Got an Ultragauge Blue last weekend because of the alarm feature. Until then I used a generic ELM WiFi dongle with OBD Fusion connected to an iPad mini and really liked the interface as well as the logging feature of OBD Fusion, it was the lack of an alarm feature that was killing me. The iPad also had an annoying habit of not connecting to the internet over cellular connection because it assumed that the WiFi dongle would provide it. The time out seemed to be about 30 minutes of no web connection before it would finally error out and say "hey, internet seems to be slow over WiFi, wanna use Cellular instead". Drove me batty, I tried manipulating the DNS and DHCP settings of the WiFi network but couldn't get a reliable workaround. While the Waze GPS mapping function still worked while I waited for it to timeout, without data all crowdsourcing features were dead, including automatic rerouting if something changed on the road ahead. That and the lack of an overtemp alarm in OBD Fusion pushed me to replace that rig. I did write to OBD Fusion and pleaded with them to include an alarm feature but they wrote back saying, "yeah, great idea but no commitments to a timeline". However, I digress.

The Ultragauge does everything as advertised however the interface falls way short of OBD Fusion. Super clunky comparatively, the design tools for the various gauge screens remind me of Windows 3.1 and I don't see a logging feature so far. It also doesn't play nice with the split-screen feature in iPadOS. In the good news department, it works over bluetooth so the stupid iPad doesn't sit there for a half an hour trying to get to the internet through the ECU, and the alarm feature works as claimed. It also doesn't compete with the iPad's bluetooth connection to the radio and both work simultaneously. My major complaint, and the reason for this post (15 minutes later) is to find out if there's a way to assign a different alarm tone to any (preferably all) of the different alarms. The stock tone is pretty wimpy and it's one that I'm already used to for other things so it reduces the effectiveness. At this point I've been acclimated to the gauge in OBD Fusion sticking straight up at 190° pretty much all the time, aside from minor deviations of a few degrees either way, and my fear is I won't notice the needle is in the red until it's too late. I've replaced the ECU's sluggish response with my own. Now with an alarm sound from the Ultragauge that my brain is already used to I'm right back where I started.

Because I dislike the interface so much my thinking now is to run the Ultragauge app in the background and leave the split screen on the old OBD Fusion setup and Waze. This of course means I need an OBD dongle splitter so I can plug both in at once (a little extreme), and will of course reintroduce the Cellular data problem on the iPad. I've set the alarm temp to 190° so that I get used to how it works (not so much the sound but the functionality) but haven't tried running it in the background yet. Another option is to dedicate an old iPhone to Ultragauge and stick it in the instrument binnacle somewhere so it's right in my face with nothing more than a temp gauge on it's screen but I'd really like to be able to get a different alarm sound. The manual makes no mention of setting an alarm sound so I fear the worst here.

Appreciate any and all comments on this thread from any of you have any input with any of this.

 

I'll just preface this by saying that I don't know whether you can change the alarm sounds for the UG Blue app.

It sounds like your desired solution is this:
1. Logging through OBD Fusion
2. Alarms to notify you when temps are high, etc.
3. iPad split screen Waze using cellular internet

In a perfect world, OBD Fusion would just write in an alarm feature. But since that sounds unlikely to happen in the near future...

Assuming that the computer is able to supply these data points to two readers simultaneously (I'd be shocked if anyone had tested this), I'd suggest that a simpler, more robust solution will be to replace the Ultragauge Blue with the normal wired version. I wire mine to the left of the steering wheel above the vent (picture here), and it turns on when the truck turns on and turns off when the truck turns off. It does the standard UG alarms and the screen changes and it beeps (perhaps not loudly, but noticeably).

The benefits of this solution over using UG Blue + OBD Fusion are:
1. No need to connect the iPad to both bluetooth and WiFi every time you get in the car - not sure how automatic this is, but you can do a quick drive and still have your desired information displayed without any steps besides turning the key.
2. Don't need to worry about bluetooth disconnecting in the background without notifying you.
3. Don't need to worry about the UG Blue app getting closed in the background by accident or getting put into a freeze state by iOS without your knowledge.

I'd be concerned about items 2 and 3 happening without your knowledge - what's the point of this setup if it's not robust.

Re: your problems with the iPad trying to access the internet via wifi in lieu of an actual connection over cellular, I assume you've tried the steps at this link (you mentioned DNS settings but this does not involve a change to those). If you did that and you're still experiencing the issue, you might be able to force it to recognize the lack of internet if you open up a safari website when you start the car. You can also partially automate some of these steps with the Shortcuts app (it requires a somewhat newer version of iOS but if you can do split screen you're probably good). You can set up personal automations to prompt you for certain actions when the phone connects to either a certain bluetooth device or a certain wifi network. I have one set up for when I connect to my Grom bluetooth adapter - I'll get notifications on the lock screen that I can use one tap to open navigation and to play Spotify.

 

Thanks for the detailed response! I wrote to UltraGauge to ask about changing the alarm sound and am awaiting a response. I don't have high hopes and am considering asking about a return policy next. I'm not adverse to the wired UltraGauge, I'm a little hung up about the non-stock appearance but that's just my own OCD issue to confront. I will investigate as it seems to be pretty ideal from a functional standpoint.

Thanks for that link regarding Cellular data. I did some googling at the time but never ended up there. I did not try assigning a static IP to the WiFi connection, I tried bogus DNS server settings in hopes of forcing a quicker timeout but there was no improvement. And, I misspoke about the DHCP settings, I tried dummy Proxy Server settings without any better performance there either. Same basic concept but different execution. I won't bore anyone with the startup rituals I did try employing regarding what app starts when and with what resources engaged but I tried many and even though I got occasional improvements, nothing proved 100% repeatable. Assuming a static IP is a reliable workaround that would solve a big percentage of my problem if the alarm sound mods I'm after are a no-go and I revert to the WiFi dongle. The automatic reconnect of bluetooth and WiFi seems to have varying degrees of success, but not enough that I'm not going through every step each time just to make sure. I hadn't considered the hassle factor of that. It's bad enough with one device, let alone two. The UltraGauge Blue does at least have low power mode but the generic ELM can kill a battery in a couple days. While I've seen lots of reviews from people reviewing splitting an ODB connection, I can't say I've definitively seen anything about splitting an actual data point between two pieces of software. AFAIK, it may be that although each device will theoretically "work' over a splitter I'm not certain if sending the coolant temp signal for example, to two different devices actually works.

I too am concerned about relying on background apps to save the day, as you point out it defeats the whole purpose. I already have an unreliable gauge in the dash, another one, or 3 or 4 even, does no good. Sounds like I'm in a waiting pattern for UG to get back to me about the alarm sound assignment. I can't imagine the API doesn't support it and it doesn't sound like an unreasonably hard programming change, however the response I got from OBD Fusion doesn't give me a lot of faith. Thanks again for the input, there's a lot of valuable info there and it gives me a few more angles towards solving the slew of annoyances. I'm hoping a few others as well can see things about all this that are oblivious to me at the moment.

 

I've got an old iPad mini with iOS9(!) that I use for music, an old version of Waze and running my UG Blue. For the alarm setting, you are correct that there is only one type of alarm sound.
I use the same alarm for low fuel (I don't really trust) and for high temps.
I've never used Fusion so I can't help you there.