New Apple Watch is a dive computer

[Skunky]

. If user needs to select scuba vs snorkel it needs to be done during onboarding.

I think it does ask you but that part appears to be a bug because it’s not sync’ing with the watch. When i change modes through the app it’s not changing on the watch. all other settings changed in the app appear to change on the watch but that one. bug apparently.

 

[Belzelbub]

That would be a desired goal.

But I think lots of people would like some real life tests to confirm it will do a standard LOB of 5 dives a day on a single charge.

Agreed. Per Apple's published specs, it appears that charging each day/night is expected to be the norm. Battery use will depend a lot on how the watch is used.

With the Garmin MK2s, for example, there is a very big difference in battery life in different modes. In watch mode, a lot of the sensors are off, or in a low power mode. I just checked my watch. It's currently at 75% charge (charged Sunday) and estimates 5 days of battery life remaining. When I start dive mode, my expected battery life drops dramatically. I checked, and the estimate is 11 hours of dive time. That's a significant difference. Not sure if such a difference would exist on the AW Ultra, but if comparable charging between dives on a LOB would probably be needed.

It would make most sense to default to the last settings.

If the target market is occasional vacation divers then they will always dive the same gas (air or Nitrox) for their full vacation week. No changes.

Well except for the Blue Hole dive. Then they need to adjust the Nitrox mix to something different. And reset back afterwards. But the boat crew will be telling them that multiple times before and after the Blue Hole dive.

But for the overwhelming majority of divers the last dive setting is correct. Why make them do extra work?

Yep, agreed. That would make the most sense to me. That's how Garmin handles it, and also how Shearwater handles it. And with both, it tells me what gas mix I'm using right away. Just need to turn on the Shearwater to see it. On the Garmin, I need to start the activity, and the next screen displays the mix.

If divers can't handle changing mix, or ensuring the mix is correct, they probably shouldn't be using a dive computer at all.

 

[tmrqs]

That would be a desired goal.

But I think lots of people would like some real life tests to confirm it will do a standard LOB of 5 dives a day on a single charge.

Granted not while diving, but my Ultra will last me an entire weekend using it for long activities.
- Saturday morning, off the charger
- 5 hour hike activity (using heart monitor and GPS constantly + listening to music using cellular connection)
- normal activities/notifications/measurements rest of the day
- sleep with it on Saturday night
- full day of being out and about on Sunday
- finishing the day with 20% battery

A day of diving will have screen on for say 4*1 hour but not use cellular nor do any measurements.

I would be extremely surprised if the Watch died in just one day.

 

[ThatDogDontHunt]

Granted not while diving, but my Ultra will last me an entire weekend using it for long activities.
- Saturday morning, off the charger
- 5 hour hike activity (using heart monitor and GPS constantly + listening to music using cellular connection)
- normal activities/notifications/measurements rest of the day
- sleep with it on Saturday night
- full day of being out and about on Sunday
- finishing the day with 20% battery

A day of diving will have screen on for say 4*1 hour but not use cellular nor do any measurements.

I would be extremely surprised if the Watch died in just one day.

For a standard LOB it will be in the water for 5*1 hour dives. Pre and post dive checks adds additional chunk of screen time (how long does it stay on after you use it?). In the region of 6 hours screen time per day? Does the screen remain on after a dive until your no fly time is up? Some (many, all?) dive computers do this.

No need for cell or other stuff except transfer of dive log info to your phone.

The app needs to continue executing to calc residual gas load once it is out of the water.

How does it "auto turn on" in the water? Does it use wet contacts or does it need to be continually sampling the pressure sensor?

It will be interesting to get some real world feedback.

 

[Tournesol2000]

One feature I would like to see, in addition to other comments here, is for the watch to do what Deep6 Excursion does- only have one setting for air and Nitrox. I hate that on my old dive computer I select air setting or Nitrox setting then enter ppo and%.
One setting and just leave as 21% for air, then if you use Nitrox, change accordingly.
Less confusing and more efficient in my eyes and my opinion. I do not know what other dive computers do besides the Suunto Zoop and my new Excursion.

 

[Taako]

Well, at least they clarify what happens when you exceed the maximum maximum depth (44m) -- it essentially goes into lockout gauge mode. I would surmise that the limit is actually that of the pressure sensor, so once you're passed that limit it doesn't know what you did or how deep you went, so it can't compute the dive from that point onwards.

this doesn't seem to be true based on some other accounts ive read, it managed to record accurate depth to 49m in this test: Apple Watch Ultra's Depth app can record dives beyond 40 meters reveals experiment

So even if it says "below 40m" it still is recording true depth for another 10m (possibly even more, but i don't think deeper depth was tested)

So there is still a possibility that other apps come along and continue to give a readout deeper than 40m. Either way, i'm never diving deeper than what i'm certified for as a recreational diver, so to *most* people it's a moot point.

 

[John_B]

How durable is the screen on these things?

Ray Maker (DCRainmaker) does an in-depth (sorry!) look at the whole EN13319 certification process for the  Watch Ultra in the Certification and Testing section of his Oceanic+ app review:

Diving with the Apple Watch Ultra & Oceanic+ App: Everything You Need to Know

Huish Outdoors, in conjunction with Apple, has today launched the new Oceanic+ dive app for the Apple Watch Ultra. As you may remember, the Apple Watch Ultra has built-in depth gauge hardware that’s certified to 40m/130ft. However, the also built-in

www.dcrainmaker.com

 

[John_B]

One feature I would like to see, in addition to other comments here, is for the watch to do what Deep6 Excursion does- only have one setting for air and Nitrox. I hate that on my old dive computer I select air setting or Nitrox setting then enter ppo and%.
One setting and just leave as 21% for air, then if you use Nitrox, change accordingly.
Less confusing and more efficient in my eyes and my opinion. I do not know what other dive computers do besides the Suunto Zoop and my new Excursion.

In my opinion, newer or infrequent divers are probably better off not having to worry about Nitrox settings.
I am fine with separate Air and Nitrox modes as long as the app can be configured to default to Nitrox mode with whatever appropriate O2% and ppO2 settings for those of us who choose that.

 

[Wibble]

I installed the app last night and bought a 1-month subscription just to check it out. So far I think it needs some work.

Expensive for a beta version

 

[John_B]

Expensive for a beta version

The curse of the early adopter.