Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[cfc]

Yup, and this setup with map-only and a external workout app like Apple Workout or Runna—with "Return to Clock" on the workout app disabled—works really nicely.
If possible, please consider the needs of map-only folks when building and prioritizing your next release.
- If the app can be leaner or use fewer resources in map-only mode it would be much appreciated.
- Also if selecting, changing, and reversing a route can be made smoother and take fewer taps would be awesome.
- Lastly if you can bring waypoint based navigation to map-only mode it would be even more amazing (though performance is still preferred over new features).
Thank you much!

If you were running a workout then you could set up a shortcut to the Show Routes command. For example a double tap or a swipe or a button press would then take you straight to the Routes settings from where you could choose a different route or reverse route etc.

However that is not available in Map Only mode. I am only mentioning it because other people may not realise that it is possible to set up shortcuts to certain settings menus.

In terms of protecting the app from being killed off by watchOS when not running a workout you may want to set the "Keep GPS on for" setting to its maximum of 180 minutes. This setting is only available in Map Only mode and determines how long the app keeps using the GPS if you don't interact with it. After the configured time (which defaults to 5 minutes) the app switches off GPS and clears the breadcrumb trail.

I don't know if this will help but I think that apps that are receiving GPS updates are considered higher priority than other apps (but not as high as apps running a workout). So it may mean that watchOS decides to kill off the weather app you last used rather than WOD.

It is also worth rebooting the watch on the day so there are fewer other apps using resources.

I will probably improve Map-Only mode at some time in the future but it is rarely mentioned so not high on my list. Sorry.

 

[mleech77]

Sorry, you can't show pool length in yards. The app allows to to specify the length in yards because that is how some pools are physically measured, but swimming distances are always shown in metres.

Just started trying this app out and I love it for my runs/walks so far. I know this is a very old quote now, but I skimmed through and didn't see any other mentions of this. Is there a plan to update (or it's already happened and I overlooked it in the app) this so that yards is a display during the workout if you have your pool length setting set to yards?

 

[cfc]

Just started trying this app out and I love it for my runs/walks so far. I know this is a very old quote now, but I skimmed through and didn't see any other mentions of this. Is there a plan to update (or it's already happened and I overlooked it in the app) this so that yards is a display during the workout if you have your pool length setting set to yards?

It's still low on the to-do list. Sorry.

 

[MitzEclipse]

Hi @cfc is it possible to add sports? I don’t see Ice Hockey in the main menu or “other menu”. FWIW, there is “Outdoor Hockey” in the Apple workout app.

As a workaround I’ve been using “skating” but I’d like to differentiate between skating and ice hockey activities in the data.

Thanks

 

[cfc]

Hi @cfc is it possible to add sports? I don’t see Ice Hockey in the main menu or “other menu”. FWIW, there is “Outdoor Hockey” in the Apple workout app.

As a workaround I’ve been using “skating” but I’d like to differentiate between skating and ice hockey activities in the data.

Thanks

This will be possible in the version after next. It will have 100+ built-in activities, including both Ice Hockey and Field Hockey (as well as Trail Running, MTB, e-bike etc) and also have the ability to create new activity types that map to Apple's types.

It is such a major change that I have held back on releasing the next version, which is a minor bug fix version, so that I can ensure that it is forwards compatible with the activity type version. Apple have a habit of only installing the iPhone app and not the watch app so I want the app to be able to handle when they are out of sync.

I can't say when it will be released but it will be after Apple's developer conference in early June, because they may add new activity types then.

 

[portal123]

If you were running a workout then you could set up a shortcut to the Show Routes command. For example a double tap or a swipe or a button press would then take you straight to the Routes settings from where you could choose a different route or reverse route etc.

However that is not available in Map Only mode. I am only mentioning it because other people may not realise that it is possible to set up shortcuts to certain settings menus.

In terms of protecting the app from being killed off by watchOS when not running a workout you may want to set the "Keep GPS on for" setting to its maximum of 180 minutes. This setting is only available in Map Only mode and determines how long the app keeps using the GPS if you don't interact with it. After the configured time (which defaults to 5 minutes) the app switches off GPS and clears the breadcrumb trail.

I don't know if this will help but I think that apps that are receiving GPS updates are considered higher priority than other apps (but not as high as apps running a workout). So it may mean that watchOS decides to kill off the weather app you last used rather than WOD.

It is also worth rebooting the watch on the day so there are fewer other apps using resources.

I will probably improve Map-Only mode at some time in the future but it is rarely mentioned so not high on my list. Sorry.

I've looked everywhere and I'm not finding the "Keep GPS On" setting.
If you let me know which menu it's under, it'd be appreciated.
If you aren't able to improve Map-Only Mode, ensuring it's isn't disrupted by new features and continues running smoothly would be great.

 

[cfc]

I've looked everywhere and I'm not finding the "Keep GPS On" setting.
If you let me know which menu it's under, it'd be appreciated.
If you aren't able to improve Map-Only Mode, ensuring it's isn't disrupted by new features and continues running smoothly would be great.

That option is available if you go to Settings on the watch app whilst in Map-Only mode.

To do that touch the screen for a second and a menu will appear that includes the Settings option.

 

[BrianGGG]

I don’t suppose that Water Temperature could be an available metric for pool workouts ?

 

[cfc]

I don’t suppose that Water Temperature could be an available metric for pool workouts ?

I plan on investigating that when I next revisit the sensor functionality, but that won't be anytime soon. Sorry about that.

 

[coachjeffroc]

Hey, long-time WOD user here. A glitch this morning...

AWU2: 26.5 WOD: 6.2.5

I changed nothing, tweaked nothing, and interacted with nothing between last workout and this workout, but today when I clicked the orange "lap" button that always starts the next interval on a workout I've used dozens of times in the past, it did not progress the workout to the next interval. The screen flashed orange as usual, but nothing happened. I pressed the two buttons, and it "paused" as usual.

Troubleshoot 1: ended the workout, killed and restarted WOD, opened the same workout. Still nothing.
Troubleshoot 2: Opened just an "open" workout. Same behavior.
Troubleshoot 3: restarted the watch. same behavior.
Troubleshoot 4: scrolled through all my damn screens and not one had a "next interval" button!!! So I added one, clicked it, and WOD went into the next interval.
After my workout, I thought to pop open the native workout app and clicking the orange button resulted in "segment one".

Any ideas?

 

[psaaf]

Hey, long-time WOD user here. A glitch this morning...

AWU2: 26.5 WOD: 6.2.5

I changed nothing, tweaked nothing, and interacted with nothing between last workout and this workout, but today when I clicked the orange "lap" button that always starts the next interval on a workout I've used dozens of times in the past, it did not progress the workout to the next interval. The screen flashed orange as usual, but nothing happened. I pressed the two buttons, and it "paused" as usual.

Troubleshoot 1: ended the workout, killed and restarted WOD, opened the same workout. Still nothing.
Troubleshoot 2: Opened just an "open" workout. Same behavior.
Troubleshoot 3: restarted the watch. same behavior.
Troubleshoot 4: scrolled through all my damn screens and not one had a "next interval" button!!! So I added one, clicked it, and WOD went into the next interval.
After my workout, I thought to pop open the native workout app and clicking the orange button resulted in "segment one".

Any ideas?

I had the same thing happen just the other day. Also with an interval schedule selected. I did warmup, strides, stretching. Hit the action button to start the first effort, and nothing happened. It just flashed orange without any text.
I ended up not doing the workout. It's hard enough putting yourself through these things without added issues 😥

I switched to the native app the last couple of days and have not done any extra testing to reproduce and isolate the issue. I did verify that I have the action button set to "new interval" under Commands->Shortcuts

 

[cfc]

Sorry you are both having action button issues. Unfortunately Apple broke things in watchOS 26.5. I have worked around it in the code so it will be ok in the next version but I can’t say when that will be released.

In the meantime it should work if you configure the action button to start a specific workout in Apple’s settings app instead of just opening WorkOutDoors.

If you do not want to immediately start a workout when you press the action button then you can configure the precision start screen to be shown (with a big green Start button). To do this go to the Settings tab in the iPhone app and tap Start Options and enable Precision Start via Action Button.

Alternatively if you want then you can try a beta with the workaround? If so then please email me at info@workoutdoors.net. However it may be flaky because it necessitated completely restructuring the app. Unfortunately Apple did not test the action button area of watchOS 26.5 with apps written a few years ago, when they were required to have a different structure with 2 components (an ‘extension’ as well as an app).

I have converted the app to just have one component and that fixes the problem and it seems to work as before. However there could be some hidden knock-on effects, and it will therefore need a lot of testing (which is why I can’t say when it will be released).

 

[cfc]

Whilst I am on the subject of Apple breaking things I apologise if any beta testers are unable to start the watch app. This is because Apple have also broken TestFlight for a few testers.

The fix is to install the App Store version of the app or an older beta. Just the act of installing a new version fixes it. You can then update to using the latest beta if you want, although I can't say whether the problem will recur. Remember to never uninstall the app. Instead just install the other version on top of it.

This problem been around for a couple of months but only affecting a handful of testers. I didn't realise that it was a TestFlight issue until one of the testers mentioned that Carrot was experiencing the same problem. So I looked around and discovered that it seems to be affected every watch app.

I had assumed that I had broken something in the beta and have been going through the code changes in great detail. And because I was unable to find out what was causing it I have been gradually rolling back code in the hope that I would eventually roll back the culprit. But it has been TestFlight all along. So I really wish that I had searched for TestFlight issues a lot earlier!

 

[cfc]

Continuing the theme of Apple breaking things I also need to apologise to users of older series 4, series 5 and SE 1st gen. If you haven't updated to watchOS 10.6.2 then please do not. That version seems to break the sending of health permissions from the iPhone to the watch app. And unfortunately I don't know a way around that (although I am hoping that the restructuring of the app may help).

I have reported these bugs to Apple and posted about them on Apple's forums, where their employees have replied, so hopefully they are working on all of them.

 

[coachjeffroc]

Sorry you are both having action button issues. Unfortunately Apple broke things in watchOS 26.5. I have worked around it in the code so it will be ok in the next version but I can’t say when that will be released.

In the meantime it should work if you configure the action button to start a specific workout in Apple’s settings app instead of just opening WorkOutDoors.

If you do not want to immediately start a workout when you press the action button then you can configure the precision start screen to be shown (with a big green Start button). To do this go to the Settings tab in the iPhone app and tap Start Options and enable Precision Start via Action Button.

Alternatively if you want then you can try a beta with the workaround? If so then please email me at info@workoutdoors.net. However it may be flaky because it necessitated completely restructuring the app. Unfortunately Apple did not test the action button area of watchOS 26.5 with apps written a few years ago, when they were required to have a different structure with 2 components (an ‘extension’ as well as an app).

I have converted the app to just have one component and that fixes the problem and it seems to work as before. However there could be some hidden knock-on effects, and it will therefore need a lot of testing (which is why I can’t say when it will be released).

Understood! Sorry you have to deal with that. For me, it's not a big deal now that I reconfigured a screen with a nice fat "next interval" button... a very first-world problem of clicking on a screen instead of a button...

 

[coachjeffroc]

In the meantime it should work if you configure the action button to start a specific workout in Apple’s settings app instead of just opening WorkOutDoors.

If you do not want to immediately start a workout when you press the action button then you can configure the precision start screen to be shown (with a big green Start button). To do this go to the Settings tab in the iPhone app and tap Start Options and enable Precision Start via Action Button.

I just tested this and it works. Set to "Start a workout"..."Run," the Action button opens WOD to an "open" run with the big green start button. From there, click the back arrow, choose the Workout I want from the "intervals" list, and suddenly the Action Button DOES INDEED progress the workout from one interval to the next. It's a couple of extra taps, but it works like it used to.

 

[coachjeffroc]

I just tested this and it works. Set to "Start a workout"..."Run," the Action button opens WOD to an "open" run with the big green start button. From there, click the back arrow, choose the Workout I want from the "intervals" list, and suddenly the Action Button DOES INDEED progress the workout from one interval to the next. It's a couple of extra taps, but it works like it used to.

Another follow up. Everything is now working normally again. Even if I DO NOT open WOD using the Action Button... even if I just click the icon as I have always done, today it just worked normally (cuz I forgot about using the Action Button to open WOD)

 

[Philoustetou]

Hi
After installing iOS 26.6 beta 1, I was able to reinstall the beta version of Workoutdoors. For those experiencing the same issue, it's likely that Apple has made some changes that allow the software to function again.

AWU2 Ios 26.6 beta 1 WO 6.3.15

 

[cfc]

Hi
After installing iOS 26.6 beta 1, I was able to reinstall the beta version of Workoutdoors. For those experiencing the same issue, it's likely that Apple has made some changes that allow the software to function again.

AWU2 Ios 26.6 beta 1 WO 6.3.15

I hope you are right. Unfortunately the TestFlight bug seems quite random so just the act of reinstalling the beta may have fixed it for a while, because that seems to help.

But maybe Apple have fixed it properly. Fingers crossed! 🤞

 

[portal123]

If you were running a workout then you could set up a shortcut to the Show Routes command. For example a double tap or a swipe or a button press would then take you straight to the Routes settings from where you could choose a different route or reverse route etc.

However that is not available in Map Only mode. I am only mentioning it because other people may not realise that it is possible to set up shortcuts to certain settings menus.

In terms of protecting the app from being killed off by watchOS when not running a workout you may want to set the "Keep GPS on for" setting to its maximum of 180 minutes. This setting is only available in Map Only mode and determines how long the app keeps using the GPS if you don't interact with it. After the configured time (which defaults to 5 minutes) the app switches off GPS and clears the breadcrumb trail.

I don't know if this will help but I think that apps that are receiving GPS updates are considered higher priority than other apps (but not as high as apps running a workout). So it may mean that watchOS decides to kill off the weather app you last used rather than WOD.

It is also worth rebooting the watch on the day so there are fewer other apps using resources.

I will probably improve Map-Only mode at some time in the future but it is rarely mentioned so not high on my list. Sorry.

A belated thank you for the advice.
I may have partially figured out why WoD suddenly quits Map-Only - namely the "Back" button on the upper-left still works even after enabling screen lock.
It kept switching back to the home screen as I was navigating in the rain last week, even though I had activated the screen lock.
As usual, this cleared out the "breadcrumbs" for me, which I wanted to stay on the screen for navigation purposes.
I ended up having to turn on the native water lock, which isn't ideal as it deactivates the digital crown that I'd use to switch between WoD and Apple Workout.

 

[cfc]

A belated thank you for the advice.
I may have partially figured out why WoD suddenly quits Map-Only - namely the "Back" button on the upper-left still works even after enabling screen lock.
It kept switching back to the home screen as I was navigating in the rain last week, even though I had activated the screen lock.
As usual, this cleared out the "breadcrumbs" for me, which I wanted to stay on the screen for navigation purposes.
I ended up having to turn on the native water lock, which isn't ideal as it deactivates the digital crown that I'd use to switch between WoD and Apple Workout.

Sorry about that. I probably don't give Map-only mode as much attention as I should.

 

[cfc]

Whilst I am on the subject of Apple breaking things I apologise if any beta testers are unable to start the watch app. This is because Apple have also broken TestFlight for a few testers.

The fix is to install the App Store version of the app or an older beta. Just the act of installing a new version fixes it. You can then update to using the latest beta if you want, although I can't say whether the problem will recur. Remember to never uninstall the app. Instead just install the other version on top of it.

This problem been around for a couple of months but only affecting a handful of testers. I didn't realise that it was a TestFlight issue until one of the testers mentioned that Carrot was experiencing the same problem. So I looked around and discovered that it seems to be affected every watch app.

I had assumed that I had broken something in the beta and have been going through the code changes in great detail. And because I was unable to find out what was causing it I have been gradually rolling back code in the hope that I would eventually roll back the culprit. But it has been TestFlight all along. So I really wish that I had searched for TestFlight issues a lot earlier!

Apple have fixed this bug in a new version of their TestFlight app (v.4.2.1).

So if you are having problems starting the beta version of the watch app then please update TestFlight and you will hopefully be able to run the app.

If that doesn't work then please try reinstalling the watch app (not the iPhone app). If you need to do that then afterwards send the app data from the iPhone app to the watch app. To do this go to Settings / Storage & Transfer and tap "Send Current Settings to Watch", "Send Screens to Watch" and (if necessary) "Send Interval Schedules to Watch".

Credit to Apple for fixing it so quickly, especially so close to WWDC. Hopefully they will be just as efficient with the action button problem and the permissions issue in watchOS 10.6.2.