Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[cfc]

View attachment 2241481 Can I ask, why are my GPS tracks all jagged like a drunk man all over the place? Fine with the workouts app but any third party app including WOD all the same. Using AW8 with Watch GPS

Third party apps like WOD store the raw positions as reported by watchOS to the app whereas Apple's native app seems to smooth the trail after the workout.

It doesn't make much different in terms of distance/pace etc because the smoothing happens after the workout and because those metrics come from the pedometer in Apple's app.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

Had a bit of a glitch While I was on an open water swim the other day. After I'd set off I noticed it wasn't showing any distance at all, it's tricky once in deep water to try to negotiate anything on the watch so I waited until the end and finished the recording and it had indeed been registering the distance just not on the screen during the activity.
Now I am on the public watchos10 beta so I fully take responsibility for 'testing' lol. Just thought I'd let you know.
p.s I did not have my phone anywhere near (Series 7).

 

[cfc]

Had a bit of a glitch While I was on an open water swim the other day. After I'd set off I noticed it wasn't showing any distance at all, it's tricky once in deep water to try to negotiate anything on the watch so I waited until the end and finished the recording and it had indeed been registering the distance just not on the screen during the activity.
Now I am on the public watchos10 beta so I fully take responsibility for 'testing' lol. Just thought I'd let you know.
p.s I did not have my phone anywhere near (Series 7).

Apple's swimming distance estimates can arrive at the app at random times, so nothing can be shown for a while and then it catches up, and then no updates again.

It's worth checking that all the health permissions are enabled for WOD, as the swimming distance permission may not be enabled.

 

[JBinPDX]

I have a question about flights or floors. This morning I walked my dog up a hill and back down again. The elevation gain was about 385 feet, with most of that in the first mile. My watch and phone both recorded a total of 6 floors. WOD reported 39 floors up and 37 floor down.

In the Health app, Apple says that a flight of stairs is counted as approximately 10 feet of elevation gain. That would put WOD as closer to the "truth". I'm used to having a difference between what's shown in WOD and what's reported in Health, but not to this extent. I'm wondering why this particular walk showed such a discrepancy?

 

[cfc]

I have a question about flights or floors. This morning I walked my dog up a hill and back down again. The elevation gain was about 385 feet, with most of that in the first mile. My watch and phone both recorded a total of 6 floors. WOD reported 39 floors up and 37 floor down.

In the Health app, Apple says that a flight of stairs is counted as approximately 10 feet of elevation gain. That would put WOD as closer to the "truth". I'm used to having a difference between what's shown in WOD and what's reported in Health, but not to this extent. I'm wondering why this particular walk showed such a discrepancy?

View attachment 2242890 View attachment 2242891

That is interesting. People rarely ask about floors. WOD saves elevation information to Apple's Health system, and I assumed that Apple would then calculate floors from that (like WOD does), but it looks like they don't.

The app may need to specifically save floor data. I will look into that at some time. It would mean the app asking the user for permission to store floors so I don't want to do it unless there is a need to ask for other permissions. Luckily watchOS 10 will require several new permissions for the cycling sensors so I will try to add it in the version I release after watchOS 10 is out.

 

[leescottdavis]

@cfc Does the Stryd calibration work in the 5.0 version? My treadmill always reports slightly longer distances than my watch. In the Stryd app, I adjust to 1.014, and in the old WOD, I used the same, and it was a perfect match to my treadmill. In the new version, it always seems to be consistently out, even when I have amended the calibration from 1.000 to 1.014, 1.030, and 1.050.

It is definitely set for Pace / Distance to come from Stryd. Any ideas?

PS. New look in the beta looks good BTW.

 

[javataco]

@cfc Does the Stryd calibration work in the 5.0 version? My treadmill always reports slightly longer distances than my watch. In the Stryd app, I adjust to 1.014, and in the old WOD, I used the same, and it was a perfect match to my treadmill. In the new version, it always seems to be consistently out, even when I have amended the calibration from 1.000 to 1.014, 1.030, and 1.050.

It is definitely set for Pace / Distance to come from Stryd. Any ideas?

PS. New look in the beta looks good BTW.

Out of curiosity why do you think your treadmill is correct and your Stryd isn’t? I thought people generally say the Stryd is more accurate.

 

[cfc]

@cfc Does the Stryd calibration work in the 5.0 version? My treadmill always reports slightly longer distances than my watch. In the Stryd app, I adjust to 1.014, and in the old WOD, I used the same, and it was a perfect match to my treadmill. In the new version, it always seems to be consistently out, even when I have amended the calibration from 1.000 to 1.014, 1.030, and 1.050.

It is definitely set for Pace / Distance to come from Stryd. Any ideas?

PS. New look in the beta looks good BTW.

No-one has reported any issues with sensor calibration, and I don't think I have changed that area of the code in this new version. However it is always possible that I have broken it somehow in the beta.

Please could you send the wkt file to info@workoutdoors.net? To do this tap the Export button 3 times quickly.

 

[leescottdavis]

Out of curiosity why do you think your treadmill is correct and your Stryd isn’t? I thought people generally say the Stryd is more accurate.

It's a good question. When I run with my Stryd outside, I know it is very accurate. When I first bought a treadmill and found the discrepancy, I spent an hour measuring the treadmill belt, and I'm confident it is accurate too. Stryds reporting short distances on a treadmill is a common problem, particularly for slower runners. That's all I can go on.

 

[JBinPDX]

That is interesting. People rarely ask about floors. WOD saves elevation information to Apple's Health system, and I assumed that Apple would then calculate floors from that (like WOD does), but it looks like they don't.

I assume that it would have to take into account rise/run — ie slope. If I climbed 380 feet over 1/2 mile, that would be more significant than over 5 miles. I wouldn’t expect the latter to show any floors. My walk yesterday felt subjectively like more than 6 floors, but definitely less than 37.

Thanks for looking into this. Really love this app and recommend it to everyone.

 

[cfc]

I assume that it would have to take into account rise/run — ie slope. If I climbed 380 feet over 1/2 mile, that would be more significant than over 5 miles. I wouldn’t expect the latter to show any floors. My walk yesterday felt subjectively like more than 6 floors, but definitely less than 37.

Thanks for looking into this. Really love this app and recommend it to everyone.

The way WOD calculates floor ascended is simply to divide the ascent by 10ft. It doesn't do anything clever like only counting a floor if you have ascended 10ft in a short period without descending. I don't know if other apps do that sort of thing.

 

[FHayek]

Another question: when running or really any sport, is there a way to program WOD to automatically stop when you get "back to your starting place"?

 

[cfc]

Another question: when running or really any sport, is there a way to program WOD to automatically stop when you get "back to your starting place"?

Yes, there is a Back to Start alert which can be configured to automatically end the workout.

 

[oboe5150]

Hiall. Long time user with a quick watchOS 10 (beta) + WOD beta update:
WOD beta is working nicely with the action button and long press menus.
I for one love the AOD for the activities i mainly do and it works nicely. The changes to the screen displays and some of the menus are great and something as simple as how you've implemented the pause/restart makes such a difference from a usability perspective.

Once question, have you got the HR lock working as the workout commences? I notice the HR at the top of the screen, is that given the current reading only or demonstrating WOD has the HR already?

thanks
OW

 

[cfc]

Hiall. Long time user with a quick watchOS 10 (beta) + WOD beta update:
WOD beta is working nicely with the action button and long press menus.
I for one love the AOD for the activities i mainly do and it works nicely. The changes to the screen displays and some of the menus are great and something as simple as how you've implemented the pause/restart makes such a difference from a usability perspective.

Once question, have you got the HR lock working as the workout commences? I notice the HR at the top of the screen, is that given the current reading only or demonstrating WOD has the HR already?

thanks
OW

The HR is now shown at the top if you use the 3 dots to start a workout. If an HR value is shown on a dark red background then it is the current reading and the watch has got a lock, otherwise it shows 3 dashes on a brighter red background. So you can go to the Open Workout screen (or the Fixed Length or Interval Schedule screens) and wait for an HR lock (and a GPS lock) before starting.

Glad the beta is working well. Thanks for testing it!

 

[BrianGGG]

Hello. Today was the first day I tried the latest beta with an interval.

Unfortunately, when I had all four buttons on for precision start my interval was completely non functional. It ignored the interval-level screens and did not announce the interval.

When I turned off all four Startup options everything was normal.

I do wish I could get a description of all four startup buttons as the text description is cut off in the setup screen.

Let me know if I need to provide more details.

 

[FHayek]

Yes, there is a Back to Start alert which can be configured to automatically end the workout.

Thank you. I found the screen to do this. Very cool.

 

[cfc]

Hello. Today was the first day I tried the latest beta with an interval.

Unfortunately, when I had all four buttons on for precision start my interval was completely non functional. It ignored the interval-level screens and did not announce the interval.

When I turned off all four Startup options everything was normal.

I do wish I could get a description of all four startup buttons as the text description is cut off in the setup screen.

Let me know if I need to provide more details.

Someone else mentioned problems with intervals so it is on my list to investigate.

Which setup screen is cut-off? Is it the phone settings or the watch settings? And which device do you have?

In terms of the 4 options:

Precision Start (defaults to off): Displays a screen with a big green start button when the user selects an activity on the main menu. They can then wait for HR and GPS locks before either tapping the green button or, if they have an ultra, pressing the action button.

Precision Start via Action Button (defaults to off): As above but controls whether to display the start screen when you start a workout by using the action button.

Precision Start if using Sensors (defaults to on): As above but displays the start screen if any external Bluetooth sensors have been configured, so that you can wait for them all to connect.

Sensor Auto-Start (defaults to on): The workout will automatically start when all the Bluetooth sensors are connected.

Note that these settings and the start screen will probably change in the next version that supports watchOS 10. This is because that version will allow for cycling sensors via watchOS instead of via Bluetooth, so I may need to change things to accommodate that. I am tempted to treat GPS and HR as if they were external sensors and display all the sensors in a similar way instead of the current difference between watch sensors and Bluetooth sensors, but that is yet to be decided.

 

[BrianGGG]

Someone else mentioned problems with intervals so it is on my list to investigate.

Which setup screen is cut-off? Is it the phone settings or the watch settings? And which device do you have?

In terms of the 4 options:

Precision Start (defaults to off): Displays a screen with a big green start button when the user selects an activity on the main menu. They can then wait for HR and GPS locks before either tapping the green button or, if they have an ultra, pressing the action button.

Precision Start via Action Button (defaults to off): As above but controls whether to display the start screen when you start a workout by using the action button.

Precision Start if using Sensors (defaults to on): As above but displays the start screen if any external Bluetooth sensors have been configured, so that you can wait for them all to connect.

Sensor Auto-Start (defaults to on): The workout will automatically start when all the Bluetooth sensors are connected.

Note that these settings and the start screen will probably change in the next version that supports watchOS 10. This is because that version will allow for cycling sensors via watchOS instead of via Bluetooth, so I may need to change things to accommodate that. I am tempted to treat GPS and HR as if they were external sensors and display all the sensors in a similar way instead of the current difference between watch sensors and Bluetooth sensors, but that is yet to be decided.

Thanks for looking at this.

I have attached a screenshot of the screen that is cut off. This is on an iphone (not on Apple Watch) and I have an iPhone 14.

 

[cfc]

Thanks for looking at this.

I have attached a screenshot of the screen that is cut off. This is on an iphone (not on Apple Watch) and I have an iPhone 14.

Do you maybe have the accessibility settings set to larger than normal text? That can cause truncation like that.

 

[stefansjo]

Someone else mentioned problems with intervals so it is on my list to investigate.

Which setup screen is cut-off? Is it the phone settings or the watch settings? And which device do you have?

In terms of the 4 options:

Precision Start (defaults to off): Displays a screen with a big green start button when the user selects an activity on the main menu. They can then wait for HR and GPS locks before either tapping the green button or, if they have an ultra, pressing the action button.

Precision Start via Action Button (defaults to off): As above but controls whether to display the start screen when you start a workout by using the action button.

Precision Start if using Sensors (defaults to on): As above but displays the start screen if any external Bluetooth sensors have been configured, so that you can wait for them all to connect.

Sensor Auto-Start (defaults to on): The workout will automatically start when all the Bluetooth sensors are connected.

Note that these settings and the start screen will probably change in the next version that supports watchOS 10. This is because that version will allow for cycling sensors via watchOS instead of via Bluetooth, so I may need to change things to accommodate that. I am tempted to treat GPS and HR as if they were external sensors and display all the sensors in a similar way instead of the current difference between watch sensors and Bluetooth sensors, but that is yet to be decided.

Run WatchOS 10 Beta 3 - change watch settings - if activate "Precision Start Menu" or "Precision Start if using Sensors" intervalls do not activate. If "Precision Start via Action Button" it works. All off it works.

 

[BullHorn]

Public betas 1-4 had serious issues with GPS/pace/elevation but since updating to beta 5 last night that seems resolved and working as intended.

 

[Frankie_r]

@cfc have you ever thought about replacing WOD font with Apple Watch OS font?

I think it has a better legibility.

 

[BrianGGG]

Do you maybe have the accessibility settings set to larger than normal text? That can cause truncation like that.

I don't have accessibility options for larger text, but I do have Larger Text for Display Zoom in Display and Brightness.
Shouldn't the app adapt to this?

 

[cfc]

I don't have accessibility options for larger text, but I do have Larger Text for Display Zoom in Display and Brightness.
Shouldn't the app adapt to this?

Yes, it should adapt to this. One of the many improvements that are low down on my to-do list. Sorry about that.