NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS vs SkunkTracker
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS
This app provides digital nautical charts and navigation tools for safe boating. It offers offline chart downloads, real-time AIS tracking, and community-shared points of interest. Plan and share your routes with ease.
- Digital nautical charts
- Offline chart downloads
- Real-time AIS tracking
- Community points of interest
- Auto-routing
- GPX file export
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Enhance your navigation experience with a seamless navigation solution that provides up-to-date digital nautical charts, comprehensive harbour information, and a full suite of navigation features. The charts can be downloaded for offline use and offer exceptional compatibility with the NV Charts paper charts with a similar chart design. All currently valid editions of the NV Verlag / NV Charts nautical charts or inland charts | North Sea | Baltic Sea | Netherlands | Wadden Sea | Ijsselmeer | Sweden | Denmark | Germany | Norway | France | USA | Caribbean | Bahamas areas are compatible with the NV Charts App. Enjoy the best of both worlds - paper and digital: A perfect match is our popular combination package of high-quality digital charts and cleverly designed paper charts. Alternatively, you can also purchase digital nautical charts directly via the app with a convenient annual subscription that renews automatically. The integrated update service keeps the charts up to date. If it is not yet clear where the journey should go or no offline charts are activated, free online charts can be displayed for all NV Charts chart areas, even without a currently valid chart licence. Detailed and relevant information is essential for navigating safely on the water. With the NV Charts App, you are part of the BoatView community yourself. You can mark harbours, anchorages and navigation warnings on the digital nautical chart and also add pictures of interesting places that go beyond navigation, such as restaurants or popular attractions, and share them with the community. Others can respond directly with comments. The continuously edited content can be downloaded directly to be available offline. To make all the information easily accessible, the app offers a search function. You can explore the surroundings and search directly for place names as well as anchorages, harbours, ramps, waypoints, cranes, fuel stations or tide stations. The app also offers fast and flexible auto-routing, allowing you to navigate directly to your destination and edit a route manually. Navigation on board is even more fun together! You can share your tracks with friends or use the data outside the app and export it as a GPX file. You can easily share your favourite harbours and anchorages from the app via a link and coordinate your trip planning even better with everyone. The AIS function in the NV Charts App allows you to keep an eye on AIS signals in real time. A WiFi AIS receiver can be connected to the NV Charts App for this purpose. The AIS Class A and B targets and aids to navigation (ATON), as well as MOB AIS SART transponder emergency transmitters, are displayed, and the traffic situation can be better assessed. The NV Charts App can be installed and synchronized on multiple devices. NV Charts App - Features: + Search function + Autorouting for all distances and regions + Velocity Made Good (VMG) + Community Layer / Points of Interest(POI) + Free online boating charts preview for planning + In App Purchases of digital offline charts + Community Layer / Points of Interest(POI) + Reads all NV Chart chart areas + Easy download of the maps + Always the latest data + Seamless zoom and panning functions + Tide Forecast + Online weather + AIS Wifi Support + AIS Sart Beacon + AIS CPA function + Night mode + Anchor alarm + Position with GPS + Intuitive route planning + Course markings, markings, bearing ruler + Port information + Display of instruments + Synchronizing devices + Live Position Sharing + Social sharing of routes, tracks, positions Note: Continued use of GPS in the background can significantly reduce battery life.
SkunkTracker
This app provides live, updating maps of ships and boats using AIS data. It connects to your AIS receivers or public network feeds to display vessel locations. Requires an AIS radio or access to an AIS data feed to function.
- Live AIS data display
- Map visualization of vessels
- Supports WiFi AIS receivers
- Integrates with public AIS feeds
- Real-time vessel location updates
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SkunkTracker displays live, updating maps of ships and boats. It uses AIS data streams received over WiFi, either from your own dedicated AIS receivers or from public network feeds such as AISHub.net and MarineTraffic.com. AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders are carried by all large ships, all passenger vessels, and many recreational boats. Note: you need an AIS radio, or access to a public or private AIS feed, to use SkunkTracker. Your boat's AIS transponder may have a network interface already, and if you can connect to the same network you can use that radio. Your radio can be connected via WiFi or via cellular data. If your radio doesn't have a network connection, we recommend a WiFi-RS232 converter, such as the Global Cache WF2SL or the Grid Connect RN370.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SkunkTracker at none against NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS's 14. NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year. SkunkTracker asks for nothing beyond the download.
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS has 114 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two.
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS ships an update every 3 weeks, SkunkTracker every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS | SkunkTracker |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (114 ratings) — better | 4.2 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 114 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 78 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NV Chart Group GmbH | Mobile Geographics |
Customer experience
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS
SkunkTracker
In-app purchases
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS
- Baltic Sea and Kattegat$49.991 Year
- Norway$49.991 Year
- Netherlands$49.991 Year
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- Mediterranean West$49.991 Year
- Mediterranean East$49.991 Year
- France Atlantik$49.991 Year
- Cuba$49.991 Year
- Croatia$49.991 Year
- Caribbean and Bermuda$49.991 Year
- Atlantic Islands$49.991 Year
- Florida and Bahamas$49.991 Year
- German Inland Waters$49.991 Year
- UK South$49.991 Year
- Northsea$49.991 Year
SkunkTracker
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS free?
Is SkunkTracker free?
Which has better reviews, NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or SkunkTracker?
Do NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or SkunkTracker have ads?
Which is updated more often, NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or SkunkTracker?
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