Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[cfc]

Can you still share tcx file from WOD to RunGap? I can’t. It doesn’t show on suggestions menu either. I’m sure I exported with WOD version 4/iOS 13 so I think some iOS 13.1.1 or .2 update broke this. I’m on 13.1.2 and WOD is version 4.09.
Those who have RunGap installed, is export still working for you?

Exporting from all apps is randomly broken on iOS 13. Myself and many other developers have been telling Apple about it since June but they haven't fixed it, even in the latest 13.2 beta.

The problem seems to be dependent upon what apps you have that accept the same type of file, and the order in which those apps were installed. For example if you uninstall every other app which accepts TCX files then it would probably fix it. The same is true for GPX files, but please do not uninstall WorkOutDoors without backing up the data first!

This is the reason that I added an Import button to the latest version, because WorkOutDoors sometimes does not appear as an option when sharing a GPX file, so the import button provides a workaround. However even that does not work for some users because of the iOS bug.

From a developer's point of view iOS 13 the worst version of iOS I have experienced, and I have seen them all! And watchOS 6 is just as bad - I found a major bug with that recently which affects the app (and probably most other watch apps).

Apologies for the rant!

 

[avkam]

Thanks again. Hope they fix this. ..and all the other things (13).

 

[avkam]

That worked. I removed Cyclemeter which I don’t use anymore. RunGap is back. Thanks!

 

[Wando64]

Is there any way on this app to make the high HR alert persistent?
By persistent I mean an alert (both haptic and audio) that repeats until the HR falls back within the normal limits.

 

[cfc]

Is there any way on this app to make the high HR alert persistent?
By persistent I mean an alert (both haptic and audio) that repeats until the HR falls back within the normal limits.

No-one has asked for this but it sounds a good idea. It would probably involve a configurable interval. I will add it to the To Do list.

 

[Wando64]

No-one has asked for this but it sounds a good idea. It would probably involve a configurable interval. I will add it to the To Do list.

Amazing, thank you. I used to have this on my Polar HR monitor and I am missing it.

 

[NME42]

So my AW5 Cellular arrived on Friday and did my first run with WOD yesterday. Well, what can I say? I am very impressed with the functionality, excellent.

What did not impress me coming from a Garmin 945 is the GPS track quality. To say the least, this was lousy. Erratic curves and the total distance was 10% off.

As this was my first GPS tracked activity, I most probably did a lot of things wrong.

What did I do? I started the run with a red GPS indicator which was probably very bad. My iPhone and my home WiFi were both in reach but did not take iPhone with me. I've paused mid run and sent an iMessage to test this. I listened to a podcast.

For my next run (unfortunately I am currently suffering a plantar fasciitis injury and running works but aftermath is horrible so I am not sure when this will be), what can I do better? A first time calibration with no phone or Wifi in reach or so?

Please help me, would appreciate this.

 

[cfc]

So my AW5 Cellular arrived on Friday and did my first run with WOD yesterday. Well, what can I say? I am very impressed with the functionality, excellent.

What did not impress me coming from a Garmin 945 is the GPS track quality. To say the least, this was lousy. Erratic curves and the total distance was 10% off.

As this was my first GPS tracked activity, I most probably did a lot of things wrong.

What did I do? I started the run with a red GPS indicator which was probably very bad. My iPhone and my home WiFi were both in reach but did not take iPhone with me. I've paused mid run and sent an iMessage to test this. I listened to a podcast.

For my next run (unfortunately I am currently suffering a plantar fasciitis injury and running works but aftermath is horrible so I am not sure when this will be), what can I do better? A first time calibration with no phone or Wifi in reach or so?

Please help me, would appreciate this.

Thanks for buying the app. I am glad you like it apart from the GPS issues.

There are two reasons why you probably got a poor GPS track. The first, as you guessed, was to not wait for a good signal before starting. It becomes harder to get a lock when you are moving so it is recommended that you wait until 4 or preferably 5 blue bars before starting.

However I imagine it was the second reason that caused the issues. This is due to what I consider to be a design flaw by Apple. They have made it so that the watch will always use the iPhone GPS if the phone is connected, and there is nothing any app can do about this.

The problem comes when you start the workout whilst connected and then leave the iPhone behind. This means that the watch uses the static position of the phone until it gets out of range, when it will switch to using the watch GPS. The switch is usually seamless but it can sometimes cause problems and take a while.

The best way to avoid this is to switch off the iPhone before you start the workout (remembering to wait for 5 blue bars). This will force the watch to use its own GPS, which is often better than the phone. Some people even report that wearing the watch upside down can improve the signal further because the GPS receiver is then at the top.

Also watchOS 6 and iOS 13 are currently both very buggy, so don't be surprised if things improve over the next few weeks as more reliable updates are released.

I hope that helps when you next run (and I hope your feet recover quickly after this one!).

 

[Monkswhiskers]

So my AW5 Cellular arrived on Friday and did my first run with WOD yesterday. Well, what can I say? I am very impressed with the functionality, excellent.

What did not impress me coming from a Garmin 945 is the GPS track quality. To say the least, this was lousy. Erratic curves and the total distance was 10% off.

As this was my first GPS tracked activity, I most probably did a lot of things wrong.

What did I do? I started the run with a red GPS indicator which was probably very bad. My iPhone and my home WiFi were both in reach but did not take iPhone with me. I've paused mid run and sent an iMessage to test this. I listened to a podcast.

For my next run (unfortunately I am currently suffering a plantar fasciitis injury and running works but aftermath is horrible so I am not sure when this will be), what can I do better? A first time calibration with no phone or Wifi in reach or so?

Please help me, would appreciate this.

I had dreadful accuracy in the first week of owning my AW3, 30% out! I was going to send it back but things improved. I now have an AW4 and get very consistent distances from my regular 10K route, less than 1% variance. This route includes tree cover a few short hills a banked river trail and electricity pylons.

 

[NME42]

Thanks, Ian! Hope my questions are not too dumb. I have plenty of experience with Garmin products but just two days now with an Apple watch.

Just to ask some more:

1) When I started my run yesterday, my iPhone was about 10m away. So it was pretty useless standing outside the house waiting for a better GPS lock as the iPhone was not moving?

2) Is switching off the iPhone necessary or does a flight mode not enough?

3) When iPhone is switched off, doesn't my AW cellular lose some functionality? Not sure about this yet what is possible with a switched off iPhone and what is not.

4) I saw a YT video yesterday where the guy proposed resetting the calibration data. Is this useful or not? My idea was to perform a run without anything connected and let the accelerometer calibrate.

Thanks for your patience, appreciate it.

 

[NME42]

I had dreadful accuracy in the first week of owning my AW3, 30% out! I was going to send it back but things improved. I now have an AW4 and get very consistent distances from my regular 10K route, less than 1% variance. This route includes tree cover a few short hills a banked river trail and electricity pylons.

Ok, this sounds good. Hope it improves. What makes me wonder are the following very ugly recordings.
Tree cover was very light, btw. Two examples:

1) Left is my way back on the route where the track is quite good, right is the track on the first half which is very ugly:

2) I was running along a road with almost no tree cover and the track was horrible, right after I paused and resumed:

 

[user1234]

Thanks, Ian! Hope my questions are not too dumb. I have plenty of experience with Garmin products but just two days now with an Apple watch.

Just to ask some more:

1) When I started my run yesterday, my iPhone was about 10m away. So it was pretty useless standing outside the house waiting for a better GPS lock as the iPhone was not moving?

2) Is switching off the iPhone necessary or does a flight mode not enough?

3) When iPhone is switched off, doesn't my AW cellular lose some functionality? Not sure about this yet what is possible with a switched off iPhone and what is not.

4) I saw a YT video yesterday where the guy proposed resetting the calibration data. Is this useful or not? My idea was to perform a run without anything connected and let the accelerometer calibrate.

Thanks for your patience, appreciate it.

I can answer the second one. It's enough to turn off Bluetooth on the phone, or just put the watch in airplane mode. A wifi only watch will loose all connectivity doing either unless you have a wifi network within range and wifi on. Airplane mode on the phone works too.

 

[avkam]

I can answer the second one. It's enough to turn off Bluetooth on the phone, or just put the watch in airplane mode. A wifi only watch will loose all connectivity doing either unless you have a wifi network within range and wifi on. Airplane mode on the phone works too.

You should notice that iOS 13 behaves little different:

Use Airplane Mode on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro - Apple Support

You can use Airplane Mode to turn off the wireless features on your device while you're flying in an airplane.

support.apple.com

Airplane doesn't work like iOS 12 anymore.

---

Those NME42 posted GPS tracks are not normal. If something, Apple normally smooths tracks too much, but nothing like that I have ever seen. If that doesn't change, you may have to return your AW and get a new one.

 

[NME42]

I can answer the second one. It's enough to turn off Bluetooth on the phone, or just put the watch in airplane mode. A wifi only watch will loose all connectivity doing either unless you have a wifi network within range and wifi on. Airplane mode on the phone works too.

thanks. So I‘ll switch off BT on my phone before starting the next run. Or do I also have to switch off WiFi on the AW also?

 

[Monkswhiskers]

You should notice that iOS 13 behaves little different:

Use Airplane Mode on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro - Apple Support

You can use Airplane Mode to turn off the wireless features on your device while you're flying in an airplane.

support.apple.com

Airplane doesn't work like iOS 12 anymore.

---

Those NME42 posted GPS tracks are not normal. If something, Apple normally smooths tracks too much, but nothing like that I have ever seen. If that doesn't change, you may have to return your AW and get a new one.

I think you only get the swooshing/over smoothing if you use the native app not with WOD/Strava etc. But no, this doesn't look right? I wear it upside down (crown bottom left), that may help. I find gps can have good days and bad, even on clear sunny weather. When I had problems with my Garmin their support said you must update the firmware at least every two weeks to get the latest satellite trajectories. It might be the case that the accuracy of a new AW needs time to -> learn your accelerometer data/build a satellite cache. And yes sometimes it can throw a wobbler when near my phone so I walk away from the house for about 100m before starting my run.

 

[NME42]

It might be the case that the accuracy of a new AW needs time to -> learn your accelerometer data/build a satellite cache.

Yes, true. In Garmin speech they called this "GPS soaking". Maybe I will give this a try. Their recommended procedure was to go outside, lay it on the ground with good reception and start a run and let the watch read satellite data for about 20 minutes.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

Yes, true. In Garmin speech they called this "GPS soaking". Maybe I will give this a try. Their recommended procedure was to go outside, lay it on the ground with good reception and start a run and let the watch read satellite data for about 20 minutes.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Significant1]

thanks. So I‘ll switch off BT on my phone before starting the next run. Or do I also have to switch off WiFi on the AW also?

Remember to do in settings. Doing it in control center is not enough. It will only disconnect all bluetooth connected devices except Apple Watch. In ios 13 you can navigate to bluetooth settings through control center by 3d/long press.

 

[NME42]

Let us know how you get on.

yes, will do. Thanks all for your help.
It is raining cats and dogs here. Will not put my beautiful new toy outside in these conditions;-)

 

[PBz]

This may have been asked but during a workout can the screen be on the entire workout? I have AOD & raise wrist to wake enabled and had to raise wrist to see exercise metrics.

 

[philipp_chris]

3rd party apps can’t use the AOD

 

[cfc]

Thanks, Ian! Hope my questions are not too dumb. I have plenty of experience with Garmin products but just two days now with an Apple watch.

Just to ask some more:

1) When I started my run yesterday, my iPhone was about 10m away. So it was pretty useless standing outside the house waiting for a better GPS lock as the iPhone was not moving?

2) Is switching off the iPhone necessary or does a flight mode not enough?

3) When iPhone is switched off, doesn't my AW cellular lose some functionality? Not sure about this yet what is possible with a switched off iPhone and what is not.

4) I saw a YT video yesterday where the guy proposed resetting the calibration data. Is this useful or not? My idea was to perform a run without anything connected and let the accelerometer calibrate.

Thanks for your patience, appreciate it.

1) That's correct. I wish Apple would give apps more control over which device to get the GPS from.

2) As others have said there are various ways to disconnect the iPhone. However beware that some methods that you think would work still allow the iPhone GPS to be used. For example when I last checked switching the bluetooth off on the phone worked but switching it off on the watch did not!

3) I think there are some restrictions when the paired iPhone is switched off (regardless of where it is). For instance I think that the iPhone needs to be switched on for the watch to receive SMS messages (iMessages are fine).

4) Resetting the calibration data will not improve your GPS accuracy (as far as I know), but it can be very useful with the distance accuracy. Unfortunately I do not know if watchOS calibrates whilst using 3rd party apps like WorkOutDoors or if it requires you to be using the native Workout app. I have heard conflicting views on that.

 

[cfc]

3rd party apps can’t use the AOD

This is correct. Hopefully Apple will allow it in the future, with developers having a chance to opt-in after modifying their apps accordingly.

 

[philipp_chris]

2) As others have said there are various ways to disconnect the iPhone. However beware that some methods that you think would work still allow the iPhone GPS to be used. For example when I last checked switching the bluetooth off on the phone worked but switching it off on the watch did not!

I noticed that since OS6 the watch seams to detect the disconnected phone faster.

Best is to check if you can still ping your phone to make sure you are really disconnected. Switching off BT via settings is my method of choice.

 

[user1234]

You should notice that iOS 13 behaves little different:

Use Airplane Mode on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro - Apple Support

You can use Airplane Mode to turn off the wireless features on your device while you're flying in an airplane.

support.apple.com

Airplane doesn't work like iOS 12 anymore.

---

Those NME42 posted GPS tracks are not normal. If something, Apple normally smooths tracks too much, but nothing like that I have ever seen. If that doesn't change, you may have to return your AW and get a new one.

Wait, what exactly is different? The behavior described is exactly how it worked for me in iOS 12