Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[Mauki]

Is there a difference beetween these following trainings in recording?

• HIIT
• Mixed Cardio
• Cross Training
• Weight Training
• Strength Training

If not, then ok


I train in the gym according to Kernwerk and I don’t know which of these 5 Trainings I should use for tracking.

Kernwerkis basically a mixture of physical exercises and also sometimes barbell, dumbbell or different equipment. It is based on Crossfit.
I only care about the time and the HR as a display, the rest does not matter. The main thing my workout is correctly tracked as a sport

 

[cfc]

Is there a difference beetween these following trainings in recording?

• HIIT
• Mixed Cardio
• Cross Training
• Weight Training
• Strength Training

If not, then ok


I train in the gym according to Kernwerk and I don’t know which of these 5 Trainings I should use for tracking.

Kernwerkis basically a mixture of physical exercises and also sometimes barbell, dumbbell or different equipment. It is based on Crossfit.
I only care about the time and the HR as a display, the rest does not matter. The main thing my workout is correctly tracked as a sport

The displayed time and HR will be identical regardless of what activity you use.

In terms of other metrics Apple do not reveal their calorie calculation algorithms for each activity type but my guess is that most activities work in the same way and are based on heart rate. I think the algorithms are more sophisticated for the major activities like running, cycling etc but it's impossible to know.

So my assumption is that it doesn't matter which of those activities you use. Just pick the one which feels closest to what you are doing and which works in terms of categorising your workouts.

 

[Akrapovic]

That is very interesting. I didn't realise that they recalculated distances based on other people's distances.

It sounds great for users but I just know that it will mean more "why does Strava not match WOD?" questions for me!

Strava Slide Tool

Auto-drawing map geometry using the principles of mathematical optimization and global Strava dataset.

labs.strava.com

I believe it's part of this. As it uses Strava Heatmaps to workout where a path actually is, when the heatmap changes suddenly (such as 1000 people running it in the same hour) it could regenerate your route - depending on how they deploy these sort of changes.

Strava is a strange app. The iOS app is a bit meh. For recording workouts on the watch it's pretty dreadful. With the amount of data they have, if they wanted, they could take over the entire market. Imagine if we (@cfc in particular) had access to everything Strava does. The product could be insane.

 

[Mauki]

There is an "Enable Regular Notifications" option at the bottom of each interval. If you disable this then you will not hear the regular notifications during that interval.

This can also be over-ridden by the "Regular Notifications" setting on the main Interval Schedules settings screen. By default this is Auto (which means use the settings for each interval) but you can change it to "Yes" or "No" (which is what you want).

This means with Auto I get the Intervall Notifikations.

 

[cfc]

This means with Auto I get the Intervall Notifikations.

You will get the interval notifications regardless of that setting. It controls whether you get the regular notifications.

For example the regular notification that alerts you every kilometre is something that you may not wish to hear in some intervals. If you want it in recovery intervals but not in fast intervals then disable Regular Notifications for the fast intervals.

However if you want to disable the regular alerts for all intervals then set that option in your screenshot to No.

 

[Mauki]

As a comparison with Cyclemeter or Navigr8 which is a subscription model (and I have both subscriptions), WOD is a super real bargain.

I didn't know either app, but quickly checked them out in the App Store.

The apps for the Apple Watch don't really blow me away. However, the variety of functions is awesome. They even have livetracking.

What's missing is a really good offline map.

 

[Mauki]

I'm in the process of setting up my various screens and one feature is driving me crazy. I don't know if I'm the first.

Suppose I configure a screen with maybe 8 fields. Now I have everything set up and I think the first 4 fields are enough.
So I change the view and all my entries are gone and I have to start again.
Why is that?

I know that with other sport watches the set values remain so and it disappears just some fields when I reduce the number of fields. This has already cost me a lot of work.


Also it would be great if I could copy screens. Often I want similar screens for different sports but have to set everything again.

 

[cfc]

I'm in the process of setting up my various screens and one feature is driving me crazy. I don't know if I'm the first.

Suppose I configure a screen with maybe 8 fields. Now I have everything set up and I think the first 4 fields are enough.
So I change the view and all my entries are gone and I have to start again.
Why is that?

I know that with other sport watches the set values remain so and it disappears just some fields when I reduce the number of fields. This has already cost me a lot of work.


Also it would be great if I could copy screens. Often I want similar screens for different sports but have to set everything again.

The metrics are associated with the layout and text size. If I made it so that the metrics were the preserved when changing those then what would the app do when you changed it from a screen with 21 metrics to one with 2? Which metrics would it choose?

I can understand why you are so angry but no-one has complained about this before (which is maybe surprising).

I may allow copying of screens between activity types in the future. I think that has been requested a couple of times. Copying interval schedules between activities seems more popular though, so more likely to be added first.

 

[Mauki]

The metrics are associated with the layout and text size. If I made it so that the metrics were the preserved when changing those then what would the app do when you changed it from a screen with 21 metrics to one with 2? Which metrics would it choose?

It is quite simple.

Take the first 2 fields.

Always beginning with the fields in top. Garmin do this since 10 years

but no-one has complained about this before (which is maybe surprising).

that also surprises me

 

[cfc]

It is quite simple.

Take the first 2 fields.

Always beginning with the fields in top. Garmin do this since 10 years






that also surprises me

Taking the first n metrics wouldn't work well for WOD because the app tries to make sure that the time metric is in a wide field by default, because it needs more width than the rest of the metrics. I guess that I could make some sort of logic that keeps the time in a wide field but moves other fields around it, but I don't want to rework that area of the app when no-one else has mentioned it.

However I would not be surprised if I get more people mentioning that sort of thing in the future because I am getting a lot of "it doesn't work like Garmin" observations. This is undoubtedly because of the new Ultra owners coming from Garmin watches, so I can't complain because sales of the app are up as a result!

 

[Mauki]

Taking the first n metrics wouldn't work well for WOD because the app tries to make sure that the time metric is in a wide field by default, because it needs more width than the rest of the metrics.

Why can't the time field be the same size as the others? Can't it be formatted a little differently?

Small joke: With Garmin, the fields are all the same size. 😜🤪

 

[cfc]

Why can't the time field be the same size as the others? Can't it be formatted a little differently?

Small joke: With Garmin, the fields are all the same size. 😜🤪

The time field shows 7 characters if the workout is over an hour (e.g. "1:00:00"), whereas other fields like heart rate or cadence will never show more than 3 characters.

So I decided that having fields of different sizes means that users can choose to put metrics with shorter values in narrower fields and those with longer values in wider fields. That way the fonts can stay as large as possible without wasting as much space as if all the fields were the same size.

There are clearly pros and cons to making the fields the same size or not, but I decided to go for differing sizes and don't want to change now. Sorry!

 

[Mauki]

@cfc

Why you don't cut the seconds when it is longer thant 1 hour?

59:58 min
01:03 h

 

[cfc]

@cfc

Why you don't cut the seconds when it is longer thant 1 hour?

59:58 min
01:03 h

Many people still want seconds when over an hour. But there are other wider fields as well like interval name/type, latitude/longitude etc. Having fields of varying sizes works well for metrics of varying widths.

 

[MitzEclipse]

Hello, I purchased WOD app yesterday - this thing is loaded with more features than I'll ever use Trying to get the screens configured - I edited the fields and then sent the screens from the phone to the screen clicking "send all" but I don't see them in the watch. Seems really basic but think I'm missing a trick here... tried to look at the help http://workoutdoors.net/UserGuide.html#WorkoutScreens but didn't see any guidance. Can anyone help this newbie out? thank you

 

[jwehman1]

@cfc - is there a way to utilize the power/GCT/Vert Oscillation of Watch OS9 and incorporate it into the running workout data? I tried looking for anything like that in the settings but couldn't find anything that jumped out at me...

 

[cfc]

Hello, I purchased WOD app yesterday - this thing is loaded with more features than I'll ever use Trying to get the screens configured - I edited the fields and then sent the screens from the phone to the screen clicking "send all" but I don't see them in the watch. Seems really basic but think I'm missing a trick here... tried to look at the help http://workoutdoors.net/UserGuide.html#WorkoutScreens but didn't see any guidance. Can anyone help this newbie out? thank you

If the screens are not transferred to the watch app then please reboot both devices and then send again using the Send All Screens & Profiles option on the File Management settings in the iPhone app.

 

[cfc]

@cfc - is there a way to utilize the power/GCT/Vert Oscillation of Watch OS9 and incorporate it into the running workout data? I tried looking for anything like that in the settings but couldn't find anything that jumped out at me...

To see the running metrics during a workout you need to configure the screens to show the metrics you want. To see them afterwards in the iPhone app tap the Power tab or tap the Steps tab and change Cadence to Ground Contact or Vertical Oscillate.

If you do not see these tabs then there are three possible reasons. The first is that watch is not capable of showing them. Apple only produce them for the series 6 watches and newer (although they don’t advertise this very clearly).

The second possibility is that you haven’t given the app permission to see the metrics. To check this go to Apple’s Settings app on the iPhone and tap Privacy then Health then WorkOutDoors. Then check that every switch is enabled, making sure to scroll down to the bottom to check them all. In theory iOS should have asked you for permission when you updated to the latest version of the app, but sometimes it seems to forget.

The third possibility is that you do not have the latest version (v4.7.0) of the app on one or both of your devices. To check on the iPhone please go to the Settings tab and tap Information. On the watch touch the screen for a second and then tap Settings and then More. Then scroll to the bottom. If either are out of date then please download the latest version from the App Store on that device (so the watch App Store if the watch app is not up to date).

 

[jwehman1]

@cfc - thank you...it was #2. Amazing app...love it more and more each time I use it and see what it can do. I'm surprised Apple hasn't bought you out. But thank you!

 

[sarc]

I used the native workouts app to record my first outdoor run today (to calibrate the ultra). I had WorkOutDoors with a route selected under the 'just a map' function but not using it to record. They worked really well together. I was switching between the two with a double tap of the Digital Crown.
In future I will just be using WorkOutDoors.

 

[MitzEclipse]

Thank you for the tips- I now can see the screens. I know the problem... on the running screen I had the map, when I was swiping left/right the map would just move. I had to swipe at the very bottom row where the metrics were to get to the 2nd screen

Another question - is there a way to put a yellow dot (or some other color) at the top of the watch face if currently in a workout? Kind of like the red dot at the top when there is a pending notification? Noticed it's too easy to forget to turn off the workout timer if in other apps of the watch.

 

[MitzEclipse]

I'm a long time strava/garmin user and wondering what people's "data strategy" is to store all of their workouts?

I am more than happy to move away from strava (frustrated with their poor subscription model and don't care for their social features) and as I've migrated away from garmin now with the Apple Watch I'm wondering how to approach this.

Is there a way to import all strava workouts into WOD so the full list shows up in the "workouts" tab? I don't see an import button so not sure if this is possible.

For those of you who moved to WOD, what's in your workouts tab? Just workouts created by WOD?

 

[Richo5]

I'm a long time strava/garmin user and wondering what people's "data strategy" is to store all of their workouts?

I am more than happy to move away from strava (frustrated with their poor subscription model and don't care for their social features) and as I've migrated away from garmin now with the Apple Watch I'm wondering how to approach this.

Is there a way to import all strava workouts into WOD so the full list shows up in the "workouts" tab? I don't see an import button so not sure if this is possible.

For those of you who moved to WOD, what's in your workouts tab? Just workouts created by WOD?

AFAIK there is no way to import workouts into WOD. I treat it as a staging platform to get the workout into Strava and Apple Health/Activity. It's a shame really as the way WOD displays workouts is my favourite way of presenting them. The combination of the gradient/colour highlighting of the interval text, the combo maps and laps, the useful tabs and the interval summaries is perfect.

I would really like it if the app had iCloud integration to 'save' the workouts as I recently lost all my history when I had to reset the phone after it bootlocked.

 

[Mauki]

@cfc

There are so many power fields, which are the metric for the new running power comes with Watch OS 9?

Current Power (red arrow)
Average Power (blue arrow)
power graph (yellow arrow)

I find only metrics where a sensor is needed.

 

[TheMixam]

I'm a long time strava/garmin user and wondering what people's "data strategy" is to store all of their workouts?

I am more than happy to move away from strava (frustrated with their poor subscription model and don't care for their social features) and as I've migrated away from garmin now with the Apple Watch I'm wondering how to approach this.

Is there a way to import all strava workouts into WOD so the full list shows up in the "workouts" tab? I don't see an import button so not sure if this is possible.

For those of you who moved to WOD, what's in your workouts tab? Just workouts created by WOD?

WOD stores them in Apple Health and I also upload to Strava. I almost exclusively use WOD to review metrics, but also have HealthFit for CTL/ATL/TSB but I rarely look at those.