Riser User Guide

Paragliding variometer for Wear OS — complete guide to all features

Getting Started

Riser turns your Wear OS watch into a paragliding variometer with audio and haptic feedback. Install from the Google Play Store on both your watch and phone.

First Launch

1. Open Riser on your watch
2. Grant location permissions when prompted
3. Go to Settings and set your pilot name, glider type, and preferred units
4. Set Feedback Mode to "Audio + Haptic" for full vario feedback

Flying with Riser

Manual Flight Start

In-Flight Screens

Swipe up/down to switch between two screens:

• Thermal Screen — Altitude, vertical speed (vario), ground speed, glide ratio. Your primary screen while thermalling.
• Glide/Nav Screen — Distance, max altitude, elapsed time, battery level. Check during glides between thermals.

In-Flight Controls

• Long-press — Lock the screen to prevent accidental scrolls. Long-press again to unlock.
• Double-tap — Pause or resume the flight.
• Swipe left to right — Open the controls screen with Pause, Lock, and Stop buttons.

To stop a flight, swipe to the controls screen and tap Stop. Your flight is automatically saved and synced to the companion phone app.

Auto-Detect with the Complication

Riser can automatically detect when you're flying and start tracking — no need to open the app. This is controlled by a watch face complication.

Setting Up the Complication

1. Long-press your watch face → tap Customize
2. Tap any complication slot
3. Scroll to find Riser — Flight Detect
4. Select it — you'll see a paraglider icon with a circular ring

Arming & Disarming

• Disarmed (empty ring) — detection is off
• Armed (filled ring) — detection is active for 2 hours with full GPS
• Tap once to toggle between armed and disarmed
• Two quick vibrations confirm arming, one short vibration confirms disarming

How Detection Works

Riser uses multiple signals to detect flight:

• Thermal detection — Sustained altitude gain with high climb rate variance (circling in thermals)
• Ridge detection — Sustained speed with frequent bearing changes (ridge soaring back and forth)
• Elevation confirmation — Google Elevation API confirms you're above ground level, filtering out driving on hills

Auto-Detect Landing

When the complication is armed and a flight is being tracked, Riser also monitors for landing. When your speed drops below walking pace for 90 seconds, you'll be prompted to stop the flight — either via an in-app prompt or a notification if the app is in the background.

Live Tracking

Share your position in real-time so friends and retrieve crew can watch your flight live.

LiveTrack24

SportsTrackLive

Riser also supports SportsTrackLive for 3D live tracking. Enable it in Settings → Live Tracking → SportsTrackLive, and enter your email and password. Your flights will be uploaded automatically and viewable in their 3D viewer.

Companion Phone App

External BLE Vario

Connect a dedicated Bluetooth vario (XCTracer, Skydrop, BlueFlyVario, Stodeus) for superior pressure data. The hardware vario's sensor replaces the watch's built-in barometer.

Pairing a Device

1. In Settings → External Vario → enable BLE Vario
2. Tap Device to scan for nearby BLE varios
3. Select your device from the list
4. Riser auto-connects at the start of each flight

When connected, the Glide/Nav screen shows wind data (if your vario sends LXWP0) and both watch + vario battery levels. The Thermal screen shows an "EXT VARIO" indicator at the bottom.

Settings Reference

Pilot & Glider

• Pilot Name — Embedded in IGC files
• Glider Type — Your wing model (e.g., "Advance Alpha 7")
• Registration — Glider registration number

Feedback

• Feedback Mode — Audio + Haptic, Audio Only, Haptic Only, or Off
• Feedback Profile — Classic, Sensitive, Mellow — adjusts audio tone mapping and haptic intensity

Units

• Use Imperial — Toggle sets all units at once (ft, mph, mi, ft/min)
• Individual units can be customized: vertical speed, ground speed, altitude, distance

Demo

• Demo Flight — Simulates a realistic paragliding flight with changing altitude, speed, and vario data. Great for testing audio/haptic feedback and familiarizing yourself with the in-flight screens before your first real flight.

Flight Log

Riser keeps a log of all your recorded flights on the watch. From the home screen, tap the flight log icon to view past flights with stats including:

• Date and time
• Duration
• Max altitude
• Distance
• Max speed, max climb rate, average climb rate

You can sync individual flights to your phone, delete flights, or view detailed stats. Flights are also synced automatically to the companion phone app when your watch and phone are connected.

Tips & Troubleshooting