Buoywatch: An app that shows you real-time swell by using marine buoys

Hey! Who are you, and what are you working on?

I’m Pablo Paciello, a semi-nomade iOS developer originally from Argentina. After moving around for about 8 years I am finally based in Biarritz, France. I am a freelance iOS developer and have some personal projects like Buoywatch.

 
 

What motivated you to get started with Buoywatch?

My first motivation was that there wasn’t an Apple Watch app which shows you the real-time wave data from nearby marine buoys at a glance.

Also, the iPhone apps that display some kind of buoy data are all outdated, they don’t work well and most of them provide NOAA buoys data only (Buoywatch has implemented NOAA as well as local buoys from all around the world).

Moreover:

  • None of the current apps is in the surf field which Buoywatch is trying to join.

  • Honestly, the vast majority of them have a horrendous UX/UI. I think Buoywatch is clean and simple.

  • None of them has an exclusive app for the Apple Watch.

  • Most of them are outdated and don't work properly.

  • Cover area. I am planning to expand to the whole world =)

  • Language support. Currently, my app supports English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

 
 

How is Buoywatch different comparing to Magicseaweed and Surfline apps?

Well, Buoywatch doesn’t compete with MSW nor Surfline as it’s not a forecast app. It shows you what's going on with the swell in real-time via the marine buoys. 

 

What went into building the initial product?

The first technical challenge was to obtain a list of the NOAA buoys that include wave data as not all of them do. Some of the buoys only have wind and water temperature. 

Later, I had to spend a good amount of time parsing the data, as the NOAA centre works with raw text information which I needed to transform in programmable objects.

In this process, I would like to also thank Lance from Seaside Buoy who allowed me to use his API for marine buoys which are not under the NOAA umbrella.

Finally, I’ve decided to develop the Apple Watch app first, since Apple made possible to distribute independent Apple Watch apps for watchOS 6. I’ve developed it in a scalable way that allowed me to create the iOS version in a short period of time by reusing most of its components. (From a technical point of view, I wanted to also use the latest technology released by Apple last year - SwiftUI & Combine).

 

How do you promote your app?

I don’t consider myself a marketing person so this is probably the most challenging task for me to face.

I am trying to be more active in the social networks and I am starting to pitch some surf magazines, athletes, etc. 

I have also planned to run some ads campaigns later on. 

 

What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? (can you share some stats?)

The business model is a paid upfront app. Its price is $0.99 (Apple cuts off 30%). 

If the app gets enough tracking I am planning to add new features (such as; iPad and macOS version, sea buoy photos, multiple buoy alarms, alarm filters, favourites, more Apple Watch complications, metric system settings, support for landscape, Siri Shortcuts, different skin themes, etc) and consider switching to a freemium/subscription business model instead.For all of this to happen, I would really need to get enough users using the app in a regular basis first as I am a solo developer. I do not discard the possibility of looking for fund rising neither.

I don’t have much stats data as the app has been recently published on the App Store a couple of months back. There might be around 300 downloads so far.

 

What were your challenges and obstacles to growing your business?

Making the app to rank higher and being featured on the App Store are pretty tricky tasks. Also,  getting known by the surf community out there is one of the most challenging jobs.

 

Where can we learn more about you?

James Marshall