Spearfishing on
Apple Watch Ultra
FreeDive Ultra was built by a spearo. Every screen on this page exists to help you hunt and navigate the water better, on the Apple Watch Ultra you already wear.
Thought out by someone who spearfishes a lot
A basic freediving watch gives you depth, dive time and a surface interval. FreeDive Ultra gives you those, and then the things a spearo actually wants. Save the spot you just found, a cave, a ledge, a wreck, with a turn of the Crown. Let the watch guide you back to it next trip. See where you swam, how far, and which way you are heading, and drop markers as you go. Lock a compass heading and know how far you have drifted.
Other apps have some of this. Ours was built with a spearo in mind, and it shows in the details. Nothing needs the touchscreen. The Digital Crown and the Action Button do the work, and both work through gloves.
A session starts with one tap on Start Freediving, or automatically the moment you descend with Auto Launch switched on. Battery use is around 10% an hour, so a full charge covers every session.
Two screens every spearo knows, plus stealth mode
Live Dive
Depth, dive time and water temperature from the moment you descend. Every dive is detected on its own.
Recovery
Surface, and the recovery timer starts alongside your live heart rate, with last depth and last dive time underneath. The watch switches between the two on its own.
Stealth mode
The screen dims and haptics go silent as you descend. Full brightness returns the moment you surface.
Eight alarms on the watch. These three earn their place on a spearfishing session.
Surface interval
Taps you when you have rested long enough. Smart mode scales the wait to your last dive.
Session time
Taps you at the session length you set. Your reminder to get out of the water.
Hydration
A tap at the interval you choose, once or repeating through the session. Time to drink and eat.
Each alarm is a triple tap you feel through a wetsuit and an amber pulse around the screen. Set them on the iPhone or on the watch. Whichever you use, the other stays in sync.
Find it. Mark it. Come back to it.
This is the heart of it: the loop every spearo runs, done on the wrist. The watches below are true representations of what the app does. Press the Action Button on each one to try it.
Anyone with the link, anywhere with internet
Every drop, on the map
The session lands on your iPhone the moment you end it.
Where you swam
Your route on the map with the distance swum, the drift, and your entry and exit points.
Where the pins are
Every pin you saved, on the session map. Name it, add a note, promote it to a dive spot, and the watch points you at it next time.
Fly over it
3D Flyover renders your route over satellite imagery as a video, ready to post.
Every session also carries the numbers: dive count, max depth, longest dive, water temperature, heart rate and calories, with room for conditions, notes, photos and a rating. Share a card or a clip straight to Instagram and TikTok.
What spearos say
Reviews quoted as written, by spearfishers using the app on their own sessions. Each name links to the App Store reviews.
The save pin feature is what makes it for me. When I'm out spearfishing and find a good spot, I drop a pin from the watch and it's on the iPhone map next trip. No phone in the dry bag. Use it every session.Scotty-gb1, United Kingdom
Used this app on multiple spearfishing outings, and the app really supports surface recovery times and logs detailed dive parameters.Hawai’i Spearfishing, United States
It is simple to set up and simple to use. It is clear that it was developed for free divers and it is not just another scaled down scuba diving app. The most important part is excellent support.Nevengal, United States
The app was launched on r/Spearfishing, where spearos told me what was missing.
What spearos ask
Does Apple Watch Ultra work with gloves on?
Yes. Nothing in a session needs the touchscreen. Dive detection, screen switching, recovery and stealth mode are automatic. Saving a location is a turn of the Digital Crown, and route markers, dive spot switching and the compass heading lock are all on the Action Button. Both work through gloves.
Do I have to start and stop each dive?
No. With Open Water selected on the watch, one tap on Start Freediving begins the session, or it starts on its own when you descend with Auto Launch on. From then on every dive is detected automatically: descending starts it, surfacing ends it, and the recovery timer starts the moment you are up.
Can I mark a spot I want to come back to?
Yes. Where the fish were, a cave, a ledge, a wreck, anything worth a second visit. Surface and turn the Digital Crown to save a GPS pin exactly where you are. It lands on the iPhone map after the session, and you can promote it to a dive spot the watch will navigate you to next time. The Route screen also lets you drop a marker on your track with the Action Button, for the session in hand; markers stay on the watch, pins are the ones that are saved.
Which Apple Watch does it work on?
Every Apple Watch Ultra: the original, Ultra 2, Ultra 3 and Ultra 4. The depth sensor is what FreeDive Ultra runs on, and only the Ultra has one.
How long does the battery last?
Around 10% an hour, so a full charge covers every session. A low battery alarm taps you at 20%.
Does it replace a buddy?
No. One up, one down, always. The watch tracks your surface interval and taps you when it is time; your buddy watches you. Live Share lets anyone with the link follow the session, but it is a window on the session, not a safety system.
Take it spearfishing this weekend
Free to download. The next spot you find is a turn of the Crown.