What's new in Blueye Observer v2.0
The Blueye Observer App is a light-weight companion to the full Blueye App, with a limited set of features. After installing it on your Android device, iOS device or Windows computer, connect to the drone Wi-Fi and launch the application. The video stream appears instantly, along with telemetry data such as temperature, depth, heading, recording status, and battery level.
In this release, we made the following improvements:
- Rename the app from Blueye Dive Buddy to Blueye Observer
- Add Windows support
- Improve performance of video stream
- Double-tap the video to change between Stretch and Aspect Fit sizing of video
- Add setting to select temperature unit (Celsius or Fahrenheit)
- Add setting to select depth unit (Meters or Feet)
- Display recording status in the status bar
Perhaps the biggest news is support for Windows, in the form of a public beta release, allowing users to use a standard Windows laptop to view the video stream.
You can learn more about the Blueye Observer App for Windows and how to install it in our Help Center.
Mounting a 9-ton fender dolphin
From time to time, the Port Authority of Horten needs to replace large fender dolphins in their port due to wear and tear or damages caused by ferries bumping into them with too much force.
Positioning a 9-ton fender is not easy without eyes below the surface. In the past, they would have to hire scuba-divers to assist in the operation by guiding the crane operator over the radio. With a Blueye drone piloted by the Port Authority of Horten, the crane operator can watch for himself using the Observer App as he mounts the fender in place on the seabed.
Eliminating the need for divers in this operation helps reduce cost and improve safety of personnel (HSEQ).
Software at Blueye
At Blueye, we make products that last, and we want our customers to have the best inspection tool on the market. Software is a crucial ingredient to the user experience of owning and operating a Blueye drone. Upgradable software, both on the drone itself and in the supporting apps, is a vital way to ensure the value of your Blueye increases over time.
Since the initial release of the Blueye Pioneer, these are some of the features we have delivered as free software upgrades:
- Automatic generation of PDF and Word reports
- Ability to share live drone footage in Microsoft Teams meetings
- Camera stabilization for Blueye Pro drones
- Data overlay on videos and pictures
- Adaptive streaming to make video stream more roboust for disturbances
- Options to customize the controller layout
- Support for new languages (Norwegian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Hindi)
These are just some examples of essential improvements delivered as software updates. You can find a complete version history in our Help Center:
- Blueye iOS App release history
- Blueye Android App release history
- Blunux (drone software) release history
Choice of platform
Our decision to operate our drones from standard iOS or Android devices is rooted in a strategy and vision where the Blueye App is part of a broader mobile ecosystem. Our customers can take advantage of the latest and most powerful mobile phones or tablets on the market and expect the Blueye app to integrate well with the platform. Together with constant software updates this will improve the value of your Blueye drones over time.
Today, we deliver the following software on different platforms and operating systems:
| iOS | Android | macOS | Windows | Linux | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blueye App | |||||
| Blueye Observer App | |||||
| Blueye File Transfer | |||||
| Blueye SDK |
The Blueye Software Development Kit is used for research and custom integrations. We also release Blunux which is the drone firmware installed through the Blueye App.
At the end of 2020, Apple released new Macs with the same processor architecture as iPad and iOS, enabling users to run iPad apps directly on macOS. The Blueye App and Blueye Observer apps are already available in the macOS App Store for Macs running the M1 chip.
We also have plans to bring the Blueye App to Windows and Macs running Intel processors in the future (2022) through the Microsoft .NET MAUI framework. For our customers, that means that you will be able to control the drone directly from your Mac or PC, giving you even more choice over which platform best suits your needs.