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Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features
- Thread starter cfc
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I have been dealing with the voice issue for a couple of years now. When it occurs I almost always get the 1km alert at about 1.8km and then it is fine after that.
A couple of things that have helped:-
- Rebooting does mostly work for me - the first 3 of 4 runs after a reboot generally behave correctly. It seems that the longer between reboots the less predictable the behaviour. If I have a workout where I need the notifications early in the run I will usually reboot before hand.
- I used to use the 'duck' setting in the voice options which would reduce the volume of the audio for the voice announcement. This was a pain as if I had a podcast, between 1km and 1.8km I couldn't hear the audio unless I turned it up very loud but this would be too loud when if resolved itself at 1.8km. I have recently changed the setting to 'mix' and the audio volume for my podcasts is fine and this has reduced my frustration considerably. I still get the delayed notifications but overall I find it acceptable now.
It would be interesting to know if the extreme option of recreating the speech synthesiser every time helps. It seems to help some people but not others.
Can confirm reboot and setting to mix "fixes" the issue. I'll now revert to duck, which was my previous setting, and report here after the next run or two.
coachjeffroc
macrumors newbie
I just completed a test where I was reliably getting the issue to occur (3 runs in a row) and then without a reboot turned on the 'extreme' option and it worked correctly the next three runs. I did notice a 1 second lag between the buzz on the wrist and the announcement that was not there using the normal option but otherwise it worked perfectly.
Question - If I disable it halfway through a run will it go back to the normal way? I'm interested in testing if it is fine once it works the first time
It wasn't known but it is now! Sorry about that.
I am surprised no-one has spotted that before. There are hundreds of possible layout merging combinations to be tested but I probably should have at least tried a single value. I will fix it in a future version.
Glad that the extreme option worked. The slight delay is probably due to the watchOS speech synthesiser needing to be recreated every time.
You can change the setting at any time and it will take effect immediately. It will be interesting to see if it helps to disable it during a workout.
coachjeffroc
macrumors newbie
No worries. You need more older runners with failing eyesight on your betas 😎 heheheh.
Some more anecdotal information:-
- I started a run with the extreme option on and turned it off after 2km and it worked fine after that and without the 1 second delay in announcements.
- The next run I left the option off and again it missed the first announcement and worked fine after that.
There is something about the initial accountments that seem to be the root cause.
That's interesting. The app only creates the speech synthesiser when the app first speaks. This is because by default it doesn't do any speaking.
So maybe I should create it when the app starts up. I may make that change in the code and see if it helps. Thanks for the feedback.
I posted this elsewhere, no replies.
I've been thinking about upgrading to a U3 from my non-cellular AW8.
When running with my AW8, using WOD's, the watch does not seem very sensitive to changes in my pace. I have WOD's set to poll/refresh at a higher frequency. Will cell connectivity aid in more accuracy?
I've been thinking about upgrading to a U3 from my non-cellular AW8.
When running with my AW8, using WOD's, the watch does not seem very sensitive to changes in my pace. I have WOD's set to poll/refresh at a higher frequency. Will cell connectivity aid in more accuracy?
I don't understand what you mean by setting the app to poll at a higher frequency but are you using the defaults for the current pace: Pedometer with no smoothing? To check go to Settings / Pace & Distance.
If so then that is usually the best source for current pace. The app doesn't calculate it but instead just gets it from the watchOS pedometer.
The trouble with calculating current pace is deciding on the window to use. If it is too short then the pace loses accuracy (and can be erratic) but if it is too long then it responds slowly to pace changes. This is why WOD leaves it to watchOS by default.
If you are more interested in responsiveness than accuracy then you could use the Rolling Pace metrics with a very short window (say 10s). This can make it less accurate and therefore more erratic, but would react to pace changes faster.
First off - thanks for the prompt and thorough response.
By "poll at a high frequency", I mean a shorter window. I do use the pedometer for current pace, and for the source of Distance & Avg Pace, it is set to use Apple vs. GPS. I've reduced Pace Smoothing and will see how that does. Now knowing the data comes from the pedometer, I see why a cell connection does not factor in to the mix.
For Rolling Pace - best to use GPS or Apple Health Distances?
Again, thanks and keep up the terrific work!
It doesn't seem to matter for the rolling pace but hopefully using the current pace with the pedometer and no smoothing will help. That is the default and it seems to work for most people.
If you had smoothing enabled then that would explain the lack of responsiveness because it uses the average of n values instead of just the latest value.
Is there a way to configure vibrating alerts to something like a warning 5 or 10 seconds before the next interval or a 5 second countdown (short vibration every second)?
The app should give a 5 second countdown with vibrations and spoken numbers at the end of a time-based interval. Are you not getting those vibrations? To check go to Settings / Alerts / Scheduled Interval Alerts or Settings / Schedules / Schedule alerts. Then check the switches are enabled in the Next Interval Countdown section.
Note that for distance based intervals it tells you the distance remaining when you are getting near the end of the interval.
That is probably because the interval is only 10 seconds. The app does not give countdowns for intervals of 20 seconds or less because you would get overloaded with alerts.
I could change that if enough people request it but I can't remember anyone else mentioning it before. Sorry.
Try enabling the voice alert for the countdown. It's easy to miss haptics or screen messages.
I’ve disabled the haptic alert, enabled it again and now it’s working.
It would be nice to customize the length (5 seconds would be enough for me) but I’m thrilled to have it working now.
It would be nice to customize the length (5 seconds would be enough for me) but I’m thrilled to have it working now.
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Glad it is working now.
The app will alert at 20 seconds, 10 seconds and 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. That can't be customised though.
Went running today, it didn’t count down again. Disabled and enabled again. Then it worked again.
Also, the alerts start 20 seconds beforehand but are every second. Not 20-10-5-4-3-2-1.
Also, the alerts start 20 seconds beforehand but are every second. Not 20-10-5-4-3-2-1.
So you are getting a vibration and a screen message every second for the last 20 seconds at the end of a workout?
I have never heard of that and have absolutely no idea why it would be happening. Sorry.