Friends¶

Connect with other GoDive divers using a QR code or shareable link — there is no public people search.

Add a friend¶

Open Profile → menu (☰) and tap Invite a buddy at the bottom (QR icon), or open Buddies and tap the QR button.
Show the code, or use Share link / Copy link.
Your friend scans the QR code or opens the link on their phone (signed in with Apple). Links use https://links.godiveios.com/invite/… and open the GoDive app when it’s installed.
They confirm Connect. GoDive then opens Logbook on that friend’s profile page (header media, name, shared dive count).

The Buddies title uses the same collapsible large-title header as Settings and Certifications.

Invites expire after 24 hours. Create a new QR or link anytime from the Profile menu or the Buddies list.

When someone accepts your invite¶

If you shared a QR code or link and notifications are allowed for GoDive, you get a push when they tap Connect — for example, "Alex accepted your invite." Tap the notification to open your Buddies list in the Logbook tab.

You need to be signed in with Apple (Firebase social sign-in) and allow notifications when iOS asks. If you decline notifications, friends still connect; you just won’t get the alert.

When a buddy shares new activities¶

If notifications are allowed, you also get a push when someone in your friend network shares new dives or snorkels — for example, "Alex logged a new dive." Activities that were already shared (already visible in Buddy Feed) do not notify again after your buddy reinstalls or rebuilds the app. The Home Notifications list keeps each activity’s original share time after rebuilds (it does not jump everything to “just now”). When a buddy shares several new activities at once (like a batch import), they arrive as one notification: "Alex shared 5 new activities."

If they tag you on a shared activity, the push uses that wording instead — for example, "Alex tagged you in a new dive." When several shared activities in one batch tag you, you get "Alex tagged you in 5 new activities."

Tap the notification to open that shared activity (the most recent one when several were shared). GoDive loads Buddy Feed data first so the activity is ready, then opens it — going back returns you to the feed. You are only notified the first time an activity is shared; edits and re-shares of the same activity don’t alert you again.

You can turn these alerts off (and back on) with Settings → Buddy activity notifications — the invite-accepted push above is not affected by that toggle.

When a buddy shares a trip¶

If a friend adds you as a GoDive buddy on one of their trips and chooses to share it, you get a push and a Home Notifications row. Opening it shows a copy of that trip in your planner. Accept keeps it; Decline removes your copy (their trip is unchanged). They stay the owner of the trip name, dates, countries, and planned dive sites — when they update those details, your copy stays in sync. See Trips & buddies.

What friends can see¶

Once connected, open a friend from Buddies to browse their shared dives (tap their row — friends show a badge on the avatar).

By default (when Share activities with buddies is on in Settings), buddies can see dive and snorkel details such as site, date, depth, duration, conditions, tags, and marine life (shown with Field Guide common names). Notes and photos stay private unless you turn on those Settings toggles. When Share media with buddies is on, buddies see thumbnails quickly in Buddy Feed, then full-quality photos (up to 20 per activity) and short video clips (up to 10, 30 seconds each) when they open the activity.

Publishing a new activity¶

New activities start local only — nothing is shared automatically when you import or log them. Take your time to tag marine life, add notes, and pick photos first. If you have buddies in your network, a bright blue Share with Buddies? banner sits just above the details sheet on the map (visible when the sheet is expanded). It notes that you can change sharing anytime from the ⋯ menu, with:

Share — publish the activity to your buddy network. Buddies see it in their Buddy Feed and get a notification.
Dismiss (×) — hide the banner. The activity stays private on your devices. You can still share it later from Activity Settings (⋯ menu).

Opening Activity Settings also dismisses the banner for that activity. The banner hides when you collapse the sheet and comes back when you expand it again (until you dismiss it or open settings).

On any owned dive or snorkel, tap the ⋯ button (top right) to open Activity Settings for that activity only:

Share activity with buddies — include or exclude this entry from your buddy network (Settings must still have Share activities with buddies on).
Share media with buddies — turn media on for this activity and choose which photos/videos to include in a checkbox grid.
Share private notes with buddies — include your private activity notes for buddies on this entry.
Status — Upload in progress… banner while publishing, then an Activity / Media / Private Notes checklist (Shared, Uploading, or Off).
Delete dive / Delete snorkel — pinned at the bottom of the sheet.

Per-activity choices override the global defaults for that entry once you change them in Activity Settings. New activities snapshot your media and notes defaults when created but always start unshared until you publish them (see Publishing a new activity above); changing Settings later does not alter activities you already have (unless you edit them in Activity Settings). Turning sharing off for an activity removes its Firebase projection and shared media from Storage. Global Share activities with buddies remains the master on/off switch for the buddy network.

Buddy Feed posts¶

On Logbook → Buddies, each shared activity looks like a social post. Tap the buddy’s avatar or name on a post (or on the shared activity details header) to open their friend profile.

Header — your buddy’s avatar and name (tap either to open their profile), a short “logged a dive/snorkel” line, and a compact time stamp.
Hero — their featured photo or video when shared, and/or the dive depth profile (or snorkel map). Swipe when both are available.
Caption — site, place, and key stats (notes stay on the full activity, not the feed post).
with — avatars for divers tagged on that activity (no GoDive pin on these chips). When you are tagged, your avatar matches Profile (your photo on this device). Linked friends use their GoDive profile photos (or a photo already saved on their Buddies roster row), cached on-device like other feed avatars. Tap the with row to open that activity on Map and scroll to the Buddies section.
👌 like — at the bottom of the post, below a divider. The OK emoji tints blue when you like; the tally updates right away and is saved for everyone who can see the post. Your buddy gets a push: "{Your name} liked your dive/snorkel." Tap that notification (or the matching row in Home Notifications) to open the activity in their logbook. Tap again to unlike.
Comments — next to the like control. Tap the comment bubble to open the shared activity, then the comment thread sheet (scrollable comments with a text field pinned at the bottom). Commenter avatars match Buddy Feed rules — your comments show your Profile photo; friends show their cached GoDive photos. Type @ to mention a GoDive friend (autocomplete by name); in the thread, the full mentioned name shows in bold blue (without the @) for everyone who can see the comment. Your buddy gets a push: "{Your name} commented on your dive/snorkel: {preview}" (first ~50 characters of the comment). Anyone you @mention gets "{Your name} mentioned you in a comment" (with a short preview when present). Tap either notification (or the matching row in Home Notifications) to open the activity with the comment thread already open.

Tap the caption area to open the full shared activity. On the shared activity Map tab (expanded details), like and comment icons sit under the dive stats (comment count when there are comments), with Add a comment… under those controls. Shared notes, marine life, and buddies (when present) appear below the like/comment row. Tap the comment icon to open the thread; tap Add a comment… to open the same thread with the keyboard ready.

On your own dive or snorkel (when sharing with friends is on), the same like and comment row appears on the Map tab so you can read and reply to buddy comments. You can see like tallies but cannot like your own activity.

Viewing friend photos and videos¶

Buddy Feed loads small thumbnails first so the list stays fast. Friend profile photos (and tagged / commenter avatars from the friend graph) are cached on-device so the same buddy’s avatar does not re-download for every post. Your own avatar on tags and comments uses your local Profile photo so it stays in sync with Profile. When a post’s featured shared item is a photo, the hero crossfades to full quality when the content file is available. When it is a video, it auto-plays once (muted) after you scroll it into view — preferring a cached copy when one exists, otherwise streaming while the clip downloads. Tap an activity to open the same map / tank / media layout you use on your own dives — photos crossfade from the thumbnail to full quality when available, and videos play from the shared clip (poster thumbnail first). Opening a friend activity refreshes shared media from Firestore and starts loading all shared photos and videos in the background.

Tap a photo in the media grid or on the hero to open fullscreen — same playback as local buddy tagged media: edge-to-edge stills and videos, horizontal swipe between items, swipe down (or X) to close, tap to show/hide chrome, and a center play/pause on videos.

Buddy media downloads use Wi‑Fi or cellular. Use Settings → Activity Sharing → Upload media on wifi only if you want your own full-quality uploads to wait for Wi‑Fi.

Your own full logbook on your devices (and private iCloud sync) is unchanged — friends see a read-only shared copy, not co-edit rights. When you edit a shared dive (details, tags, buddies, media, and so on), GoDive updates that shared copy so friends see the latest info.

Background uploads¶

Buddy-share uploads (activity projections, thumbnails, and full-quality media) continue while GoDive is in the background for a limited time, and resume automatically when you reopen the app or after a force-quit. If Upload media on wifi only is on, full-quality uploads wait for Wi‑Fi and resume when you are back on Wi‑Fi. Progress is saved on-device so finished pieces are not re-uploaded from scratch.

@mentions in notes¶

When editing notes on a dive or snorkel, type @ to mention a GoDive friend (same autocomplete as comments). On the notes card, the full mentioned name shows in bold blue (without the @) for you and for buddies who can see the notes. Saving notes tags them on that activity if they are not already tagged. When you later publish/share the activity, they get the usual tagged you notification — there is no separate “mentioned in notes” push, and editing notes after the activity is already shared only updates tags (no new push).

Tag friends on dives¶

When you connect with someone (or they connect with you), GoDive links them to your Dive Buddies roster. If you already had a buddy with a matching name, that roster row becomes the friend link instead of creating a duplicate — your existing dive and trip tags stay on the same person. The same name check runs when you import a dive, tag a buddy on a dive or photo, or add a buddy to your roster.

Linked friends show the GoDive pin on the lower-right of their avatar (Buddies list, friend profile, Home, activities, trips, and search). Tap them from a dive, trip, search, or Profile → Buddies to open their friend profile (not the local-only buddy detail page). Buddies who are not friends yet show an Invite button on the Buddies list and a blue + on the lower-right of their avatar on buddy detail — it creates your invite link and opens Messages (prefilled to their linked contact when you connected them in Contacts; otherwise the recipient field stays empty).

Tag friends on a dive from the dive overview Buddies sheet like any other buddy. Linked friends show their GoDive profile photo on the overview Buddies row (and on friend-shared activity Buddies) even when you have not saved a local Contacts photo for them. If they tagged you on a dive they shared, their shared dive detail can show that you were tagged.

Remove a friend¶

Swipe a friend in Buddies and choose Unfriend, or use the confirmation alert. They will no longer see your newly shared dives (and you won’t see theirs).

Friend profile¶

Tap a friend’s name in Buddies (or their avatar or name on a Buddy Feed post) to open their GoDive friend profile (different from a local-only buddy page). The layout matches your own Profile page: featured header media, avatar, name, and a count of dives they’ve shared with you.

The blue sheet has three pages:

Diver stats — deepest, longest, top site, and top species from everything they’ve shared with you. Species names match the Field Guide (not internal catalog IDs).
Activities — logbook-style rows for their shared dives and snorkels. The page title stays pinned; use the All / Together control (top right) to show everything they’ve shared, or only activities you did together (tagged on their share, or linked in your log). Tap a row to open that shared activity.
Shared media — photos and videos from those shared activities. Tap to browse full screen like local buddy tagged media (swipe between items, swipe down to close, center play/pause on video). An activity chip and buddy/fish buttons show tags view-only — no tagging or featured-star controls.

When they have both featured header media and dive sites with a location, the same media / map toggle as other buddy pages appears on the hero. Media is their GoDive account featured media (or a recent shared photo/video if they have not set a profile header yet). The map uses blue pins for sites from their shared activities and red pins for places you dived together; if a site has both, it shows red.

Local buddies who are not GoDive friends still use the buddy detail pages: Dives together, Trips together, and Tagged media.

Your featured profile media (the tagged photo or looping video in your Profile header) is uploaded to Firebase so friends can see it on your friend profile. It updates when your header media changes.