I just released a new version of Foil Sessions with added support for voice callouts for those of you using waterproof headphones. It will tell you distance to go, your heading and how far you’ve drifted off course. Configurable every 3, 5 or 10 minutes. Also works if you record on your iPhone so no need for an Apple Watch for this.
I’m using the Shokz OpenSwim pro headphones and they work pretty well as long you don’t try to use them together with a wetsuit hood. Well, the speakers work fine, but the microphone is pretty useless. Anyone figured out how to use the Shokz headphones in cold weather?
How do people deal with how unusable the touch screen is on the Apple Watch Ultra once it’s wet?
I know WorkOutdoors has pretty good customization for the buttons but with only 3 buttons and a wheel it’s hard to actually get things done.
That’s easily one of the worst things about the Apple Watch Ultra. The APIs for the action button are close to useless, and there’s no way to detect presses on either the Digital Crown or the side button. The only really reliable input is turning the digital crown. In foil sessions I use that to switch between different views. I’ve seen some apps use screenshot detection as a trigger for actions, which is pretty kludgy, so I haven’t gone down that road.
The bigger issue though isn’t controlling the app. It’s trying to call a friend. Calling 911 always works, but if you want to call the buddy you’re doing the downwinder with, it’s almost impossible. If you’ve got waterproof headphones, siri can help, but in my experience it’s nowhere near as reliable as when the headphones are connected to an iphone. What I’ve been doing lately is bringing both the watch and the phone on the water. I connect the headphones to the phone and use Siri to make calls from there. The watch records the session.
Forgot to mention that most apps support pausing/resuming the recording by simultaneously pressing the left and right button on the ultra.
phone itself is no good if the headphones die, as josh ku found out, i’ve been amazed at how impossible the whole Apple system is on the water. Siri useless too. Only emergency activation is reliable
It’s kind of amazing to me how they went through the effort to design and implement the action button, and the software implementation (on both the watch and the phone) are so lame and half-baked.
Yeah, I actually took a stab at implementing a calling feature today, but the action button APIs are close to useless. And even if you somehow get it working through luck, magic, or mild abuse of the system, you still can’t make the apple watch place a call without tapping OK in the call confirmation alert. Which, of course, you can’t do with Water Lock enabled. And if you disable water lock, all bets are off as to what happens next. Infuriatingly badly implemented on apples side.
The tough thing is that you’re faced with another set of irritating tradeoffs and limitations with Garmin, too. AWU still is the “one device that kind of works for everything” solution, even though it’s hamstrung by all the issues discussed above. I wish we could have an interface that didn’t rely so heavily on the screen (like Garmin) with the all-in-one cell/gps package of the AWU.
The other perplexing thing about the AWU is how I’ve never consistently been able to get enough water to eject from the speaker/mic to use it reliably for a call after having it submerged during a session. The output and input quality are horrid even if you have a nice signal. Headphones are sort of mandatory unless you want to keep trying to suck water out manually with your mouth.
The best thing I’ve seen was this from Wren, haven’t used it in a while as I haven’t been winging upwind much, but it’s well thought out Foil Lab - Wingfoil Track Analysis