Argo Navigation App Learnings

[RedRascal]

Starting this thread to share some learnings about the Argo navigation program that is both a phone/tablet based program and web based map. I am not connected to Argo in anyway, I am just trying to plug the hole Garmin created by removing the Navionics web based Chart Viewer tool a few weeks back. I use to use the chart view program for general planning on my office dual screen computer. Also in the past I have had trouble with Navionics in offline map mode with routing. At times Navionics has to told me to download charts again before the auto route function would work. That really sucks when you are off grid. So I decided to pay the $20 subscription fee to Argo to see if it could do better. At this point I've only played with two routes in the web viewer.

Observations so far:
-Paying the $20 subscription was easy via the web
-Routing is way faster than what navionics would do, like a couple seconds where as navionics would chug away on the web and sometimes fail.
-First route I plugged in from Seattle to Victoria, BC went right across the breakwater/seawall(Ogden Point) outside of Victoria. Are you freakin kidding me.
-Second route from Seattle to San Juan Island cut a channel marker.
-Not sure what charts they use for Canada, they seem more like a glorified google map than a chart.

I'll post more when I get some more time with it, not a good first impression though. I attached the pic of the seawall it wanted you to hop over and the route that cut a buoy. As a general rule I typically stay in channels unless I have good info that I can operate safely outside of a channel.

 

[CharlieO.]

When I use Navionics it will often cut buoys depending on my depth setting. I have been playing around a little with the Argo free version.

 

[RedRascal]

Argo was a quick swing and a miss for me and I cancelled my subscription. Didn't even make it 24 hours before I threw in the towel. Here is what I found after trying it on a windows based computer running chrome, an android phone and an android tablet.
-Painfully slow on phone and tablet, 5-20 second response times to screen taps. This happened with menu sections and starting or ending points of a navigation route. You tap to the screen to set a starting point and wait and wait for a dot to appear reflecting your tap action. Not useable if you are trying to navigate on the fly. Tablet and phone work fine with all the other apps I use.
-Could not find Canadian chart data, just a google like map with depth and limited chart info. Missing things like rocks, some navigational aids and shipping lanes.
-Limited U.S. tide and current data. What was there was limited to current time and didn't have future data available for planning.
-Could not find Canadian tide or current data.
-Yesterday and today I would get a message that the NOAA ENC server was having issues so the app recommended selecting a dumb down map view. In NOAA ENC chart view it would in essence freeze the app until you selected a different view. The app architecture seems to expose you to whatever NOAA ENC chart server issues may be currently going on. Seems like they should isolate the the app from upstream issues.
-I have no clue how you would use this app in Canada without having rocks marked on the charts. There are just too many places where you can be in 100 feet or more water and come across a rock pinnacle 3 feet below the surface.

I wanted to like Argo and was hoping it would be an improvement over some of the Navionics warts but no dice for me. Waiting to see if I get a refund. Argo could work for a U.S. user not concerned about tide or current data if the NOAA ENC chart issue was a just a 2 day anomaly that I happened to hit. I don't see how Argo could be used with travel in Canadian waters unless you in an area with no hazards to navigation.

 

[SteveK]

I have Argo subscription to test out. It is worth $20 if you do not want to pay $80 for Navionics. I have both to side by side compare.
Where it failed was a route is only A to B, no additional way points.
Competition is good.