@dang
The title should be renamed "Available today, the Oceanic+ app on Apple Watch Ultra"
Because the current title of "Apple Introduces Oceanic+" implies this is a 1st party app from Apple, which it is not.
The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
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Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds like overkill CYA from the legal department. Diving with two computers is not standard protocol in no-decompression recreational diving. It is in technical diving. But if you're in open water, and within no-deco limits, if your computer fails, you can always just end the dive.
As I recall PADI recommendations is to have a backup plan equivalent to the primary plan. Which often is easiest with redundant devices and each buddy having the same or similar computer. I think it’s very much not recommended to have going computerless as a backup. And the idea that you are safe to do so because your “within no-deco limits” is potentially dangerous, as your relying on the computer to tell you if you…
I think you're saying that PADI's recommendation that "you should have a backup plan" means implicitly that you should dive with two computers. They wouldn't make that an implicit recommendation, they would make it an explicit one. Which they do not. At least not for open water recreational diving.
The backup plan for recreational open water diving would typically be to end the dive if your computer fails, not to continue computerless. At the point that your computer failed, you should have been within no-deco limits, which you can confirm with your partner's computer to a reasonable margin of safety, so you can ascend safely.
Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#63Haptics 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?
Also for tagging your dives. Your watch would know where you descended/ascended.
It’s great for when you’re in the middle of nowhere on a liveaboard and you forget the names of the dive sites. My Suunto watch uses the phone’s GPS for the same purpose.
Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#64Title 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…
“Apple introduces X” in a PR statement implies that Apple is the product owner. Which it’s not.
“Introducing Oceanic+ for Apple Watch Ultra” is a better title as it removes the conventional idea of product ownership.
Whether or not Apple is directly involved in development is different, as they often have many different partners to showcase new product functionality, and none of those would be suited to “Apple Introduces X” titles either.
Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#65This is great for the scuba community as it will cause other brands to innovate and most importantly bring diving to a wider audience which will help the sport as a whole which will hopefully raise awareness about endangered underwater ecosystems in the long-run.
I really hope it doesn't cause other brands to adopt the "Dive Computer As A Service" model. I like buying products that I actually own. I feel like pressure to push the cost of reliable dive computers down will do more to democratize diving than an app for an expensive smart watch.
Scuba diving is a fundamentally dangerous and expensive hobby. I don't know if this will make a big dent in the cost of a dive. FWIW a snorkel and a pair of fins are pretty cheap. For ~$50 you can have a lot of fun swimming around exploring coastal ecosystems without needing to stress about signals, equipment, safety stops, or any of that stuff. This is a lot closer to democratizing diving than anything else.
Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#66Earlier 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.
It's human instinct to survive time will tell if this new thing is comparable to a real dedicated diving computer. Diving is dangerous.
Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would highly recommend at least buying a cheaper secondary dive computer to take with you in case something goes wrong.
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.
> But both the backup regulator and dice computer is on your companion. You don’t dive with two yourself.
You're entirely welcome to have backups. I dive with 2 lights, and if the Apple Watch didn't require a subscription I'd gladly buy it to also dive with 2 computers. My divemaster had a second bottle with its own independent octopus for cave diving.
Anything you can afford to double (both financially and in terms of practicality/weight/encumbrance), by all means, go ahead and do it. Triple it if makes sense.
Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most dive computers cost less (often less than half) than an Apple Watch Ultra and don't require any subscription to maintain functionality. Also, since you are trusting your life to the waterproofing of the watch, a EDC watch that takes abuse all day that could compromise that waterproofing seems like a bit of a risk unless it is only being used as a secondary / backup dive computer.
Do they have the same clout tho? I bet you can make some pretty sweet gram content with this. Edit: why the hate? Do you guys love Instagram or something?
They have the same “keep you alive” clout which is arguably much more important in diving.
There are also thousands of cooler things that would bring you more views than an AWU in any typical tropical dive.
Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#69This is still crazy to me that most (all?) smartwatch cannot get past ~50m WR when I can buy a basic casio for a fraction of the cost with 100m to 200m WR. But then I guess using a tactile screen underwater is pretty hard. I really don't see the Apple Watch being use has anything but a gadget for diving. edit: so the apple watch ultra has a WR of 100m. I stand corrected.
a) 99.9% of all dives happening today are going to be b) The point of a dive watch is not just to tell the time. You need to know the depth, time spent underwater, no decompression limits, safety stops etc.
c) Not that I was able to test since the crown is disabled but the Apple Watch crown is very easy to use water even with gloves.
Re: The Oceanic+ app comes to Apple Watch Ultra
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 Ap…
I expect it’s the halo product strategy, same reason mass market car manufacturers produce cars like NSX or Corvette or Ford GT.
It helps the brand (if they can do that, my mundane daily life will be easy), it sells to wealthy enthusiasts and aspirational consumers, it brings people in to showrooms, and it challenges internal teams.
And in the Apple case, their ecosystem is strong. Recreational divers are Apple’s target market, and this should convert a bunch of them to Apple.
Imagining the pitch, it was probably something like limited incremental costs, supports long term ecosystem strategy, reduces revenue from cash cows for competing fitness watch companies.