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The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

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51–60 of 195 posts

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#51
I haven't dived (dove?) in 10 years. Last gen dive computers are excellent, but super expensive. Before that, I just use a casio watch and gauges. That being said, unless regulations or recommendations have changed, you still need an analog backup gauges that usually have 3 (compass, depth and tank pressure) + extra regulator. So even if the watch decided to die, you are still safe.

I just looked at the screen shots in the article, nothing that different than my old dive computer. If I go back to being a regular recreational diver, I probably would get that watch and app.

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#52

Yet you will still void the warranty if you dive with it: Apple Watch Ultra has a water resistance rating of 100 meters under ISO standard 22810. Apple Watch Ultra may be used for recreational scuba diving (with a compatible third-party app from the App Store) to 40 meters, and for high-speed water sports. Apple Watch Ultra should not be used for diving below 40 meters. Water resistance is not a permanent condition a…

> Yet you will still void the warranty if you dive with it:

Your quotes don’t say that at all. They say it’s waterproof up to 100m but you should not use it deeper than 40m. There’s a lot to do under water between 0 and 40m.

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#53
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s standard diving practice. You have a backup regulator and a backup dice computer. And in the event of both primært and secondsry familier you have a plan for how to handle it. But both the backup regulator and dice computer is on your companion. You don’t dive with two yourself.

You don't dive with two regulators? I haven't been in a while but I fairly distinctly remember having two regulators per person, that way if one fails you don't have to immediately fall back on passing regulators back and forth breath-by-breath. The backup isn't a particularly nice regulator, probably reusing the mechanism your vest uses to inflate, but better than nothing.

Regulators come in two stages; you carry a backup second stage for someone else if their system fails - but you don’t carry two first stages (the part that screws onto the tank).

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#54
post #2

Title is misleading. This is a third party application for the Apple Watch Ultra that is being highlighted, not an Apple product itself.

It’s not misleading, this is Apple releasing the news and it has obviously been developed in collaboration with Apple. The term “Dive computer” is not something to be taken lightly. It’s hardware you literally depend on to keep you alive during a dive. The fact that Apple is supporting this externally developed app says they have a very higher level of trust in their hardware. Typically a dive computer would cost mor…

> The fact that Apple is entering the arena is quite a disruption as other brands will be forced to either compete on price or really raise the bar on innovation to justify their current levels.

This is the part I don't really understand, unless this app was completely developed out-of-house. How large an arena is this really? Are there really that many potential customers who are both divers and haven't bought an Apple watch? Is there some angle from the business side I'm missing here?

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#55

Haptics you can feel through a 7mm wetsuit? I'm impressed by that, although I'd not want them turned up that high on my bare wrist! This seems like a winner for vacation diving. For those divers that manage a couple dives a year on the family trip to the Caribbean, you have a device you know extremely well from daily life and that you know you keep charged, rather than a standalone computer you kinda forgot to get se…

GPS doesn't work underwater. Would it be for finding your way back to the boat after resurfacing?

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#57
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s standard diving practice. You have a backup regulator and a backup dice computer. And in the event of both primært and secondsry familier you have a plan for how to handle it. But both the backup regulator and dice computer is on your companion. You don’t dive with two yourself.

You don't dive with two regulators? I haven't been in a while but I fairly distinctly remember having two regulators per person, that way if one fails you don't have to immediately fall back on passing regulators back and forth breath-by-breath. The backup isn't a particularly nice regulator, probably reusing the mechanism your vest uses to inflate, but better than nothing.

I would refuse to dive with anyone who isn't carrying two regulators. Sharing a respirator is feasible...but it requires practice to do well and significantly impairs your ability to move around or accomplish other tasks.

Backup dive computers are much less common and most people use their buddy as their backup computer. It is much safer to surface without a functioning dive computer than it is to surface without a functioning regulator.

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, cool! It looks like that's the limit of Apple's Depth app, as well, which is what I found when I searched, and assumed it was the limit of the watch. Well that's definitely better - I wonder what happens when you go under 130 feet, though. A dedicated dive computer would at least provide accurate information, rather than throwing you to the wolves because you exceeded some legal limit. Also on the plus side, some…

I like that you assume it's going to shit the bed vs. assuming that they planned for it, given the hardware supports it.

I'm not assuming anything - and I'm not speaking as a pundit on Apple, I'm speaking as a consumer in the target audience with specific, important questions about a safety-critical piece of equipment. The answer to my question is not clear from this marketing release, and I'm simply saying that affects my likelihood to purchase.

Also, in the case of lack of evidence either way, assuming it would shit the bed is _definitely_ the right approach in diving.

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slight clarification: the Apple Watch Ultra has a water resistance rating of 100m. The Oceanic+ app has a 130ft/40m limit because that's the recreational diving limit. [1]: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP879?viewlocale=en_IN&locale=e... .

Oh, cool! It looks like that's the limit of Apple's Depth app, as well, which is what I found when I searched, and assumed it was the limit of the watch. Well that's definitely better - I wonder what happens when you go under 130 feet, though. A dedicated dive computer would at least provide accurate information, rather than throwing you to the wolves because you exceeded some legal limit. Also on the plus side, some…

Knowing the current state of software development and Apple's tendency to make pretty things on surface but that breaks down when you actually use it, I'd expect it to tell you you can swim as fast as possible to the surface without decompressing, even from 100m deep.

Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra

#60
post #28
post #4

> For access to decompression tracking, tissue loading, the location planner, and an unlimited logbook capacity, Oceanic+ is $9.99 (US) per month, or annually for $79.99 (US). Family Sharing is also available for $129 (US) annually, allowing access for up to five people.

I want to take a sabbatical and clone this stuff as an open source project. It’s so obnoxious that Apple advertised the watch as a dive computer, but you need to pay a third party $10/mo to use those features. I was considering sport watches in the $1200 range which make the $800 Apple Watch look like a steal, but after 5 years the total ownership cost of Apple Watch will be higher. It still seems like a fine deal on…

Coincidentally, Linus Torvalds took a sabbatical to make a dive log program. https://subsurface-divelog.org/
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