SEAiq USA vs Hip Charts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SEAiq USA
Navigate US waterways with detailed NOAA and US Army Corps of Engineers charts. Features include waypoints, routes, tracks, weather overlays, and an anchor alarm. Offers a 7-day evaluation period before an in-app upgrade is required for full functionality.
- NOAA and US Army Corps of Engineers charts
- Waypoints, routes, and tracks
- Night color modes
- Anchor alarm
- Automatic weather download
- Chart measuring tools
- NMEA and AIS support
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SEAiq USA is a full-featured marine navigation app for the United States. It automatically downloads and displays charts from NOAA and the US Army Corps of Engineers for the regions you select. Features include: * Waypoints * Routes * Tracks * Night color modes * Anchor alarm * Automatic download and display of weather (wind & isobar) * Chart measuring tools (EBL/VRM) * Wi-Fi-based NMEA and AIS * Vector charts No purchase is required to view charts. Premium navigation features are enabled during a 7-day evaluation period. After that, an annual subscription is required. Existing one-time purchases retain the features they unlocked. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Hip Charts
Access NOAA nautical charts for free on your mobile devices. View charts online and download single areas for offline use. Additional features like multiple offline downloads and custom boundaries require a purchase.
- Unlimited online NOAA chart viewing
- Download single chart areas for offline use
- Automatic chart loading
- Cellular and WiFi chart downloads
- Custom download boundaries (paid)
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Hip Charts brings NOAA ENC nautical charts to your iPhone—completely free. Pan and zoom the map and official NOAA charts load automatically over Wi‑Fi or cellular. Download chart areas ahead of time for offline use on the water, including custom polygon boundaries. Measure distances right on the chart. Choose how charts look: • Default — NOAA’s standard chart tiles; fast and simple • Customized — adjust depth units, text size, harbor/shoreline structures (breakwaters, piers, docks), routes and marina info, and sharper rendering Need help reading symbols? Open Settings → Chart Legend for NOAA’s official U.S. Chart No. 1. Everything in the app is free. No subscriptions, no paywall. This app does not fulfill chart carriage requirements for regulated commercial vessels under Titles 33 and 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SEAiq USA at 76% against Hip Charts's 25%. SEAiq USA also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.3) and ratings volume (501 vs 7). Hip Charts's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. SEAiq USA sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $10.00 per year. Hip Charts asks for nothing beyond the download.
SEAiq USA holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SEAiq USA has 501 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of SEAiq USA's written reviews are positive against 25% of Hip Charts's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SEAiq USA | Hip Charts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (501 ratings) — better | 3.3 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 75.5% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 501 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 54 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sakhalin | Walk About Apps |
Customer experience
SEAiq USA
Hip Charts
Bugs and requests
SEAiq USA
Reported bugs
6 issues- Chart download failures with error messages
- App incompatibility with iOS 8 updates causing loss of purchase
- Performance degradation on iPad 3 and older devices
- Slow zoom and pan responsiveness
- Active Captain integration not fully functional in free version
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- Deceptive Active Captain marker display without content access
Requested features
7 requests- Delete and rename imported tracks functionality
- Track export as CSV spreadsheet with date, time, course, speed, location
- International chart support in free version
- Precipitation weather integration
- More prominent waypoint highlighting when route not selected
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- Enhanced navigation marker visibility
- Improved iPad-to-iPhone GPS sharing
Hip Charts
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SEAiq USA
- Premium Annual$10.001 Year
- Upgrade for Premium Features$24.99
Hip Charts
No in-app purchases
