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Apps New version of WorkOutDoors, the Workout app with a Map
- Thread starter cfc
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I am glad that you like the app. The next version will include over 150 new data fields, including 3 that show floors climbed: "total floors climbed"; "floors climbed on current lap"; and "floors climbed on previous lap". Hopefully that will tempt you back to using the app for hiking!
Recently used the app for hiking (nothing too serious). Very cool features you can customize and worked as expected/needed. Definitely give it a shot!
Thanks! Glad the beta worked well. Hopefully it won't be long until it is released.
I am planning to increase the price slightly with the new release, so if anyone is considering buying the app then now would be a good time. The new map provider is more expensive than the old one so I need to charge more. I have been waiting until I release the new version with lots of new features to justify the increase.
I am planning to increase the price slightly with the new release, so if anyone is considering buying the app then now would be a good time. The new map provider is more expensive than the old one so I need to charge more. I have been waiting until I release the new version with lots of new features to justify the increase.
@cfc I have a question for your app; A little background first. I'm coming from, and still using to a certain extent a Garmin Device (Fenix 5x), and really like the web page where I can see "in living color" the stats that the F5x generates, including the map, GPS Track, etc.
The other day, the air here (Smoke from wildfires) cleared enough I wanted to try to do an outside walk, and see how the GPS track was on the Apple Series 3 that I have. The track looked pretty good, following the curving sidewalk through trees, etc, and I was actually quite pleased, it appeared to be actually better than the F5x. (Known GPS Problems). Okay, that being said, I wanted to export the activity to Garmin Connect, Movescount, Strava, and/or other online applications to look at the GPS track in detail. Guess what. The activity exported fine, but the map, and associated GPS track did NOT export, so all I have is Heart Rate information, no elevation data, nothing along those lines. Yeah, I immediately shut down the AW, and put the Garmin back on.
So, all of that preceeds the actual question. I see that your app does, have an export function, but if I use your app, will it count toward my rings, movement, and exercise, and when I want to export it, will that export also include the map, GPS track, elevation data, etc, just like if I exported a .FIT file from Garmin?
Thanks, sorry for the long post, as I'm really trying to determine if the AW will satisfy my somewhat severe compulsion to play with, and look at data, which the F5x does just fine, but it's way more than I need. I believe if I can get the AW functioning like I want, I will have all the data I need, and with the true "Smartwatch" to boot.
Thanks for any help
Steve
The other day, the air here (Smoke from wildfires) cleared enough I wanted to try to do an outside walk, and see how the GPS track was on the Apple Series 3 that I have. The track looked pretty good, following the curving sidewalk through trees, etc, and I was actually quite pleased, it appeared to be actually better than the F5x. (Known GPS Problems). Okay, that being said, I wanted to export the activity to Garmin Connect, Movescount, Strava, and/or other online applications to look at the GPS track in detail. Guess what. The activity exported fine, but the map, and associated GPS track did NOT export, so all I have is Heart Rate information, no elevation data, nothing along those lines. Yeah, I immediately shut down the AW, and put the Garmin back on.
So, all of that preceeds the actual question. I see that your app does, have an export function, but if I use your app, will it count toward my rings, movement, and exercise, and when I want to export it, will that export also include the map, GPS track, elevation data, etc, just like if I exported a .FIT file from Garmin?
Thanks, sorry for the long post, as I'm really trying to determine if the AW will satisfy my somewhat severe compulsion to play with, and look at data, which the F5x does just fine, but it's way more than I need. I believe if I can get the AW functioning like I want, I will have all the data I need, and with the true "Smartwatch" to boot.
Thanks for any help
Steve
Firstly, yes the workouts performed with the app will count towards your activity rings movement and exercise. Also, yes you can export a GPX file from the app which will include the track, elevation, heart rate and cadence. This GPX file can be uploaded to Strava, Garmin Connect etc. GPX files do not include a map, but most services superimpose the track on their own maps. All workouts are also saved to Apple's Health Kit, which means that they appear in the Activity app on the iPhone, and can also be uploaded from there to Strava, Garmin Connect etc by using third party apps such as HealthFit or RunGap.
If you like stats then you will love the next version of the app (released in a week or two) which has many new stats to choose from whilst exercising. You can configure multiple screens, each of which shows a particular aspect of the workout (e.g. pace, elevation, heart, steps, activity rings etc) and you can then cycle through the screens by triple tapping (double tapping shows a full screen map). Each screen can be configured in terms of layout and text size, and you can even choose exactly which fields to show from a pool over over 150 live fields (including graphs, buttons etc).
Many thanks for asking about the app. If you have any more questions then please let me know.
If you like stats then you will love the next version of the app (released in a week or two) which has many new stats to choose from whilst exercising. You can configure multiple screens, each of which shows a particular aspect of the workout (e.g. pace, elevation, heart, steps, activity rings etc) and you can then cycle through the screens by triple tapping (double tapping shows a full screen map). Each screen can be configured in terms of layout and text size, and you can even choose exactly which fields to show from a pool over over 150 live fields (including graphs, buttons etc).
Many thanks for asking about the app. If you have any more questions then please let me know.
It might be worth trying the new version of the app before selling the 5X in case there is some specific feature that you need. I like to think that it will compare well with the features in top-end smartwatches such as the 5X, but it will be better at some things and worse at others, so if you want the features that the Fenix is better at then it might not be for you.
Having said that I have heard from a couple of users who no longer use their 5X since getting the app, because the main reason they got the 5X was for the maps, and they prefer the maps in WorkOutDoors.
I hope that the fires over there are sorted soon and that the smoke clears quickly.
Having said that I have heard from a couple of users who no longer use their 5X since getting the app, because the main reason they got the 5X was for the maps, and they prefer the maps in WorkOutDoors.
I hope that the fires over there are sorted soon and that the smoke clears quickly.
I've discovered that the AW does indeed give me all I want, especially since I can export the data through RunGap. I was just upset that the stupid GPX track didn't come through using RunGap. There isn't anything that the F5x does that (for me) the AW doesn't do, except make me feel like I have a Buick on my wrist.. 
I have discovered that the AW does indeed use Galileo sat system, in addition to GLONASS, and the "normal" GPS sats, which is totally awesome, none of the others have that, except in the Garmin Beta's, which it appears that they've removed in newer versions. That's awesome, and may explain why the AW track is actually better in most cases than the F5x track.
I have discovered that the AW does indeed use Galileo sat system, in addition to GLONASS, and the "normal" GPS sats, which is totally awesome, none of the others have that, except in the Garmin Beta's, which it appears that they've removed in newer versions. That's awesome, and may explain why the AW track is actually better in most cases than the F5x track.
A « real » GPS sport Watch has some advantages : hardware buttons, better battery life.
If you want to do long workouts (more than 4 hours), you can’t use an AW.
But you can try this app. It’s great for trail for exemple.
For basic workouts, I usually prefer to use stock Apple app which is simpler, a bit faster to update thé screen and easier to use.
If you want to do long workouts (more than 4 hours), you can’t use an AW.
But you can try this app. It’s great for trail for exemple.
For basic workouts, I usually prefer to use stock Apple app which is simpler, a bit faster to update thé screen and easier to use.
I agree - the battery life and hardware buttons are definitely where dedicated sports watches have an advantage over AW. An AW3 running WorkOutDoors will usually handle workouts up to 6 hours without the phone, but 4 hours is probably a safe maximum to allow for.
However if you have your phone with you then the watch battery will last 8+ hours, although I realise some people don't want to carry their phones on workouts.
I've discovered that the AW does indeed give me all I want, especially since I can export the data through RunGap. I was just upset that the stupid GPX track didn't come through using RunGap. There isn't anything that the F5x does that (for me) the AW doesn't do, except make me feel like I have a Buick on my wrist..
I have discovered that the AW does indeed use Galileo sat system, in addition to GLONASS, and the "normal" GPS sats, which is totally awesome, none of the others have that, except in the Garmin Beta's, which it appears that they've removed in newer versions. That's awesome, and may explain why the AW track is actually better in most cases than the F5x track.
Interesting, are you sure the AW has Galileo capabilities?
This isn't where I saw it, but it will do:
https://www.apple.com/watch/compare/
I actually saw it in a forum discussing the Galileo satellite system, and who was supporting it now.
That being said, I can see nowhere in the Apple watch, iPhone, or anywhere else where you can actually TELL the device to USE Galileo, or GLONASS sats, nor can I see where it would make a lot of difference, as the track I had yesterday looked like my Garmin track on "Ultra Trak". I'd like to be able to tell the AW which systems to use, along with an update period, like "1 second recording", rather than the apparent "When I feel like it" update method.
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Ah ok, I remember looking at the spec last December before buying and pretty sure it didn’t say Galileo, maybe it always had onboard hardware but only added software support later? Yes, I agree it would be great to choose between systems. For running the fellrnr.com guy seems to have worse results on the watches he has tested when both GPS and Glonass are enabled together.
Okay, I'll pull the thread back to the actual subject, the Work Outdoors app. the other day, I decided to see what would happen if I used the app to do a short outside walk through a park here in town. That was Friday. It did, indeed produce a map that was actually pretty decent, and I thought it looked pretty good. However, the calories burned seemed WAY off, I don't know if that was an AW calculation, or a WorkOutdoors Calculation. Since I don't have another walk in that same place, (I decided to test it after a trip to the local farmers market, got to have the fresh tomatoes). Anyway, here's the info.
Walk time: 25 Min, 43 Sec
Distance: .79 Mile
Calories Active: 68
Total Calories: 68
68 Calories???? On a treadmill for 1/2 mile, in 16 minutes, I get 130 active, and 164 total calories.
This promted me to suggest that the AW has had an unnatural relationship with one of it's parents, and I put it in the drawer, and reverted back to my Fenix 5x. Now I'm wondering, what could have caused this. Any ideas? Anyone?
That walk is about 2 mph. It really depends on your gender, height, weight and age, but 68 calories doesn't seem too far off.
What gets me, is that Outside walks, (and yes, I have another that I did without Workoutdoors), generates far fewer calories than an "inside" walk, or Treadmill. I've stopped counting calories exactly, but I don't understand how an outside walk of 17:46, pace 23'41"/Mi, .75 mile, and average heart rate of 114, generates 53 active, 90 total calories, but an INSIDE walk, same day, same apple watch, distance of .52 mile, 16:03 time, pace 30'37"/mi, and average heart rate of 118, generates 130 active, and 164 total calories. These were spur of the moment walks, waiting for "she who must be obeyed" to get her nails done, so I decided to get a few steps in. I probably should compare a longer walk of a couple miles with my Garmin, and see, unless there's an explination I don't know about for the difference.
I hear you. I have similar results between indoor and outdoor calories. I'm guessing you carry your iPhone with you on outdoor walks. I've noticed that outdoor walks without the iPhone, results in much higher calorie counts.
Which brings me to the post I asked in the AW forum, which gps gets used and when. I suppose it really doesn’t matter, as long as it’s consistent
Depends on the app. With the stock apps if you have your iPhone with you, the iPhone GPS gets used. On other apps, it varies. For instance, with NRC, the device that starts the run is the GPS that's used.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter as long as the readings are the same. Unless there's an issue or a glitch, the iPhone and AW should provide equivalent maps.
As for the algorithm used to determine calories, that's somewhat of a mystery. I've learned to not sweat the details anymore. I just continue doing things consistently so that the daily readings are relative to each other.
WorkOutDoors uses Apple's calorie estimation. They don't reveal much about these calculations (actually they don't reveal anything that I know of!), but I figured that they have a lot of clever people working on the calculations so it was best to use their results rather than some arbitrary formula.
I don't have as much experience with indoor workouts (for obvious reasons) but your treadmill results using the stock Workout app equate to 486 active kcal per hour (613 total kcal), which sounds very high for walking at 2 mph. The figures from WorkOutDoors for your 2.5 mph outdoor walk (179 active kcal, 304 total kcal per hour) sound much more reasonable.
I agree that this is odd given that both values are calculated by Apple. My guess is that it is because they have to estimate the distance for indoor workouts, and this probably relies on the stride length calibration, which can be inaccurate. You may want to re-calibrate that and try again to see if that helps with indoor workouts.
What sort of estimates do you get from the 5X?