Comparison

NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS vs navCenter

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Digital nautical charts
  • Offline chart downloads
  • Real-time AIS tracking
  • Community points of interest
  • Auto-routing
  • GPX file export
Features
Read full description

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.

About

navCenter

This app transforms your Apple devices into a multifunctional display for marine navigation data, including NMEA and AIS. It also provides autopilot remote control capabilities for compatible systems, connecting via a WiFi gateway.

Highlights
  • NMEA and AIS data display
  • Autopilot remote control
  • SeaTalk1™ and SeaTalkNG™ compatibility
  • WiFi gateway connection
  • NMEA2000 and NMEA0183 format support
  • Multifunctional display for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Watch
Features
Read full description

navCenter (nC) enables your iPhone/iPad/Mac/Watch to operate as a multifunctional display (MFD) for NMEA data (including AIS) and as an autopilot remote control for SeaTalk1™ and SeaTalkNG™ autopilots. navCenter connects to your boats instruments via a WiFi gateway and can handle both NMEA2000 and NMEA0183 formats simultaneously. Information on WiFi gateways can be found here: https://www.guardiandigital.tech/navCenterGatewaysMultiplexers.html navCenter is able to control SeaTalkNG™ and SeaTalk1™ autopilots when partnered with a compatible WiFi multiplexer or Gateway. More information on the autopilot remote control can be found here: https://www.guardiandigital.tech/navCenterAutopilotRemote.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ privacy policy: https://www.guardiandigital.tech/html/privacyPolicy.html

Screenshots

NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS4 screens
navCenter4 screens

Verdict

The call

NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS and navCenter both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 78% of navCenter's written reviews are positive against 54% of NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS's. navCenter also leads on device support (4 vs 2). NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS's advantage is ratings volume (114 vs 7). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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

Both are free to download. NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year and navCenter sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS against 4.4 for navCenter. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS has 114 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 54% of NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS's written reviews are positive against 78% of navCenter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS ships an update every 3 weeks, navCenter monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS versus navCenter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNV Charts GPS Navigation AISnavCenter
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (114 ratings) — better4.4 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews54.2% of reviews77.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings114 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.615.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNV Chart Group GmbHGUARDIAN DIGITAL LTD

Customer experience

NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS

All ratings114 ratings
Positive86.0%
Neutral4.4%
Negative9.6%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive54.2%
Neutral11.9%
Negative33.9%

navCenter

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral28.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral11.1%
Negative11.1%

In-app purchases

14 purchases

NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS

Subscriptions14
  • Baltic Sea and Kattegat$49.991 Year
  • Norway$49.991 Year
  • Netherlands$49.991 Year
Show 11 more
  • 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
2 purchases

navCenter

Subscriptions1
  • Subscribed annually$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Purchased$34.99

Questions

Is NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS free?
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is navCenter free?
navCenter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or navCenter?
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS is rated higher. NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS averages 4.5 out of 5 from 114 ratings, while navCenter averages 4.4 from 7 ratings.
Do NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or navCenter have ads?
Neither NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS nor navCenter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or navCenter?
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS ships an update every 3 weeks, and navCenter monthly. Most recently, NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS was updated on October 17, 2026 and navCenter on October 5, 2026.

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