Am I the last to discover that the last Lowrance update (4.5 I think) for Gen3, etc. disables some Navionics mapping features that were previously available?

Fishing ranges, Shallow water, contour density, and maybe other features are disabled unless a Navionics subscription is active.

If I'm not mistaken these features were available prior to this "upgrade" without an active Navionics subscription.

Have tried and have not been able to find a way to reinstall the prior Lowrance software version to hopefully restore availability of the features without a subscription - I guess it's checking the install image and preventing install of older versions. How thoughtful.

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I cant remember what version those features were removed, but it seems like it was prior to 4.5. You should be able to revert back to the image you were previously running if you remember what version it was.

I have the two updates prior to the last saved on my computer. But my HDS Gen3 refuses to boot from it to install the older update. I suspect the system checks the currently installed version and will not boot and install an older update. IMO - if this is the case then it appears its a means to "encourage" a Navionics subscription to continue use of prior available and paid for features.

I've paid for Navionics subsciptions twice in the past at different times - but both times found their data updates to be of limited value to me - so no plan to resubscribe.

If Navionics/Lowrance has disabled paid for features that were previously available without subscription and is preventing install of a previous update to restore the features - that's dirty pool and unethical.

I have read on other forums that they did disable the features. But It would be really interesting if someone with a Gen3 running a prior Lowrance software update with a Navionics+ card and no Navionics subscription to check if those features were enabled to be sure.