Apple Watch Help & FAQs

We are the only app where all features are free for both Apple Watch and Garmin watch. We don’t require you to buy custom hardware or to take your phone out on the water to track. All you need is either an Apple Watch or a Garmin Watch. We will be opening Hoolan up to Wear OS and other watches in the future. We offer both detailed jump statistics, and speed and distance gps statistics, so you can get an overall picture of your session. We are unique in the way we break down your statistics into runs, transitions and jumps. We calculate your transition performance. We allow you to record and track multiple wind sports: KITE: Kiteboarding (twintip), Kitesurfing (directional) strapped/strapless, Kite foiling strapped/strapless, Kite landbuggy, Kite landboarding, Snowkiting (snowboarding, skiing and skating) WING: Wing SUP, Wing foiling strapped/strapless, Wing snowboard, Wing ski, Wing skate. WINDSURF: Windsurfing strapped/strapless, Windfoiling strapped/strapless. We have plans to expand out to more wind and water sports in the future. We break sports down by board type, to allow meaningful personal bests and progression information by skill set (for example twin tip vs directional vs foil). We provide much more detailed session information than most other apps, and offer unique statistics such as transition success and tack information. Our map view analysis allows you to scroll through each run and transition in your session, and view both jump take off and landing points (iPhone app currently, coming in v2 of our Android app). Unlike some other apps, we only require access to your location data 'while using the App' as this is essential for us to provide you with your performance stats. We don't require it to be set as 'always on'. Hoolan offers a super easy recording experience. Select your activity on your watch and go! No need to set wind direction or choose your spot. No need to take your phone out on the water or attach anything to your board. You can see live stats on your watch as you ride and then, to finish, simply double press your crown and side button at the same time and your session is saved (Apple) or press the START/STOP button on your Garmin. As soon as your watch has a cellular connection, it will automatically feed the data across to the Hoolan app on your iPhone where you can dive into your stats. On Garmin, your data will synch to your phone as soon as it is in bluetooth range. We are using all the latest technology and best practices to make using Hoolan as easy as possible to use: Password-less sign in process Data is held on the cloud and can be accessed on any phone. You don't lose all your data if you change/lose your phone Efficient operation to minimise battery use Minimal disk space when downloading Hoolan and minimal data consumption when uploading a session. For example, a 1hr session with 20 jumps or so uses no more bandwidth than downloading a song. It isn't currently possible to view your friends' sessions in the Hoolan App, though this is something we have plans to develop in the future. Hoolan also does not yet offer leaderboards or any competition elements.

Yes, absolutely! Every model of Apple Watch can record jumps, but only certain Garmin models have the hardware capabilities and memory to record jumps - see our list of jump-compatible Garmins. Please double check that your jump settings match your requirements by going to the Settings screen on your watch: Jump settings - Apple Watch Jump settings - Garmin As a default, jumps are set to be recorded for: Kiteboarding (twintip board) Kitesurfing (directional board) strapped Kitesurfing (directional board) strapless Kitefoiling (foil board) strapped Kite landboarding Kite snowboarding Kite skiing ​ 'OFF' for the following activity types: Kitefoiling (foil board) strapless Kite landbuggying Kite skating Wingfoiling strapped Wingfoiling strapless Wing snowboarding Wing skiing Wing skating Wing landboarding Windsurfing strapped Windsurfing strapless Windfoiling strapped Windfoiling strapless These settings are completely customisable, and mean that you save on battery usage if you never jump on certain board types. On Garmin: Our Garmin integration uses Garmin's activities on your watch to track your sessions and this doesn’t capture the accelerometer and gyroscope data that we need to measure jumps. In order to track your jumps, you will need the Hoolan App for Garmin, which is in development, sign up for updates.

We don't record any jumps less that 1.5m (5 ft) high, as from testing we've found that riding over waves can often lead to false jumps being recorded. In the future, we may look to enabling you to set a minimum jump threshold per session.

We appreciate that people will be curious about how we've managed to achieve accurate stats on a watch. The jump algorithm we've developed removes any "noise" generated by things like pulling in the bar, bouncing over chop or quickly raising your wrist to view your watch face. As a result we've ended up with pretty stable data that has certain features that make it possible to detect and accurately measure different aspects of the jump like height, airtime and distance. Before launching, we spent months working really hard to refine and test the algorithm with very advanced riders who have absolutely put our technology to the sword! They've been boosting over 25m high and pulling off insane tricks like Boogie Loops and Mega Loops. It has allowed us to test out and cater for all kinds of rider style and level. As a result, we have a high degree of confidence in the jump algorithm as we've run it through thousands and thousands of jumps during testing.

No, your height doesn't make any difference. Jumps are measured from the point you take off to the point that you land so it's not really about how tall you are but more about the vertical displacement of the watch. Generally people's bodies follow a specific movement pattern in order to take off and land which makes it possible for us to look for specific signals in the motion data. This means we can measure jumps with just a watch with a high degree of accuracy.

Hi - yes you can, for free! Please see the following help page for full details on how to do this: https://www.hoolan.app/help-and-faqs/exporting-data-from-hoolan

No you can't track using a phone. Our tracking model is based on your session being recorded by watches (Apple Watch and Garmin watch at the moment) as we wanted to get around the risk, expense and hassle of recording with a phone or using a custom piece of hardware on your board.

No you don't! Leave your phone behind and enjoy your ride without worrying about damaging or losing your phone. All you need is either an Apple Watch or a Garmin watch to record your session data. Your stats will automatically feed across to the Hoolan app on your phone once your session has ended and your watch/ iPhone have an internet connection. Your watch doesn't need a cellular connection to record using Hoolan.

We rely on the gps data provided to us from your watch and there is always some small inherent degree of inaccuracy. From time to time, however, depending on where the satellites are, the location data they deliver might be more obviously inaccurate and this can have a knock on effect on the speed statistics we surface and the riding tracks that we display on the map view. We do everything we can to clean up and improve the data, however at the end of the day, we can only make the best of the data we receive and sometimes an unlikely-looking stat might appear. Another thing to bear in mind is that not all watches are born equal with respect to their gps hardware components, and newer watches are likely to be more accurate than older versions. GPS signal strength can be optimised with these few tips: Don't wear your watch underneath your wetsuit (but do have it on your skin). Open the Hoolan app before you start recording to give the gps a chance to warm up and find your accurate location, before recording. Where we have detected a GPS error, the track on the map will be marked in grey and the data from the error section will be removed from your statistics. If you see a missing stat in the table, this will be why.

We get our data from a global weather provider that in turn gets its data from authoritative meteorological sources local to the region/ country that you're riding at. For example, if you're in the UK we get it from the Met Office, in France it's from Meteo. The wind data we provide is forecast data, not actual, but should be no more than 3 hrs out, most often much less. We plan to allow riders to amend the wind statistics on any sessions where the actual and forecast data are considerably different. Watch this space...

Your analysis pages already have some filtering applied, depending on where you linked from on the Session Details page. Clicking on the 'Analysis' Buttons on the Session Details page: If you click the 'Analysis' button from the Jump section, for example, the analysis page will only display your jump data, in order of sequence. It's the same idea for Runs and Transitions. If you click the 'Analysis' button from the map, the analysis page will display all your jumps, transitions and run data, in sequence. Once on the Analysis page, you are able to flick between seeing All, Jumps, Transitions or Runs from the link in the heading at the top of the page: From individual statistics on the Session Details page: Filters are also applied by clicking on individual statistics on the Sessions Details page. For example, if you click on the 'Highest Jump' statistics box within the jump section, the analysis page will display your jump data, in order of the highest first. If you click on 'Falls' in the Transitions section, the analysis screen will show all your transitions with falls, in sequence. If you click on 'Longest run' within the Runs section, the analysis screen will show all your runs ordered by the longest first, and so on. We intend to improve the filtering features in the future, please sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date on our developments.

Yes, the Hoolan App records in the background - you can lower the app and do something else and it will continue to record your session :). We don't, however, recommend using multiple apps to record your session. The apps can compete for the resources on your watch and you may not end up with accurate measurements from one of the apps you're using.

V1 of our Android app is now live 😀! You can download it here.

Yes, if your mac has an M series processor (CPU) then you can install Hoolan on your mac through the app store, though please be aware that the Hoolan App isn't currently optimised for larger mac screen sizes. Please follow these steps: Step 1: Install Hoolan on your mac from the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/hoolan-kite-wing-windsurf/id1639913635 If it has installed correctly you should be able to launch Hoolan from your Applications folder within Finder. Step 2: Sign in to Hoolan as you would from your phone, using the same sign in details. When you receive the Sign in email, you need to right click on the link in the Sign In email, and select 'Open with Hoolan'. **If you're opening the sign in email inside a web browser such as Chrome or Safari you won't be able to open the link using the 'Open With' menu option as it won't be available. Instead you need to copy the link to a text editor on your mac such as textpad, then highlight the link and right click to access the 'open with' option. Important Note: Once you're signed into the App on your desktop, press Command r on the keyboard each time you want to refresh the list of your sessions.

No, you can record your session on your watch using Hoolan without it having a cellular connection and you will be able to see your live speed and jump stats on your wrist your ride. After you've finished your session, once your watch has an internet connection (either by being close to your paired iPhone or by accessing wifi that your iPhone has previously connected to), your data will feed up to the cloud to be processed and your session details will be accessible on the Hoolan App on your iPhone. If you're thinking about buying an Apple Watch then it may be worthwhile getting a cellular/LTE enabled watch, even if you don't buy a cellular plan straight away, as we may introduce new features that will need a connection, plus you'll have the reassurance of being able to make SOS calls if ever needed. All the existing features will still of course work without this connection.

Apple Watches Series 2 and above have been designed with water sports in mind and are water resistant to a depth of 50m. The Ultra takes it one step further and is water resistant to a depth of 100m. Apple states that their Series 2 and above are suitable for recording swim sessions, and we have been using Series 3 watches and above, regularly, for all our testing with no problems. We do however advise you take the time to choose the model that you would be happy to take out on the water with you. Watches record the same gps and motion data as phones (plus health data), but without the risk of losing or damaging an expensive phone, which is why we've decided that this is the way forward. The Hoolan App activates a water lock when you start recording to avoid accidental taps, and this can be deactivated by pressing and holding the digital crown (any watches using watchOS 9 or newer), or rotating the digital crown on earlier versions. We do recommend that you have a suitable sports strap for your watch to ensure it remains secure whilst riding and won't deteriorate with water use. We have used the Apple Solo Bands, which are very comfortable and secure, but the Spigen Rugged Armor Apple wrist band is also recommended and the Nomad Rugged Band. Please let us know if there are any other bands you have come across and recommend, and we will share it here.

We do recommend that you have a suitable sports strap for your watch to ensure it remains secure whilst riding and won't deteriorate with water use. We have used the Apple Solo Bands, which are very comfortable and secure, but for extra peace of mind for hardcore sessions, the Spigen Rugged Armor Apple wrist band and the Nomad Rugged Band are recommended. Please let us know if there are any other bands you have come across and recommend, and we will share it here.

This is a tricky one to answer as it is largely dependent on your budget and what else you might be using the watch for. What we believe is the best buy as an entry level watch, is Apple Watch SE 1st gen 2020, which you can get refurbished for a really good price, around £180 in the UK and $180 USD in the US (44mm), as these will be supported for several years to come by Apple (they can run the latest watch OS, which is currently 10.0). The screen size you choose will depend on your wrist size and personal preference. The Watch doesn't need to be cellular-enabled to use Hoolan, however in the future we may add additional features which will need this connection, and you may also want the peace of mind to be able to make SOS calls if ever needed. If budget is no issue, then take a look at the Apple website for all the specs of their latest watches - https://www.apple.com/uk/watch/compare/ Please see our FAQ 'Is my Apple Watch safe to use on the water' for information on the water resistance of Apple Watch models, and for the watch straps that we recommend.

We've built Hoolan to operate as efficiently as possible and, in tests, approximately 1-2% of battery was used up on a 44mm Series 6 Watch in 10 minutes of recording time (this will vary slightly depending on the model). That said, we do still always suggest you have your watch charged as fully as possible ready for your session. If your watch does run out of battery whilst you're on the water, your watch will have saved the data up until that point. Once it has recharged, open Hoolan on your watch and your data will automatically upload to the phone when you next have an internet connection. Tips to save battery: Hoolan will still record your session and display your stats as you ride in power saving mode If you don't jump or only jump on certain board types, turn off jump detection by activity type

We have strived to make the the footprint of the data that we save to your watch and subsequently upload to your phone as small all as possible, to both limit the amount of disk space we use (so that your watch and phone are free to do other things) and to minimise the bandwidth consumed. To give you an idea, a 1 hr kitesurfing session with 20 jumps or so, will use up approx. 1-2 MB of data to transfer - that's less than a song download! Of course, if you're using free wifi, there is no data transfer cost to you at all.

Different models of Garmin watch have different capabilities when it comes to tracking. If you are wanting to track jump data: You need to choose a Garmin Watch that has both an accelerometer and a gyroscope, as we need both of these sensors for our jump algorithm. When you're researching the watch, double check their specifications as there are quite a few models that don't have both. Here is the list of Garmin watches that are compatible with the Hoolan app, and whether or not they track jumps. If you're not jumping: You have a much wider choice of watches as we don't need the accelerometer and gyroscope sensors for jump tracking. The only requirement will be that the watch is able to download apps (some of the older versions aren't able to). See our list of compatible watches. You don't need a watch that has native 'kiteboarding' or 'windsurfing' or 'wingfoiling' activities. You are able to select the correct activity for your session using the Hoolan app on your watch, and we will automatically use the best Garmin activity for recording your data, whether or not it is a native Garmin activity option on your watch model - we have access to every Garmin activity. The choice of watch is then down to the other other features you want it to have, and the amount you want to spend. As a start, here are are few options in different price brackets, that will work for jumping as well as GPS data: High end - Epix Gen 2 Mid - Fenix 7 or Forerunner 256 Low - Forerunner 255 or Venu 2 We personally really like the Fenix 7 Sapphire solar - the battery is amazing and it has surf-specific Garmin activities (for if you're not using Hoolan in the future) and additional health sensors. This watch is marketed as an outdoor rugged surf watch. You don't need to get a top end watch You will be able to track your jump and GPS data for all your wind and watersports tracked with Hoolan just as effectively using a Forerunner 256/255 and the Venu 2, and these are much cheaper. They have been designed/ marketed by Garmin to be more of a running/ lifestyle watch, so it deoends what else you'd like to use the watch for. We advise you take a look at the watch specifications to see what might suit you, and your lifestyle, the best.

We have launched V1 of our Android app, which has all the great statistics that we offer on our iPhone app, however the map visualisations of every run, transition and jump are still in development. We're working on it right now and will let you know as soon as it's complete. In the meantime, we hope you appreciate the stats :-). Thanks for your patience.

If you have connected your Garmin account to third party apps such as Strava or Relive, then yes, the data recorded using the Hoolan App or Hoolan's integration will automatically feed straight over.

At the moment, Hoolan's Garmin integration will only import the sessions recorded from the point you set up the integration. Being able to pull in your Garmin history is something intend to add in the future.

No, the Garmin integration only tracks your GPS data. Using Garmin's activities on your watch to track your sessions doesn’t capture the accelerometer and gyroscope data that we need to measure jumps. For this, you will need the Hoolan App for Garmin, see which watches are compatible.

If you don't have a kitesurfing, windsurfing or wing foiling activity on your Garmin watch, then we recommend that you record your session using the 'Other' activity type, as this is the least filtered category. From what we've seen, running and cycling are the worst activity types to record with, as the stats are heavily filtered by Garmin.

You may see differences in the calories burned for your sessions between Strava and Hoolan. The calories we report in Hoolan are calculated by Apple - if you compare the calories on Hoolan for a given session with the calories for the same session in the Apple fitness app, you should see that the numbers match. We have seen that calories burned in Hoolan (Apple) are always greater than on Strava. In terms of how Strava is calculating the calories, we believe they are just using the coordinate based speed data (not doppler speed), and it would also seem that they don't use the heart rate data we include in the GPX file. From tests, the calorie count seems to be the same regardless of whether a GPX file contains heart rate data or not. Furthermore, when we have tried uploading a GPX file and setting the activity type to something completely different such as running, Strava still calculates the same number of calories. This doesn't make sense given the difference in the nature of the activities. On the other hand, depending on which Apple watch you use, they have a myriad of sensors that are used to calculate calories, including body temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen level and doppler speed. When we look at the sensor inputs Apple have available to calculate calories vs Strava, there is only one winner in terms of which one we believe to be more accurate.

Hoolan uses doppler speed to calculate speed and distance measurements. Doppler speed is probably the best kept secret in the world of GPS and is far more accurate than speed derived from the distance between coordinates. Strava uses the GPS coordinates to calculate its speed, and then a lot of filtering to try and remove as many anomalies as they can. We know they use the GPS coordinates to calculate speed because, regardless of whether we include the doppler speed in the GPX file that we send them for a given session, the results they calculate are the same. If you're interested in learning more, take a look at this great article that talks about the importance of doppler speed and gives some great Strava comparisons: https://medium.com/@mikeg888/the-importance-of-doppler-b886b14bb65d