I’ve watched as the app has improved since the first version. Not only are they collecting all data and info needed for great rafting trips, but now they also have flat water info. So when I home in Texas I can check my local rivers for some canoeing action!
Developer Response
Awesome, thank you! Please let us know if you have any suggestions for how we can improveThis app is really cool and has a lot of information but I didn’t like that I couldn’t sort what I was looking at. I paddle board with my kids, and most of the information I found was more for kayak or raft/rapids etc. I’d love to be able to see what’s around me that would be gentle enough for relaxing on my board and paddling with my family. The app ad specifically mentioned paddle boarding so I expected that kind of thing to be easier to find. Really cool app otherwise though with maps that are easy to explore in general terms with good information for people ready for something more advanced/adventurous than what I’m looking for.
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Developer Response
Hey, thanks so much for the feedback. We strive to be an app for all paddlers. When I'm searching for float trips, I generally just look for Access Points or Boat Ramps, and if i want to paddle downriver rather than out-and-back I use the measuring tool to pick my access points and build my trip that way. But expect to see many, many flatwater river and lake routes released in the app very soon.Looks like a great up but there is no stream data for anything. Maybe it’s behind the paywall? But without simple USGS data that I can get for free why would I use this app? Let alone pay for it?
Free app is very limited. It's a crowd sourced, yet paid app. If it had more features in free app I might use it. No incentive to provide information like free month after a few edits. Probably keep using other app and other online resources.
Developer Response
Hey, thanks for trying the app. At this point we are actually not a crowdsourced app. All of the info in the app comes from paid contractors who are local experts. But we do plan to launch features in the near future that allow users to submit content, and this often will be incentivized. I would like to point out, though, that our data, the information that we will crowdsource in the future, is and always will be free to access. So even when we are a crowdsourced app, none of that content will be "paid." What we are monetizing is our tools--for conditions monitoring, map building and sharing, offline downloading, and accessing advanced tracking metrics.They keep throwing free at you in all the adds and not until you download do you find out they only tease with a little free info and you need to pay to get anything substantial. That said it’s worth the cost I just don’t like dealing with people that work that way.
Developer Response
Hey, thanks so much for giving PaddleWays a try! As of right now, the only features exclusive to the paid tier are: 3D map visualizations, Private/Public parcel overlays, Offline Map downloads, MyWaters conditions in excess of 2 points (first 2 are free), and Geofenced Alerts. With the free subscription you can view points of interest, descriptions, beta, comments, images, conditions, and you can create your own points, traces, trip recordings, measurements, comments, favorites, etc. as well as saving up to 2 MyWaters Conditions points. We think free is still pretty useful! But we appreciate your subscription at the premium level. Lots of amazing new things coming.I’ve been looking for an app that makes getting on the water easier. I’m stuck in a rut of going to the same place to paddle over and over again.
Developer Response
Awesome, we really appreciate it! Stay tuned for many big new features and content updates over the next few months.No flow info or flow level guidance which is absolutely essential for safety when encouraging river access. Descriptions of rapids I know on the South Fork American are either wrong or incomplete, and a few descriptions provide dangerous advice (Troublemaker (“swim to either side”) and Second Threat (“fun to swim”). A quality company like NRS should not be in the chain of liability for something as incomplete and erroneous as this app. Thankfully, there are plenty of free web sites with far better information on access, safe flows and the runnable lines.
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Developer Response
Hey Joe, thanks for trying PaddleWays! We're working on linking the correct gauges to each section, but we expect that all of our users will verify that the level is appropriate before getting on any section. This will be something you can do in-app for the SFA very soon--please bear with us as we build. As far as the beta is concerned: we rely on a nationwide network of paid local-expert contributors (currently about 40 paddlers) to fill in all of our content. Due to the often subjective nature of beta, you may disagree with how one of our contributors views a rapid (one person's swimmer's rapid may be another's portage). No one should ever rely on any tool to navigate the river for them, be it an app, a guidebook, or something else. You are always responsible for your own safety on the river, and as such you should always scout and make the best decision you can with your skills and risk-tolerance in mind. Our information is meant to be a starting point to help plan and execute your trip, not a substitute for good decision-making and river-reading skills. If you wish to discuss this further, please contact us directly at contributors@paddleways.comI was really surprised to see just how few rivers are listed in the database. I understand this must be a massive undertaking adding rivers and all the info. My biggest suggestion would be to allow route creation similar to Strava. In that app, which is a similar price point for yearly subscription, it’s very easy to create routes on any river in manual mode. Obviously PaddleWays will(or should) have to make their own user interface for this kind of feature. Given that there’s so many bodies of water it only makes sense to allow info creation from users. I’m in TN and REALLY surprised to see the pigeon on the map but not the Ocoee? I’m interested to see how the developers move forward with this app, but I believe most users are going to struggle to see the value in subscription unless something can happen quickly. I’m also not sure how this service can be better than using AW. Just my thoughts, would love to see where it goes!
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Developer Response
Hey Kevin, thanks so much for your feedback. All I can say about route creation is stay tuned ;)
Our whitewater content will always be curated by local experts, but we will have a pathway for ordinary users to submit content for review (and tools for them to build content in-app).
And as far as the value with limited content: I highly encourage you to use the free version of PaddleWays until you feel our database is sufficiently built up. With a free account, you can still see all geospatial content, POI descriptions including rapid beta, customize your map with waypoints, measure on the map, view conditions, etc. The main things you miss right now are offline map downloads, geofencing alerts, and section descriptions/logistics.I got a ad in a recent NRS purchase, was excited. Once I got into it, it has very little data or rivers for Ohio, and surrounding areas. Rendered it useless for me. It’s basically just a simple mapbox app, nothing special.
Developer Response
Hi, thanks for your feedback. We'll be bringing in a ton of (mostly flatwater) data for Ohio before spring. If you want to apply to become a paid whitewater contributor for the Ohio area, please reach out to contributors@paddleways.comIt might be a great app, looks like it would be, but I couldn’t really tell. There is supposedly a free 14-day trial to test it out, but every time I tried to access any of the features it threw up an upgrade-to-premium payment screen. I went ahead and payed because I was sure I wanted the features, got an email confirming my subscription and receipt of payment, but it still persists in displaying that annoying upgrade pop-up when I try to access the features. Hence it might be great, but I can’t tell since I still can’t get into anything. I gave it three days to allow time for payment processing, updating status, or whatever might need to happen in that line, but after that when nothing changed I canceled my subscription. No point paying for an app that refuses to be used.
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Developer Response
We apologize for this issue and are working to streamline the onboarding and upgrade processes. Please reach out to team@paddleways.com or the in-app chat for the fastest personalized support.
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