Next Wave is an iOS app that helps wake surfers and foilers catch their perfect wave on Lake Zurich by providing real-time boat schedules and smart notifications.
- Features
- Map Features
- Safety Features
- Lake Zurich Ship Names
- Weather Integration
- User Interface Features
- Widget Features
- Technologies & Services
- Installation
- Privacy
- Usage Modes
- How to Add a New Lake or Station
- Technical Details
- Contributing
- License
- 🌊 Real-time boat schedule tracking
- 🔔 Smart notifications 3,5,10 or 15 minutes before waves
- 📍 Easy spot selection on Swiss lakes
- 🆕 Store up to 5 favorite stations
- 🆕 Smart nearest station detection
- ⌚️ Apple Watch app with complications and widgets
- 🎯 Apple Watch app with two usage modes: Favorite stations OR automatic nearest station
- 🆕 Analytics View with session recommendations, wave timeline, best session detection and wave frequency analysis
- 🆕 Daylight Integration with sunrise, sunset, twilight phase visualization, smart session planning based on daylight and beautiful gradient visualization
- 🎯️ Interactive map with OpenStreetMap integration
- 🎯 Precise wave timing information
- 🔊 Custom sound notifications
- 🎨 Clean, intuitive interface
- 📱 Light & Dark Mode
- 🔄 Device flip gesture to toggle between light and dark mode
- 🛡️ Integrated safety rules and wakethieving guidelines
- 📅 Automatic schedule period detection (summer/winter schedules)
- ⏰ Smart countdown messages for upcoming schedule changes
- 🚢 Real-time ship name display for Lake Zurich (next 3 days)
- 🌤️ Real-time weather information with wind speed, temperature, and pressure trends
- 🌡️ Water temperature display for all Swiss lakes
- 🔍 Albis-Class ship filter (flip device to activate/deactivate)
- 💬 Fun "no waves" messages with variety and personality
- OpenStreetMap integration for detailed water navigation
- Shipping routes overlay for better orientation
- Station clustering for better overview
- Automatic map caching for offline use
- Optimized for both light and dark mode
- Integrated Safety Rules: Built-in wakethieving safety guidelines displayed on first launch
- Easy Access: Safety rules accessible anytime via the orange shield icon in settings
- Comprehensive Guidelines: Complete safety information including:
- Safe distance requirements (50-meter rule)
- Priority vessel identification (day and night)
- Required safety equipment
- Emergency procedures
- Community Integration: Direct link to Swiss Pumpfoilers Code of Conduct
- Live Ship Data: Displays the actual ship name for each departure on Lake Zurich
- 3-Day Forecast: Shows ship names for departures within the next 3 days
- Wave Rating Icons: Visual indicators showing expected wave quality (1-3 waves) based on ship type
- Automatic Updates: Ship assignments are fetched daily from ZSG (Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft)
- Smart Caching: Efficient caching system to minimize API calls while keeping data fresh
- Ship names appear directly in the departure list alongside route numbers
- Wave quality icons help you identify the best sessions
- Only available for Lake Zurich stations (ZSG network)
- Seamlessly integrated into the existing departure view
- OpenWeather API Integration: Live weather data for all stations
- Comprehensive Data: Temperature, wind speed (in knots), wind direction, and atmospheric pressure
- Pressure Trends: Automatic tracking of pressure changes over 6 hours (rising/falling/stable)
- Wind Information: Current wind speed, maximum wind speed, and wind gusts
- Weather Icons: Visual weather condition indicators with SF Symbols
- Forecast Data: Weather predictions for upcoming departures
- Smart Preloading: Weather data preloaded for favorite stations at app launch
- Per-Departure Weather: Weather information shown for each individual departure time
- Toggle Option: Can be enabled/disabled in settings
- Real-Time Data: Current water temperature for all major Swiss lakes
- Meteonews Integration: Data sourced from meteonews.ch
- Daily Updates: Automatic refresh once per day
- Smart Caching: 24-hour cache to minimize API calls
- Visual Integration: Displayed alongside weather data with consistent UI
- Coverage: Available for 30+ Swiss lakes including Zürichsee, Vierwaldstättersee, Genfersee, Bodensee, and more
- Real-Time Data: Current water level for all major Swiss lakes
- Difference from Average: Shows how much the current water level differs from the average (e.g., "+7 cm" or "-5 cm")
- Meteonews Integration: Water level data sourced from meteonews.ch
- Daily Updates: Automatic refresh once per day
- Visual Integration: Displayed with chart icon alongside weather data
- Coverage: Available for lakes where meteonews.ch provides water level data
- Foiler-Friendly: Helps foilers assess water conditions and depth
- Weather condition icons (visual indicators)
- Temperature in Celsius with min/max values
- Water temperature for all Swiss lakes
- Wind speed in knots (nautical standard)
- Wind direction with compass points (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW)
- Water level difference from average (in cm)
- Atmospheric pressure with trend indicators
- Clean, compact display with separator bars for readability
- Dual Function: Flip your device 180° to toggle between light/dark mode OR activate Albis-Class filter
- Context-Aware: In departure view, activates ship filter; elsewhere toggles theme
- Smooth Recognition: Intuitive gesture detection using CoreMotion
- Cooldown Period: 3-second delay prevents accidental repeated triggers
- Haptic Feedback: Different feedback for activation vs. deactivation
- Quick Access: Activate by flipping your device in the departure list view
- Filter Ships: Shows only departures with Albis-Class ships (MS Albis, EMS Uetliberg, EMS Pfannenstiel)
- Visual Indicator: Orange banner shows when filter is active
- Best Waves: Focus on the ships that create the best wake waves
- Toggle On/Off: Flip device again to deactivate and show all departures
- Quality-First Scoring: Sessions prioritize large ships (3-wave ships) over quantity
- Smart Scoring System:
- 3-wave ships (MS Panta Rhei, MS Albis, EMS Uetliberg, EMS Pfannenstiel): 10 points
- 2-wave ships (MS Wädenswil, MS Limmat, MS Helvetia, MS Linth, DS Stadt Zürich, DS Stadt Rapperswil): 5 points
- 1-wave ships: 2 points
- Frequency Bonus: Additional scoring for higher wave frequency (secondary factor)
- Daylight Optimization:
- Sessions in complete darkness automatically excluded
- Twilight sessions receive reduced scores (80% penalty)
- Best sessions during full daylight hours
- Session Parameters:
- Maximum duration: 2 hours
- Minimum duration: 1 hour
- Maximum gap between waves: 1 hour
- Result: Sessions with 4 large ships rated higher than sessions with 10 small ships
- Automatic Detection: App automatically detects summer and winter schedule periods
- Smart Notifications: Get notified about upcoming schedule changes with fun, personalized messages
- 30-Day Advance Notice: Countdown messages appear when schedule transitions are within 31 days
- Season-Specific Messages: Different witty messages for summer, winter, spring, and autumn transitions
- All Swiss Lakes: Works for all 15+ major Swiss lakes with boat services
- "No Waves" Messages: 20+ unique, fun messages when no more departures are available
- Variety System: Messages rotate to keep the experience fresh and entertaining
- Personality: Surf culture references, Hawaiian vibes, and wakethieving humor
- No Service Messages: Friendly messages when stations are temporarily out of service
- Examples: "No more waves today – back in the lineup tomorrow!", "Post-pumping high is real – but even the ships need a break!"
- SwiftUI: Modern declarative UI framework for iOS and watchOS
- Swift Concurrency: Async/await patterns for non-blocking operations
- CoreMotion: Device motion detection for flip gestures
- CoreLocation: Location services for nearest station detection
- WidgetKit: Home screen and lock screen widgets
- WatchConnectivity: Real-time data sync between iPhone and Apple Watch
- UserNotifications: Local notifications for wave alerts
- MapKit: Map integration with custom overlays
- transport.opendata.ch: Swiss public transport API
- Real-time departure data for all Swiss ferry stations
- Station information and timetables
- Free, open-source API for Swiss public transport
- OpenWeather API: Weather forecasts and current conditions
- Temperature, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure
- 5-day forecast with 3-hour intervals
- Weather condition codes and icons
- Sunrise-Sunset.org API: Sunrise and sunset times
- Civil twilight begin/end times
- Daylight duration calculations
- Free API for sun times worldwide
- Custom Vercel API (
/api/ships): Real-time ship assignments for Lake Zurich- Web scraping from ZSG ship deployment website
- Daily cache updates
- 3-day forecast of ship-to-route assignments
- OpenStreetMap: Map tiles and geographic data
- Detailed water navigation maps
- Shipping routes overlay
- Ferry terminal locations
- Overpass Turbo: Tool for finding ferry terminal data
- Vercel: Serverless functions for ship data API
- TypeScript/Node.js runtime
- Automatic daily updates
- Edge caching for performance
- @vercel/node: Vercel serverless function helpers
- axios: HTTP client for web scraping
- cheerio: jQuery-like HTML parsing for web scraping
- @sparticuz/chromium: Headless browser for complex scraping
- TypeScript: Type-safe JavaScript development
- UserDefaults: Local settings and preferences
- App Groups: Shared data between app, widgets, and watch
- JSON Files: Station data and schedule periods
- In-Memory Caching: Weather and ship name caching
- Xcode: Primary IDE for iOS development
- Python: Scripts for ship data analysis and wave calculations
- Git: Version control
- Clone the repository
- Open
Next Wave.xcodeprojin Xcode - Create a
Config.swiftfile with your API keys:struct Config { static let openWeatherApiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY" }
- Build and run the project
- No tracking or analytics
- No personal data collection
- All data stays on device
- Location data is only used to show nearest station and your position on the map and is never stored or shared
- Location access can be denied without losing core app functionality
The app requests location access to:
- Show your position on the map
- Enable the location tracking button
- Find the nearest station from all available ferry stations
You can use the app without granting location access. In this case:
- Your position won't be shown on the map
- The location tracking button will be disabled
- The nearest station feature will not work (you can still use favorite stations)
Next Wave offers two flexible ways to get departure information:
- Add up to 5 frequently used stations as favorites
- Get departure times for all your favorite stations
- Perfect for regular commuters with fixed routes
- Enable "Use nearest station for Widget" in app settings
- Automatically shows departures for the station closest to your current location
- Calculates nearest station from ALL available ferry stations (not just favorites)
- Perfect for travelers and explorers discovering new spots
- Works even if the nearest station is not in your favorites
- Watch App: Shows departures for favorites or nearest station
- Smart Fallback: If nearest station has no departures, automatically falls back to favorites
- Helpful Messages: Clear instructions when no favorites are set or nearest station is disabled
-
NextWave Widget: Shows your next boat departure
- Available in Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large sizes
- Displays station name, departure time, route, and direction
- Visual indicators for nearest station or favorite station
- Deep link support to open app at specific station
-
NextWave - Next 3 Widget: Shows your next 3 boat departures
- Available in Medium and Large sizes
- Compact list view of upcoming departures
- Perfect for planning your session timing
-
Widget Modes:
- Favorite Station Mode: Shows departures from your first favorite
- Nearest Station Mode: Automatically shows closest station
- Configurable in app settings
- Complications for all watch faces
- Circular, rectangular, and inline styles
- Real-time departure information on your wrist
- Synchronized with iPhone settings
For questions or issues, please create an issue in the repository.
The app uses a JSON schedule file with the following structure. Note that coordinates are required for map display:
{
"lakes": [
{
"name": "Lake",
"operators": [
"Operator"
],
"stations": [
{
"name": "Station Name",
"uic_ref": "8503651",
"coordinates": {
"latitude": 47.218035,
"longitude": 8.776638
}
},
{
"name": "Station Name",
"uic_ref": "8503682",
"coordinates": {
"latitude": 47.218035,
"longitude": 8.776638
}
}
]
},
]
}
To find the name and especially the station ID, use the tool https://overpass-turbo.eu/ Search for the lake on the map on the right and make it completely visible. enter the following query in the console on the left:
node
[amenity=ferry_terminal]
({{bbox}});
out;
All ship stations are displayed. Clicking on the station opens a window where you can find the station ID, the name of the station and the coordinates. uic_name and uic_ref. These values are entered in the JSON file.
You can check whether the station is available in the API via https://transport.opendata.ch/v1/locations?query=[uic_ref]. The link above is for Switzerland. For other countries, you have to find another api to find departure times.
- CoreMotion Integration: Uses device motion sensors to detect 180° flip gestures
- Smart Gesture Recognition: Detects roll rotation with tolerance for natural device handling
- Debounce Logic: 3-second cooldown prevents accidental repeated triggers
- State Management: Tracks initial orientation and reset states for reliable detection
- Theme Toggle: Seamlessly switches between light and dark mode on device flip
- Advanced Location Processing: Uses CoreLocation to find the geographically closest ferry station
- Comprehensive Station Database: Searches through ALL available stations across multiple Swiss lakes
- Intelligent Departure Loading: Automatically fetches departure data for nearest station even if not in favorites
- Fallback System: Gracefully falls back to favorite stations if nearest station has no departures
- Real-time Synchronization: Coordinates between iOS app, Apple Watch, and widgets via shared data containers
- App Groups: Seamless data sharing between main app, Watch app, and widgets
- WatchConnectivity: Real-time synchronization of favorites and settings between iPhone and Apple Watch
- Smart Caching: Optimized caching system to minimize API calls while ensuring fresh data
- Background Updates: Intelligent background refresh with adaptive timing based on next departure
- JSON-Based Configuration: Centralized schedule period data for all Swiss lakes
- Automatic Period Detection: Real-time detection of active schedule periods based on current date
- Smart Countdown System: Calculates days until next schedule change with personalized messages
- Season-Aware Messaging: Context-aware messages based on transition type (summer/winter/spring/autumn)
- Multi-Lake Support: Handles different schedule periods for 15+ Swiss lakes simultaneously
- First Launch Detection: UserDefaults-based system to show safety rules on initial app launch
- Modal Presentation: SwiftUI-based modal with comprehensive safety information
- Persistent Access: Safety rules accessible anytime via settings
- Community Integration: Deep links to external safety resources
- VesselAPI Service: Dedicated Swift service for fetching ship assignments
- Async/Await Pattern: Modern Swift concurrency for non-blocking API calls
- Date-Based Caching: Cache key format:
YYYY-MM-DD_CourseNumber - Parallel Loading: Ship names loaded asynchronously after initial departure data
- UI Updates: Progressive enhancement - departures show immediately, ship names appear when loaded
- 3-Day Window: Only fetches ship names for departures within next 72 hours
- Lake Detection: Automatically identifies Lake Zurich stations by ID prefix (85036)
- Wave Icons: Dynamic icon selection based on ship name and wave rating database
- OpenWeather API: RESTful API integration for weather forecasts
- Async Data Loading: Non-blocking weather data fetching using Swift async/await
- Pressure History Tracking: 6-hour rolling window for pressure trend calculation
- Smart Preloading: Weather data preloaded for all favorite stations at app launch
- Parallel Requests: TaskGroup-based concurrent loading for multiple stations
- Per-Wave Weather: Individual weather data for each departure time
- Forecast Matching: Finds closest forecast time to each departure
- Unit Conversion: Automatic conversion from m/s to knots for nautical use
- Weather Codes: Comprehensive mapping of OpenWeather condition codes to SF Symbols
- Error Handling: Graceful degradation when weather data unavailable
- Ship Database: Hardcoded list of Albis-Class ships (MS Albis, EMS Uetliberg, EMS Pfannenstiel)
- Real-Time Filtering: Instant filtering of departure list based on ship names
- State Management: Published property for reactive UI updates
- Haptic Feedback: UINotificationFeedbackGenerator for activation, UIImpactFeedbackGenerator for deactivation
- Visual Indicators: Orange banner with filter status in departure list
- Gesture Integration: Connected to device flip gesture in departure view context
The app uses various systems for collecting ship data and calculating wave characteristics:
- Automatically extracts technical data of all ZSG ships
- Collects information like length, width, displacement etc.
- Calculates based on technical data:
- Maximum wave height (m):
H = 0.04 * D * v² / (L * B) - Wave length (m):
λ = 2π * v² / g - Wave period (s):
T = √(2π * λ / g) - Wave velocity (m/s):
c = λ / T - Wave energy (J/m²):
E = (1/8) * ρ * g * H² - Wave power (W/m):
P = E * c - Impact force (N/m²):
F = ρ * g * H * (c²/2)
- Maximum wave height (m):
Where:
- D = Displacement [t]
- v = Velocity [m/s]
- L = Length [m]
- B = Beam width [m]
- g = Gravitational acceleration (9.81 m/s²)
- ρ = Water density (1000 kg/m³)
- H = Wave height [m]
- λ = Wave length [m]
- T = Wave period [s]
- c = Wave velocity [m/s]
Additional factors:
- Froude length number:
Fr_L = v / √(g * L) - Froude depth number:
Fr_h = v / √(g * h) - Reynolds number:
Re = (L * v) / ν- ν = Kinematic viscosity (1.0e-6 m²/s)
The calculations consider:
- Ship length and width
- Displacement
- Speed (18 km/h)
- Water depth (10m default)
- Froude and Reynolds numbers
-
Input Data for each ship:
- Technical data from scraper (length, width, displacement)
- Constant values:
- Speed: 18 km/h (5 m/s)
- Water depth: 10m
- Water density: 1000 kg/m³
-
Calculation Steps: a) Calculate maximum wave height (H) b) Derive wave energy (E) and impact force (F) c) Compare with thresholds:
- Energy: <150 J/m² → 1 wave, 150-250 J/m² → 2 waves, >250 J/m² → 3 waves
- Force: <45000 N/m² → 1 wave, 45000-55000 N/m² → 2 waves, >55000 N/m² → 3 waves d) Final rating is the higher of both values
-
Example Calculation MS Panta Rhei:
- Length: 56.6m, Width: 10.7m, Displacement: 382t
- Wave height: H = 0.63m
- Wave energy: E = 488 J/m² → 3 waves
- Impact force: F = 77347 N/m² → 3 waves
- Result: 3 waves
-
Example Calculation MS Bachtel:
- Length: 33.3m, Width: 6.3m, Displacement: 64t
- Wave height: H = 0.31m
- Wave energy: E = 114 J/m² → 1 wave
- Impact force: F = 37409 N/m² → 1 wave
- Result: 1 wave
-
Strong waves (3): MS Panta Rhei, MS Albis, EMS Uetliberg, EMS Pfannenstiel
- High wave energy (>250 J/m²)
- High impact force (>55000 N/m²)
-
Medium waves (2): MS Wädenswil, MS Limmat, MS Helvetia, MS Linth, DS Stadt Zürich, DS Stadt Rapperswil
- Medium wave energy (150-250 J/m²)
- Medium impact force (45000-55000 N/m²)
-
Light waves (1): MS Bachtel, MS Säntis, and all other ships
- Low wave energy (<150 J/m²)
- Low impact force (<45000 N/m²)
Execution: python3 scripts/vesseldata.py
Saves data to schiffsdaten.csv
- Vercel-based API: Serverless function for real-time ship deployments
- Web Scraping: Automatically scrapes ZSG's official ship deployment website
- 3-Day Forecast: Fetches ship assignments for today and the next 2 days
- Smart Caching: Daily cache updates with automatic refresh at midnight (Swiss time)
- Data Structure: Returns daily deployments with ship-to-course mappings
- Error Handling: Graceful fallback if data unavailable for specific days
- Currently Lake Zurich Only: ZSG network (station IDs starting with 85036)
- Endpoint:
/api/ships - Response Format:
{ "dailyDeployments": [ { "date": "2025-10-23", "routes": [ { "shipName": "MS Panta Rhei", "courseNumber": "1" } ] } ], "lastUpdated": "2025-10-23T08:00:00.000Z" } - Integration: iOS app queries API and caches results per date and course number
- Performance: Minimal API calls through intelligent client-side caching
- Vercel-based API: Serverless function for real-time water temperature and water level data
- Web Scraping: Automatically scrapes meteonews.ch for Swiss lake data
- Daily Updates: Data refreshed once per day at first request
- Smart Caching: 24-hour cache to minimize API calls and server load
- Coverage: 30+ Swiss lakes including all major lakes
- Endpoint:
/api/water-temperature - Response Format:
{ "lakes": [ { "name": "Zürichsee", "temperature": 14, "waterLevel": "405.96 m.ü.M." } ], "lastUpdated": "2025-10-29T08:00:00.000Z", "debug": { "currentSwissTime": "29.10.2025, 09:00:00", "lakesCount": 32 } } - Water Level Processing:
- App calculates difference from historical average levels
- Displays as "+X cm" or "-X cm" for easy interpretation
- Reference levels stored in
api/lake-water-levels.json - Helps foilers assess water depth and conditions
- Integration: iOS app caches data for 24 hours matching backend update frequency
- Performance: Single daily fetch per device, efficient data delivery
Have an idea for improving Next Wave? We're always open to suggestions from the community! Whether it's new features, usability improvements, or support for additional lakes - we'd love to hear from you. Feel free to open an issue on GitHub to discuss your ideas or contribute directly through a pull request.
Some ideas that have been suggested:
- Link to Foil Mates and vice versa for nearby spots
Note: International support is currently out of scope for this project. Feel free to fork the repository and create a version for your specific country!
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. Kanban Board is here: https://github.com/users/pfederi/projects/1
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
Join our community: Pumpfoiling Community
Always maintain a safe distance from boats and follow local water safety regulations. Never surf directly behind vessels.
- Thanks to all beta testers
- Special thanks to Alex for all your good ideas and testing
- Special thanks to Nils Mango for the favorite and nearby station feature requests
- Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Special thanks to the Lake boat operators - We would be delighted if you step on the gas a little more while departing from the dock.