Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[cfc]

If I double tap the screen it goes into full screen mode - and yes, in full screen mode I can toggle between battery percentage on/off by double tapping. But it doesn’t show % when I go back to metrics mode.

As for distance discrepancy: previously it always showed the note “gps distance is xx shorter …” at the bottom of the workout on WOD for iPhone when you had the Pace tab selected. Now it no longer shows it - at first I was happy because I thought Apple fixed something in watchOS 9 and iOS 16, but no. In the Fitness app the distance is still off between pedometer and GPS though now WOD for some reason doesn’t show it anymore. I checked the GPS tab you mentioned, but it never showed it there in the first place.

You need to double tap in the area where the battery is shown. Then it will toggle the battery visibility regardless of whether you are in full screen mode or not. You do need to be quite precise though.

The app only shows that message about the GPS distance being shorter/longer message when the distances differ by more than 10%. This is what it has always done, although it is phrased slightly differently (hopefully more clearly) than in previous versions.

As I say, to see the difference in distances go to the GPS tab and there is a GPS Dist metric which shows how much longer/shorter the GPS distance is than Apple's calibrated distance. Again, this has always been there, although in the latest version if the workout contains power data then you will need to specifically change the tab from showing Power to showing GPS.

 

[Koma66]

Hey all ! Quite actively following this thread since the release of watch os 9 and it's from far the best one on any app I've seen ! CFC, WOD rocks so much I went from the SE purchased because of existence of WOD to the ultra for the same reason and how much I enjoy using it almost on a daily basis 😅 Congrats ! You're doing an amazing job !

Looking forward the release of the version for the Ultra with the action button !

In the meantime I use all the shortcuts available and I got a bug there (I think), don't know if it's linked to my setup or common to the Ultras so I give it here: I used the crown to water lock the screen via shortcut and avoid issues on rainy days with the Apple Watch SE but it doesn't seem to work with the Ultra, I went through all the settings but can't find why it doesn't work. Also tried the auto activation of water lock with swimming activity and again, no water lock.

Does anyone has the same issue ?

Wondering if I would not have to erase everything and start fresh again (could be linked to the migration from the Apple Watch SE to the ultra ?) but I would prefer avoid going back to redo all my settings again if I can

 

[cfc]

Hey all ! Quite actively following this thread since the release of watch os 9 and it's from far the best one on any app I've seen ! CFC, WOD rocks so much I went from the SE purchased because of existence of WOD to the ultra for the same reason and how much I enjoy using it almost on a daily basis 😅 Congrats ! You're doing an amazing job !

Looking forward the release of the version for the Ultra with the action button !

In the meantime I use all the shortcuts available and I got a bug there (I think), don't know if it's linked to my setup or common to the Ultras so I give it here: I used the crown to water lock the screen via shortcut and avoid issues on rainy days with the Apple Watch SE but it doesn't seem to work with the Ultra, I went through all the settings but can't find why it doesn't work. Also tried the auto activation of water lock with swimming activity and again, no water lock.

Does anyone has the same issue ?

Wondering if I would not have to erase everything and start fresh again (could be linked to the migration from the Apple Watch SE to the ultra ?) but I would prefer avoid going back to redo all my settings again if I can

Sorry that the water lock doesn't work on the Ultra. This is because the water resistance rating on the Ultra is different to previous watches, so I needed to change the code. I have done this and it is fixed in the version that is currently being beta tested.

However I am holding fire on releasing the beta to the App Store until I have worked around the problem where rebooting the watch stops the action button from working. I have contacted Apple so hopefully they will tell me what I am doing wrong, or will fix it if it is a bug in watchOS. I am hoping it is the former.

 

[Koma66]

Sorry that the water lock doesn't work on the Ultra. This is because the water resistance rating on the Ultra is different to previous watches, so I needed to change the code. I have done this and it is fixed in the version that is currently being beta tested.

However I am holding fire on releasing the beta to the App Store until I have worked around the problem where rebooting the watch stops the action button from working. I have contacted Apple so hopefully they will tell me what I am doing wrong, or will fix it if it is a bug in watchOS. I am hoping it is the former.

No worries you can't know in advance what apple will do

Thanks for the quick reply ! Happy to know I wasn't crazy and it's actually already fixed in the next release

 

[longdizzle]

This is difficult to answer because there are so many variables. For distance (and average pace) the app defaults to Apple's calibrated distances because they are consistent and will work anywhere (even in tunnels etc). However they do rely on the calibration being good (which it usually is) and can occasionally struggle over very rough terrain where your stride length is inconsistent (although this is much rarer than might be expected).

The Ultra has a better GPS than previous watches because it is dual band and possibly also because it uses its own GPS even when a phone is connected. However it doesn't matter how good your GPS is if you are in a tunnel. So, as I say, it depends on the situation.

In terms of the current pace (not average pace, which is dependent upon distance) then the Pedometer has been the best in the past, and that is therefore the default. However it may be that the Health option is better for running now because that uses the new Running Pace metric in watchOS 9. However I haven't had enough feedback on that yet, so the app will continue to default to the Pedometer. The GPS option is definitely the worst and should only be used if necessary.

Hope that helps.

FWIW, I played around with the health pace and pedometer pace and here are some observations running on the same route that's pretty hilly.
1) The health pace seems to update more often than pedometer pace throughout. Unsure if it's just updating on the screen more often or if it actually is.
2) The health pace starts to slow down when I go uphill right at the start of the hill whereas the pedometer pace seems to have a bit of a lag. Likewise going downhill.
Not sure which is more accurate, but if I think I'll keep it on health for now since I try to use current pace to as quick feedback so even if it's slightly less accurate, the quicker refresh is more useful. Curious to see what others noticed.

 

[jon08]

@cfc
Ah, I see - looks like I was just below 10% on these hikes so the note didn’t appear.

Nope - double tapping in the upper area (where the clock is) during the workout doesn’t bring the battery %.

PS: I’m using the L layout (hiking), 2nd smallest font.

 

[cfc]

FWIW, I played around with the health pace and pedometer pace and here are some observations running on the same route that's pretty hilly.
1) The health pace seems to update more often than pedometer pace throughout. Unsure if it's just updating on the screen more often or if it actually is.
2) The health pace starts to slow down when I go uphill right at the start of the hill whereas the pedometer pace seems to have a bit of a lag. Likewise going downhill.
Not sure which is more accurate, but if I think I'll keep it on health for now since I try to use current pace to as quick feedback so even if it's slightly less accurate, the quicker refresh is more useful. Curious to see what others noticed.

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds promising for the health pace (i.e. the new Running pace metric in watchOS 9).

 

[cfc]

@cfc
Ah, I see - looks like I was just below 10% on these hikes so the note didn’t appear.

Nope - double tapping in the upper area (where the clock is) during the workout doesn’t bring the battery %.

PS: I’m using the L layout (hiking), 2nd smallest font.

The L layouts have never shown the battery level, because there isn't room. They are only available for the standard layout or with a full screen map.

 

[EsbenMF]

I may add gear tracking into WorkOutDoors at some time in the future, but it seems like something which should take into account all workouts stored in Apple's Health system, so that it works when using several different workout creation apps.

I recommend using HealthFit, which provides loads of workout analysis functions, including gear tracking. It is mainly known for its ability to automatically upload workouts to many different systems, but it actually offers a lot more than that.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/healthfit/id1202650514?mt=8

+1 on the equipment tracking

 

[Richo5]

I've been getting some strange behaviour with elevation that I'm trying to understand. I recently got an Apple watch Ultra (having used WorkOutDoors on a AW6 and an AW2 before that) and noticed some strange elevation profiles on some of my runs.

If you look at the screenshot the profile has these odd dips in elevation. I've sort of assumed that it was an issue with the watch but on further investigation, I'm not entirely convinced it is not an issue with WOD.

When I look at the same workout in Fitness and in Strava these odd dips are not present.

The gain in the Fitness App is wrong (151m - should be ~30m) but aligns with what WOD has provided. The artificial dips are however not present.

If I look through my workouts I can see this occurring for the last two weeks.

Any ideas?

 

[Richo5]

I've been getting some strange behaviour with elevation that I'm trying to understand. I recently got an Apple watch Ultra (having used WorkOutDoors on a AW6 and an AW2 before that) and noticed some strange elevation profiles on some of my runs.

View attachment 2109243
If you look at the screenshot the profile has these odd dips in elevation. I've sort of assumed that it was an issue with the watch but on further investigation, I'm not entirely convinced it is not an issue with WOD.

When I look at the same workout in Fitness and in Strava these odd dips are not present.

View attachment 2109244View attachment 2109245

The gain in the Fitness App is wrong (151m - should be ~30m) but aligns with what WOD has provided. The artificial dips are however not present.

If I look through my workouts I can see this occurring for the last two weeks.

Any ideas?

So, I've been doing some more investigation and I can now see that the issue is with the the watch / phone and not WOD. If I look at the GPX or TCX I can see the dips in the raw data. It looks like both Apple and Strava are able to normalise the data based on the location (so presumably they ignore the elevation data provided and just use the map heights.

This is annoying because I can't think how I can demonstrate this to Apple to investigate when it looks 'normal' when looking at the results in the Fitness/Workout App.

My current theory is that the problem arrises when I carry my phone and the watch at the same time so will do some more runs with and without the phone and see if I can narrow it down. I have also set up a focus mode for workouts that automatically go to low power mode so I might try turning that off too.

Has anyone else seen this sort of issue?

 

[JohnTheBaton]

The L layouts have never shown the battery level, because there isn't room. They are only available for the standard layout or with a full screen map.

Actually, I’ve wished I could have the battery level on the L layouts for several years now. I’ve almost requested it in this forum several times. Now that the Apple Watch Ultra brings a larger screen size, I’m wondering if a battery level might fit at the top now? It sure looks like there is room for the standard size up there on my watch.

 

[Ktchua]

Hi, I'm new and found this forum and just got AW Ultra hoping to replace my Garmins. Thank god for WOD else I'd have given up on the watch.

Is it possible to add the feature to have the screen to stay on instead showing just time when wrist is down? Seems only native Apple App can do that.

Is it possible to have more than 2 BT devices to be connected with WOD? If I have a Garmin vector power meter that can emit power and cadence is that considered one or two devices?

 

[cfc]

So, I've been doing some more investigation and I can now see that the issue is with the the watch / phone and not WOD. If I look at the GPX or TCX I can see the dips in the raw data. It looks like both Apple and Strava are able to normalise the data based on the location (so presumably they ignore the elevation data provided and just use the map heights.

This is annoying because I can't think how I can demonstrate this to Apple to investigate when it looks 'normal' when looking at the results in the Fitness/Workout App.

My current theory is that the problem arrises when I carry my phone and the watch at the same time so will do some more runs with and without the phone and see if I can narrow it down. I have also set up a focus mode for workouts that automatically go to low power mode so I might try turning that off too.

Has anyone else seen this sort of issue?

Someone else had the same problem last week. My suspicion is the app's use of the always on altimeter, so I suggest switching that off in the app's settings. To do this go to the Other Settings on the iPhone app or the More settings on the watch app.

It seems that the elevation returned by the always on altimeter is jumping up suddenly, then remaining at the new value for a while and then jumping back down again. I have heard of similar similar effects in Apple's native Compass app.

Apple do not reveal much about how the always on altimeter works, but they do mention the use of local WiFi networks (https://www.apple.com/uk/newsroom/2...eakthrough-wellness-and-fitness-capabilities/). This makes me wonder if an incorrect elevation for a WiFi router is causing issues. However there were no nearby WiFi networks for the other user, so I wondered if cell towers could explain it as the watch went in and out of range. Although it could just be that their algorithm just reassess and suddenly changes for some reason.

In any case switching off the use of the always on altimeter should help. There is a bug in the way app uses it anyway, which I have fixed in the next version, but that does not explain this. I have also made the use of always on altimeter default to being off in the next version because of these issues. The app was working fine when using the barometer, so I probably shouldn't have switched it to using the altimeter by default. If it ain't broke...

 

[cfc]

Actually, I’ve wished I could have the battery level on the L layouts for several years now. I’ve almost requested it in this forum several times. Now that the Apple Watch Ultra brings a larger screen size, I’m wondering if a battery level might fit at the top now? It sure looks like there is room for the standard size up there on my watch.

I don't think anyone has asked for that before. I will consider it in the future but in the meantime you could configure the screen to show the battery level as one of the metrics on the L layout.

 

[TheMixam]

+1 on the equipment tracking

Another +1 although for now I just edit the workout name, eg: "Saturday Afternoon Run (Ghost 14)". Then I use the filter 'Name Contains: Ghost 14' and 'Group By: Activity Type' to see the total mileage of my Ghost 14's.

 

[MaxSto]

Actually, I’ve wished I could have the battery level on the L layouts for several years now. I’ve almost requested it in this forum several times. Now that the Apple Watch Ultra brings a larger screen size, I’m wondering if a battery level might fit at the top now? It sure looks like there is room for the standard size up there on my watch.

Why don’t you just put in the battery level in the upper left corner like in the screenshot below?

 

[cfc]

Hi, I'm new and found this forum and just got AW Ultra hoping to replace my Garmins. Thank god for WOD else I'd have given up on the watch.

Is it possible to add the feature to have the screen to stay on instead showing just time when wrist is down? Seems only native Apple App can do that.

Is it possible to have more than 2 BT devices to be connected with WOD? If I have a Garmin vector power meter that can emit power and cadence is that considered one or two devices?

The Always on Display won't be in the app for a while because it will be a lot of work. Sorry about that. Updating the screen when inactive requires Apple's latest coding language (known as SwiftUI). This appeared long after WorkOutDoors was first released, so the app does not use it.

However it is top of my list of features to add so I plan to rewrite the app to use SwiftUI. It will take several months though, probably as a background task whilst working on other features.

In terms of the BT devices, this is a limitation of watchOS across all third party apps. So for example if another app is connected to a BT device then only 1 connection remains available to WOD. A power meter that provides both power and cadence only counts as one device.

Note that BT devices connected to watchOS do not count, so AirPods are fine, and any HR sensor that is connected to watchOS would not count (although it will automatically be used by WOD). So you can connect 3 devices if one of them is an HRM connected to watchOS.

 

[cfc]

Another +1 although for now I just edit the workout name, eg: "Saturday Afternoon Run (Ghost 14)". Then I use the filter 'Name Contains: Ghost 14' and 'Group By: Activity Type' to see the total mileage of my Ghost 14's.

I will probably add gear tracking at some time but I feel that it should be tracked across all workout apps and not just WOD.

For this reason (and many others!) I recommend using the HealthFit app, which allows you to track gear across workouts created by any app. This is because it allows you to associate gear with any workout that is saved in Apple's Health system, and not just those workouts created by WOD:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/healthfit/id1202650514?mt=8

 

[leescottdavis]

I will probably add gear tracking at some time but I feel that it should be tracked across all workout apps and not just WOD.

For this reason (and many others!) I recommend using the HealthFit app, which allows you to track gear across workouts created by any app. This is because it allows you to associate gear with any workout that is saved in Apple's Health system, and not just those workouts created by WOD:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/healthfit/id1202650514?mt=8

Agree. For easy runs I often use the Apple Workout app and the Time to Run audio workouts. I prefer to track shoes in Healthfit

 

[leescottdavis]

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds promising for the health pace (i.e. the new Running pace metric in watchOS 9).

Does this mean Health Pace is the preferred option?

 

[cfc]

Does this mean Health Pace is the preferred option?

I think it's too early to tell, but it sounds promising.

 

[JohnTheBaton]

Why don’t you just put in the battery level in the upper left corner like in the screenshot below?

That’s what I do; I would just like to be able to free this space up for another metric. =) I hike in rain and cold weather a fair bit, so I usually have the touchscreen disabled (gloves, jackets, rain droplets all cause problems with using the touchscreen for me). This means I need to fit all of my important hiking metrics into a single L-shaped screen.

Also, one of the hallmarks of this app is near-infinite data field customization. Giving the option to include the battery meter in the top-center of the map on L-shaped screens for the larger Apple Watch models such as the Ultra would be yet another user-customizable parameter (and a welcome one!).

 

[cfc]

That’s what I do; I would just like to be able to free this space up for another metric. =) I hike in rain and cold weather a fair bit, so I usually have the touchscreen disabled (gloves, jackets, rain droplets all cause problems with using the touchscreen for me). This means I need to fit all of my important hiking metrics into a since L-shaped screen.

Also, one of the hallmarks of this app is near-infinite data field customization. Giving the option to include the battery meter in the top-center of the map on L-shaped screens for the larger Apple Watch models such as the Ultra would be yet another user-customizable parameter (and a welcome one!).

Whilst it may look like there is space there, that isn't always the case. For example if sensors are connected then there are 1 or 2 sensor connection icons that appear in the top middle of the map. There is room for them next to the battery icon when the map is full width but not in the L layout.

Also yesterday I added a little lock icon for when the screen lock is on, and that appears in the top left of the map.

I could probably use a set of priorities where the battery is shown if none of the others are present, but I am not planning to change that in the near future because I suspect I will be rewriting a lot of that code in order to use the Always on Display. However when I do that then I will bear all this in mind.

 

[JohnTheBaton]

Whilst it may look like there is space there, that isn't always the case. For example if sensors are connected then there are 1 or 2 sensor connection icons that appear in the top middle of the map. There is room for them next to the battery icon when the map is full width but not in the L layout.

Also yesterday I added a little lock icon for when the screen lock is on, and that appears in the top left of the map.

I could probably use a set of priorities where the battery is shown if none of the others are present, but I am not planning to change that in the near future because I suspect I will be rewriting a lot of that code in order to use the Always on Display. However when I do that then I will bear all this in mind.

As always, thank you for the thoughtful and detailed reply! I hadn’t thought about how the sensor icons might affect that space (I don’t use external sensors).