuitive. Free!

I spent considerable time this past week trying out C-MAP and other marine navigation apps like iNavX, Navionics, Wavve, etc., in an effort to find the best one to run on my iPad while sailing. C-MAP was the hands-down winner so I felt compelled to write a review and let people know how great this app is.

First of all C-MAP stands in stark contrast to competing marine navigation maps because it’s uncluttered and the maps are super snappy and run butter-smooth on my iPad Air. You get intuitive options for distance/time estimating, mapping out routes, basic weather/wave/tide data, your GPS coordinates, even points of interest in the area... and it’s completely FREE! If you choose to upgrade (for just $19/year) you can even see more detailed weather forecasts and AIS traffic on-screen.

As a tech CMO and recreational sailor I have to tell you, this app has every single thing I was looking for and nothing that I wasn’t - some serious thought went into C-MAP, from its design and feature set to its user experience. The only other marine app I use (and don’t really need) now is PredictWind, just to get really granular on wind speed and direction. I happily deleted all of the other marine apps on the iPad. If you’re searching for a boating/sailing navigation app like I was, give this one a try. There’s really no need to look elsewhere.

Developer Response ,

Very happy to read this comment.
Really, thank you for the wonderful review and the 5 stars.
Enjoy boating with C-Map.

Best looking charts available

Embark has quickly become my favorite charts app. The cartography is top-notch and takes full advantage of a high resolution display. Updates are frequent, and the dev team is amazingly responsive. There are still some features I’d love to see (tidal currents, make it easier to find tide stations other than the closest and predictions farther out than a few days, track export), but they are continuously improving and I keep looking forward to seeing update notifications.

I just hooked my B&G MFD up to my account, and I’m loving the way that tracks and routes sync. That feature plus the solid auto-routing make planning a joy- no more standing at the helm fighting the smaller screen and less responsive touchscreen! Instead I can do my planning sitting in an easy chair at home while anticipating the trip!

Hats off to the devs for an app that is truly a joy to use!