Shearwater Cloud vs Garmin Dive™
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shearwater Cloud
Connect your mobile device to your dive computer to download, manage, and analyze dive logs. Update firmware and utilize cloud storage for accessible and secure dive data across multiple devices.
- Download dive logs via Bluetooth LE
- Analyze depth, decompression, and temperature
- Cloud storage for dive logs
- Firmware updates for dive computers
- Cross-device accessibility
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Shearwater Cloud links your mobile device to your Shearwater dive computer. It allows you to download and manage your dive logs, update your dive computer firmware, and use cloud storage. Using Bluetooth LE technology, you can quickly and easily download your dive logs to Shearwater Cloud. Once your logs are downloaded, you can analyze your depth, decompression profile, temperature, and much more. The defining feature of Shearwater Cloud is the ability to store your dives via the cloud. Cloud storage provides accessibility to your dives on any mobile device with an internet connection. In addition, dive logs can be recovered should the dive logs be lost on a local storage. Shearwater Cloud is compatible with Tern, Peregrine, Teric, Perdix 2, Perdix AI, Perdix, NERD 2, Petrel 3, and Petrel 2.
Garmin Dive™
This app serves as a comprehensive diving logbook and planning tool. It automatically records dive data, tracks gas consumption, and supports various diving disciplines. Users can also discover dive sites, manage gear, and share experiences with a community.
- Automatic dive logging
- Gas consumption tracking
- Support for multiple dive types
- Interactive dive site maps
- Gear and service tracking
- Real-time diver monitoring
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Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced diver, Garmin Dive is the ultimate diving companion. Once you pair your phone with a Descent™ dive computer or another compatible Garmin device¹, you can enjoy powerful features like: • Automatic dive logging and gas consumption tracking • Support for recreational and technical scuba diving, including single-gas, multi-gas and closed-circuit rebreather diving • Support for freediving, including apnea, apnea hunt and pool apnea • Interactive maps and dive site search • Viewing and sharing ratings and photos of your dive sites with the community • Tracking dive gear, service intervals and diver certifications • Monitoring other divers in real time with an added Garmin Descent S1 buoy However you enjoy diving, you can plan, log and review your dives with the Garmin Dive app. ¹See a full list of compatible devices at garmin.com/dive Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Privacy Policy: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/privacy/dive/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Garmin Dive™ at 4.8 against Shearwater Cloud's 2.6. Garmin Dive™ also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 26%) and ratings volume (855 vs 104). Shearwater Cloud's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Garmin Dive™ holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Garmin Dive™ has 855 ratings behind it against 104, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of Shearwater Cloud's written reviews are positive against 50% of Garmin Dive™'s.
Shearwater Cloud ships an update every 5 weeks, Garmin Dive™ every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shearwater Cloud | Garmin Dive™ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (104 ratings) | 4.8 (855 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.8% of reviews | 49.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 104 | 855 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 333 MB | 519 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shearwater Research | Garmin |
Customer experience
Shearwater Cloud
Garmin Dive™
User reviews
Shearwater Cloud
From 104 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🔄 Reliable dive data synchronization with computers
- ☁️ Cloud storage functionality for accessing dives across devices
- 📊 Clear display of dive statistics and information
- 🔌 Easy Bluetooth connectivity (when working)
- ⚡ Functional core logging features
Room to improve
- 🎨 Outdated, unattractive user interface design
- 📱 Poor iPad optimization and landscape mode issues
- 🐢 Extremely slow performance and lag
- 🔗 Frequent Bluetooth connectivity failures
- 💥 App crashes on launch and during use
Garmin Dive™
From 855 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Automatic dive logging
- 👍 Versatile for different sports
- 💡 Integrated with Garmin ecosystem
- 🚀 Ease of use
- 👍 Detailed dive information
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync issues with dive computer
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes
- 🔒 Requires internet connection
- 🐛 Cannot recover deleted dives
- 🐛 Dive numbers not automatically updated
Bugs and requests
Shearwater Cloud
Reported bugs
18 issues- App crashes on startup with latest iOS versions
- Bluetooth connection causes app to freeze or crash
- Dives fail to download or sync completely
- Dive numbers display incorrectly compared to computer
- Data loss when updating app or firmware
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- Graph freezes when viewing in landscape mode
- Cloud account requirement blocks app access
- Slow download speeds (8+ minutes per dive)
- Dropdown menus and UI elements unresponsive
- Surface interval and end dive time removed in updates
- Temperature unit conversion failures
- SAC rate calculation errors
- Auto-download toggle cannot be disabled
- Checkboxes for filtering data removed
- iPad version displays iPhone layout only
- German/Italian translation mix-up
- Unable to connect to specific computer models
- Scrolling triggers accidental field selection
Requested features
20 requests- Modern, native-looking user interface redesign
- GPS/geolocation integration for dive sites
- Ability to manually add or import dives
- Photo attachment capability for dives
- Dive planner functionality
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Map view of dive locations
- Landscape mode optimization for iPad
- Ability to copy/paste information between dives
- Filter dives by mode (recreational, technical, etc.)
- Average SAC rate statistics across all dives
- Buddy management and sharing features
- Equipment tracking and reuse
- Dive profile zoom capability
- PDF export of dive logs
- Support for more tank configurations
- GFSurf information on graphs
- Smart notifications/SNS integration
- Dive date format customization
- Full-screen graph in landscape orientation
- Selective dive download options
Garmin Dive™
Reported bugs
6 issues- Cannot save dive logs
- Dive sites not found in the app
- Randomly missing dive logs
- Photos not displayed chronologically
- Sync issues with Mk2i device
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Inability to delete dives and have numbers update automatically
Requested features
6 requests- Dive planner in the app
- Export dive data to other apps
- Ability to combine short dives
- Import dive logs from other software
- More detailed statistics and analytics
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Offline mode for dive logging
In-app purchases
Shearwater Cloud
No in-app purchases
Garmin Dive™
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shearwater Cloud free?
Is Garmin Dive™ free?
Which has better reviews, Shearwater Cloud or Garmin Dive™?
Do Shearwater Cloud or Garmin Dive™ have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shearwater Cloud or Garmin Dive™?
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