Announcing Swervetracker, the new waterski app

[OSSKI]

@epnault thanks for the support, its been a great project so far. There are no plans as it stands for a native iOS app (via the app store) - mainly because it would take more time and investment to develop native apps for both iOS and Android separately.

 

However, if you save the login page on to your home screen (follow instructions on www.swervetracker.com ) you will have an icon just like an app, and when you click that it will open up exactly like an app (rather than in a safari window).

 

@Stefan binding placement is a top priority, will be amending both of those things by the end of this week, thanks for pointing out range on DFT as well, will do that at the same time. And thanks for the kind words!

[pcmcon729]

@OSSKI When would you estimate that this will be available?

[Ali]

@lhoover

 

looks great!!

 

Could we add incremental speeds for when you slow boat down from official tournament speeds?

 

Cheers

Ali

[OSSKI]

@pcmcon729 - it's available now!

 

@Ali I've wrangled with that idea previously (like I'm sure many do, I knock a fraction off the boat speed for the first set or two of the year too, and I know others like to do middling line lengths mid-season) - but ultimately decided for the 'greater good' of simplicity, making logging easy and quick, and keeping the charting from getting confused that it was best to stick with the official speeds / lines, which I would guess most are running >90% of the time...

 

If there's really a lot of demand for this I'm sure there's a way to achieve both, but it's not an immediate priority - I'd suggest for the time being using the notes section to highlight speed was a fraction low etc. Thanks again for the feedback, definitely something to consider for the future anyhow!

[OSSKI]

Hi Ballers,

 

There's a few changes based on your thoughts now live in the app, including;

- Perfect Pass Z-box options

- More intervals (down to 16ths of an inch) for binding settings

- Some of you might have noticed a bug which showed charting in Meters / KPH even if preferences were set for feet off / MPH. That is now fixed.

 

Thanks again for all your feedback so far, let me know any other ways you think Swervetracker can be made better?

 

These were all easy tweaks but there's scope for bigger projects in time.

[rayn]

How about a preference for advancing to the next line length after a completed pass. That way you a can click through a tournament set by just hitting the check mark. And maybe a setting at the start for either tournament mode or practice mode for advancing the line length s

[C5Quest]

@OSSKI First off thanks for putting the time and effort into this app. I have a couple bugs in my app which I’m not sure is just me or a known issue. My thoughts....

 

1. Using Safari I can open the default and ski/fin settings. As an app on home screen the default and ski/fin setting sections will not open. Pressing the < symbol will open the section briefly then close. Again, it works if I open in Safari browser but not after saving to home screen as an app.

 

2. Ski/fin settings are not saved when changing default (ski). I created a profile for 2 different skis. When I change the ski in the default section it doesn’t change the fin settings for that ski. Should be linked to the profile saved for that ski for easy switching.

 

3. Need to increase range under DFT for fin settings. Those of us running a Whisper Fin are running DFT close to 2.00 inches. I currently run 1.92. The scale stops at 1.5

 

4. Any chance of changing the Boot Position scale? Seeing all 16ths put back into a normal scale could be a bit easier. Ex.... 29 1/16, 29 1/8, 29 3/16, 29 1/4, 29 5/16, 29 1/2, etc... Maybe I’m the only one who measures like this and passes on my adjustments this way? I don't think anyone uses an all 16th scale but may be mistaken.

 

5. Possible option to select Boot Position in decimal places? Ex. 29.375, 29.5, 29.625. If too much to make that another selectable option maybe just re-label the selectable choices. Ex. 29 3/8 (.375), 29 1/2 (.5), 29 5/8 (.625) or 29.375 (3/8), 29.5 (1/2), 29.625 (5/8). The decimal then fraction seems to read a bit better but whatever works. Poll?

 

6. Maybe add LE (Leading Edge) under ski/fin settings for those of us that record that measurement. Or have LE auto-populate when DFT and Length are entered.

 

These are a few issues that stuck out and some suggestions. You can tell me to suck it if you want but thought it could improve functionality. Again, we owe you a huge thanks and some beers for working to improve our skiing with this app.

 

[OSSKI]

@rayn that's a good idea and definitely something will get around to

 

@C5Quest thanks a lot for such detailed thoughts!

 

(1) Will take a look at the issue you're having. (2) Agreed that's a good idea. (3) wowza that's a lot of DFT! Okay had no idea Whisper Fins were running that far forward. Will bump up the scope there. (4/5) would be curious what others think, hopefully not a big issue either way??

 

Thanks again for the feedback :)

[C5Quest]

@OSSKI Thanks! Looking forward to using the app this season. Thoughts on #6?

4/5 would make it more user friendly.

[savaiusini]

Cool app!

One thing I noticed that doesn't appear to have been mentioned by others...If you use multiple skis, I'm not seeing a way to differentiate settings by ski.

You could also take things a step further and store manufacturer recommended settings. There is already another app that does this (finDB), but it might me cool to have everything in one place.

 

[Martin1980]

@OSSKI Love it so far. Can you add air temperature? Also anyway to have the app default to the last entered boot/fin settings so you don't have to put it in every time if nothing has changed?

[34mph]

Is there a way to add to home screen like an app on my iPhone ?

[OSSKI]

@34mph If you go to www.swervetracker.com and click ‘download and install’ there are instructions on how to get the icon on your home screen for both Android and iOS (Apple). The advantage of doing that is that the app will also open full-screen rather than within a safari/chrome window. So would highly recommend!

 

@Martin1980 Air temp is a good idea, will add that. For boot and fin settings, if you put them into your defaults/preferences (under settings) you shouldn’t have to change every time. Let me know if you’re finding any issues once you’ve done that.

 

@C5Quest you should find your issue with ski/fin settings is resolved. Have also bumped the DFT range way up for the whisper fins so hope that helps. Sorry I missed the leading edge bit – shouldn’t be an issue either.

 

Thanks again all for helping make swervetracker better!

 

[santangelo]

@savaiusini I've made the stock fin data available for anyone to use via an API. I mentioned it to @OSSKI for when he's ready to incorporate the data into his web app.

Data is here: https://api.paulsantangelo.com/skis/

 

[epnault]

Liking the app so far. Any plans to be able to link users and be able to share performance?

[OSSKI]

Hi @epnault glad you like the app! Lots of really exciting stuff in the pipeline.

 

RE sharing performance, what kind of thing are you imagining or would you find useful?

 

[epnault]

It would be cool to link to other ski partners like some of the fitness apps out there like fitnesspal, Strava, etc.

[BlueSki]

For those that have put the app on their phones, how has it been running for you?

[503Kento]

I've only logged test sets because the boat ramps are closed and we can't get our course in but it seems to work well on iPhone, iPad and Windows 10 PC. I have not encountered any bugs.

[T_C]

I have the program on my i phone using safari. It works perfect. Very cool

[jrs]

@OSSKI The app is looking good. Thank you for creating it! Please add the "Plus" factor for ZO settings.

[TEL]

I am excited to track my runs with this. I ski behind 3 different boats on the same lake my 08 196 5.7L duel puck, 2012 200 5.7L duel puck and a 2018 200 6L single puck. Will be interesting to see how I ski over time behind each boat. Especially sense i have not skied the course this year behind my 196 I will tomorrow.

[OSSKI]

@BlueSki hope it's all working for you, let me know if you've got any problems?

 

@TEL - Am thinking about some more filtering/charting tools at the moment which should eventually make that (and other variables) all really easy to analyse

 

@epnault RE linking with ski partners also thinking about this a lot. Watch this space!

[Cfootin]

@OSSKI this App is so awesome. This will help all of us keep motivated throughout the season especially with tournaments at risk of not happening. One bug I noticed was the wind speed units are in kph even though I selected mph in defaults.

Another thought crossed my mind. How can I guarantee my data doesn’t get lost for years to come? This will be my new form of ski note taking an would hate to loose it. Can the result be printed out? Thanks again. Great job.

[OSSKI]

@Cfootin stoked you like it! Thanks for pointing out the wind bug too, will get that ironed out.

 

It’s a really good question on your data. I’ve actually got a personal interest in this… I used a site called proskicoach (I’m sure plenty of you will remember it) probably around 2007/2008 time, when I was young, pretty new to skiing and improving at a decent rate. Those were the days!

 

It had a cool tool where you could record really basic data – I think it was just your single best score and notes on the set. Anyway, I used it for two or three years and long story short, ended up losing all the data when that site ceased to be. That was a bummer!

 

So it’s really important to me that Swervetracker is sustainable.

 

Data is safe in the cloud, not on any hardware of my own that could be damaged/lost etc. I’m also based in the UK, and European General Data Protection Regulations (AKA GDPR) are unbelievably strict on how data is kept too – rightly so.

 

In terms of Swervetracker itself, the running costs are pretty low but at some point (depending where users top out), I’ll probably have to find a way for it to wash its face. My preference in that scenario would be to keep it free with some sort of really simple sponsorship. If that doesn’t fly then maybe some sort of small subscription would be needed. As I said earlier, no more than a couple sets worth of gas per year.

 

It's a pet project, so I'd love if Swervetracker could add value for everyone else in the sport for years to come.

 

...and if we do lose your data, it's a small community, so you probably know someone that knows someone that knows where to find me! :D

 

Owen

 

[Horton]

@OSSKI what about data export. Is there a plan to allow the data to come out as CSV or similar? Also is there a chance that data could be re-imported in some format?

[OSSKI]

@Horton no plan but of course if ever there was an issue with Swervetracker export to CSV would be the absolute worst case back up plan at a minimum

 

What do you mean by re-importing data? For skiers that want to get past logs into Swervetracker? Not something I'd considered, but would have to be to a fairly rigid format which might take a bit of time for people to re-jig their data into...possible though for sure

[jrs]

@OSSKI I use a pilot logbook tool that backs up to a CSV file every night and gets uploaded to my Google Drive. I pay a small yearly donation to get the backup service otherwise the app is free for anyone to use. The backup CSV is just another way to save the data and not used for anything within the app. Most pilot logbooks will import CSV if I ever need to change programs. For your reference, the site is https://myflightbook.com/logbook/Default.aspx The owner of the site started out much like you but has turned it into much more. This should give you some ideas on where you may want to take this.

 

I would still like to know if you can add the "Plus" option for ZO. Another nice feature would be to add a user defined rating system that would allow the user to easily get back to notes from an extremely important set. Basically, in my paper ski logbook I put one, two, or three stars next to the set so that I can easily look back to sets containing important notes or keys. I also bend over the corner of the page that has the really important stuff. This makes it really easy to get the information needed to get back on track when you find yourself in a slump. After all, that is really the value of a logbook!

[ghutch]

@OSSKI please give us a chance at subscribing to it or donating to keep the ads off of it should it be necessary to do that. I hate seeing ads. Love the app! +1 on adding + for the bigger guys who use it. Thanks

[Horton]

@OSSKI as far as the export is concerned I was just thinking about the ability to analyze the data in different ways. The ability to create my own reports. because I ski a lot and I change skis and fins and bindings almost constantly I'm probably looking for more data-analysis than most.

 

as for the import it's probably not practical from your perspective but I was thinking about the ability to change or correct a batch of data and then just push it back to the app ... thinking of the app as more of a database

[mfjaegersr]

Thank you @OSSKI Just logged a real set, first of the year, and love it! I too noticed the wind in KPH despite a default of MPH. Like @ghutch and surely others...happy, wait...eager to donate to your coffee, beer, whiskey, AOTA*?! fund to help keep this alive and growing. Just say where...

 

*All Of The Above.

[OSSKI]

Hi Ballers - thank you all for your continued interest, feedback and support.

 

@jrs Thanks for linking that site. I really like your starring idea a lot too. ZO + shouldn't be a problem but hopefully you can work with the existing settings for the time being...looking to batch a lot of these ideas up to do in one hit alongside some new bits.

 

@ghutch @mfjaegersr thanks for the support and feedback! KPH bug will get fixed too, hopefully not too much of a pain for the time being.

 

@Horton Am working at the moment on taking the analytics to the next level (up a few levels actually!). Will have lots of scope to really geek out on it. Once you've got a decent volume of data logged at least

[skialex]

Logged the first real sets today... great app, thanks @OSSKI

[Teddy]

I downloaded the app this morning and found the instructions to install and get started pretty clear. I like the format and the defaults.

 

I echo others concern about the ability to access the data over time. I used to track in an app called "Waterski", it worked well for the basics of balls and line length but when the developer got tired of supporting it and Apple updated its operating system the data is no longer available. I like the suggestion made by JRS about a process similar to the one used by the pilot log book.

[dbaconaz]

excited to give this a try!!

[503Kento]

Logged my first real sets of the year last night and have a minor bug to report. Overall, it works great and I’m loving it.

 

When I select 58 degree water temperature, it is displayed as 58.1 on the set summary screen. A tenth of a degree is not big deal but the increments in the app are 0.5 so not sure where the .1 is coming from unless you are converting back and forth from Celsius or something.

[OSSKI]

Thanks again for all the support!

 

@503Kento good spot, thanks for pointing that one out. Will add to the fix list!

[Andrewski12]

@OSSKI thanks so much for this. This is just what the ski community needed. Just got my profile set up. Really looking forward to using it starting next week!

[Stefan]

@OSSKI thank you, it's a great app! I have one wish if I may? Beginning of season we do alot of free skiing at our local club and I also do so through out the summer when I ski on the Baltic Sea with the family boat. Would be great to be able to log it as free skiing, maybe in minutes and line length?

[Shakeski]

SO AWESOME!!!

[503Kento]

Feature request: hey @OSSKI can we make it default to the current time local time?

[OSSKI]

Hi Ballers - the bugs which you've all kindly flagged up have been fixed in relation to (a) wind speed when your preference is mph, (b) water temp decimals when in Fahrenheit, and © defaulting to current local time (actually it's slightly before...to give time for changing etc)

 

Hope the app is working well for everyone anyway. Give me a shout if there's any issues and as always love to hear new ideas

 

Busy now working on some bigger improvements (including plenty suggested in this thread) to come later in the summer!

[keithh2oskier]

Hi @OSSKI , not sure if this was mentioned earlier but is it possible as your entering passes of a set for the rope length to at least stay at the previous pass or auto "shorten" if you mark all 6?

 

The situation I have is I start at 34/-22. When I click the check mark to go to the next pass, it stays at 34/-22. I will up it to -28, then when I run that, it defaults the next pass to 34/-22. So I need to hit the shorten line length 2 times to get it to show -32.

 

I would be totally happy with it defaulting to the last speed/length that you ran the or auto shortening if you had 6 buoys.

 

Just a small annoyance in an otherwise awesome tool.

[OSSKI]

@keithh2oskier yep agreed that is annoying! It's being changed this month

[C5Quest]

Using it everyday.

[OSSKI]

A bunch of upgrades have just been made live on the app;

 

- Star rating system (out of 5) for each set, making it easier to find your best sets in the future (great idea @jrs )

 

- When logging passes, each new pass added is at the last speed / rope length (saves tabbing through everything from your start pass when you've gone down the line) - should make things a lot easier

 

- Added air temp

 

- Ski and fin settings all working really a lot better. Essentially now the settings are tied to the ski, so when you change skis, settings change over to the last ones saved on that ski.

 

- Added Zero Off + settings

 

Thanks again for all the feedback so far, hope you're enjoying Swervetracker!

 

More to come. What else would you like to see?

 

[Skoot1123]

I am loving this app. Is there a way to download or send all of our info to a csv file for reviewing and analyzing over the winter months?

[rayn]

I logged a couple of sets, it seems to record them but does not advance the after "log set" but does record it when I leave. Is this intentional?

[Stefan]

@OSSKI Thanks for constantly improving an already great app! I have two new functions on my wish list;

1: Freeski option, I have mentioned that in earlier post

2: I have a line with training loops in between the regular ones and I know I'm not alone. Would be very nice if there was an option to use the grid below with those included if one wanted, ie;

18,25m

17m

16m

15m

14,25m

13,6m

13m

12,5m

12

11,6m

11,25

 

[lagdawg]

@OSSKI: I am completely unable to use this app. When I try to add a pass it always gives me an error and I am unable to add any more passes. Clicking the Log Set button also gives me an error. I have tried across multiple browsers on multiple devices and I get the same errors every time.