Comparison

NMEAremote LITE vs Celestial Nav

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NMEAremote LITE

Access your boat's marine instrument data on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. Displays real-time wind, speed, depth, and GPS information in an easy-to-read dashboard. Supports NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, and Signal K.

Highlights
  • Real-time marine instrument data
  • NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, Signal K support
  • Customizable dashboards
  • Configurable alarms
  • Apple Watch app
  • iPad Split View support
  • VoiceOver accessibility
Features
Read full description

Your boat's instruments, right in your hand. NMEAremote connects your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch to your vessel's network and navigation system and brings all critical marine data to a bold, easy-to-read dashboard — wherever you are on deck. Whether you're racing offshore or cruising coastal waters, NMEAremote delivers real-time wind, speed, depth, GPS data, and more in a single display. The first NMEA app ever on the App Store, now a trusted Swiss Army knife for sailors worldwide. Broad Compatibility Supports NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, Signal K, and MQTT from virtually any device. Compatible with a wide range of preconfigured sources including Actisense, Digital Yacht, Yacht Devices, B&G, and many more — over WiFi or Bluetooth. Your Data, Your Way All values are organized into intuitive Modules — GPS, Wind, Sounder, Environment, and more. Built for iPad — Side by Side with Your Charts NMEAremote supports iPad Split View, so you can run your favourite charting app on one side while NMEAremote displays clean, live instrument values on the other. No more switching back and forth. Your chart and your data, together on one screen. User-Friendly Interface Clean, intuitive design makes it easy for both experienced sailors and beginners to navigate. Stay Aware Configurable alarms alert you visually and audibly when any value crosses a threshold. Keep a full NMEA log for review and diagnostics. On Your Wrist & Glasses Native Apple Watch app runs independently from your iPhone. Supports ActiveLook® smartglass integration for hands-free, heads-up sailing data. Accessible to All Sailors NMEAremote supports VoiceOver, Apple's built-in screen reader. Instrument titles and live values are fully accessible — so every sailor can stay informed, eyes-free, at any time. One Purchase. No Subscriptions. No Registration required Upgrade once for the full feature set. No recurring fees, no hidden costs, no adds. No charts — just clean, reliable instrument data done right. For any details, supported values, devices and messages visit: www.zapfware.de/nmearemote/ If you have any questions, suggestions or need support please send an e-mail to ios@zapfware.de More with NMEAremote full upgrade (see: www.zapfware.de/nmearemote/feature-matrix/): Customizable Dashboards Create personalized displays tailored to your needs. Focus on the data that matters most to you. Build the dashboard you need: choose layouts, add pages, set favorites or just use the comprehensive default dashboard. Every numeric value can be individually smoothed for clean, stable readings. Set a custom color for each instrument title and value — match your cockpit aesthetics, improve readability in sunlight or at night, or color-code data by category at a glance. Your dashboard, your palette. Performance Sailing Import your polar diagram and unlock full performance analytics — Polar Speed, Target Speed, VMG, Beat & Gybe angles, and more. Ideal for racers who want that extra tenth of a knot. Supports: ∙ Expedition, A&T ∙ B&G Triton Edge, H5000, GoFree™ Modules: ∙ AIS, Battery, Engine, Navtex, Performance, Racing, Rig, Rudder, Tanks,...

About

Celestial Nav

This app provides tools for celestial navigation, offering computations for celestial bodies and sight reductions. It includes an offline perpetual almanac and allows for quick capture of observation data for accurate course adjustments.

Highlights
  • Celestial navigational computations
  • Offline perpetual almanac
  • Quick celestial observation data capture
  • High accuracy sight reductions
  • Sight planning and reduction tools
  • Celestial fix computations
Features
Read full description

We believe celestial navigation is an amazing skill and develop Celestial Nav to offer a simple, yet powerful and all encompassing app for our users. Celestial Nav is an easy to use, all-in-one tool which offers: • Celestial navigational computations for your device • Simple toolbar menu for quick access • Internally stored perpetual Almanac • Offline ready and functional without the need for other external tools • Quick and easy capture celestial observation data • High accuracy sight reductions • Star reference tables SIGHT PLANNING • Local Hour Angle (LHA) for Aries • Star tables sorted by name, magnitude, declination, and SHA • Sunrise, sunset, twilight, and location reference • Moon phase reference SIGHT REDUCTION • High accuracy sight reduction algorithm • Perpetual Almanac offering accurate data for years 1600 - 3000 • Almanac data for Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn • Detailed Almanac data for 58 navigational stars • Assumed Position (AP) for any user defined position • Line of Position (LOP) intercept data for accurate course and speed adjustments • Computational variables displayed for accuracy and validation CELESTIAL FIX • Computations by USNO algorithm in the Nautical Almanac • Save all your LOP in an easy reference table BASIC VERSION Free daytime celestial navigation tools using the sun: • Unlimited sextant sight reduction calculations • Sight reduction to a line of position using the sun • Perpetual almanac for the sun • Advanced sight corrections for index error, eye height, temperature, and pressure • Support for upper and lower limb reference • Star Table with navigational references • Detailed Sun references • Limited Moon references PRO FEATURES (IN-APP PURCHASE) Advanced Day & Night Celestial Navigation includes all BASIC features plus: • Almanac data for 65 navigational bodies for years 1600 through 3000 • Map display for saved LOPs • View intercepts with course and speed corrections • Metric and imperial unit support with automatic conversions • Support for coordinate entries in different formats (H° M’ S” or Decimals) • Save all your LOP calculations for future reference • Save user preferences and settings • Unrestricted moon references • Almanac and algorithmic models for 65 navigational bodies: • Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn • 58 navigational stars Supported stars: Acamar, Achernar, Acrux, Adhara, Aldebaran, Alioth, Alkaid, Alnair, Alnilam, Alphard, Alphecca, Alpheratz, Altair, Ankaa, Antares, Arcturus, Atria, Avior, Bellatrix, Betelgeuse, Canopus, Capella, Deneb, Denebola, Diphda, Dubhe, Elnath, Eltanin, Enif, Fomalhaut, Gacrux, Gienah, Hadar, Hamal, Kaus Australis, Kochab, Markab, Menkar, Menkent, Miaplacidus, Mirfak, Nunki, Peacock, Polaris, Pollux, Procyon, Rasalhague, Regulus, Rigel, Rigil Kent., Sabik, Schedar, Shaula, Sirius, Spica, Suhail, Vega, Zubengenubi REFERENCES Sight reductions and celestial calculations use various internationally accepted references for the most accurate results: • Jean Meeus - Astronomical Algorithms • US Naval Observatory (USNO) Almanac and Algorithms • Hipparcos New Astrometric Catalog, Published 2007 • ELP2000-85 SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Celestial Nav is free to download and the basic features free to use. A paid upgrade to the PRO version provides access to premium features and additional tools. We may offer trial subscriptions that give limited time access to all PRO features and premium content for the duration of the trial period. Trial subscriptions automatically expire and the app will revert back to the Basic version thereafter. No data is lost but access and use of premium features will no longer be available.

Screenshots

NMEAremote LITE4 screens
Celestial Nav4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Celestial Nav at Free against NMEAremote LITE's $3.99. Celestial Nav also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (60% vs 43%). NMEAremote LITE's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and device support (4 vs 2). On ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Celestial Nav is free to download; NMEAremote LITE costs $3.99 up front. NMEAremote LITE sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Celestial Nav sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

NMEAremote LITE holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 10 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 43% of NMEAremote LITE's written reviews are positive against 60% of Celestial Nav's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NMEAremote LITE ships an update every 3 months, Celestial Nav every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
NMEAremote LITE versus Celestial Nav: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNMEAremote LITECelestial Nav
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (3 ratings) — better4.3 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews42.9% of reviews60.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings310 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB21 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperzapfwareSkytip LLC

Customer experience

NMEAremote LITE

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral14.3%
Negative42.9%

Celestial Nav

All ratings10 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

NMEAremote LITE

One-time1
  • Upgrade$19.99
6 purchases

Celestial Nav

Subscriptions3
  • PRO Version$1.991 Month
  • PRO Version$7.996 Months
  • PRO Version$9.991 Year
One-time3
  • 7 Day Trial License$0.99
  • 30 Day Trial License$2.99
  • PRO Version Lifetime$24.99

Questions

Is NMEAremote LITE free?
NMEAremote LITE costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Celestial Nav free?
Celestial Nav is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NMEAremote LITE or Celestial Nav?
NMEAremote LITE is rated higher. NMEAremote LITE averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Celestial Nav averages 4.3 from 10 ratings.
Do NMEAremote LITE or Celestial Nav have ads?
Neither NMEAremote LITE nor Celestial Nav shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NMEAremote LITE or Celestial Nav?
NMEAremote LITE ships an update every 3 months, and Celestial Nav every 3 weeks. Most recently, NMEAremote LITE was updated on November 1, 2026 and Celestial Nav on November 3, 2026.

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