Nitrox Buddy vs Shearwater Cloud
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nitrox Buddy
This application serves as a straightforward calculator for nitrox and enriched air divers. It quickly computes essential dive data such as Maximum Operating Depth (MOD), Equivalent Air Depth (EAD), Best Mix, and Partial Pressure of Oxygen (PPO2). It supports both imperial and metric units and offers a companion watch app for on-the-go calculations.
- Calculate MOD, EAD, Best Mix, PPO2
- Imperial and metric unit support
- Sea and fresh water options
- Selectable max oxygen content
- Selectable max partial pressure
- Companion watch app
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Nitrox Buddy is a no-frills calculator app for nitrox/enriched air divers - use it to quickly calculate the most important data for your dive: Maximum Operating Depth/MOD, Equivalent Air Depth/EAD, Best Mix and PPO2. The app works with imperial or metric measurements, sea or fresh water, and allows you to select the maximum oxygen content and partial pressure. A companion watch app puts lets you perform all these calculations on your wrist.
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.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Nitrox Buddy at 96% against Shearwater Cloud's 26%. Nitrox Buddy also leads on rating (4.9 vs 2.6) and ratings volume (468 vs 104). Shearwater Cloud's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 7 months). On price, ads and device support 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. Nitrox Buddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Shearwater Cloud asks for nothing beyond the download.
Nitrox Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 468 and 104 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 96% of Nitrox Buddy's written reviews are positive against 26% of Shearwater Cloud's.
Nitrox Buddy ships an update every 7 months, Shearwater Cloud every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nitrox Buddy | Shearwater Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (468 ratings) — better | 2.6 (104 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 95.7% of reviews — better | 25.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 468 — better | 104 |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 333 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gereon Steffens | Shearwater Research |
Customer experience
Nitrox Buddy
Shearwater Cloud
User reviews
Nitrox Buddy
From 468 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Quick calculations
- ✅ Accurate results
- 💡 Free to use
- 🎯 Essential for Nitrox divers
Room to improve
- 📱 Ugly iPad icon
- ⚠️ MOD calculation limited to 40% O2 in older versions
- ⚠️ MOD calculation limited to 50% O2 in older versions
- ⚠️ Needs to work with older iOS versions
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
Bugs and requests
Nitrox Buddy
Reported bugs
4 issues- iPad icon is ugly
- MOD limit of 50% O2 despite 100% O2 setting (resolved)
- MOD limit of 40% O2 (older version)
- Does not work with older iOS versions
Requested features
4 requests- Add MOD 1.5 option
- Allow MOD calculation up to 100% O2 and indicate max exposure duration
- Change color for inappropriate mixes (e.g., 50% at 40m)
- Support older iOS versions (5 & 6)
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
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- 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
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- 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
In-app purchases
Nitrox Buddy
- Tip$0.99
Shearwater Cloud
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Nitrox Buddy free?
Is Shearwater Cloud free?
Which has better reviews, Nitrox Buddy or Shearwater Cloud?
Do Nitrox Buddy or Shearwater Cloud have ads?
Which is updated more often, Nitrox Buddy or Shearwater Cloud?
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