Kraken Sports

I bought the very expensive pro case with sensors. The case in now an expensive brick. Do not buy the case nor download the app.

This app has SOME of the basic functionality it should have, and that is the best thing I can say about it. It allows you to take photos, but the optional raw format is incompatible with any photo editor I’ve tried. You can set it up to capture 4K videos as I did, but the video was actually taken in 1080p. Worst of all, you can pay $130 extra for the “pro” housing with its temperature and depth sensor, but there is no interface in this app or anywhere else I’ve found that allows you to see or download the temperature and depth data! My email to Kraken about this got no response.

I am using an iPhone XR and the KRH05 case. The Karken smart case series are amazing. I have over 40 dives on a number of them and they are unmatched. The issue I have is with the app. On earlier case versions, a QR code was placed inside to link the case to the Dive+ App and the features were much more intuitive and simple to know what you were doing. As it stands now in the newer cases, the Karken Sports app is very heavy on navigation and the app looses connectivity to my phone after 15-20 min of use. I also have difficulty getting the computer information to display properly and have had the digital compass send me in the wrong direction. I now compare the digital compass to my backup analog one before I drop in on my dive to ensure they match. The newer cases are great quality as all the Kraken dive equipment has the reputation of being. They allow for the larger newer series of phones to load in them and I have seen a lot of work and information about the Google pixel and a integrated app they have exclusively for that phone and it’s abilities. You have to position the phone in precisely the right spot in this case otherwise the screen gets cut off and you can’t see the left side of the photo and video menu navigation on screen. I have yet to figure out how to get manual focus and exposure to work within the app and ensure the computer reads the information I am used to diving with (ft vs m). Please get some updates done to the app to ease menu navigation while using the case.

After years of owning this it’s gone through at least one lawsuit forcing you to go to a different app. Neither of the two apps permitted switching to the three available lenses on an iPhone. I agree with the previous user that the actual housing is great. The software/firmware is terrible though. I bought it for taking pictures underwater and I now leave it in my truck and bring a GoPro instead. It’s so frustrating after all this time it still isn’t multi camera compatible. The other reason I do consider still using it for is so I can make an emergency phone call from the surface if I had to. However a cheaper alternative/waterproof box would suffice for that. Great product but terrible firmware. My stickers on my buttons have fallen off too making the thing an even bigger pain in the butt to deal with. If I could buy it again, I wouldn’t. I do not recommend this product.

This software is incredibly barebones. Kraken has been making housings for years and years. I feel a little embarrassed that this is their offering. - software dose not use the interpreter sensors on the high end cases… what? The weefine app claims to but I can’t verify. - no ends switching or really any modern settings being used from iPhone 12/13. - no macro mode iPhone 13 - no apple raw (dome weird proprietary raw setting?). I mean list of features not hear goes on and on. You can pay a subscription for deep photo to get most of the basic camera features working, but why should a consumer who bought the hardware be stuck doing that? Sportdiver has the same problem, some abandonware software, and the hardware is useless without it. Hardware needs to be made compatible with apple native apps for all BT hardware housings.

Bought the kraken case and installed the app and had good results both scuba diving and snorkeling. Battery life is a concern as the app doesn’t allow the phone to go to sleep. All the other functions worked well and never had any problems with the Bluetooth connection dropping.

The app kept freezing almost immediately underwater, rendering the entire Kraken smart housing case useless and ruining your ability to capture any photos/videos on your dive. I tried it on a several dives and at best I got 2 photos before it froze, otherwise I got zero photos on most dives. The Kraken case was brand new, properly vacuum sealed, and connected via Bluetooth, but the app stopped responding to any casing button presses. You could still see the app on the phone screen, so it also drained the phone battery after it froze. A basic, poor quality app renders the Kraken casing a literal brick - the most expensive dive weight in the world. Once you’re underwater on a dive, it’s impossible to try and fix (e.g. kill and restart app, restart iPhone) so you’ll miss capturing anything on that dive, a terrible missed opportunity if you see something special on your dive. I really wanted to support Kraken as a fellow Canadian and was excited for this product to work. I saw a dive instructor using it in 2019 and she recommended it. However, it’s only as good as the software. Kraken casing used to use a different app (Dive+), which for someone reason they had to abruptly stop using (copyright issue?) at some point in the past year and develop a separate new Kraken Sports app. They clearly didn’t invest enough in this critical component, resulting in a very poorly tested app. To add insult to injury, now that I’ve tried the Kraken underwater only to realize it’s app doesn’t work, I can’t get a refund on my Kraken housing + lights + camera tray + arm + lens purchase because it’s used. Don’t make my $1000+ mistake!

To start with the housing is great, rock solid. It feels like you could pound nails with it. The software is, at best, poor. The most resent update seems to have fixed the “frozen button” problem, but it still lacks any finesse. My largest frustration happens when diving in bright clear water. You have to remember to put your screen on full bright, turn off auto brightness setting in “settings”. Then you must leave the phone and housing on and active so the phone does not go to sleep while heading to the dive sight. This kills both the phone and the housing batteries. Doing 3 boat dives a day in Bonaire, I could only use the housing on one dive. It hade to be closed in my room (so as to be in the AC) and then left on… I believe the housing designer is a diver, but the software guy/gal is clearly not. On a slightly different note the optional lenses holder is really not optional, you need it to hold the red filter.

I was torn between iPhone camera cases for scuba. There’s three on the market that I could find. This case looks like the best with available add ones for lenses etc. However after downloading the App I am going to pass. No choice of lenses on iPhone so you only get the standard lens. Which means all zoom is digital. Not great for underwater photos. The menu is almost a joke with very limited options. May be better app with Android but for the IPhone the app is just too limited for a $300 + camera case.