Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[BenGoren]

Thanks for that. At the moment the app uses the average pace over the whole workout so far, which is similarly simplistic, but I do plan to do something more clever. I just haven't decided exactly what yet!

I don’t have the brain space nor time right now to give a meaningful answer … but, since you’ve got elevation plus distance and therefore incline, I’ll bet you a cup of coffee that a very simple approximation, possibly even piecewise linear with large pieces, could be used to do what you want. As in … if the incline is x, then multiply the straight-and-level average pace by y to get the expected average pace, with those parameters being “close enough” to constant across all populations to be just fine for this sort of ETA estimation. Then break the route into (say) 100 meter (or whatever) chunks, calculate the elevation change between the endpoints, and apply the correction factor. At worst, you’d need a table of x / y correction factors. Again, a generic table probably suffices for everybody (and it’s not hard to imagine customization and auto-calculation options for those who want more knobs to turn).

b&

 

[cfc]

I don’t have the brain space nor time right now to give a meaningful answer … but, since you’ve got elevation plus distance and therefore incline, I’ll bet you a cup of coffee that a very simple approximation, possibly even piecewise linear with large pieces, could be used to do what you want. As in … if the incline is x, then multiply the straight-and-level average pace by y to get the expected average pace, with those parameters being “close enough” to constant across all populations to be just fine for this sort of ETA estimation. Then break the route into (say) 100 meter (or whatever) chunks, calculate the elevation change between the endpoints, and apply the correction factor. At worst, you’d need a table of x / y correction factors. Again, a generic table probably suffices for everybody (and it’s not hard to imagine customization and auto-calculation options for those who want more knobs to turn).

b&

Unfortunately I don't think there is an equation that would work well for all activities. For example hiking down a steep hill can be slower than going on the flat, but cycling down could be much faster.

Also going uphill makes more of a difference for some people than others. For example when walking then a tall person with long legs may be relatively fast on the flat but a shorter person with a lower centre of gravity may be faster up a hill. It's a very simplistic example but essentially there is a big subjective factor.

I think I need to build some sort of array containing a list of pace factors for gradients and have a different array for each activity type. I would start with some defaults (possibly using equations) and then maybe adapt them according to the user's pace in the past. This would prioritise the previous pace on the current workout but when that is not available (e.g. early on, or at the first climb/descent) then it could use data from previous workouts. The current workout would be more important though because you could be in a group with slower or faster people.

How much of this I implement in the first version depends on how things go. I will definitely improve it from the current logic of just using the average pace, but I probably won't go as far as using data from previous workouts.

 

[blimundus]

Wow, you tested that fast! The app will only give turn by turn directions if they are contained as waypoints in the GPX/TCX/FIT file containing the route.

I have included a (slightly hidden) "Detect Bends" function to autogenerate waypoints for bends based on the shape of the route. However I am not sure if I will include that in the final version because it is far from perfect.

About that “slightly hidden” Detect Bends function… I can’t find it. 🙂

 

[cfc]

About that “slightly hidden” Detect Bends function… I can’t find it. 🙂

Select a route in the iPhone app then go to the Waypoints tab and tap '...' and it will appear in the menu.

It's not great at the moment (especially for twisty routes) but I aim to improve it during beta testing and then make a decision about whether or not to include it.

 

[blimundus]

Found it! Thanks to the “slightly hidden” help text…🙂

 

[cfc]

Found it! Thanks to the “slightly hidden” help text…🙂View attachment 2515070

Sorry about that. I do need to do more testing with the light theme...

 

[blimundus]

“Detecting bends” worked quite well on my morning walk. I was thinking about reversing the route for an afternoon walk (to test the voice notifications), but as far as I can see, “detecting bends” is done on iPhone, whereas reversing the route is done on the Watch, and there’s no way to natively do both on a given route. Don’t worry, I still did my afternoon walk!

 

[cfc]

Reversing the route should reverse the bends. In theory.

 

[kabzior]

How long does it usually take from beta to stable? I've never used beta in any software, but here I just can't wait, I've followed this navigation develop for so many months and it finally looks like my dreams are coming true - I'm seriously considering beta for the first time in my life

 

[cfc]

How long does it usually take from beta to stable? I've never used beta in any software, but here I just can't wait, I've followed this navigation develop for so many months and it finally looks like my dreams are coming true - I'm seriously considering beta for the first time in my life

It varies how long beta testing takes because it depends on how many changes are made and how well the testing goes. This beta includes a lot of changes but so far (fingers crossed) it seems pretty stable. The only known crash so far is when removing the currently selected route from the watch (which I have now fixed in the code). Apart from that it has been fine.

However I can't guarantee that I won't break something in future betas. If you do decide to test it then please email me at info@workoutdoors.net

 

[CaseDaze]

Still loving this app so much, I'm using it every few days and it replaces all other workout apps for me.
WorkOutDoors is my number one reason to not switch back to Android

Still I have some feature requests:
1. Non-overlapping workout names (e.g. "20241019 Sunday Morning Cycle" instead of just "Sunday Morning Cycle")
2. Batch export of all workouts (e.g. Creating a .ZIP file that includes all individual workout .GPX files)

Would be so nice to see them implemented.
I requested the features earlier here in this thread, but I'm still missing them since currently no convenient solution for exporting all workouts without file naming overlappings exists.

 

[FMUK]

The Navigation is AWESOME!! Such a clear UI ✅✅

 

[cfc]

Still loving this app so much, I'm using it every few days and it replaces all other workout apps for me.
WorkOutDoors is my number one reason to not switch back to Android

Still I have some feature requests:
1. Non-overlapping workout names (e.g. "20241019 Sunday Morning Cycle" instead of just "Sunday Morning Cycle")
2. Batch export of all workouts (e.g. Creating a .ZIP file that includes all individual workout .GPX files)

Would be so nice to see them implemented.
I requested the features earlier here in this thread, but I'm still missing them since currently no convenient solution for exporting all workouts without file naming overlappings exists.

Sorry. At the moment I am completely focussed on the new navigation features. These have been top of my to-do list for a long time because they are requested much more often than other features.

I do plan to improve the default workout names but batch exporting is rarely requested and is possible using other apps which can export from Apple's health system (e.g. HealthFit).

 

[CaseDaze]

Sorry. At the moment I am completely focussed on the new navigation features. These have been top of my to-do list for a long time because they are requested much more often than other features.

I do plan to improve the default workout names but batch exporting is rarely requested and is possible using other apps which can export from Apple's health system (e.g. HealthFit).

Thanks for the reply!

I prefer the export function by WorkOutDoors, since no health data is lost after exporting to GPX.

With all other apps tested (Apple Health, HealthFit, Health Auto Export) all heart rate data is lost after exporting to GPX.

One reason why WorkOutDoors is outstanding for me and why I will keep using the integrated workout export functionality.

 

[JohnMan]

It would be amazing if someone would share a couple of screenshots of the navigation interface. It quite exciting!

 

[cfc]

It would be amazing if someone would share a couple of screenshots of the navigation interface. It quite exciting!

Remember that everything is subject to change when in a beta so what you see in screenshots may not be what is in the release version.

I plan to create lots of screenshots for the App Store and website at sometime, which I will probably post here, but I am leaving it until the last minute because things may change.

 

[JohnMan]

Remember that everything is subject to change when in a beta so what you see in screenshots may not be what is in the release version.

I plan to create lots of screenshots for the App Store and website at sometime, which I will probably post here, but I am leaving it until the last minute because things may change.

That’s understandable.

 

[zach471]

I’m having trouble with downloading maps to my watch for offline use — the tiles won’t transfer. Tried all the tricks in the app, is this just a bug of the beta?

 

[kabzior]

It's too tempting, I'm signing up for the beta (although with a second backup account)

 

[zach471]

It's too tempting, I'm signing up for the beta (although with a second backup account)

I think it’s pretty stable based on my testing.

 

[Dovales]

It's too tempting, I'm signing up for the beta (although with a second backup account)

I have spent a total of 53km and almost 6h on three training sessions last week, testing the beta version while running on streets and trail running. I have been testing all the new features and I can say that I couldn't found any severe bug at all. Of course some small bugs (that disappear after closing de app or restarting the device), but the Apple Watch app has not crashed, not once, during activities (what is awesome!), only on the route screen on iPhone I had the app crashing two or three times.


A bout small bugs: I think that I found one on the climb feature, by the way, it's an awesome feature and it working very well. Its really nice how it works on iPhone looking automatically for climbs and descents on sent routes and giving us users the ability to choose the climb difficulty, so we can fine tuning it.

The possible bug: on the customized climb/descent screens below, the metric "climb/descent total ascent/descent" doesn't work. Climb time remaining metric seems to not work either.

Then, when I get to the climb or descent end, the alert screen doesn't show the total time, but shows the average pace. Although it shows this information later on workout summary screen on iPhone

Despite that, I really loving this new feature and again, its working mostly fine!

 

[FMUK]

There's an easily repeatable crash bug in the phone app on beta 6.0.0...not sure if its just me.

Go to "Routes", click a route, click on "Waypoints", click on one of the waypoints.
Zoom in to the map.

 

[cfc]

I’m having trouble with downloading maps to my watch for offline use — the tiles won’t transfer. Tried all the tricks in the app, is this just a bug of the beta?

I don't think there is an issue with the beta. It is just that file transfer from iOS to watchOS is unreliable, especially if another app is transferring data. It is the most complained about aspect of the app but I don't think there is anything I can do about it. If another app is transferring then WOD needs to wait.

I have added a couple of hints to the beta (switch off Bluetooth to make the transfer finish faster by using WiFi; and run a dummy outdoor workout to give WOD a higher priority) but often they don't help either.

 

[cfc]

I have spent a total of 53km and almost 6h on three training sessions last week, testing the beta version while running on streets and trail running. I have been testing all the new features and I can say that I couldn't found any severe bug at all. Of course some small bugs (that disappear after closing de app or restarting the device), but the Apple Watch app has not crashed, not once, during activities (what is awesome!), only on the route screen on iPhone I had the app crashing two or three times.


A bout small bugs: I think that I found one on the climb feature, by the way, it's an awesome feature and it working very well. Its really nice how it works on iPhone looking automatically for climbs and descents on sent routes and giving us users the ability to choose the climb difficulty, so we can fine tuning it.

The possible bug: on the customized climb/descent screens below, the metric "climb/descent total ascent/descent" doesn't work. Climb time remaining metric seems to not work either.

View attachment 2515718View attachment 2515719View attachment 2515721


Then, when I get to the climb or descent end, the alert screen doesn't show the total time, but shows the average pace. Although it shows this information later on workout summary screen on iPhone

View attachment 2515725

Despite that, I really loving this new feature and again, its working mostly fine!

Glad the beta is so usable. Thanks for testing it!

I will look into the slope metrics not working.

 

[cfc]

There's an easily repeatable crash bug in the phone app on beta 6.0.0...not sure if its just me.

Go to "Routes", click a route, click on "Waypoints", click on one of the waypoints.
Zoom in to the map.

Unfortunately I can't reproduce that. Please could you email me the wr2 file for that route. To do that tap the ... button 3 times quickly and email the file to info@workoutdoors.net. Thanks.