Dawn Patrol, the Apple Watch surf tracking app we love to hate, has ruined another feature that almost made it worth paying $28 a year for: they no longer show Surfline wave heights in their surf forecasts. Now, a check of the surf returns a dash with no info (as seen at right).
After thinking it was our fault. We deleted the app, reloaded it. Restarted our phone and watch and still got the dash on the screen. Only after checking in with Dawn Patrol support did we learn the reason.
Before we could show the wave height from Surfline forecasts. However we can no longer do this unless you connect your account with Surfline.
Yes. A feature we had paid Dawn Patrol for has been removed and the only way to get it back is to sign up for an account on Surfline.com and then link it back to Dawn Patrol. Oddly, all of Dawn Patrol’s documentation on the web and in the Apple app store says “Surfline forecasts” are included in their paid “Soul Surfer” feature set. While there is a fix, it does not appear anywhere on Dawn Patrol’s website nor in any of their documentation.
Our experience with Dawn Patrol suggests the developers have a small staff, little funding, and very few people on their team who actually use the app on a daily basis. Because of this the app has had its share of glitches, bad updates, and feature fall out. Yes, it’s hard and tech is complicated. But dropping a paid feature without telling your users about it is pretty weak sauce.
So, about 30 minutes after jumping through all their account linking hoops, the wave height again showed up on our watch. Now, with a “Powered by Surfline” logo in the lower right hand corner. Notice the wind speed that used to be on the bottom right corner? It moved to the upper left to make room for Surfline branding. Is that was this was all about? Creating more Surfline accounts and placing a logo? Looks like it.
Now, after spending three hours sorting this out, please excuse us while we go crush that monster surf that our Apple Watch (and Surfline.com) has finally alerted us to.
Our long running love/hate relationship with the Apple Watch surf tracking app Dawn Patrol continues. It is, by far, the most elegant solution to putting a tide chart on the Apple watch, but when it comes to actual live tide data it falls way short.
Dawn Patrol gives the high and low tides along with the local time of each event, but for current tide measurements, and/or what the tide will be tomorrow or the day after, Dawn Patrol offers nothing at all. Some of this will reportedly change soon.
In our next release you’ll get a short term forecast on the Apple Watch! Stay tuned for the update, it will come alongside the release of watchOS 10.
In the meantime, we’ve found that by adding the free Ocean Watch app to our Apple watch we now have the live tide (lower right complication) and forecasting that we need. Ocean watch also has a tide chart complication, but it’s clunky. Dawn Patrol for pretty graphics and moderately close water temps, and Ocean Watch for real tide data.
We have a love hate with Dawn Patrol for the Apple Watch. When it works, it’s fun to see how many waves we got, how fast slowly we surfed and save it to analyze later. When it doesn’t work, however, it can be just enough of a tech annoyance to ruin an otherwise good session. That’s why we’re hoping that the newest update (version 5.0) of their surf tracking app will tip the balance in the right direction.
We have made some sleek design changes, increased overall performance, and added more intuitive user interfaces. . . We have enhanced the interface of the surf map. Your surf metrics are laid out in a clean and efficient way to read. . . Get to know how efficient your paddle is, allowing you to measure your strength and ultimately catch more waves. . . Our renewed tidal chart shows the current water level height and spot name. . . Get to know your spot better and learn at which tides you are catching your best waves.
One thing is for sure–Dawn Patrol is the best way to put a tide chart on the face of your Apple Watch. And it’s all worth it just for that. For all the details, please click the link.
The stories that shape our world are the stories that we share. Here are the headlines that caught our eye during the past month. And yes, it was a rough one. But we’re not going to let that get in the way of sharing with you. Click the link for all the stories.
Huntington Beach, California’s Huntington Surf & Sport is upping its footprint on the surf world’s most trafficked corner with an expansion of their current shop. Some of it even got finished in time for the US Open of Surfing later this month.
Huntington Surf and Sport is in the midst of a major renovation at its downtown Pierside Pavilion location, adding more than 3,000 square feet and a new energy to this iconic store. Upon completion, HSS will offer the largest inventory and best selection of hardgoods in the entire surf industry; a haven for real surfers to get authentic gear.
It’s nice to know that all surf retail isn’t dead just yet. For the official word from HSS follow the jump.
Dawn patrol on the streets of New York City. You know, as viral video from the movie Chasing Mavericks. And yes, it got our attention so apparently it worked. The movie opens in theaters Friday, October 26, 2012.
For most of the day we all thought Kelly Slater was going to walk away with a win on a board he claimed he hadn’t surfed since “Bruce won it” in 2004, the last time The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau was held. Then, in the final heat of the day, San Clemente, California’s Greg Long charged through with all four of his high scoring waves including a perfect 100.
“I’m so happy just to be here, invited into the biggest event of big waves in the world with all my heroes, I’m so excited,” said Long. . . “It’s a dream come true for me. Riding big waves is my passion and I’ve been following The Eddie since I knew exactly what it was, I was probably 12-years-old just getting into surfing. Since then, I’ve had every single poster from Brock Little to Bruce Irons on my wall. I look to those guys for inspiration and to be standing up here with Sunny (Garcia) and Kelly Slater is a dream come true for me. I never would have thought that this is my first year surfing the event and to come away with a victory is really a childhood dream become real.”
Maybe it is good to go last at Waimea. . . follow the jump for the ASP press release. [click to continue…]
A Del Mar, California surfer out for dawn patrol this morning noticed six bulging burlap sacks along the railroad tracks near the end of 11th street in Del Mar, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
As he continued to walk toward the water, he came across two men lugging a seventh sack and he asked what they were doing, Reynolds said. . . .The men said something in Spanish, dropped what they were carrying and ran. The surfer called deputies, who later found an eighth sack closer to the water, Reynolds said. The sacks were filled with 80 plastic-wrapped bundles of marijuana, Reynolds said.
Dawn Patrol, the Apple Watch surf tracking app we love to hate, has ruined another feature that almost made it worth paying $28 a year for: they no longer show Surfline wave heights in their surf forecasts. Now, a check of the surf returns a dash with no info (as seen at right).
Our experience with Dawn Patrol suggests the developers have a small staff, little funding, and very few people on their team who actually use the app on a daily basis. Because of this the app has had its share of glitches, bad updates, and feature fall out. Yes, it’s hard and tech is complicated. But dropping a paid feature without telling your users about it is pretty weak sauce.
Our long running love/hate relationship with the 
