We know that the New Year can be hectic: You have new goals, new challenges and new resolutions. Now that you’ve had some time to breathe, it’s time to get back in the water. Swim.com will help get you there.
What’s Coming for 2017
Swim.com has a pile of exciting announcements, features and partnerships planned for 2017. There’s something for every user to look forward to!
New Versions of iOS and Android
We have recently released the first update of 2017: Swim.com for iOS version 1.5. This version includes a sneak peak of Workout Prescription; a new piece of functionality which will be developed over the coming months. Now Swim.com users with or without a wearable can get free workout plans and log them as swum.
Updated Android Wear
Android Wear is getting a major update to version 2.0. Unfortunately, that update will take away the Theater Mode functionality, which Swim.com relies on to lock the screen during swims. Not to worry: Swim.com is working on a version that will work without Theater Mode as well as a streamlined UI and updated algorithms.
New Device Partnerships
Device partnerships are extremely exciting for us and even more exciting for swimmers who are looking to purchase a new wearable. Unfortunately, we can’t get too specific about devices that haven’t been released, but we’re confident that swimmers will appreciate the new choices in wearables that offer superior swimming experiences and our advanced Swim.com algorithms. We’re always looking for feedback about the kind of wearables you want to be able to swim with and we love it when you tell your favorite device makers, too!
Design, Performance and Bugfixes
The world has changed a lot since we first released our apps for the web, iOS and Android. We’re refocusing for 2017 to improve the performance in our apps (including the swimming algorithms) as well as giving our apps a fresh new design. As always, we’ll continue to listen closely to feedback from our users to fix bugs and make general improvements to the app.
2016 In Review
2016 was a huge year for Swim.com. We introduced our Apple Watch app, said goodbye to Pebble and released a pile of new features for swimmers to take advantage of. Here a few highlights from our event-filled year:
Swimming comes to the Apple Watch Series 2
Apple made a big splash in September by announcing the waterproof Apple Watch Series 2 with a heavy focus on swimming. Swim.com responded by bringing our expertise in swimming and wearables to the new Apple device. We released Swim.com on the Apple Watch, allowing swimmers to do far more than Apple offered out of the box and creating the most feature-packed wearable solution for swimming. Since the release date, we listened to feedback from our users, fixed bugs and bolstered our features to offer what no other Apple Watch swimming app can:
- Automatic Intervals: because it’s crucial to know when you’re swimming and when you’re resting.
- Drill Mode: so you can record time and distance for your kick and other stroke-specific drills
- Send-off/Pace Mode: alerts you every X seconds so your can hit your goal times.
- Distance Goals: persistently tracked on the watch so you know when you’ve got your yardage in.
- Past Workouts: right on the watch.
Goodbye Pebble
Pebble holds a special place in our hearts at Swim.com. Pebble was the first platform we developed a wearable app for. We worked closely with them to bring swimming (one of their most popular use cases) to tens of thousands of swimmers around the world. In the end, Pebble was not able to maintain the cashflow and funding they needed to continue developing their products and Pebble’s assets were sold to Fitbit.
Watch2 user – great update on what’s in dev, are apple blocking the heart rate monitoring for you to incorporate into the app. These stats would be really useful.
The reason we only show instantaneous values is because of accuracy. The data that Apple is passing us are usually very inaccurate. The heart rate data comes in at irregular intervals and usually the first few data points after the data drops off and then comes back are way higher than they should be (sometimes 2x as high). What that means is that we can’t digest that data in a reliable way and show you a metric for a rest, length or interval that we have any confidence in. The last thing we want to do is mislead you to think your heart rate was higher or lower, even relatively, than what it actually was.
We’re hoping that Apple can improve on the heart rate accuracy for swimming over time.
I use the apple watch & have noticed that the splits are not accurate, they can be off by 1 to two minutes. The splits on apple work out are much more accurate & reliable. There is also no way of recording calories. This would be a nice addition.
Nice work so far. Keep going.. I look forward to new developments & future updates.
Wow, that’s a lot! Could you send us more info to support@swim.com? We’d love to try to figure out what the issue is there.
I like your app very much. I use it occasionally on my Apple Watch 2. But I will say I use the Apple Swim app more because of two reasons: it keeps track of calories burned and because it syncs immediately and reliably to the Apple Activity app which is the hub for all my activities.
Suggestions:
1. Keep track of calorie expended while doing a swim workout
2. Sync immediately and reliably to Apple Activity app at the completion of a workout
3. Be able to start and stop the timer on the app while doing sets to time yourself
Are your workouts not appearing in the Activities app? Is Health enabled in Settings in the Swim.com app?
We decided against self timing because of the difficulty and issues with using the screen in the water. Hopefully we can get our automatic timing close enough to make it valuable for you. We’re always trying to improve 🙂
On the Apple 2 watch, the swim.com program usually will not turn off when I am done swimming. It will continue “resting” for 15 to 30 minutes or more. This never happened with the Pebble. Is this an apple prob or a prob with the app?
Are you using Force Touch to end the workout when you’re done?
Sounds interesting, all the new stuff.
Does it mean that pebble no longer will be supported in coming versions of iOS?
Our app will continue to support the connection to Pebble, but there’s no guarantee that iOS itself will or that the Pebble iOS app will continue to work.
The Pebble firmware on the watch, the Pebble iOS app and iOS itself all (are supposed to) work together to pass our iOS app the data we log using our Pebble watch app. If one of those links in the chain breaks, our hands our tied and it will likely be broken forever.
How does the drill mode work on the Apple Watch????
Drill mode records distance and timing for swimming where you’re not doing traditional strokes (e.g. kicking). While in rest mode, turn the digital crown on the side of the watch (scrolling upward) until the drill mode menu appears. Here you can set the distance for your drill. When you’ve set the distance, scroll up to start the drill mode. When you are done with the drill, you can scroll up again to start a new drill interval, or scroll down to return to your main swim stroke mode.
This is great! I tried it this morning and I thought it was working. After I closed out drill mode it showed I was in resting mode. Started to swim again and it bugged out and completed the swim. I was at the starting screen when I went to check the watch again for laps. No record of the swim was in there. What did I do wrong or is this a bug?
HI – I have an Apple watch 2 – and I’m keen to try the “Send-off/Pace Mode” – so that I can receive alerts to stay on pace – but I can not seem to find how to access that feature ?
Hi Leigh! It’s pretty easy: scroll down with the digital crown after you start your workout. You will then be brought to a screen where you can set the time for your repeats. If you get a screen to set a distance, you’ve scrolled the wrong way and ended up in Drill Mode. If you can’t find it at all, you need to update the app on your watch. Hope you like it!
I bought an iWatch (and the 7) after I saw the update to the watch comparison chart on the Swim.Com website months ago. I’ve been using the more functional swim watches since 1995 starting with the Speedos and ultimately with the Swim Sense watch. However the manufacturer ran into trouble a few years ago and FINIS’ redo is a step backward (my opinion).
I’m hoping that Swim.Com really appreciates the ease-of-use yet high function of the Swim Sense. Such things as graphics, all sorts of metrics (by lap), and most available to view on the watch at the end of each interval. The iWatch face provides an ample space to show these metrics with great clarity.
And the iWatch inherently provides a rechargeable battery (no worn gasket to worry about anymore), a comfortable watch band that can be replaced when needed, and sufficient memory and speed (enough to keep Swim.com busy with improvements for years to come !)
Wow, this is so what I need! I have been swimming every second day
for approx 25 years now and this fabulous device is a welcome newcomer
in the game. No more stopping, turning to “watch” the clock.
I’m an Apple Watch Series 2 user like a few others here. I’ve a fairly basic question. When I use Apple’s built-in application, I’m able to end my workout and activate the sonic vibrations to eject water in the speaker area. Is this water locking/unlocking available for Swim.com? I cannot seem to find out how to activate it.
Great question! We have asked Apple to enable this functionality for us but they have not done so yet.
It won’t damage your watch, it just means that if water is in there you might have a harder time hearing the speaker if it’s still wet.
Any hope for tracking an open water swim on the Apple watch 2. I swim in a lake all summer. The Apple watch has this choice in their workout menu. I know you had issues with the GPS being unreliable in the past. I really enjoy the app in the pool.
Thanks
We might implement it in the future if there’s enough demand.
I vote for an open water feature. Most swimmers in my area (NW Montana) only swim in lakes in the summer. Open water swimming is definitely becoming more popular.