Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[NME42]

Just tried to import two GPX courses from my iCloud drive. Did not work, the icons are being displayed but tapping on them does nothing. Import via mail did work flawlessly. As I am new to WOD, I only imported a course once, but not sure if I did this via iCloud drive or mail.

iOS 13.2.

 

[cfc]

Just tried to import two GPX courses from my iCloud drive. Did not work, the icons are being displayed but tapping on them does nothing. Import via mail did work flawlessly. As I am new to WOD, I only imported a course once, but not sure if I did this via iCloud drive or mail.

iOS 13.2.

The GPX import problem is a bug in iOS 13 that myself and many other developers have been telling Apple about since June. It seems to be related to what other apps that accept GPX are installed and the order in which they were installed.

The bug was initially when sharing GPX files to the app, but when Apple broke that I added the Import button on the Routes tab as a workaround. However even that does not work for some people. In that situation the only workaround I know is to reinstall the other apps that appear in the list when sharing a GPX file (do not reinstall WorkOutDoors).

I realise that this is not viable for most users so I have changed the Import screen in the next version to allow any type of file to be imported, in the hope that works (it is difficult to know because the sharing and importing works for most users, including me).

Sorry about that. Hopefully Apple will fix the bug soon. iOS 13 and watchOS 6 are the worst versions I can remember of either operating system, and I have coded for all the versions of both of them!

 

[NME42]

Thanks for the thorough explanation. This is not a big issue as import via mail is working.

 

[digitalredeye]

The new version will hopefully be released next month.

Unfortunately Apple made no workout improvements in watchOS 6 at all from what I could tell from WWDC. This seems very strange given how important workouts are to the Apple Watch, so I think there is an outside chance that there will be software changes in September but they can't reveal them yet because they would give away hardware details about the watch.

As a result I am holding fire on supporting Stryd in case they do add support for it in a couple of months. For example if they extended sensor support to handle new types of sensors then that may be tied in to the addition of Ant+ to the hardware, which they probably wouldn't want to give away yet.

It's a very long shot and they probably won't change anything at all, but I have decided to wait until after the final release of watchOS 6 before adding Stryd support just in case. Sorry about that.

/

 

[cfc]

@cfc - Can you confirm/provide clarity please? Will we one day be able to use Workoutdoors and have the Stryd footpod send data into your app? Right now I use the Stryd app for running and use Workoutdoors for cycling. I would like to use Workoutdoors for all activities.

I plan to look into connecting to Stryd once I have released the next version (which will hopefully be very soon). If it is possible and also reliable then it will be in a future version.

Previously I was waiting to see if Apple would add native support to watchOS 6, but now that they haven't I will try to connect manually. I have the footpod and the Stryd developers were very helpful when I contacted them earlier this year, so hopefully it will be possible.

 

[hofster]

+1 for Stryd support

 

[NME42]

+1 for Stryd support

+1... And Milestonepod would also be great (or generic footpod, if this is possible).

 

[bbn26]

since ios 13.2 and watchos 6.1, after I save a workout on the watch, the sync of this workout to the mobile app is very slow. Sometimes it takes even 20-30 minutes for the workout to appear in the iphone app. Anyone seen something similar and is there any workaround like force closing the app or something? Keeping the app on the watch and the phone on doesn't seem to help in my case

 

[NME42]

Anyone seen something similar

No, just came back from a run and syncing was very fast.

 

[rbart]

since ios 13.2 and watchos 6.1, after I save a workout on the watch, the sync of this workout to the mobile app is very slow. Sometimes it takes even 20-30 minutes for the workout to appear in the iphone app. Anyone seen something similar and is there any workaround like force closing the app or something? Keeping the app on the watch and the phone on doesn't seem to help in my case

It occurs some times also for me.
It was the same with wOS 6.0 and ios 13.1, so I don't think it's related to OS versions.
Sometimes, sync between watch and iphone is very slow, without clear explanation.
I don't think the developer has a lot of possibilities to manage that, it's Apple internal cooking ...

 

[FunkyMagicUK]

since ios 13.2 and watchos 6.1, after I save a workout on the watch, the sync of this workout to the mobile app is very slow. Sometimes it takes even 20-30 minutes for the workout to appear in the iphone app. Anyone seen something similar and is there any workaround like force closing the app or something? Keeping the app on the watch and the phone on doesn't seem to help in my case

Ive had this and with previous watchOS and iOS too.

My workaround that syncs immediately without fail is...force close app on phone.

Open another activity app on the watch, I just open the regular Apple Workout app...start and end an activity of a few seconds duration (no workout gets created or saved in Health doing this so doesn’t mess up your records).

Open Workoutdoors on phone, open workoutdoors on Watch....activity is now synced to phone app.


(I do also notice that whilst the workout hasn’t appeared in the Workoutdoors app, it has (possibly every time) appeared immediately in the Health system).

 

[bbn26]

(I do also notice that whilst the workout hasn’t appeared in the Workoutdoors app, it has (possibly every time) appeared immediately in the Health system).

yes; same for me. It actually even gets sync'ed to HealthFit and in the end I could export it from there to Strava, but I prefer the WOD way, as it actually is much more precise in the end result ( I think it exports a TIFF file vs a GPX in the case of HealthFit)

Anyway, this app got to the point that it really has all my needs and works perfectly; I think it was the best money spent on an app ever. My only 1 request that is not yet met (but I don't think it can be done by a 3rd party app) would be to be able to start / stop from buttons, for race purposes

 

[FunkyMagicUK]

yes; same for me. It actually even gets sync'ed to HealthFit and in the end I could export it from there to Strava, but I prefer the WOD way, as it actually is much more precise in the end result ( I think it exports a TIFF file vs a GPX in the case of HealthFit)

Anyway, this app got to the point that it really has all my needs and works perfectly; I think it was the best money spent on an app ever. My only 1 request that is not yet met (but I don't think it can be done by a 3rd party app) would be to be able to start / stop from buttons, for race purposes

You can stop from the buttons, that’s what I do!

Look at the “shortcut” settings on watch.

 

[Toonartist]

+1... And Milestonepod would also be great (or generic footpod, if this is possible).

+1 It would need all the metrics provided by Stryd otherwise when you import the data into the Stryd control panel, you only get power (if that's all that is displayed by the app).

iSmooth run doesn't use the other data fields and as a result, you only end up importing power into stryd.

This is why I only use the Stryd app for running at the moment and use WOD for hiking only.

 

[cfc]

since ios 13.2 and watchos 6.1, after I save a workout on the watch, the sync of this workout to the mobile app is very slow. Sometimes it takes even 20-30 minutes for the workout to appear in the iphone app. Anyone seen something similar and is there any workaround like force closing the app or something? Keeping the app on the watch and the phone on doesn't seem to help in my case

Thanks for all the responses about this. I have heard that it sometimes takes a while, although I have never seen it myself. When the workout is ended the app creates a data file and asks watchOS to send it to the iPhone app. Usually this is instant but the watchOS documentation does say that it may be delayed due to "performance and power concerns". I think that it probably sometimes forgets for a while.

What you could try when it next happens is to re-send the workout. To do this display the main menu and press the watch screen hard. Then tap "Workout History" and select the workout from the resulting list. When the details for the workout are displayed press the screen hard again and tap "Resend to iPhone". Hopefully this will help.

The app also sends the workout to Apple Health via their specific workout system, rather than the generic file sending system. I guess this is given higher priority which is probably why it always works.

 

[Toonartist]

Noticed the last 2 times using WoDs for hiking, it doesn't record active calories. The watch is recording active calories just fine, work outdoors shows the % of Active calories against your move goal but in the box for Active calories it shows 0. Any ideas what's going on here as my activities now show only passive calories. Cheers

 

[rbart]

I have one dream for a future WOD feature ...
I'd like to display the elevation profile for the planned workout (route imported in GPX) and display a marker to show where I am, when will be the next climb, how long ...
It can be very useful for trails to anticipate the next difficulties
Something like that:

https://www.hsjohnson.com/images/garmin-010-01988-11-fenix-5-plus-silver-with-black-band-smartwatch-p12435-46365_image.jpg

 

[cfc]

Noticed the last 2 times using WoDs for hiking, it doesn't record active calories. The watch is recording active calories just fine, work outdoors shows the % of Active calories against your move goal but in the box for Active calories it shows 0. Any ideas what's going on here as my activities now show only passive calories. Cheers

This sounds like either a permissioning issue with the active calories or maybe with the heart rate (from which the active calories are calculated). Do you see heart rate values? In either case please check the Settings app on the iPhone. Go to Privacy then Health and then WorkOutDoors. Check all the settings are switched on. Make sure you scroll to the bottom. I hope that helps.
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I have one dream for a future WOD feature ...
I'd like to display the elevation profile for the planned workout (route imported in GPX) and display a marker to show where I am, when will be the next climb, how long ...
It can be very useful for trails to anticipate the next difficulties
Something like that:

https://www.hsjohnson.com/images/garmin-010-01988-11-fenix-5-plus-silver-with-black-band-smartwatch-p12435-46365_image.jpg

This is on my list of things to add. I plan to improve the route capabilities generally, including such a graph.

 

[Toonartist]

This sounds like either a permissioning issue with the active calories or maybe with the heart rate (from which the active calories are calculated). Do you see heart rate values? In either case please check the Settings app on the iPhone. Go to Privacy then Health and then WorkOutDoors. Check all the settings are switched on. Make sure you scroll to the bottom. I hope that helps.
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This is on my list of things to add. I plan to improve the route capabilities generally, including such a graph.

Yeah, heart rate works fine... just checked the permissions and sure enough, active energy wasn't ticked. Must have turned off during an update as it was working fine before! Cheers though!!

Just a thought, is there any way to add contours to the maps? Not every 10m but ones for every 100m or so?!? Thanks

 

[cfc]

Yeah, heart rate works fine... just checked the permissions and sure enough, active energy wasn't ticked. Must have turned off during an update as it was working fine before! Cheers though!!

Just a thought, is there any way to add contours to the maps? Not every 10m but ones for every 100m or so?!? Thanks

Glad that fixed it. I do plan to add contours to the map at some time, although it would cost me more for the data, so I would have to charge extra for it. At the moment I am trying to increase the user base so I don't want to do that, because it would put people off.

However if the app ever gets more popular then I may add some "Pro" features, and charge extra for them. Only for extra features though, not for any existing ones.

 

[NME42]

Wow, a new feature rich update! Thanks!

Can you tell me where I find the new settings for compass and notification duration? Checked all settings in watch and did not find it?

 

[cfc]

Wow, a new feature rich update! Thanks!

Can you tell me where I find the new settings for compass and notification duration? Checked all settings in watch and did not find it?

The compass settings are under Map and then Rotation. The notification duration is under More and then Info Messages.

Sorry for not announcing the new version anywhere yet. I never was too good at the publicity side of things. Hope you enjoy it!

 

[NME42]

The compass settings are under Map and then Rotation. The notification duration is under More and then Info Messages.

Sorry for not announcing the new version anywhere yet. I never was too good at the publicity side of things. Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks. All there now. Seems the watch was not updated when I updated the app on my iPhone. Deleted it on the watch and reinstalled. Well, was not a good idea as all settings and maps were deleted.
For a rookie as me: what is the best way to force an update of a watch app?

 

[SteveZman]

New to apple watch , came over from Garmin Fenix 5, was looking for an easier way to show hiking trails. Looks like this app has everything I will need. I just purchased the app so I haven't dove in completely yet, Is there a way to show the hiking trails map before you start a hike?

Thanks

 

[cfc]

Thanks. All there now. Seems the watch was not updated when I updated the app on my iPhone. Deleted it on the watch and reinstalled. Well, was not a good idea as all settings and maps were deleted.
For a rookie as me: what is the best way to force an update of a watch app?

To be honest I don't know because this is the first release since watchOS 6. It used to be that installing the new version of the iPhone app would automatically install the new watch app, but it sounds like that has changed. So if anyone knows how to force the watch app to update then please let me know!
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New to apple watch , came over from Garmin Fenix 5, was looking for an easier way to show hiking trails. Looks like this app has everything I will need. I just purchased the app so I haven't dove in completely yet, Is there a way to show the hiking trails map before you start a hike?

Thanks

When you import a GPX route then it will show it in the iPhone app with a map in the background. You can then analyse it on that screen, and also upload it from there to the watch app for display on the map. I hope that helps. Thanks for buying the app!