Feature Request - Shearwater Phone App for Settings

[rob.mwpropane]

Hmmm. Not sure I'm keen on settings being done remotely.

On my rebreather I may need to configure 3 Shearwater devices: Petrel, Nerd, Perdix (backup).

Going through each one to set the gas up is an important part of my checklist. It's pretty damn easy: left click all the way to the System Settings, then select the Diluent & Bailout screens and twiddle.

This means I can 'check' off ☑︎☑︎☑︎︎ each computer as I go through my checklist. BTW setting the computers up is done during the bailout gas check and whilst waiting on the negative pressure check.

If I didn't do this, I'd have to ensure that I bugger about with the phone, connecting it to each device and still have to faff around ensuring that those settings are correct.

(Only an alternative take on this)

It's good to have different perspectives. You should still be able to do it your way, I'm not saying to get rid of the menu at all. In fact, that's exactly how the Deep 6 Excursion is, you can do either or (but not both at the same time).

This would be very nice as an option to have, but I wouldn’t want to be forced to change settings on my phone.

No, me neither. God forbid I forgot my phone or something. It should be in addition to the current menu.

Forget the phone. laptop setup. Mouse and keyboard inputs. A phone you are now trying to do everything with a touchscreen. Don't see a big enough benefit in using a small touch screen over using the basic buttons. But a full size screen, drop down menus, keyboard input. I could like those.

I did an aftermarket fuel injection on an old truck a few years back. Came with a little hand held controller. It would do everything you asked. But was a pain to go through all the menus and screens. It was even touch screen like a phone. Got the laptop cable and software. So much easier doing this stuff on a laptop.

Just little things like programming gasses. keyboard presses are so much nicer than scrolling through numbers.

SW is already a pain to get working with a PC / MAC. For me connecting to a PC is hit or miss. It seems to be universally easier for people to link and download through their phones. Windows 7 bluetooth stack doesn't even support SW bt-lte or whatever.

If you need a bigger screen there's always iPad's and tablets. The majority of people (at least I think) get along with their phones pretty well.

Edit: and manipulating values in the eeprom of a vehicle is worlds more involved than "name, address, gas defined, etc." I think for most people it would be an easier setup in the beginning, and not to mention much easier gas switches in the long run.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Does it *really* take that long to say Metric and 50:80 GFs?

We use freedom units here.

But it is a bit more than that, setup the home screen in tech mode, then again in rec mode, set GF, setup transmitters, change water type, turn on both alarms/vib, put in my contact information, log interval, end of dive timer, SAC to T3, etc.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Just spitballing, but it would be pretty epic to open a phone app, select the gases I want to use for the dive, point the phone in the direction the current is coming from and set the compass, select salt or fresh (honestly I don't do that now, too much of a pain, I just leave it on the in between.. whatever that's called.).

I'm sure there's other things, just thinking out loud with what popped up 1st.

 

[Fishhy]

An added benefit of having it on the phone and pushing would the ability to create "profiles"-
You could conceivably have different profiles (different divers, or gas, or fresh vs salt, screen configs for tec vs rec, etc) and it could all be updated with the mobile app. This could also allow you to "backup your configs" to the cloud or mobile device- which could be handy for setting the same settings on multiple devices (Backup computer).

For the Teric, I also wish you could offset what is considered the "top" of the screen (my elbow/wrist don't bend to make it perpendicular to my body far enough away from my face to see it). It would allow comfortable arms together in front of you and still have the display "level" to your face...

 

[scubadada]

As someone that has owned more Terics than anyone else (thanks to all the replacements that I've gotten), I would love this. Getting a replacement means sitting down for 30 minutes going through the menu and setting everything up. It would be nice just to be able to flash the settings from a saved file.

Ha. I've been diving a single Teric as a second computer since May 2019. I've had 3 replacements and 2 repairs and have now had 5 Terics with unique serial numbers. I know all of the menus like the back of my hand, I can completely reconfigure my computer in minutes Teric owners, have you required repair or replacement service?

My diving is very simple, changing gases for a dive is no problem. I can easily understand how others wish for computer, tablet, or phone setup, not high on my list. I would like to be able to plot SurfGF, and maybe GTR, on the dive graphic.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Ha. I've been diving a single Teric as a second computer since May 2019. I've had 3 replacements and 2 repairs and have now had 5 Terics with unique serial numbers.

I'm on four repairs and a replacement on one; and four repairs and three replacements on another. And the one with only one replacement is having the unusual battery drain (about 18-20% more than the other). Richard calls me the Teric killer. Though I think that is more due to having two that were purchased separately so they are on different points of the wear cycle.

But I agree for gases I can do that by hand. I am typically just moving the oxygen up or down by a percentage point for my back gas and deco gas. But it would be nice to just be able to load profiles, so all I have to do is set the exact gases. So have a nitrox tech which loads 32% and 99%. A T1 profile that loads 18/45, 50%, and 99%. And any other profiles based on the type of diving you do. TBH I think this would be more of a tech thing, and really for people that jump between trimix and nitrox routinely. I rarely do trimix so I honestly wouldn't have much use beyond just flashing the settings.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Manatee Diver

I think you have me on the repairs and replacements.

Your diving is much more complicated than mine. I can see where a shortcut to configuration might be appreciated.

 

[Marie13]

Hi @Manatee Diver

I think you have me on the repairs and replacements.

Your diving is much more complicated than mine. I can see where a shortcut to configuration might be appreciated.

Same here. Having to switch back and forth between gasses and turning them on/off depending on the specific dive is something of a PITA.

 

[Wibble]

As someone who works with software and user interfaces, I'm one for simple is best.

The absolute only thing I want is to ensure that when I jump in, it's configured for that dive. My best diving cockups are when I've not just followed the process and skipped a step.
Drysuit hose not connected because I didn't validate it.
Bailout gasses not properly set up because I didn't check.

 

[Wibble]

Same here. Having to switch back and forth between gasses and turning them on/off depending on the specific dive is something of a PITA.

With the Shearwater computers you can have 5 gasses programmed and you can turn them on and off as required. Most diving's with a few types of gasses, so it's just a matter of turning off "air" and turning on "light helitrox" or "rich normoxic", etc.

On CCR there's effectively 10 gasses as there's 5 diluent gasses and 5 bailouts.

Not that I want to admit it, if it's within a couple or few percent then that's pretty much good enough (e.g. 21/35 vs 21/30 following a top-off)