Oceanic+ - A Second Look With Serious Failures

[astr0b0y]

I'm 95% sure I changed the nitrox setting at least once during that 24 hour window and it didn't matter. It still resets to Air if you don't jump in the water in less than 24 hours after your last dive.

I could be mis-remembering, though. But, it is moot for me, anyway. I no longer own any dive computers except for Shearwaters.

No, doesn't do this. Stays at the same Gas setting last used and does not reset after any time period.

 

[Hydo]

I agree. My Oceanic+ log book has 69 dives listed. Mostly nitrox dives (various O2%), but also air dives. It has never switched gases "by itself" from its last setting.

 

[mje113]

I'm done with using AWU even as my backup computer. I've used it on about 30ish dives this year with my Perdix 2 being primary. I've run into all the usual issues people complain about and mostly was able to find work arounds.

Not this past weekend. I had two dives and on the first after I splashed I saw the "I'm fit and ready to dive" screen as normal, but after punching the action button nothing happened. Pushed it again and again and still nothing. I shrugged and continued the dive as normal. On surfacing I had to turn off the water lock and sure enough it had logged the entire dive, but never got out of "I'm fit and ready to dive". I pondered if maybe there was an issue with water pressure on the button or something and just to make sure all was good, on my second dive I put it into dive mode before splashing... but once in the water it behaved exactly the same. Never actually "activated" yet recorded the whole dive. Like what's the point of that??

Back on dry land I realized it still won't work. I guess I'm going to reinstall the app to see if that fixes it but seriously, this is just bad.

 

[Hydo]

I've no doubt some people have experienced problems, but the app has been flawless for me once they fixed the "start a new dive after going above 5 ft" problem (although even that was just an annoyance and not a real problem for me). It's been my primary computer on my last 3 trips in 2023 and haven't had any problem in that time.

My wife had one minor issue with her AWU: on the first dive she had not properly synced her updated subscription from her phone to the watch., but that was her error and was immediately corrected when we returned to the room to access her phone.

I intend to keep using it as my primary. The screen is so readable, the haptic alerts are strong and easily felt through a 3 mm wetsuit. It's very easy to adjust settings/use. I actually like the logbook and withe latest software version it's easy to export dives to subsurface.

I will continue to recommend it to friends and acquaintances.

 

[Hawaiianbrian]

Why would you want to dive Oceanic computer software that locks your computer up at 130 feet. We all make mistakes and who needs a dive computer that just adds to your stress and gives you the big F U.

 

[kimh]

@Hawaiianbrian Not to be simplistic, but if there's any likelihood you'll be at 130', you're not the target market. AWU is explicitly for recreational depths (covering 90%+ of divers). It's said to have a 14'/4m margin (resumes full functionality when you return to 130'/40m from no deeper than 144'/44m). Still, not the intended use. BTW depth & time are displayed above 130' no matter what.

PADI:

 

[Hawaiianbrian]

Or you could just buy a shearwater or Garmin and not worry..

 

[kimh]

@Hawaiianbrian Definitely, if you're pushing 130'. Or if you're in the 90% who don't, buy an AWU & not worry.

Few buy AWU only as a DC. More likely- Apple users also looking for the best Apple Watch, w/terrestrial features not in other wrist-DCs. If you don't exceed 330', you'll always have a cell phone on your wrist.

 

[BDiving]

In

I've had the same issues with the log book not syncing on both my and my wife's watch. Tried force quitting both apps (phone and watch), logging out and it, updating operating systems, restarting phone and watch in alternating order, restarting and opening the apps in alternating order... no luck, logs still not visible in the app. Finally I tried un-installing and re-installing the app, which deleted the dives completely. Also had trouble with some settings being reset.

This is very unfortunate because I really liked the readability of the watch underwater and the interface. It's disconcerting to me as well that, even with the Apple monster behind them with this flagship-type feature, Oceanic can't seem to fix it. Hopefully they don't struggle with the same problems with the computer built into the new phone housing.

I think the AWU/Oceanic+ has a lot of potential, but certainly not ready for prime time. Luckily we were using as a backup for Perdix 2s which, I hear, are half-way decent computers.

Had the same issue with the housing. It wouldn’t show I had a license on random occasions unless I turned on cellular (for $10/day), which I was lucky to have. Otherwise it would be an expensive paperweight. Tried uninstalling the app on the phone and it deleted all my dives.

 

[kimh]

Tried uninstalling the [Oceanic] app on the phone and it deleted all my dives.

This is generally expected behavior for iOS apps that don’t store data in the cloud- normally the user needs to agree to data deletion, as seen below. There are some utilities for exporting log info though.