Modern sailing increasingly relies on apps on your phone or tablet to find your way. We have tested the latest and best navigation apps on the market.

iSailor

iSailor is another app that works well as an extension to your boat’s onboard systems. It will connect to the NMEA system and internet AIS, although each feature you unlock costs money. The alarms menu is comprehensive, including anchor drag, waypoint proximity, loss of GPS signal and a low battery warning.

Charts were fairly good, but as with Seapilot, I had issues with the auto detail of the chart at various zoom levels and had data overlaid on each other. I also found that at certain levels of zoom, key data such as spot depth was removed, but too soon for my liking. If I want to plan 2-3 miles ahead I want to see clear depth data, not just coloured contours.

A real win was the clearly marked, adjustable safety contour that made staying out of the shallows far easier. However, there is no option to overlay wind or tide and current information, so again this made it limited for any meaningful sailing activity.

Pros

Ability to connect to NMEA data from boat
AIS overlays with internet connection
Clear, adjustable safety contour

Cons

Chart detail on auto zoom not what was needed
Waypoints and routing not intuitive

Get iSailor app from the Apple App Store
Get iSailor app from the Google Play Store

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