# Rip Curl Search GPS: Surf Log — Surf Tracker for Apple Watch > Surf tracking, planning, and social sharing app with performance metrics. (iPhone/iPad app by Rip Curl.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rip-curl-search-gps-surf-log/id840643474 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Rip Curl](https://appshunter.io/developer/840643477) - Category: Health & Fitness, Lifestyle - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 3.90/5 from 928 App Store ratings · 431 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 16.0 · 145 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2014-05-15 - Data updated: 2026-09-02 - Monetization: subscription - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rip-curl-search-gps-surf-log/id840643474/reviews.md ## What is Rip Curl Search GPS? Built for surfers chasing the Search. Track every wave from your Apple Watch, see yourself surf, and beat your mates to the best sessions. The Rip Curl Search GPS app turns the watch on your wrist into a dedicated surf watch. Paddle out, hit start, and we'll log every wave you catch, every metre you paddle, every second in the water. No phone in the lineup. No extra hardware required. Just pure surf data, automatically. Then come in and go deep. Replay your session wave by wave on a map of your break. See your top speed, your wave count, your distance. Watch yourself surf back on Surfline Cam Rewind at supported spots. Climb the leaderboard at your Home Break in Boss of the Break®. Share your best moments to socials and let your crew know exactly how the session went. Built by surfers, for surfers. Trusted at every level from your first barrel to our crew on tour. What's in the app • Real-time surf conditions powered by Surfline • Automatic wave tracking on Apple Watch and Rip Curl Search GPS Watch • Wave count, paddle count, top speed, distance, and duration for every session • Wave-by-wave session replays with break maps and full analytics • Surfline Cam Rewind at supported breaks. Watch yourself surf, frame by frame • Boss of the Break® leaderboards at your Home Break • Achievements, stats, and bragging rights for your crew The Fine Print • Available in participating regions only. • Surf Tracking requires a subscription, with a free trial. Cancel anytime before it ends via Settings > Subscriptions on your iPhone. • Boss of the Break®: To compete, you'll need a public account and a selected Home Break (you can update this anytime in Account Settings). • Surfline Cam Rewind: Available via the Surfline app and requires a Surfline account. For FAQs and support: https://www.ripcurl.com/pages/watch-instructions-support Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.ripcurl.com/pages/privacy-statement ## Key features - Real-time surf conditions - Detailed session tracking - Wave replay and trace maps - Leaderboard competitions - Social sharing of sessions - Apple Watch compatibility ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **Subscriptions** | Subscription | Price | Period | | --- | --- | --- | | Monthly Subscription | $2.99 | per month | | Annual Subscription | $29.99 | per year | ## What do users think of Rip Curl Search GPS? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🤙 Amazing - 👍 Great device - 🏄‍♂️ Fantastic for tracking surfs - 📊 Helpful for progression **Cons** - 🐛 Buggy and glitchy - 🔁 Sync issues - 🔢 Inaccurate wave count - 💰 Expensive for limited functionality - 🔒 Locked behind paywall **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes on startup - Sync issues between watch and app - Incorrect data recording (waves, distance, etc.) - Login/account problems **Most requested features** - Add support for other activities (running, cycling, etc.) - Improve data export options - Integrate with other fitness apps (Strava, Apple Health, etc.) - Add more customization options - Improve wave tracking accuracy ## Recent user reviews (10 of 431) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rip-curl-search-gps-surf-log/id840643474/reviews.md ### 1/5 — Speech less *2026-08-25, version 3.0.22* Wasting money ### 1/5 — Buggy McBummerson *2026-08-17* I’ve been so excited to try out one of the search watches. Too bad I have not been paying attention or doing much research on how the product has been performing. As someone who’s made Bluetooth products before, I have a ton of grace for early hardware versions. The search 2 firmware and app are terrible. After 1st connecting the app and watch, I’ve spent about 4 hours trying to get the watch to reconnect with the app. Even after updating the firmware and going through all the steps, it’s still not syncing up. Total fail. I’m shocked they want to charge $3/mo for a product they can’t even connect to the app. There are some other big missed, on first pairing, it’d be nice if the watch could be configured by the phone’s time. There is no error handling in the Bluetooth string. Ton of other stuff that’s wrong. I guess I bought myself an expensive water proof watch. Highly recommend NOT spending the $200 + on this product. ### 1/5 — Payer pour accéder à mes données *2026-08-04* À peine croyable, j’achète une montre mais je dois payer un abonnement pour l’utiliser. Cela donne une très mauvaise image de Rip Curl. ### 5/5 — Rip curl watch *2026-08-01, version 3.0.22* Great piece of tech ### 2/5 — Apple Watch Compatibility Limited *2026-08-01, version 3.0.22* After logging a 2+ hour session at Trestles, the session never synced to the app on my iPhone nor to Surfline. The session was logged and synced to Apple Fitness. ### 1/5 — Terrible app b *2026-07-30, version 3.0.22* Terrible app. It’s not at all clear how to download sessions, syncing does not work. And being forced to subscribe is akin to robbery. Bad form, RipCurl. ### 1/5 — Should be called RipOff *2026-07-18* So you buy a GPS watch from ripcurl years back and then several more for your kids all the while spending decent money on the watch with the understanding you can track each other, share surf sessions etc on your mobile device then a me release comes along and they start charging a fee for it. You pay good $$ for the watch originally because of the ability to use it with the app on your device - mainly when traveling and no laptop. Now the app charges $$. No thanks. The tech folks said it was from surfline, I don’t want it and don’t need it. Just want it the way it was before. ### 1/5 — Sincronização *2026-07-12* Só pelo fato de ter que entrar no app para sincronizar a tábua de metes e etc no relógio, não vale a pena tê-lo. Se quero o relógio é pra usar ele. E não o celular! ### 2/5 — Is ok but often glitches *2026-07-07, version 3.0.22* The app is not available on Android devices The watch often struggles to find the gps signal early in the morning in Western Australia Some days the watch does not record any waves, but still counts paddles and distance travelled during a session. Other days it just starts counting waves while sitting on your board You have to reset the watch monthly if you surf a lot ### 3/5 — Ok *2026-07-07, version 3.0.22* Really good app, but you have to pay to get info on your watch. ## Frequently asked questions about Rip Curl Search GPS ### What does the Rip Curl Search GPS app do? This app is designed to enhance your surfing experience. It allows you to track every surf session with detailed metrics, relive your waves with replays and maps, and plan your surfs using real-time conditions. You can also connect with other surfers and compete on leaderboards. ### What are the key features of the Rip Curl Search GPS app? Key features include real-time surf conditions powered by Surfline, detailed tracking of wave count, paddle count, speed, and distance. Users can also replay sessions with Surfline Cam Rewind, trace their breaks on maps, compete in 'Boss of the Break®' challenges, and share their sessions socially. ### How much does the Rip Curl Search GPS app cost? A monthly or annual subscription is required to track surfs using a Rip Curl Search GPS Watch or Apple Watch. The subscription includes a free trial, and you can cancel anytime before it ends. To avoid charges, cancel at least 24 hours before the trial concludes. ### What devices is the Rip Curl Search GPS app compatible with? The app is compatible with the Rip Curl Search GPS Watch (Gen 2 & 3) and Apple Watch. It also requires a Surfline account for Surfline Cam Rewind functionality. ### What are common use cases for the Rip Curl Search GPS app? Common use cases include tracking personal surfing performance to improve skills, planning surf trips by checking real-time conditions and forecasts, competing with friends and other surfers on leaderboards, and sharing surf achievements with a community. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 3.0.23 — 2026-08-31 Missed us? We missed you. We've been heads down. Turns out shipping a feature and shipping a feature that works are two different things. Remember those crew notifications from 3.0.20? This one's us closing that gap. Crew Alerts now actually say "Crew Alert." Tap one and you land on the surf, not the Feed. And we've stopped the app pinging you about sessions from 2017. Yes, that was happening. Notifications screen scrolls now. Deleting a notification no longer summons its own ghost. Bunch of crashes quietly sorted. In this update: Crew Alerts properly titled Tap-through goes to the actual surf Historical sync no longer triggers notifications Notifications screen scrolls when full Delete no longer re-summons the notification GPS sync crash fixed Stability fixes across maps, Bluetooth, and watch connectivity Turns out the silence was just us shipping. ### 3.0.22 — 2026-05-27 Small one this time. We're not going to dress it up. Mostly under-the-hood housekeeping so the app keeps running clean and we get a clearer picture of what's actually useful versus what's just sitting there taking up space. The less interesting this update looks, the harder it's working in the background. Think of it as us paying attention. We're tracking what's worth building next so the bigger releases land on instinct, not guesswork. Your sessions, your privacy, your data settings: all exactly where you left them. Nothing changed there. In this update: Behind-the-scenes analytics tuning so we know what to build next General housekeeping and stability Back to your regularly scheduled surfing. ### 3.0.21 — 2026-03-26 We’ve been busy. This one’s all about tightening things up, protecting your sessions, and making the app feel a whole lot sharper day to day. First up, your privacy settings now actually behave themselves. If you’ve chosen to hide a surf or keep a location under wraps, it stays that way. No leaks. No surprises. Just how it should be. We’ve also added push notifications so you know when your crew finishes a session. No more checking the app like a maniac. We’ll tap you on the shoulder instead, with smarter timing that actually reflects when things happened, not just when they synced. The quiver got a small but important fix too. Boards are now the length you set. No mystery bonus inches sneaking in. And behind the scenes, we’ve been digging into performance and figuring out exactly where to tune this thing. You’ll start to feel improvements already, with more to come as we keep dialling it in. In this update: • Fixed hide surf and hide location so your privacy settings stick • Added push notifications when your crew logs a session • Improved notification timing so it reflects real surf times • Fixed board length showing incorrect values • Ongoing performance improvements across the app Also, for a bit of perspective… Over 4.1 million surfs have now been recorded. Our most committed surfer has logged 2,160 sessions. And the most surfed break? Huntington Beach. Not bad ### 3.0.20 — 2026-03-23 We’ve been busy. This one’s all about tightening things up, protecting your sessions, and making the app feel a whole lot sharper day to day. First up, your privacy settings now actually behave themselves. If you’ve chosen to hide a surf or keep a location under wraps, it stays that way. No leaks. No surprises. Just how it should be. We’ve also added push notifications so you know when your crew finishes a session. No more checking the app like a maniac. We’ll tap you on the shoulder instead, with smarter timing that actually reflects when things happened, not just when they synced. The quiver got a small but important fix too. Boards are now the length you set. No mystery bonus inches sneaking in. And behind the scenes, we’ve been digging into performance and figuring out exactly where to tune this thing. You’ll start to feel improvements already, with more to come as we keep dialling it in. In this update: • Fixed hide surf and hide location so your privacy settings stick • Added push notifications when your crew logs a session • Improved notification timing so it reflects real surf times • Fixed board length showing incorrect values • Ongoing performance improvements across the app Also, for a bit of perspective… Over 4.1 million surfs have now been recorded. Our most committed surfer has logged 2,160 sessions. And the most surfed break? Huntington Beach. Not bad. ### 3.0.19 — 2026-02-16 Issue found. Issue dealt with. Let’s carry on. This release brings back the planned improvements, properly tuned and behaving exactly as intended. If you’ve deleted a board from your quiver, your past sessions don’t pretend it never existed. The history stays intact and it’s now clearly identified, so you can see what you were riding back then versus what’s current. No disappearing acts. The Feed also got a lift. Crew sessions now show up more consistently, so it actually feels like your mates have been out there getting waves instead of ghosting the app. In this update: • Clear visual identification for boards deleted from your quiver • Historical board data preserved and properly displayed in session details • Expanded crew session visibility to bring more life to the Feed Clean rollout. Features behaving themselves. Exactly how it should be. ## Apps similar to Rip Curl Search GPS | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [SurfCore: Home Surf Workouts](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/surfcore-home-surf-workouts/id6746400987) | 5.0 (1) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [Dawn Patrol](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dawn-patrol/id1161014179) | 4.6 (4,171) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [Surf Athlete: Surf Training](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/surf-athlete-surf-training/id1473672898) | 4.9 (388) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [Foundation Training](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/foundation-training/id1391241562) | 4.4 (85) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [Waterspeed: Track Watersports](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/waterspeed-track-watersports/id1234093389) | 4.6 (1,109) | Free | Health & Fitness | | [Apnea Freediving Exercises](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/apnea-freediving-exercises/id1188724407) | 4.8 (2,925) | Free | Health & Fitness | ## Related topics [rip curl search gps](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/rip-curl-search-gps) · [rip curl](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/rip-curl) · [surf watch](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/surf-watch) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-02.*