Popular Ski App Slopes Adds Apple Watch Ultra Action Button Support

Popular skiing and snowboarding app Slopes over the weekend added support for the Apple Watch Ultra's Action Button, making it one of the few third-party apps with native support for the feature.

Apple Watch Ultra Orange Alpine Loop Action button 220907 big
Apple Watch Ultra owners can program the Action Button to start a workout using the Slopes app, making it quicker to begin a skiing or snowboarding session. The Slopes app is designed to automatically determine your resort or backcountry location when a workout is started, so all that's needed is to activate the Action Button.

There are a limited number of third-party apps that support the Action Button at this time, and popular titles like Strava have yet to implement support. Apps and features can be launched using Shortcuts, but it is more convenient for users when developers build the feature into their apps.

The Action Button can be customized through the Settings app on the Apple Watch Ultra. It supports several native Apple Watch functions, such as launching a workout, starting the stopwatch, adding a waypoint to the Compass app, starting a dive, activating the flashlight, and launching a user-created Shortcut.

Slopes is available for free from the App Store, but there is a premium subscription or a daypass subscription that is required to unlock all features. The developers behind Slopes are often quick to add new iOS functionality, so the app also offers Live Activity support for the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, widgets, and other features.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch Ultra 2
Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...

Top Rated Comments

everlast3434 Avatar
27 months ago

Slopes is not a cheap app, so even though my family has been skiing every year, I hesitated. But after trying it out, I can see why it is regarded as the gold standard. At $30-50/year, it is very expensive. I wish the developer would offer discount for loyal subscribers.
Even at the high end of $50 a year, that’s 4 bucks a month. You think that’s a lot? How much do you think it costs to develop applications? SMH
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Exile714 Avatar
27 months ago
If this is going to be the norm, we need a way to quickly and easily change the action button, or better make it context sensitive - maybe based on the app you're in, or the face you're using?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
27 months ago

Even at the high end of $50 a year, that’s 4 bucks a month. You think that’s a lot? How much do you think it costs to develop applications? SMH
But the typical ski season is only 4 months long.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
skunkworker Avatar
27 months ago
Ski Tracks is my go-to app. It's free, records your stats well and integrates with health/rings. And can work on the watch and record instead of the phone.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MorePixels Avatar
27 months ago

Where I am in the United States, I have a half-dozen ski resorts within a 3 hour drive, one as close as 45 minutes away. From December to April, they're swarmed with *tens of thousands* of people from all over Colorado, and the world. The main interstate highway out of Denver heading west into the mountains is a parking lot every Friday heading out of town and every Sunday heading back into town. Winter sports, including skiing, is one of the main draws of living in state with 58 peaks over 14,000 feet and uncountable mountains over 10,000.

Like scuba diving, which Apple has targeted heavily with the Ultra, skiing requires training and a lot of expensive, specialized equipment. Both of which you'd think would be natural barriers to a lot of people picking up the sport. And yet... they're both incredibly popular. So a specialized app for skiers doesn't surprise me in the least, any more so than Apple's fancy bespoke scuba app does.
All three people who you described in your summation of the United States & the "ski resorts within a 3hour drive & as close as 45 minutes away", & own the ultra are now reported to be "ultra thrilled™"
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Darth-Kylie Avatar
27 months ago

But the typical ski season is only 4 months long.
So its relevance to the world is short-lived and niche? Whereas the developer needs food on their table for a full 365 days per year.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)