Link vs Waterway Guide
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Link
Control your Simrad, Lowrance, or B&G marine electronics remotely from your smartphone or tablet. Duplicate your display's screen, manage charts, sonar, radar, and entertainment, and back up your data wirelessly. Stay connected to your boat's systems from anywhere on board.
- Remote display mirroring
- Control charts, sonar, and radar
- Manage entertainment systems
- View engine and instrument data
- Wireless waypoint backup and restore
- Wireless settings backup and restore
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The Link app gives you remote control of wirelessly connected Simrad, Lowrance, or B&G multifunction displays from your smartphone or tablet. Link lets you select any wirelessly connected display on board, duplicates the screen in real-time on your mobile device, and puts control of most display functions at your fingertips. Work with charts, sonar, and radar, control your on-board entertainment system, view data from connected engines and instruments, and much more. With Link, you’re constantly connected to your boat’s key systems from anywhere on board – making it easier to plan trips, fish, sail, handle maintenance, and otherwise make the best of your time on the water. Link also gives you the ability to wirelessly back up and restore waypoints, routes, tracks, and display settings directly to your mobile device. This makes it easier than ever to protect your valuable boating data against loss or theft, and to keep your backups up-to-date with zero hassle. The Link app is compatible with Simrad NSS evo3, NSS evo2, NSO evo2, NSS7/8/12*, and GO series displays; Lowrance HDS Carbon, HDS Gen3, HDS Gen2 Touch*, HDS Gen2**, and Elite Ti fishfinder/chartplotters; and B&G Zeus³, Zeus², Zeus Touch*, and Vulcan sailing chartplotters. Displays without built-in wireless connectivity require an additional WIFI-1 module. To enable the Link app, a free software update may be required for your display. Link works with the Apple iPhone 5s and later devices running iOS 9 or above. * Mirroring only. ** View only.
Waterway Guide
This app provides a comprehensive boating resource with a verified database of marinas, anchorages, and navigation alerts. Users can access real-time hazard information, plan trips with a digital handbook, and utilize detailed content optimized for mobile devices. Engage with a community of boaters through comments and reviews.
- Verified points of interest database
- Real-time navigation alerts
- Community comments and reviews
- Skipper's Handbook for trip planning
- Offline content access
- Marina filtering by amenities
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Optimized for your mobile devices with Waterway Guide's detailed and verified points of interest database. Includes over 1.3 million data points on marinas, anchorages, navigation alerts, free docks, bridges and locks displayed on the embedded map or satellite view. Benefit from the experience of 75 years of publishing and hundreds of thousands of active boaters through verified comments and reviews. Share your comments, add points of interest, earn rewards and engage with others from within the app. Stay informed with the latest hazards to navigation reported real time from USCG, government agencies, local experts and boaters everywhere. Plan your time on the water with Waterway Guide's Skipper's Handbook, which is included with the free app download. Access Waterway Guide's library of books as individual chapters or entire guides for the information and details you need for navigation. Content is optimized for mobile devices and can be bookmarked for availability offline. Easily find marinas that fit your needs. Filter our entire database of marinas based on amenities and your preferences. Same functionality as Waterway Guide’s Marinas App. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Waterway Guide at 4.7 against Link's 2.2. Waterway Guide also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (52% vs 25%). Link's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.6). On price, ads and device support 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. Waterway Guide sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year. Link asks for nothing beyond the download.
Waterway Guide holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Waterway Guide has 2.9K ratings behind it against 148, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Link's written reviews are positive against 52% of Waterway Guide's.
Link ships an update every 4 months, Waterway Guide every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Link | Waterway Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.2 (148 ratings) | 4.7 (2.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 24.6% of reviews | 52.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 148 | 2.9K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #134 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Navico Norway AS | Waterway Guide |
Customer experience
Link
Waterway Guide
User reviews
Link
From 148 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to set up and use once connected
- 📱 Allows remote viewing of chart plotter on iPad/iPhone
- 🎮 Remote control functionality for chart plotter
- 📡 WiFi connectivity to marine devices
- 🖥️ Screen mirroring capability
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent connection drops and disconnections
- 🐛 Login failures with Genesis and single sign-on systems
- 📱 Portrait mode only - no landscape/full screen support
- 🔌 Incompatible with cellular data when connected to WiFi
- ⚠️ Poor compatibility with newer iOS versions
Waterway Guide
From 2.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent integration with Aqua Map
- 👍 Useful resource for boating
- 👍 Great information and details
- 👍 Easy to use and navigate
- 👍 Invaluable for planning trips
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🐛 Inconsistent and unreliable
- 🐛 Difficult to navigate and use
- 🐛 Outdated information and images
- 🐛 Subscription and access issues
Bugs and requests
Link
Reported bugs
20 issues- App won't connect to Genesis after Simrad SSO update
- Connection drops when cellular data is enabled
- Sonar log uploads fail with 'Can't Login' error
- Screen mirroring shows lower resolution than expected
- App crashes when taking screenshots
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- Full screen mode removed in recent updates
- Portrait mode lock prevents landscape viewing
- Black screen display issues
- App freezes during interaction with chart plotter
- WiFi connection prevents internet/cellular access
- Incompatibility with iOS 14 and newer versions
- Remote control functionality broken after device firmware updates
- App doesn't detect MFD devices on network
- Panning/scrolling causes disconnection
- Distorted video display on non-text screens
- Shake-to-report triggers during normal boat motion
- Zoom controls unresponsive
- App won't connect to specific device models
- Screen rotation not working on iPhone
- Truncated display on larger phones
Requested features
14 requests- Apple Watch compatibility and autopilot control
- Dark mode for night boating
- Full screen landscape mode support
- Autopilot remote control capability
- Sound/audio alerts for alarms
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- Easy screenshot download to photos app
- Waypoint and route upload functionality
- Support for newer chart plotter models
- Ability to use cellular data while connected to WiFi
- Zoom functionality via trackpad
- French language support
- File transfer capability (GRIB files, etc.)
- Backup file location visibility
- Independent display views on tablet vs plotter
Waterway Guide
Reported bugs
4 issues- App not working with latest iOS version
- Subscription purchases not working properly
- Unable to access purchased content
- Frequent crashes and errors
Requested features
4 requests- Provide vertical bridge clearances
- Improve offline functionality
- Enhance search and filtering options
- Implement dark mode
In-app purchases
Link
No in-app purchases
Waterway Guide
- Great Lakes Vol.2 Ch.8$14.991 Year
- Anchorages Along the ICW$20.991 Year
- ICW Cruising Guide by Bob423$29.991 Year
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- Northern Edition$49.991 Year
- 1st Ed. Bahamas Land and Sea$49.991 Year
- Chesapeake Bay Edition$54.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW Edition$54.991 Year
- Southern Edition$54.991 Year
- Western Gulf Coast Edition$54.991 Year
- Florida Keys Edition$54.991 Year








