Does the Apple Watch Ultra also work for paragliding?

I get asked this question a lot. So I grabbed my paraglider, installed the Vario One app on my Apple Watch Ultra and travelled to Bassano. 23 March 2023, 12 noon: I'm standing at the Stella launch site and finally take off. The thermals were very good. Yes, great conditions for an extensive test flight with my Apple Watch Ultra and the Vario One app.

As expected, the air pressure sensors on the Apple Watch Ultra respond very precisely and the beeping allows me to centre the thermal well. After a full circle, the wind speed and wind direction are displayed as an arrow: 6km/h WSW. Super! Less wind also means less turbulence. And that's a great thing for thermal strength in spring.

My conclusion after 2 hours of paragliding with the Apple Watch Ultra:

After a marvellous 2-hour flight, I came to the conclusion that the watch is perfect for paragliding. Would you like to know why?

• Largest display in comparison with all Apple Watches, which is clearly visible even in sunlight
• Double the battery capacity for a super long time in the air (whereas the normal Apple Watches already last for hours)
• Vario One can be used on the Apple Watch WITHOUT an iPhone as a standalone app.
• The beeping in the air allows you to centre the thermal without looking at the display
• The integrated wind display helped me to know where the wind was coming from and how strong it was

What did I miss? I would have liked to have looked at the GPS track again after landing to see where I had flown from. The watch currently records the most important values, such as maximum altitude, wind speed and times. These are automatically sent to the digital flight log.

Flight recording (GPS Track) with the Apple Watch from April 2023

As I believe that I am not the only one who would like to have a flight recording, we are planning to make the GPS track available as early as April 2023. We will first develop an export from the flight log and in the next step a display that shows the track on a map including statistics.

Try the Vario App 'Vario One' for 3 days free of charge

If you prefer to see for yourself, you can simply download the app from the App Store. Then you can test it immediately for 3 days free of charge. If you are not convinced by the app, all you have to do is delete it within 3 days (hold your finger on the app for a long time and confirm deletion). You will then be asked whether you only want to delete the app or also cancel the subscription. If you say "Delete app and cancel subscription", then you have tested everything without obligation 🙂

Have fun trying them out: Click here for the Vario One app in the Apple App Store