The Onewheel is one of those perfect inventions where everything just works so effortlessly and flawlessly together that it’s easy to forget that it’s also a very significant piece of technology. This isn’t just a skateboard with a motorized wheel in it. There’s an entire computer running the show, making all kinds of calculations and adjustments, in real-time, that make it possible for the Onewheel experience to be as amazing and incredible as it is.

This onboard computer is doing a lot of work, about 14,000 calculations per second, all to keep your board balanced. It’s also tracking a lot of data.  You can find out everything from how fast you’re going, to how many miles you’ve ridden over the lifetime of that Onewheel. The Onewheel is also known for customization. Normally when we talk about customizing the Onewheel, we’re talking about customizing the look and feel of the physical board. But you can also tweak the programming itself to really dial in on how the Onewheel operates.

Getting access to this onboard computer is critical to taking full advantage of everything your Onewheel has to offer. And you don’t need any laptop, computer, or fancy cables and connections. All you need is the Onewheel App!

Downloading And Setting Up The Onewheel App

The Onewheel App is free to download and is available on both the Google Play and Apple iOS app stores. Just simply search for “Onewheel” in your preferred app store and you should be able to find this free download.

Once the app is downloaded to your device, make sure that Bluetooth is enabled. Then, open up the app and sync your phone to your board, which will be identified by your Onewheel’s serial number.

What Can You Do In The App?

Home Screen

Once you connect to your board, you’ll be on the home screen. This is your main dashboard, where you’ll see stats like your current speed, mileage, battery status, and more. You can also customize your ride with the Digital Shaping 2.0. Choose from a selection of pre-made riding modes, or customize your own. Not sure what the difference between each of the presets is? Hit the question mark icon in the lower right corner to see the shaping description for that preset.

If you scroll all the way to the right, you’ll get to the custom shaping screen. There are three ways you can tweak your ride: carve ability, stance profile, and aggressiveness. Carve ability determines how loose or tight your ride is. Want a smoother ride? Slide the carve ability to the left so that it is looser. Want to have a very responsive ride, more like a sports car? Then slide that setting to the right so that it is tighter. The stance profile adjusts the angle of your Onewheel. Some riders prefer to ride with the nose of their board up a bit, while others like the feel of having the nose pointed down. This is a completely personal choice, and with the stance profile slider, you can dial into your preferred angle. Finally, there is the aggressiveness setting. The aggressiveness setting doesn’t have any effect on speed or power. This setting changes how aggressive the board is at keeping you level while riding. Keeping this setting low will mean the Onewheel’s adjustments keeping you level will be much smoother while turning the setting all the way up will make it feel… well… much more aggressive in keeping you level.

Rides Screen

This is where you can share and post your rides, or explore rides from other people. You can manually track your rides, or turn on auto-ride recording, which will automatically track your rides and keep them for 72 hours. Then, when you are done riding you can go back through your rides and decide whether or not you want to save them to your profile. If you haven’t saved them within those 72 hours, the ride gets deleted from your profile.

You can also get advanced stats on each of your rides, including a map of where you went, the altitude during your ride, your speed, and your battery drain. Rides posted all over the world are visible on this screen! Many Onewheelers will use this screen when they are traveling, on vacation, or looking for some new paths to explore. Inside of the Rides screen, you’ll also find the tab for Group Rides. Connect with other Onewheel riders near you and start planning your next group ride, right inside the app!

Leaderboard

There are two main leaderboards for each of the different types of Onewheel boards: Day Streaks and Mileage. Day streaks track how many days in a row you’ve ridden your Onewheel. If you’re just starting out, you’ve got a long road ahead of you before you crack the top 5. At the time of the writing of this article, the top spot for the Onewheel +XR was over 2 years long, and the top spot for the Onewheel Pint was just under 2 years. Mileage tracks how many miles you’ve put on your Onewheel. The top spot for the Onewheel Pint was just under 10,000 miles, and the Onewheel +XR was over 26,000!

Achievements

Video gamers know the thrill of unlocking a new achievement, and completionists have logged countless hours long after they’ve beaten a game just to claim they unlocked all of the achievements. Now, you can do the same thing with the achievements, or badges, right inside of the Onewheel app. Brag to your friends about getting more badges than them, or plan out your rides so you can capture those hard to get achievements!

Academy

Finally, the Academy page is where you can go for quick and helpful videos on how to ride and enjoy your Onewheel. From tips like how to get on and off your Onewheel, to riding safely, there are even videos on how to install fenders, bumpers, and other customizable features. This is a great place to learn all about your Onewheel.

The Onewheel App Is Constantly Being Updated

Like all good apps, this one gets updated regularly with new features being added that constantly improve the usefulness of the app. Sometimes these are purely functional updates, while others are updates based on user feedback. Like a recent update that added “Stealth Mode”. This was in response to users who had privacy concerns about their rides being shared to anyone with the Onewheel app. If users weren’t careful, they could accidentally reveal personal information, like where they lived or worked, based on the public ride data they were sharing. This new Stealth Mode fixes that, by hiding the beginning and end of your ride.

Whether you’re an experienced rider, or just getting started with your very first Onewheel, you’ll want to make sure you have the Onewheel app downloaded and ready to rock. It is an essential part of the Onewheel experience. And if you’re ready to showcase your love of the Onewheel, make sure to hop over to our Float Gang store and shop for shirts, hats, hoodies, and more.