Navionics app accuracy

[going4it]

Does anyone have this app start acting up while they are moving? I have had where the arrow will start spinning while moving which can get really frustrating when your trying to get to a point or a spot. Or any idea how to fix this?

[mrklean]

mine has done that when first loading up just took a minute to gets its bearings i think

[Gordie]

I have been happy for the most part but this past weekend I was on a lake that I know push 90FOW and the Nav said it was only 18 ft deep.

I'm sure that it is just not updated yet but I have done quite well with mine and I think its as accruate as my lowrance explorer was.

[basssmasher*]

o.k. just got this app and it likes to force close on my galaxy s3.. any reasons why?

[brian6715]

10 - 15 feet off? That is considered bad? I think that's pretty dang accurate. 10.00 for a phone app or 200-1000 for a standalone GPS unit?

I use the app to get me in the general location and I start drilling a few holes to fine tune my location / depth.

No Lusid, 10-15 feet off on the lake depth, not the GPS positioning. For example, it said I was in 22' of water, and I was only in 8'.

[CaptainMusky]

Brian, it very well could be your GPS accuracy that is causing the problem. GPS in phones is NOT very accurate. Its better when you use both GPS and cell tower triangulation, but even at that they are not nearly as accurate as a handheld or other dedicated GPS.

For one you cannot zoom in very far on the app, the waypoints themselves are only stored as 2 places to the right of the decimal unlike a GPS which would read 3 at least. This can make a huge difference.

If you have a GPS with the navionics chip, compare that to the app on your phone. I would be willing to bet the GPS unit would be closer to accurate or what you would expect.

[brian6715]

I completely understand what you are saying CaptainMusky. This case though, I am talking about a small half of a small lake (it's basically a bay). It placed me rather accurately on the map, but the depths were just off. I know this lake really well (Cedar, Rice County) and the map of the west half of the lake is useless for depths. Anyone who knows West Cedar could look at the map and tell their depths aren't accurate at all.

I really do like the app though, and I have found it is generally useful. I have compared it multiple times with an H2O, and it was always spot on with that.

[DaSwede]

One thing to be considered, and this may have been said already, is that lake depths are down from previous years. I used mine yesterday, and it was about two feet off (depth). I know a lot of that has to do with the lake being way down from previous years.

Mine was spot on when we were on LOW this past December though. Loved it! It was fun to track the path that they took to get out there.

[tview]

Mine seems accurate for the lakes I have been on. I wish it could tell you how far you are from a way point like my h2o does unless I missing it some where

[MaxGoldman]

I bought this app for this year ice fishing and it has been right on on all lakes but one. The location seemed spot on, it was just the lake depths like brian was saying, and I'm not talking a few feet, it was 12' shallower. But for $10, it's hard to beat what the app provides you with. You could spend that much on a paper map of ONE lake.

[CaptainMusky]

Its entirely possible the map is off, I have similar issues with LakeMaster chip in my boat.

There are areas that are not even remotely accurate, whereas the Navioncs app on my phone is, and vice versa.

It isnt an exact science how they map these lakes and they do not cover every square inch of the water when doing so.

[Scott M]

It's worked well for me. Used it on Sauk Chain, Saganaga (no contours, just wanted US/Can line), Mille Lacs, Red, Lake of the Woods, Washington LeSueur, and about a dozen smaller lakes around the state. It was off pretty bad on one small lake, but the original DNR map that was scanned in was likely pretty poor too.

Like bobbymalone says, it probably has more to do with GPS chips in certain phones than anything.