New Apple Watch is a dive computer

[Wibble]

I am not so sure, one must take into consideration that the deal is with Apple and Apple sets the rules and terms. If anyone that can be thought of as greedy, Apple is the first suspect not Oceanic. We don't know the terms and conditions set by Apple for Oceanic but I am sure that it isn't soft or easy.

Normally Apple takes 30% of any money taken through the Apple store. Oceanic will be an early adopter, having several months and almo certainly Apple's support in return for testing an Alpha developer and being NDA'd up to their eyeballs.

Will be little or nothing stopping other developers from building similar applications, patents and legal crap aside.

 

[Rick Brant]

I am not so sure, one must take into consideration that the deal is with Apple and Apple sets the rules and terms. If anyone that can be thought of as greedy, Apple is the first suspect not Oceanic. We don't know the terms and conditions set by Apple for Oceanic but I am sure that it isn't soft or easy.

I doubt Apple influenced these terms. Apple is already in hot water over bad app store behavior, there is no way they would add fuel to that fire with such a niche app. And for the record I am an app developer with two apps in the app store, not that I have any great insight or anything.

 

[brsnow]

It seems very affordable and customizable over all. Take almost 14 years to equal the cost of my perdix 2. Also as technology changes you are able to participate with little cost.

 

[KenGordon]

The depth app is not really intended to be useful as a real tool, It is mainly created as a demonstration on how to use the APIs associated with reading sensor data from the hardware into an application. That is what it is no more no less. Apple often does this and creates a host of content and instructions to the dev site.

At present there is no demo app and nothing that explains how to use the depth sensor. I have explored it and Apple explicitly block access at the moment. I have code to read it but it gets an error saying I need an “Entitlement“ which is Apple speak for a enablement for particular APIs. Some of these can be allowed by the user and asked for by the developer, not this one yet. I have chased Apple to allow me this entitlement.

In health app on the phone you can add depth entries for arbitrary depths. It is happy with depths shallower than 37m but asks you to confirm deeper than that. It will be interesting to see how samples from the watch exceeding 40 odd m get stored.

In the developer docs there are event types corresponding to the idea of a “maximum depth”. There is nothing (I can find) about what that depth might be, you’d expect that to be something specific to a particular device type so no surprise,

CMWaterSubmersionMeasurement.DepthState.pastMaxDepth | Apple Developer Documentation

The device has exceeded the maximum safe diving depth.

developer.apple.com

Even if the API only ever allows 40m then this is still a game changer. The Ultra is proving very popular with people (on Apple Watch forums at least) and by Christmas there will be just be more of them than all the dive computers in the world. When any app ships it will cover 95% of all divers’ needs.

 

[hazmat]

At present there is no demo app and nothing that explains how to use the depth sensor. I have explored it and Apple explicitly block access at the moment. I have code to read it but it gets an error saying I need an “Entitlement“ which is Apple speak for a enablement for particular APIs. Some of these can be allowed by the user and asked for by the developer, not this one yet. I have chased Apple to allow me this entitlement.

In health app on the phone you can add depth entries for arbitrary depths. It is happy with depths shallower than 37m but asks you to confirm deeper than that. It will be interesting to see how samples from the watch exceeding 40 odd m get stored.

In the developer docs there are event types corresponding to the idea of a “maximum depth”. There is nothing (I can find) about what that depth might be, you’d expect that to be something specific to a particular device type so no surprise,

CMWaterSubmersionMeasurement.DepthState.pastMaxDepth | Apple Developer Documentation

The device has exceeded the maximum safe diving depth.

developer.apple.com

Even if the API only ever allows 40m then this is still a game changer. The Ultra is proving very popular with people (on Apple Watch forums at least) and by Christmas there will be just be more of them than all the dive computers in the world. When any app ships it will cover 95% of all divers’ needs.

Thanks for that. It supports what I was guessing, that even though the device is capable, Apple may exclusively give access to those APIs to Oceanic, at least for now.

 

[Belzelbub]

It seems very affordable and customizable over all. Take almost 14 years to equal the cost of my perdix 2. Also as technology changes you are able to participate with little cost.

Struggling with the math a bit. I guess the 14 year ROI excludes the hardware cost. That makes sense only if the user is also an Apple Watch user. Compares less favorably with Garmin or Atmos computers.

At present there is no demo app and nothing that explains how to use the depth sensor. I have explored it and Apple explicitly block access at the moment. I have code to read it but it gets an error saying I need an “Entitlement“ which is Apple speak for a enablement for particular APIs. Some of these can be allowed by the user and asked for by the developer, not this one yet. I have chased Apple to allow me this entitlement.

I kind of thought this would be the case. Given that the launch of the AW Ultra included Oceanic I figured there would be some exclusivity time. Otherwise, where is the incentive for Oceanic to participate? If a competitor was able to develop a DC app immediately, that could make the Oceanic+ subscription model pretty much obsolete right out of the box.

 

[brsnow]

Struggling with the math a bit. I guess the 14 year ROI excludes the hardware cost. That makes sense only if the user is also an Apple Watch user. Compares less favorably with Garmin or Atmos computers.

People are buying the watch anyways. It is not really a cost. The amount of Apple Watch users is pretty large, especially active people. $80 a year is cheap for a dive computer.

I needed a better battery for my backcountry treks was going to settle for a Garmin G1, but no point now, the apple/oceanic cover it all. Since it is a back I will only activate app for trips. Super convenient and cost efficient

 

[Belzelbub]

People are buying the watch anyways. It is not really a cost. The amount of Apple Watch users is pretty large, especially active people. $80 a year is cheap for a dive computer.

Agreed, if you are going to buy a smartwatch any way, and need a DC as well, the AW Ultra, Garmins, and Atmos make a lot of sense.
The Garmins and Atmos may offer a more favorable ROI. My Garmin MK2s is considerably more capable as a DC, and cost me less than an AW Ultra. (I get 20% off, plus took advantage of a $100 rebate.) So, for me, the AW Ultra cost more, and I have no annual subscription to deal with.

I needed a better battery for my backcountry treks was going to settle for a Garmin G1, but no point now, the apple/oceanic cover it all. Since it is a back I will only activate app for trips. Super convenient and cost efficient

Interesting that you mentioned battery as a factor. The battery life of the AW Ultra may be an improvement over other AWs, but significantly less than the Garmins. My MK2s is good for over a week. I charge mine every Sunday night, though currently (Sunday evening) its at 48% and good for four days. The MK2, MK2i, and G1 all offer considerably more charge time than any of the AWs.

If you absolutely must have an AW and you also dive, the AW Ultra makes a lot of sense. If you need a smart/activity watch and also dive there are another options that may make more sense.

FWIW, I wouldn’t consider an AW (Ultra or otherwise) as I do not like rectangular watches. I much prefer a smart/activity watch that looks more like a watch. I’m probably not the only one on the planet that prefers round.

 

[brsnow]

Agreed, if you are going to buy a smartwatch any way, and need a DC as well, the AW Ultra, Garmins, and Atmos make a lot of sense.
The Garmins and Atmos may offer a more favorable ROI. My Garmin MK2s is considerably more capable as a DC, and cost me less than an AW Ultra. (I get 20% off, plus took advantage of a $100 rebate.) So, for me, the AW Ultra cost more, and I have no annual subscription to deal with.

Interesting that you mentioned battery as a factor. The battery life of the AW Ultra may be an improvement over other AWs, but significantly less than the Garmins. My MK2s is good for over a week. I charge mine every Sunday night, though currently (Sunday evening) its at 48% and good for four days. The MK2, MK2i, and G1 all offer considerably more charge time than any of the AWs.

If you absolutely must have an AW and you also dive, the AW Ultra makes a lot of sense. If you need a smart/activity watch and also dive there are another options that may make more sense.

FWIW, I wouldn’t consider an AW (Ultra or otherwise) as I do not like rectangular watches. I much prefer a smart/activity watch that looks more like a watch. I’m probably not the only one on the planet that prefers round.

I get 20% off Garmin as well through work but the screen and interface is not worth the discount. I used a mk1 and purchased a MK2i bundle I returned. They just do not work as well as apple. The additional battery life will be enough for me and the apple is a more comfortable watch as well. Garmin makes great items, I trust the mini to allow me to communicate and SOS on my trips.

The ultra is a game changer.

 

[seba76]

I kind of thought this would be the case. Given that the launch of the AW Ultra included Oceanic I figured there would be some exclusivity time. Otherwise, where is the incentive for Oceanic to participate? If a competitor was able to develop a DC app immediately, that could make the Oceanic+ subscription model pretty much obsolete right out of the box.

I think it may also be a question of liability. You may risk your life if a third party app has some bug or crashes during a dive. I guess Apple wants to keep more control on such application than just the standard App Store validation.