Toni Hobrecht
The Apple Watch Ultra was introduced last September as an extremely durable and robust Apple Watch. During the live stream announcement, one of the first things shown was an Apple Watch Ultra diving. The display showed the ambient water temperature and the depth in feet. Apple has now officially introduced the matching Oceanic+ app for the Watch Ultra. It turns the smartwatch into a dive computer.
Oceanic+ dive computer app
Developed by Huish Outdoors in collaboration with Apple, Oceanic+ allows the wearer to access a variety of relevant information for divers. Apple Watch Ultra can dive to depths of 40 meters (130 ft) and uses its depth gauge and water temperature sensors to collect additional data.
The app will show divers a warning if they are descending or surfacing too fast. You also get the estimated time until you come back to the surface. The app also allows divers to set the compass heading during a dive. There is also a dive planner that takes into account tides, temperature, visibility and currents. The matching watch face shows, among other things, the no-fly time and the surface time.
Oceanic+ uses the Apple Watch Ultra’s Taptic Engine and large, bright display to keep the diver informed of all important information during a diving session. There is a limited free version, while full functionality costs $5/day, $10/month, or $80/year. A family license of the app is available for $130/year. Apple Watch Ultra requires at least watchOS 9.1 to use the Oceanic+ app. In addition, the watch must be paired with an iPhone 8 or later and iOS 16.1.
Ski and snowboard with the Watch Ultra
Thanks to the third-party app Slopes, Apple Watch Ultra can now go skiing or snowboarding, and even identify the ski resort you’re at. However, all of these features are limited to paying subscribers.
Slopes works with the Watch Ultra’s action button – it’s one of the few apps to use it to date. This allows you to start ski training with a single keystroke. To pause it, you have to press the action button and the side button at the same time. Slopes also works with Siri and can therefore also be controlled via voice commands.
In addition, all Apple Watches can enter Water Lock mode when starting a skiing or snowboarding session to prevent accidental touches on the display in the snow. Pressing the Digital Crown for a few seconds exits the mode.
