Leave a Review ActiveCaptain®
Captain Emergency responder
This is been a really good app for me and others to enjoy and the fact that it updates your charts without having to buy extra charge and the definition and the how to on it is just a great overall product. I highly recommend this product. Many other features to use as wellCaptain R. J. Labson
Pretty good but needs work
I love that I can mirror the plotter to my phone and tablet. However, getting there took time with support. You must disable cellular data in order for Helm to show the video feed. You can still press buttons and the thumbnail will reflect that, but no video. There are in app settings and phone settings so it can be seamless.
This app helps when we are cozy down below and need to get some info about what’s going on up top and around us. While we are not using it to its full potential, the bells and whistles we have are pretty great.
3 stars due to the cellular issues and cannot pinch to zoom on Helm. A few other minor frustrations. Can’t wait until any tablet can be used as a full replacement for a plotter and all instrumentation is available wirelessly. Still, hands on analog data is still pretty hard to beat. If you wanna impress the hotties, this app will do it. If you wanna impress your fishing buddies, this app will do it. Be prepared for jeers from the fuddyduddy and boomer crowd.Show lessEm Anni
Seamless integration with GPSMap 742xs
Active Captain app reviews are what sold me on getting Garmin over the competition, and so far it has not disappointed. So much of my interaction with my chart plotter is done through the app, and after 3 months of use I’m very happy with it. Syncing routes and guidance works great, I like the active captain community data, and mirroring the plotter screen to the phone works reliably when I’ve tried to use it.Show lessNamkrap
Disappointed- not surprised. Garmin’s UX / UI
It seems as though if it’s not for aviation- garmin puts their UX / UI on the back burner.
This app could be tremendously better if Garmin spent 1/10 of their time spent on aviation products on their marine products.
I downloaded this app to go with 8616(?) unit to share sounding data with our other vessel. This was working well for about a month and now it tells me “no compatible devices found” even though it’s all the same and nothing aside from an app update changed.
I made sure everything was the same version, updated, tried resetting the wifi networks etc.Show lesssailorkid
Most useful boating aid
I have a Garmin 7608xvs unit that I purchased in 2016 and updated the Active Captain app this year on my iPad & iPhone. I absolutely love the presentation on the iPad which I use on every trip we take on our boat. Extremely useful, easy, and helpful. I feel it keeps me safer on the water. Also, the Garmin guys are awesome. I could not figure out why my charts were coming up fine on my iPhone but not on my iPad. Called Garmin support and the tech spent an hour on the phone with me getting the appropriate charts downloaded to my iPad.Show lesshatt48
Not intuitive
The syncing to plotter keeps having to be reset - and the menu is not intuitive for data transfers or updates When it shows all connected - the GPS says no updates available - the the app shows a significant one is ready amd pending - but can’t figure out how to make it happen since unit says no updates Can’t tell if purchased charts are fully transferred - maddening
And the chart detail on app is complete garbage. I purchased additional charts, downloaded tiles … and doesn’t show anything worth looking at - what a waste
Forget this and use your phone - so much betterShow lesskzeverythingtaken
Not intuitive like Garmin applications and equipment should be
Bought a Garmin GPS for my boat because I have them in the seven airplanes that I own. The Garmin GPS works fine but trying to interface it with active captain is completely not intuitive. What little manuals you can find about it are very poorly written and the videos go so fast that you can’t follow them. Takes forever to download and authenticate maps. I probably spent 10 to 12 hours and just now getting things to work. Seriously Garmin I know how well your aviation applications work you really need to have some of your top rate software engineers work on this product hard. You can eventually get this application to do what they say but not with out a lot of trial and error, and frustration.
.Show lesswayne3-15
Disappointed
I expected a LOT more. With all the gps technology Garmin has, I expected the app to give me a similar experience to the actual chartplotter. Instead it feels like a predecessor to MapQuest at best and that is being VERY generous.
I should be able to plan all my waypoint and bane them easily before my trip. Can’t happen.
I should be able to name my waypoints with real names. Can’t happen. Number of characters is very limited.
I should be able to see depth ranges, etc from the app. Can’t happen.
The QuickDraw helps but very difficult to navigate and download.
The overall user interface (UI) is very cumbersome.
For the cost of these chartplotter we should demand more from a user experience.
I HATE wasting valuable time on the water when I could have and should have been able to do it all beforehand.
A direct link to google maps or google earth would be awesome.
Garmin, if you need any advice, give me a shout. You can do so much better.Show lessSefious
Totally unusable.
When I launch the app and attempt to log in, a screen with two check boxes (asking me to agree that using charts is dangerous, and to agree to their lack of privacy policy) appears. I tick both check boxes, and the login screen appears. I enter my login info and seconds later that first screen with the check boxes appears. Over and over again, that screen refreshes, and nothing I do will get out of that cycle. After a few cycles it logs me out. I’ve had the same experience with an old Garmin account and with a brand new one I created with a different email address. No response from support when I emailed. Trash fire app. Sure would like to update my chat plotter’s firmware and pay for some charts. Extremely frustrating. Huge failure, Garmin.Show lessSpeeeed
Very Good & Needs Stability Fixes
I have had Simrad and Raymarine chatplotters and find that Garmin is an overall better plotter, easier to use, and the app is nice to have. Being able to upgrade all of my Garmin devices from my phone makes it so much easier.
I do think there is a lot of work that needs to be done to stabilize and improve the ActiveCaptain iPhone app. It constantly crashes to the point where I am unable to enter waypoints in it before trips or do anything besides just looking around on the map. I have a newer iPhone so that should not be the issue. Being able to see a list of waypoints on the app with coordinates, select one or many of them, and “share” by text or email would be a nice-to-have so I can share waypoints with others.Show lessTexanInFLA
