Serious calibration problems
I surf daily at the same break and started using this app in its previous version. I was excited to have done objective data to improve my surfing and invested in a new Apple Watch solely to use this app. Since the app has been updated, though, I experience such a shocking number of anomalies that the app is verging on becoming useless. Examples: a wave that says I went 12.1 mph and rode it for 4 seconds but traveled zero feet: two waves counted and I haven’t even finished paddling out (yes, I have the sensitivity turned up, ie “fast waves”); recorded speeds approaching 40 mph which just isn’t possible for this surfer; major rides of over 100m in length going undetected. It’s all over the place. The old app was way better and gave consistent results.
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Too many problems with the watch app
First the watch face blocks the notifications from the Home app. Today the app didn’t detect my 2 first waves, it stopped twice my recordings, annoying!! The watch app shows me the forecast for always the same location which I never choose or even I’ve ever been (showing “the Wedge” when I’m at Doheny ) I don’t want to see the forecast when I’m surfing already (and it’s not even the forecast for where I’m , useless) I want to see my stats… Please fixe it!!!.. and I’ll change my review 🤙🏼
Update:
Again today I went surfing and the app stopped by itself (maybe actions of the crown when I was paddling!? I don’t know but it shouldn’t be the case) and I missed the recording of few waves because of that…
PLEASE make it possible to just Stop the app when we are done with our session… Maybe the crown option it’s not a good option to start and stop the app. Maybe it will be a better option to start and stop the app when we are on the beach with dry hands and block it from changing when we don’t choose to…
Again same problem with the forecast which was showing me “the Wedge” when I was at Doheny, CA.
Update:
Again today I went surfing and the app stopped by itself (maybe actions of the crown when I was paddling!? I don’t know but it shouldn’t be the case) and I missed the recording of few waves because of that…
PLEASE make it possible to just Stop the app when we are done with our session… Maybe the crown option it’s not a good option to start and stop the app. Maybe it will be a better option to start and stop the app when we are on the beach with dry hands and block it from changing when we don’t choose to…
Again same problem with the forecast which was showing me “the Wedge” when I was at Doheny, CA.
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Great app
Great app. Only issue is water lock doesn’t stay on and sometimes stops session on me.
Update has made this app a huge battery hog.
I generally like this over the Surfline app, as it gives you wave stats on the fly, and the map afterward can be pretty interesting. Docking a couple of stars because ever since the last update, an hour-long session will drain it to 30%, and a couple of times, it has tapped out in the middle of the session. Additionally, removing the crown’s action once you are out of the water makes it a screen-mashing annoyance to end your session.
As a few others have mentioned, locking the tide chart behind an additional paywall is petty. I suppose they have to make their money, but it’d be nice to be able to pull that in if you are a Surfline member.
As a few others have mentioned, locking the tide chart behind an additional paywall is petty. I suppose they have to make their money, but it’d be nice to be able to pull that in if you are a Surfline member.
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Does not work with Apple Watch Ultra
Does not work with Apple Watch Ultra. 90% of waves recorded are fake.
Apparently can regularly surf across roads, up hills, out to sea (and back again).
Seems to work ok with Apple Watch SE which has few phantom waves.
Apparently can regularly surf across roads, up hills, out to sea (and back again).
Seems to work ok with Apple Watch SE which has few phantom waves.
DON’T UPDATE TO NEWEST VERSION!
I use this app every time I surf for almost 3 years and there is a lot to love. Over the last year, the wave tracking has been way less reliable but I still appreciate at least having the session tracked even if there are a lot of inaccuracies with the wave count and lengths. Since the most recent update to “optimize” with watchOS 10, the app drains my watch battery much faster. I went from 98% to a dead battery in under two hours on the three sessions I’ve had since the update, where normally I would still have at least 10% battery after a 3+ hour session. Please fix this. If not for the battery drain and wave count inaccuracies, this would easily be a 5* app. Hope issues get resolved soon
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Amazing app, a bit buggy with Apple Watch Ultra right now
I have been a huge fan of the Dawn Patrol app for a couple years now. It’s been such a great way for me to keep track of my surfing progression over the years. It has historically done an amazingly accurate job with the tracking it does, and I’ve enjoyed the updates they’ve pushed over the past couple of years too, such as being able to take notes about conditions at the break as part of each stored session. Only tempering my rating because I recently upgraded to an Apple Watch Ultra specifically because I was hoping for a more accurate tracking experience, but right now, the app is buggy on the Ultra. While it technically works, it misses most waves and when it does actually record something, it’s very much wrong info - incorrect distance, speed, etc. And I hate coming back from a great session with bad data or even no waves tracked from the app! It also often shows GPS data that bounces around a lot.
In addition to fixing the bugs with what waves the app currently captures, it would be amazing to add a feature allowing you to go back and add waves that you actually did catch rather than just being able to delete waves that weren’t real waves.
In addition to fixing the bugs with what waves the app currently captures, it would be amazing to add a feature allowing you to go back and add waves that you actually did catch rather than just being able to delete waves that weren’t real waves.
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Surf monitoring
Using dawn patrol helps monitoring which are the most frequent conditions, boards used and which goes the fastest , sick when you’re surfing in front of a cam the app tracks yo to your waves
Going backwards
One would expect the wave tracking to improve with updates and better tech like the Apple Watch Ultra, but that’s not the case. With my Ultra watch I can’t seem to get accurate wave info. A 300 foot ride records about 30 ft. Setting the waves to slow does nothing to help the wave count. The little waves here in Florida seem are 10-15 mph and the app now misses most anything below 12 mph. Also, if I lock the app it should not be effected by anything, but it took screen shots all day and would stop the session for no reason so I now have 15 single wave sessions. This NEVER happened with previous versions on my Apple Watch 3. I pay the yearly subscription, but unless I can get back to a constant session and wave tracker, I’m going look elsewhere.
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Does not work with Apple Watch ultra.
I really didn’t want to have to leave a review less than 5 stars. There is so much to love about this app! But unfortunately, there are issues with the Apple Watch Ultra that even a year later are still unresolved, rendering the surf tracking nearly useless. More than 50% of sessions tracked with the Ultra are all over the place with GPS recording (recording non-waves, showing waves that sporadically jump from location to location—clearly something is wrong with how GPS data is being used), leading to a complete failure to track a session. I’ve been back and forth with Dawn Patrol support over and over throughout the last year, and I keep getting the same response, “we know about issues with the Apple Watch Ultra, and we’re working on it.” It’s been a long time. I paid the subscription fee for a year (which is almost up at this point, I think). I submitted my feedback. I provided all kinds of data to help the dev team figure things out. Nothing.
I cannot recommend this app for an Apple Watch Ultra user—the experience is finnicky and unreliable, and it’s a huge shame because, when it works, this is a terrific app. It worked flawlessly with my Apple Watch 3 (!), but the Ultra just doesn’t.
I am really bummed. There aren’t really any other options for surf tracking that do what Dawn Patrol does. If there were, I’d use it.
I am still leaving two stars because it is slow close to greatness, when it works. But it does not work.
I cannot recommend this app for an Apple Watch Ultra user—the experience is finnicky and unreliable, and it’s a huge shame because, when it works, this is a terrific app. It worked flawlessly with my Apple Watch 3 (!), but the Ultra just doesn’t.
I am really bummed. There aren’t really any other options for surf tracking that do what Dawn Patrol does. If there were, I’d use it.
I am still leaving two stars because it is slow close to greatness, when it works. But it does not work.
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Response from developer
Thanks for the review! We'd love to learn more about the issues you're experiencing. Could you send some information to support@dawnpatrol.cloud Thank you! Team Dawn Patrol
