The Oceanic+ app is now available for the Apple Watch Ultra. According to Apple, it turns the company’s “most rugged watch into a fully capable, easy-to-use dive computer.”
Designed by Huish Outdoors in collaboration with Apple, Oceanic+ enables recreational scuba divers to take the watch they wear every day to depths up to 40 meters (130 feet) with the all-new depth gauge and water temperature sensors on Apple Watch Ultra.
The Oceanic+ app on Apple Watch Ultra and the companion app for iPhone provide all of the key features of an advanced dive computer, robust dive planning, and a comprehensive post-dive experience, according to Huish Outdoors CEO Mike Huish.
The Apple Watch Ultra is certified to WR100 and EN 13319, an internationally recognized standard for dive accessories, including depth gauges. The 49mm titanium case and flat sapphire front crystal reveals the biggest and brightest Apple Watch display yet, which — at up to 2000 nits — provides exceptional visibility underwater, according to Apple. The Action button can be customized to launch the Oceanic+ app into the predive screen, and during a dive, pressing the Action button will mark a compass bearing.
In the Oceanic+ dive planner, users can set their surface time, their depth, and their gas, and the app will calculate their No Deco (no-decompression) time — a metric used to determine a time limit for a diver at a certain depth. The planner also integrates dive conditions, including tides, water temperature, and even up-to-date information from the community, such as visibility and currents.
Post-dive, users will see data — including GPS entry and exit locations — automatically pop up on Apple Watch Ultra, along with a summary of their dive profile. The summary on the Oceanic+ iPhone app provides additional information, including a map of entry and exit locations, as well as graphs of depth, temperature ascent rate, and no-decompression limit.
One of the most intuitive features of Oceanic+ on Apple Watch Ultra is the haptic feedback, a design feat of both the hardware and software that enables the watch to tap users on the wrist through a series of vibrations, allowing divers to feel notifications underwater — even through a wetsuit that’s 7mm thick.
Though haptic feedback is a convenient, simple feature for everyday users, underwater, it plays an unexpected role: cutting through the noise of echoing sounds, says Andrea Silvestri, Huish Outdoors’ vice president of product development and design, who led the creation of Oceanic+.
“Sound propagation in the water is much more powerful than in air,” Silvestri explains. “So if I’m diving with someone and their dive computer is emitting sound, I can’t really recognize if it’s my beep or it’s theirs. I’m hearing a beep, but I don’t know the direction. Incorporating the haptics designed for Ultra, we’ve made the experience very personal; it’s like a gentle nudge to guide you.”
The Oceanic+ app also offers complications that bring important information and tools to users at a glance, including no-fly time, surface time, quick access to the dive planner, dive settings, current elevation, maximum elevation allowed, and a quick access button back into the app.
The Oceanic+ app for Apple Watch Ultra is available for download today on the App Store. It requires an Apple Watch Ultra running watchOS 9.1 paired with iPhone 8 or later, and iPhone SE (2nd generation) or later running running iOS 16.1.
The basic plan is free, and includes many common dive functions, including depth and time, as well as logging most recent dives. For access to decompression tracking, tissue loading, the location planner, and an unlimited logbook capacity, Oceanic+ is US$9.99 per month, or annually for $79.99 (US). Family Sharing is also available for $129 (US) annually, allowing access for up to five people.
