Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[Akrapovic]

Agreed, it's not perfect, but I do think it's good 'enough'. I actually seen 2 people running together on Strava. One had an Apple Watch and one had a Garmin Forerunner [number]. The Garmin registered a higher distance, however when you looked at the map they had traced, the Garmin was all over the place. The guy was shown to have run in an odd spikey fashion, whilst the woman with the Apple Watch had a smooth, realistic track. So the Garmin artificially extended the route, in really bad ways.

I'm happy with the 2% the Watch shows outdoors. I can adjust my pace for 2%. But 20% is hilariously bad.

 

[NME42]

I would never again run a race where I aim for PB without a Stryd.

 

[rbart]

I don't want to pay for Stryd, I am not good enough, I continue with my apple watch but I have to take into account that distance is optimistic ...

 

[NME42]

Understand. But take it into account, no matter how good or bad you are. With the new model coming out, the old ones dropped in price significantly. A Stryd Live (no power data) is sufficient for pacing and should not be more than 50-60 € used.

 

[rbart]

I don't need high precision, I can do with my watch, I am a "bad" runner as you can see with my perf data
The watch is not the main problem with my performance

 

[NME42]

Come on, good or bad is relative. Compared to a pro we are ALL very bad runners. And the watch or Stryd is of course not the problem solver but really helps to do a constant pace. GPS really s*cks whenever one needs accuracy. Most of the times good enough but then fails on the last kilometer and produces ridiculous results. Been through this more than once... ;-)

 

[TheBlackLabEdge]

Really enjoying the intervals. Have a question though about gpx routes. I've searched creating a gpx route to import to workoutdoors and haven't found a good option yet.... can anyone help????

 

[NME42]

I used to create my routes with GPSies but they were recently acquired and more or less shut down. Nowadays using Komoot and really love it. But it comes with a price tag (one time fee for world wide maps).

 

[mgmooij]

I used to create my routes with GPSies but they were recently acquired and more or less shut down. Nowadays using Komoot and really love it. But it comes with a price tag (one time fee for world wide maps).

Or MapOut

 

[fredash]

Yep MapOut is outstanding.

 

[TheBlackLabEdge]

Thanks for the suggestions!!!

 

[rbart]

Is there a reason why intervals are not considered as "intervals" when exported to apple health ?
Built in app, Intervals pro store intervals in health, so it can be exported with healtfit.
With workoutdoors, the behaviour with laps/intervals is a bit confusing.

 

[cfc]

Is there a reason why intervals are not considered as "intervals" when exported to apple health ?
Built in app, Intervals pro store intervals in health, so it can be exported with healtfit.
With workoutdoors, the behaviour with laps/intervals is a bit confusing.

WorkOutDoors stores intervals in Apple Health as segment events. I have done some testing with the Apple Workout app and when you create a new segment in that (by double-tapping) it stores segment events and also something called a marker event for each segment.

I have had a word with the developer of HealthFit (who knows far more about Apple's Health system than I do!), and he uses the marker events for segments. This is because Apple's use of segment events don't make sense apart from for swimming or skiing workouts (where they are auto-generated by watchOS).

For all other workouts they appear almost random. In my test with the Apple Workout app this morning it created several segment events for every time I double tapped, but only one marker event. As usual Apple's documentation on the subject is typically useless so we do not know why it does this.

So what I will do in the next version is to create a marker event as well as a segment event for each interval. That should be picked up by HealthFit and exported to other systems. In the meantime if you want to export intervals then please export directly from the app using TCX files.

 

[kitenski]

In my test with the Apple Workout app this morning it created several segment events for every time I double tapped, but only one marker event.

Is a double tap the way to create a manual interval/lap in WOD?

 

[rbart]

For the moment I export direcly from WOD and it works well.
But I like Healthfit as a single point to manage all my running apps and I just don't use it when I use intervals in WOD.
So it's not urgent, there is a working workaround but if it's feasible in a future version ...
[automerge]1579172028[/automerge]

Is a double tap the way to create a manual interval/lap in WOD?

You can setup the way you mark laps/intervals with double tab, triple tab or buttons

 

[cfc]

Is a double tap the way to create a manual interval/lap in WOD?

You can configure the gesture that starts a new lap or a new interval. To do this press the watch screen hard and tap Settings then Commands then Shortcuts. You can then then configure what command is performed for each shortcut (e.g. tap, double tap, triple tap, swipe left, swipe right, press both side buttons etc).

By default double tap shows a full screen map (and double tapping again goes back to the metrics) but you can change it to perform whatever command you wish.

 

[NME42]

To up this thread: any update/timeframe for the Stryd integration?

 

[cfc]

To up this thread: any update/timeframe for the Stryd integration?

I don't like to give time estimates because I am usually bad at keeping to them. My priorities often change based on what people want and also what I want to work on. It is high on my list of things to do but I am not currently working on it. Sorry about that.

 

[raulxininen]

Hi,

any way to split interval in 1km laps when it doesn’t start just in exact kilometer?
I would like to know the exact pace of each km in my interval workout when it doesn’t have coincidence with regular laps

regards

Raúl

 

[cfc]

Hi,

any way to split interval in 1km laps when it doesn’t start just in exact kilometer?
I would like to know the exact pace of each km in my interval workout when it doesn’t have coincidence with regular laps

regards

Raúl

If the interval is distance based and at the top level then you could split it up into a repeat of 1km intervals.

Alternatively you could set up a distance notification within the interval to alert you at each 1km. You could then manually start a new lap in response to the alert. It's far from ideal but would work.

In the future I plan to add an option to start a new lap when you start a new interval, which would then align the laps with the intervals. This would be quite easy to implement, but to do it properly I would also need to enhance the iPhone analysis to display laps within intervals instead of the current system that shows either laps or intervals.

 

[raulxininen]

If the interval is distance based and at the top level then you could split it up into a repeat of 1km intervals.

My intervals are distance based but I don’t know how to see 1km lap when it doesn’t match when total distance laps.

any hint?

thanks

 

[cfc]

My intervals are distance based but I don’t know how to see 1km lap when it doesn’t match when total distance laps.

any hint?

thanks

If you have say a 5km interval then change it into a repeat of 5 x 1km intervals. You will then see the stats for each individual 1km interval in the iPhone app. You will not need to look at the laps screen at all.

To do this tap the Fast / Recover button to add a repeated interval, set the number of repeats, and then remove the Recover interval to leave a repeated Fast interval.

I hope that makes sense? As I say I will improve this at some time to offer the option to start a new lap when you start a new interval.

 

[5l4PN1X]

I've seen it said that it's possible to view the map without starting a workout, but I haven't been able to figure out how to do this. What am I missing?

Sorry if this has already been asked somewhere. I tried to check and didn't find anything about it.

 

[cfc]

I've seen it said that it's possible to view the map without starting a workout, but I haven't been able to figure out how to do this. What am I missing?

Sorry if this has already been asked somewhere. I tried to check and didn't find anything about it.

There is a Map Only mode that you can switch on by scrolling to the bottom of the main menu and tapping Other Activities, then scroll to the bottom and tap Activity Menus. Scroll to the bottom again and switch on Map Only Mode. It will then always appear as the first option in the main menu.

It used to be the first option by default but I relegated it because it is a workout app. I think it was the right move because you are only the second person to ask about it (someone emailed with the same question a few days ago).

You can control how long the GPS stays on in the watch settings (press the screen hard when in map only mode). It defaults to 5 minutes after which it switches off and you lose your breadcrumbs. Make sure to tap Back when not using map only mode. I hope that helps.

 

[FunkyMagicUK]

On the above...(and aware this is slightly off focus for WOD)...but recently I’ve been running with the Stryd app as my primary interface (because of the better-than-Apple pace metrics initially, but I’ve embraced their power based approach and use zone or target power alerts in my structured training runs now)), and with RunGo running in the background talking to me on upcoming turns (i *disable* RunGos permission to write Workouts, so it is just a voice guidance tool for me), and then with the same route loaded into WOD running in MapOnly mode as a second level of support if the voice guidance isn’t enough.

This seems to work really well although I’ve only used it for shortish road based running up to 2hrs or so.

So two questions for WOD then...

1) Is voice nav on the radar at all (even as a paid premium extension?), so I can look forward to dumping RunGo? And if so...how would this work?? Is there a standard for inserting custom nav points into a GPX?? I’ve used MapOut for planning all my long off road runs in the past to load into WOD as simple routes, but once you’ve got the hang of it, the route planning and ability to drag custom turn points and alert messages into the route at any point in RunGo is fantastic (I’d pay for the premium RunGo simply for the planning aspect, if the exported file could be used effectively for voice nav in WOD (plus the map).

2) How will Stryd integration work?? I don’t really get it. I assume they dont have an API but I see that they DO have FIT/TCX upload. Is the likelihood that WOD with Stryd support would give access to the Power metrics, but if I want my Critical Power etc to be maintained inside the Stryd ecosystem, I’d have to manually export from WOD and upload the TCX to get my activities with embedded power data into Stryd?


As noted above, the Stryd app is currently my front and centre, but I hope in 6/9/12 months or so WOD has voice nav and Stryd support and I can go back to using just a single app to track my runs!! (Even if that does involve a manual step to keep Stryd updated).