Banner

Subsurface-mobile pour Android: MANUEL UTILISATEUR

Auteur du manuel : Willem Ferguson

Table of Contents

Version 1.0, Mars 2016

Welcome as a user of Subsurface, advanced dive logging software with extensive infrastructure to describe, organize, interpret and print scuba and free dives. Subsurface offers many advantages over other similar software solutions, including compatibility with Windows, Mac-OS/X, Linux (many distributions) and Android (iOS under development). In addition, Subsurface is open-source software that allows downloading dive information from most dive computers.

1. Présentation de Subsurface-mobile

Subsurface-mobile est une extension de Subsurface sur ordinateurs. Il fonctionne sur les smartphones et les tablettes Android et c’est un outil pour visualiser et partager des informations de plongées sur des sites de plongées où un ordinateur n’est pas utile. Subsurface-mobile permet également de collecter des positions GPS où sont effectuées les plongées.

À cause des limitations d’iOS, Subsurface-mobile pour iOS n’inclut pas toutes les fonctionnalités présentes dans la version Android.

While Subsurface-mobile allows one to enter and save dive information using an Android device, users of Subsurface-mobile typically use the mobile app as an extension to the laptop/desktop version of Subsurface. This allows the storage of dive logs on the Internet sharing them between the Android and the desktop versions. While the desktop version of Subsurface shows much more detailed information for each dive, the mobile version allows a more accessible dive log on a dive trip, useful for proving dive experience to dive shops or to review previous dives.

Subsurface-mobile allows one to:

  • Download existing dive log information from the Internet.

  • View this information on a mobile device.

  • Edit many of the dive log data fields, e.g. divemaster, buddy, equipment or notes about a dive.

  • Manually create and add new dive records to one’s dive log.

  • Store the updated dive log on the Internet.

  • Record, store and apply GPS positions of dives.

  • View the localities of recorded GPS positions and of dives on a map.

These items are discussed in greater detail in the following text. What Subsurface-mobile does not support (at this time) is downloading dive data directly from a dive computer. That still needs to be done using Subsurface on a desktop or laptop computer. We are investigating ways to support downloading from a subset of the supported dive computers on Android devices, but this is not yet ready for testing.

2. Installing Subsurface-mobile on an Android device

Find Subsurface-mobile in the Google Play Store. Search for Subsurface-mobile and install it.

3. Using Subsurface-mobile for the first time

Upon starting Subsurface-mobile for the first time, a Subsurface splash screen is shown while the program loads. On some devices this may take several seconds. After loading, the Cloud Credentials screen appears (see image below on left).

Select whether Subsurface-mobile should access the Internet for dive log information.

3.1. When NOT Using Internet access

If the striked-out cloud icon is selected, the app will not access the Internet to obtain dive log information. This means that dive log information is manually entered and stored on the mobile device only.

3.2. Using Internet access

Since Subsurface is largely dependent on a dive log saved on the Internet, provide a PIN for access to the Subsurface Cloud, obtained in one of two ways:

3.2.1. Using the desktop version of Subsurface:

Open the desktop version of Subsurface and click File → Preferences → Network, explained in detail in the user manual for the Subsurface desktop version. Once the account has been created and verified using the desktop version, Subsurface desktop alows one to download dive information from dive computers and store this on the cloud which can, in turn, be downloaded to Subsurface-mobile. Subsurface-mobile attempts to download the existing dive log from the Subsurface cloud server. Appropriate messages are shown onscreen. Finally a list of dives is shown.

Once the dive list has been downloaded from the Internet, Subsurface-mobile keeps a local copy on the mobile device. This means that, if there is no Internet connection at a dive site, one can still access the local copy and view and manipulate dive information. If there is Internet connectivity, Subsurface-mobile accesses the cloud-based dive log to verify that the local copy is still the same as the Internet-stored copy. If not, the local copy and the copy on the server are synchronised.

FIGURE: Mobile landing screen

3.2.2. Using Subsurface-mobile:

Enter an e-mail address and a password in the fields indicated on the screen. The e-mail should be in lower case and the password should contain a combination of letters from the alphabet (upper and lower case) and/or numbers. When entering a password, it is possible to check a checkbox that enables the text of the password to be shown (image on left, above). At this stage, the red message "Cannot connect to cloud storage" appears on the screen. This is normal because a valid PIN has not yet been provided (image on left, above).

Tap the Disk (Save) icon at the bottom of the screen. A PIN is sent to the e-mail address provided.

Enter the PIN into the field indicated and tap the Save icon again. The user information is stored on the cloud server and access to the cloud is enabled.

The dive list is initially empty. One can now start entering dives in the dive log or one can download existing dives from the cloud.

The text box to enter the PIN is shown whenever the e-mail address field is empty. One can create a new cloud account by clearing the e-mail address and typing a new e-mail address, upon which a new PIN is sent to the newly-provided e-mail address. On the other hand, one can change to a different existing cloud account by providing an e-mail address and password already registered with the cloud server (image on right, above)

Once Internet access has been enabled, one can temporarily disable this service when using Subsurface-mobile in areas with no Internet access, e.g. remote dive sites (see below)

4. A Few Remarks About The User Interface

At the bottom of many Subsurface-mobile screens is a round button that provides for several actions and which allows the selection of the main affirmative action (see image above and image below). On Android devices, use the Android Back button for "cancel", "discard" or "back" actions. For example, when editing dive information, tapping the action button saves the changes while the Android back button can be used to cancel the edit without saving changes.

FIGURE: Action Button

Instead of the more traditional "hamburger" menu button in the top left or right corner of the screen to open menus, Subsurface-mobile uses a different user interaction philosophy based on the Kirigami framework developed by the Plasma developers. To open the main menu one has three options:

  • Tap the "hamburger" symbol in the lower left corner of the screen (easy to reach for hand held devices)

  • Swipe towards the right across the left edge of the screen

  • Drag the action button visible on most screens to the right

FIGURE: Dive management subpanel

The images above indicate some of the important features of the menu system. On the left is the main menu that is activated as described above. In the middle is the menu that opens if one taps the GPS option on the main menu. On the right is the menu that opens if one taps the Manage Dives option on the main menu.

5. Viewing the Dive List

Most of the actions of Subsurface-mobile center around the dives on the dive list. While the dive list is loading from the cloud, a message appears at the bottom of the screen, indicating that the cloud is being accessed (see image on left, below). Once the list is loaded one can scroll up and down. Tapping a dive on the list brings up a display of Details View for that dive (see image on right below). This includes the dive profile as well as additional information and notes.

FIGURE: Dive list screen

One can view other dives by swiping the Details view to the right (for the previous dive) or to the left (following dive). Using the Action Bar, it is also possible to delete the dive (tap the dustbin on the Action Bar) or to view the dive location on a map viewer (normally Google Maps; tap the GPS icon on the Action Bar.).

6. Editing dive details

At the bottom of the dive details screen the Action Button contains a pencil (image on right, above). Tapping the button brings up a panel with edit boxes that allows one to change the existing dive information, e.g. adding text to the dive notes or changing the names or values of some of the information (see image below). It may be necessary to scroll the window to access all the information. At the bottom of the edit screen is a Save action button. Tap this to save the new information. Having saved the data, the dive list screen is updated and shown. To cancel any edits, tap the Android Back Button.

FIGURE: Dive edit screen

7. Adding a new dive to the dive list

It is also possible to manually add an additional dive to the existing dive list. On the main menu tap Manage dives → Add dive manually. This opens a screen that is identical to the editing screen discussed above. When a dive is added manually, one cannot directly add a dive profile from a dive computer. However, if one does not use a dive computer, the duration, depth and several other bits of information about the new dive can be entered. The Action button at the bottom of the screen contains a disk symbol. Tap this to save the new dive. To cancel any edits, tap the Android Back Button. The left-hand image below shows a screenshot of a dive being created and the right-hand image shows the same dive in Details View.

FIGURE: Manual dive entry screen

8. Deleting a dive

The Details View of a dive has an Action Bar, including a dustbin. If this is tapped, the dive shown in the Details View is deleted. One has a brief opportunity to undo the delete by tapping the grey Undo button in the message that appears at the bottom of the screen (see image below).

FIGURE: Undo delete dive

One can also delete a dive from the dive list by long-pressing a specific dive until a red dustbin appears on the right-hand side (see image below). Tap the dustbin. The dive is deleted without asking any confirmation because Subsurface-mobile assumes that the combination of a long tap on the dive with another tap on the red dustbin is an unambiguous instruction to delete the dive.

FIGURE: delete dive from list

9. Dive log management

A central part of Subsurface-mobile is the ability to store the dive log using the Subsurface cloud storage. This provides security against loss or damage to the dive information contained in a local copy of the dive log and allows the desktop version of Subsurface to access changes made using the mobile device. This ability is accessed through the main menu (by dragging the Action Button to the right, or alternatively tap the "Hamburger" icon at the bottom left of the screen). Tap the option Manage dives, enabling a number of options:

9.1. Add new dive manually

This is described above under the section dealing with the dive list.

9.2. Upload dive log to the Subsurface cloud storage

One can upload the dives contained on the mobile device to the Subsurface cloud storage by tapping the option Manual sync with coud. This synchronizes the local changes to the dive log with the cloud storage.

9.3. Download dive log from the cloud storage

In the dive management subpanel, tap the option Manual sync with cloud, causing the local divelog to be refreshed from the cloud so that the cloud and local versions are synchronised.

9.4. Working offline

Sometimes one wishes to use the app when an Internet connection is not available, for instance at remote dive sites. In such a case Subsurface-mobile may unnecesarily search for an Internet connection, causing long delays in executing some functions. In the dive management menu, one can turn the Internet access on or off by tapping the Offline mode or Enable auto cloud sync options.

9.5. Changing the login credentials on the Subsurface cloud

It may be necessary to change one’s login credentials, for instance if one’s email address (initially used as a credential) has changed. To change the credentials, open the main menu and tap Cloud credentials. This opens the setup screen for specifying new credentials.

10. Recording dive locations using GPS.

The fact that most smartphones have GPS facilities allows one to record the locations of dives. One can take the smartphone on the dive boat during a dive and locations will be automatically recorded at regular intervals. These locations can then be applied to dives in the dive list. Here is how it’s done:

10.1. Setting up the GPS

Open the main menu and tap GPS → Preferences. Now specify the way in which GPS data need to be automatically collected (image on right, below). One can specify that data are collected at regular intervals, e.g. every 10 minutes, or at regular distances, e.g. after the boat has moved more than 200m, or a combination of both of the above approaches. Provide the appropriate information and tap the Save action button. The program is now ready to collect GPS positions.

FIGURE: GPS setup screen

10.2. Collecting GPS positions

Ensure that the GPS on the Android device has been activated. At the bottom of the GPS submenu is a check box Run location service (image on left, above). Check this box and Subsurface-mobile starts to collect GPS locations automatically, following the preferences specified as described above. After the dive one can deactivate the collection of GPS data by de-activating the same check box at the bottom of the main menu.

10.3. Storing the GPS data on the Subsurface cloud

Activate the main menu and select the GPS option that brings up the submenu of GPS-related actions (image on left, above). Tap Upload GPS data that saves the GPS data on the Subsurface cloud server. These GPS data are saved separately from the other dive log data. All collected GPS data are kept on the Android device, independent of whether they have been uploaded or not.

10.4. Downloading GPS data from the Subsurface cloud

Download the GPS data that have been saved on the cloud by selecting Download GPS Data from the GPS subpanel.

10.5. Viewing GPS data

From the GPS submenu (image on left, above) select Show GPS fixes. This brings up a list of GPS positions obtained using the location service (image on left, below). Two actions are possible for each of the locations, enabled if one taps the handle (the three horisontal stripes on the right, see image on left, below) and then drags the specific item to the left (image on right, below). This exposes two options. Tapping the dustbin deletes this particular GPS location. Tapping the teardrop-shaped icon (actually a Google Maps pin) opens up Google Maps with a pin indicating the exact map position of the GPS record being viewed. The two above options can be hidden by drawing the GPS record to the right, again using the handle.

FIGURE: GPS management

10.6. Applying GPS data to dives in the dive log

Assuming that all the dives have been entered into the dive log or have been downloaded from the Subsurface cloud, one can apply the GPS positions to these dives. GPS positions can therefore only be applied to dives in the dive list. From the GPS subpanel, tap GPS-tag dives. The dive list contains the start and end times of each dive. Now, Subsurface-mobile applies the first GPS position that falls within the dive period of each dive. This results in a GPS position for each dive that is saved as part of the dive log.