Apple Watch Ultra includes a stock Depth app for recreational underwater activities like snorkeling and scuba diving, but most casual users probably won’t see how responsive the Depth app is during the more engaging activity of freediving in open water
For anyone curious, YouTuber DC Rainmaker has posted a video demonstrating the Depth app in action at deeper levels, using an underwater test chamber designed for diving equipment.
With the help of a computerized depth simulator, DC shows how the Depth app responds smoothly to increased water pressure as a diver descends, showing that readings in meters and feet adjust with accuracy on the screen as the background water animation fluctuates.
The Depth app is designed for underwater activities at a maximum depth of 130 feet (40 meters), but Apple Watch Ultra has a water resistance rating of 100 meters (328 feet), making the watch capable of withstanding greater depth pressures than Depth. application is designed for.
With that in mind, the DC test shows what happens in the Depth app when a diver descends below 130 feet: the screen turns bright yellow and says “Beyond 130 FT” and no longer provides a reading depth until the diver returns to shallower water.
The test also demonstrates the Dive app’s consolidated dive summary at the end of a dive session, which lets users know dive duration, water temperature range, and maximum depth. This data can later be found in the iOS Health app.
Apple cautions that the Depth app is not a dive computer and cannot provide decompression stop information or gas analysis. In situations where failure of the Apple Watch Ultra could result in death or personal injury, Apple suggests using a secondary depth gauge and timer.
For diving in deeper ocean waters, Apple has partnered with a third-party team Huish Outdoors to develop Oceanic+, a dive computer designed specifically for the Apple Watch Ultra models. As a free app on the App Store, Oceanic+ will include depth tracking (including depth alarms), GPS tracking, log book (up to 12 dives), snorkeling and more.
For more advanced diving options, such as No Decompression Limit, users will need to purchase an Oceanic+ subscription plan ($4.99 per day, $9.99 per month, or $79 per year). Oceanic+ will be available on the App Store later this fall.
(Thanks, Sonny!)