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 flight screens. Each screen shows 4 configurable data fields. Choose a preset layout or build your own in Settings → Display.

Layout Presets

• Freeflight — Screen 1: altitude, vario, speed, L/D. Screen 2: distance, max altitude, time, battery.
• Paramotor — Screen 1: altitude, speed, flight time, clock. Screen 2: distance, max altitude, battery, wind.
• XC — Screen 1: altitude, vario, distance, L/D. Screen 2: max altitude, speed, time, battery.
• Custom — Pick each of the 8 fields individually.

Set any field to "None" to remove it — the remaining fields scale up to fill the space.

Color Hierarchy

The primary (largest) metric on each screen uses your theme color; other fields are white. State-aware colors override when relevant: vario turns green for climb and red for sink, L/D shifts color by glide quality, and battery turns red when low.

Dual Vario System

Riser runs a dual vario system. Audio beeps respond instantly to lift and sink so you can react in real time. The vario number on screen shows a smoothed average, configurable from 1 second to 20 seconds in Settings → Display → Vario Averaging. Shorter averaging is more responsive; longer averaging filters out turbulence noise.

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.

Compass & Navigation

Riser overlays two navigation indicators on the bezel edge of the watch screen during flight. Both can be toggled independently in Settings → Display.

Heading Indicator

A white chevron on the bezel edge shows your current direction of travel. It blends magnetometer and GPS data for a stable reading — the magnetometer keeps it responsive during slow flight, while GPS corrects for drift. The heading indicator works indoors and on the ground (magnetometer only) for pre-flight compass checks.

Bearing-to-Launch Beacon

A colored dot on the bezel edge always points back toward your takeoff site. The color shifts with distance: green when close, through yellow and orange, to red when far away. This requires GPS and only appears during active flight.

GPS Wind

Riser calculates wind speed and direction from GPS groundspeed variation as you turn. The algorithm needs roughly 270° of heading change (nearly a full circle) to produce a reading. Once calculated, wind data appears on the Wind field if you've configured it in your layout.

If you have an external BLE vario connected that sends wind data, the vario's wind reading takes priority over the GPS-derived estimate.

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

Display

• Layout Preset — Freeflight, Paramotor, XC, or Custom
• Custom Slot Configuration — When using the Custom preset, pick each of the 8 data fields individually
• Vario Averaging — Smoothing window for the displayed vario number: 1s, 3s, 5s, 10s, or 20s
• Heading Indicator — Show or hide the white heading chevron on the bezel
• Bearing to Launch — Show or hide the colored beacon pointing back to takeoff

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.

Technical Details

Flight Detection

• The complication monitors for 2 hours after arming, then auto-disarms to save battery.
• Detection fires once per armed session — no repeated alerts during a single flight.
• The alert repeats vibration and alarm sound every 10 seconds, up to 6 times (~90 seconds), then goes silent.
• Dismissing the notification re-enables detection for your next flight without re-arming.
• Three detection methods run in parallel:
  • Thermal — 20m+ altitude gain with high climb rate variance, speed 10–60 km/h
  • Elevation — 20m+ altitude gain confirmed by Google Elevation API (40m+ above ground level)
  • Ridge/GPS — sustained speed 15–60 km/h with 3+ significant bearing changes

Landing Detection

• Only active when the complication is armed.
• Triggers after 90 seconds of average speed below 2 m/s with altitude stable within 15 meters.
• Fires once per flight — won't keep alerting if you're standing on the field.

Bearing-to-Launch Beacon

• Appears once GPS bearings are consistent (3+ fixes agreeing within 20°) and you're at least 20 meters from launch.
• Once activated, stays visible for the entire flight — it won't disappear when you return close to launch.
• Color indicates distance:
  • Green — close (~75m)
  • Yellow — ~1 km
  • Orange — ~2 km
  • Red — 3 km or more
• Colors blend smoothly — every distance has a unique shade.

Compass Heading

• Uses the watch magnetometer when stationary or slow, GPS bearing when moving faster than ~13 km/h.
• Blends smoothly between the two sources — no abrupt switching.
• Magnetic declination is automatically corrected using your GPS location.
• May be less accurate indoors or near metal/electronics.

GPS Wind

• Requires approximately 270° of heading change (a near-complete circle or series of turns).
• Calculated from the difference between maximum and minimum groundspeed during the turn.
• Updates automatically as you continue flying — each new turn refines the estimate.
• External BLE vario wind data overrides the GPS calculation when connected.

Dual Vario System

• Audio/haptic vario — responds in ~0.8 seconds. Drives beep tones and vibration so you feel lift immediately.
• Display vario — averaged over a configurable period (1s to 20s, default 3s). Shows a stable number on screen.
• Both run simultaneously from the barometer sensor at 5Hz.
• Shorter averaging = more responsive but noisier. Longer = smoother but delayed. Most pilots use 3–5 seconds.

Tips & Troubleshooting