Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[cfc]

It looks like Apple have thrown up a surprise and it's a nasty one. They are getting rid of the force touch gesture, which means a major rethink for WorkOutDoors in terms of how you end the workout and how you access the settings.

I am not yet sure if this means that users who install watchOS 7 will not be able to end a workout in WorkOutDoors, so if anyone has installed the watchOS 7 beta then please let me know. I doubt that Apple would do that, but they are pretty draconian when they take things away, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Hopefully it won't affect current watches but it is an indication that they have probably removed the force touch hardware from the series 6 models released in a few months. As a result I will have to restructure the app to avoid force touch.
The "shortcuts" functionality means that you can configure various gestures to do this, but I would like a standard way. Possible replacements are:

- adding a button on the screen (which wastes space, and is easy tapped by accident);
- swiping like the native app (not easy with a map, and restricts screens changes);
- pressing both side buttons (which people use for other operations such as pause);
- long touch of the screen (which is slow);
- any other ideas?

I would appreciate feedback on this to help choose the best option (of a bad bunch). What does everyone think? In each case the gesture would probably result in a screen being displayed which looks similar to the current force touch menu, with an end button and a settings button, as well as other user configurable options.

My hope is that Apple may compensate for force touch by including an extra physical button or two on the series 6 watch that apps can use. If so then I could default to using such a button to replace force touch. However I cannot rely on that so I will need to restructure the app this Summer.

 

[iamasmith]

You don't think they'll support it via a standard 3D touch approach like they do on iOS? https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/user-interaction/3d-touch

i.e. if the hardware supports it you get the menu faster otherwise it's a long touch and it sounds like the framework that fires the message in the same way, albeit a little later, so that should take care of it for developers.

I know somebody reported that the v7 beta that's out doesn't handle it and maybe that's an oversight with a switch over to long touch or do you have more concrete statements to the contrary?

 

[Akrapovic]

I think the long pause on the screen like they do for the phones without 3D Touch would be fine. Pressing the watch hard takes longer anyway. If the timing of the app is done right then as a use you may not notice a difference.

 

[cfc]

You don't think they'll support it via a standard 3D touch approach like they do on iOS? https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/user-interaction/3d-touch

i.e. if the hardware supports it you get the menu faster otherwise it's a long touch and it sounds like the framework that fires the message in the same way, albeit a little later, so that should take care of it for developers.

I know somebody reported that the v7 beta that's out doesn't handle it and maybe that's an oversight with a switch over to long touch or do you have more concrete statements to the contrary?

Unfortunately they seem to want to remove the whole concept of "hidden menus", regardless of how they are accessed: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/watchos/elements/menus/

I can understand that they want to make things more intuitive but that isn't always the best approach when the screen is so small. I think it is better that users have to overcome that initial hurdle once than have to put up with a visible control taking up screen space every time they use the app. Especially when that hurdle is the same hurdle for every app.
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I think the long pause on the screen like they do for the phones without 3D Touch would be fine. Pressing the watch hard takes longer anyway. If the timing of the app is done right then as a use you may not notice a difference.

Long press is my preferred option at the moment, although I do worry that it is easier to do accidentally than a force press (for example if a sleeve touches the screen).

I may see if I can make the End operation a slider like the Power Off options on the watch and iPhone. That would reduce the chance of accidentally ending the workout, although I am not sure if that sort of slider is possible.

 

[maurycyorlik]

Hi!
Force touch is disabled all over watchOS 7 like it wasn't there. You have to long press. It works fine. No problems with Your app in that field. Apple did all the work, no need to worry.

 

[cfc]

Hi!
Force touch is disabled all over watchOS 7 like it wasn't there. You have to long press. It works fine. No problems with Your app in that field. Apple did all the work, no need to worry.

Thanks! That is good to know. I have just built it for the simulator and that seemed to be the case, but I wasn't sure if that was just because it was rebuilt using the latest developer tools. It's good to hear that the current build works like that on watchOS 7. That should mean that it will be usable on the series 6 models as well.

I am still slightly worried that Apple have changed their guidelines about hidden menus, so an over-zealous app reviewer could reject the app in the future. However the fact that they have specifically allowed a long press to show the menu seems to indicate that it should be ok for a while.

I am also still worried about the chance of accidentally ending the app. A force press is hard to do accidentally but a long press isn't. So an accidental long press in the bottom right of the screen followed by an accidental tap there on the End button could end the workout. I won't do anything about it yet but it may require a redesign if it causes problems.

Many thanks for all the feedback - it sounds like I do not need to do anything at the moment, which is good. I still think Apple are making a mistake, but it is what it is.

 

[maurycyorlik]

Design suggestion (my field) - Try to leave it as it is but add a swipe action on the end (right to left) and pause (left to right) button OR if it possible 3-5 sec long press on that button.

 

[cfc]

Design suggestion (my field) - Try to leave it as it is but add a swipe action on the end (right to left) and pause (left to right) button OR if it possible 3-5 sec long press on that button.

Unfortunately that isn't possible with Apple's standard force touch menu (now long press menu). Apps just specify the icons and text and Apple do the rest, informing the app if the user taps one of the icons.

If I were to display my own screen in response to a long press then I could show what I want, but even then I am not sure how easy it would be to display a swipe control on that.

 

[rbart]

It looks like Apple have thrown up a surprise and it's a nasty one. They are getting rid of the force touch gesture, which means a major rethink for WorkOutDoors in terms of how you end the workout and how you access the settings.

I am not yet sure if this means that users who install watchOS 7 will not be able to end a workout in WorkOutDoors, so if anyone has installed the watchOS 7 beta then please let me know. I doubt that Apple would do that, but they are pretty draconian when they take things away, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Hopefully it won't affect current watches but it is an indication that they have probably removed the force touch hardware from the series 6 models released in a few months. As a result I will have to restructure the app to avoid force touch.
The "shortcuts" functionality means that you can configure various gestures to do this, but I would like a standard way. Possible replacements are:

- adding a button on the screen (which wastes space, and is easy tapped by accident);
- swiping like the native app (not easy with a map, and restricts screens changes);
- pressing both side buttons (which people use for other operations such as pause);
- long touch of the screen (which is slow);
- any other ideas?

I would appreciate feedback on this to help choose the best option (of a bad bunch). What does everyone think? In each case the gesture would probably result in a screen being displayed which looks similar to the current force touch menu, with an end button and a settings button, as well as other user configurable options.

My hope is that Apple may compensate for force touch by including an extra physical button or two on the series 6 watch that apps can use. If so then I could default to using such a button to replace force touch. However I cannot rely on that so I will need to restructure the app this Summer.

I am coding a running app and it uses the same layout as apple built in app.
But I don’t have a map to handle...

 

[cfc]

I am coding a running app and it uses the same layout as apple built in app.
But I don’t have a map to handle...

The map probably stops me copying Apple's approach but I think it's worth it. Apparently it is possible to differentiate between a swipe gesture and a pan gesture, so I may be able to get around it, but I haven't tried yet.

However even if that worked then the multiple screens would still be an issue because the intuitive approach is to swipe between them, so it wouldn't be possible to swipe to the controls screen like in Apple's app.

Good luck with the app!

 

[vimmerru]

Hi, here is my vision. I like current approach with force-tap, but in a long term it can be better to re-use the main UX approach of default app. It will simplify users ramp up and reduce a fear before next watch os releases. Obvious downside is hardcore users can be against.

> - swiping like the native app (not easy with a map, and restricts screens changes);

This option looks the best for me, but only if swipe experience will be improved. Here are 2 main problems:

1. Gestures conflict with map movement. It can be solved by disabling map movement on regular screen. If you want to move just double tap and move in full screen.
2. There is no movement animation. Absence of feedback makes hard to understand that action was performed and significantly reduces feeling of interface reliability and just look too cheap.

I am not sure that screen changes restriction is a big problem. Users quite rarely use cycling in lists. Also it looks more reliable to pause and stop activity later.
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One additional option is show activity info when you press pause.

 

[cfc]

Hi, here is my vision. I like current approach with force-tap, but in a long term it can be better to re-use the main UX approach of default app. It will simplify users ramp up and reduce a fear before next watch os releases. Obvious downside is hardcore users can be against.

> - swiping like the native app (not easy with a map, and restricts screens changes);

This option looks the best for me, but only if swipe experience will be improved. Here are 2 main problems:

1. Gestures conflict with map movement. It can be solved by disabling map movement on regular screen. If you want to move just double tap and move in full screen.
2. There is no movement animation. Absence of feedback makes hard to understand that action was performed and significantly reduces feeling of interface reliability and just look too cheap.

I am not sure that screen changes restriction is a big problem. Users quite rarely use cycling in lists. Also it looks more reliable to pause and stop activity later.
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One additional option is show activity info when you press pause.

Swiping left is an option. I may be able to get around the map issues and, as you say, users could cycle one way through the screens.

It is impossible to animate the swipes smoothly with the technology used to build the app, but there is a new technology (Swift UI) which may make it more feasible. However if animating between the screens requires two maps to be temporarily shown then that would be difficult with the current watchOS memory restrictions. The app is already pushing the watch to its limits and unfortunately some nice touches like that are just not possible (or not worth the effort required).

I think I am just going to stick with the default long press for the moment, because it involves no changes by me and seems to be the way Apple expect apps to replace force touch. However I will keeping an eye on it because I am worried that it can be accidentally invoked.

 

[twisted-pixel]

Workoutdoors doesn't work on watch OS7 (or iOS 14)..not sure which is the issue. I did a walk tonight using the app and although the health app records the calories burnt, exercise minutes, distance, and steps...it didn't record that I actually did a workout. looks like when I end the workout, there is no summary screen and therefore no 'done' button to save and export to phone

 

[rbart]

The map probably stops me copying Apple's approach but I think it's worth it. Apparently it is possible to differentiate between a swipe gesture and a pan gesture, so I may be able to get around it, but I haven't tried yet.

However even if that worked then the multiple screens would still be an issue because the intuitive approach is to swipe between them, so it wouldn't be possible to swipe to the controls screen like in Apple's app.

Good luck with the app!

Thanks
It will be less ambitious than WOD, and it’s a good way to experiment Swiftui

 

[cfc]

Workoutdoors doesn't work on watch OS7 (or iOS 14)..not sure which is the issue. I did a walk tonight using the app and although the health app records the calories burnt, exercise minutes, distance, and steps...it didn't record that I actually did a workout. looks like when I end the workout, there is no summary screen and therefore no 'done' button to save and export to phone

That is worrying. Please could you send any log files beginning with "WatchMap" or "Jetsam" to info@workoutdoors.net. To do this go to Apple's "Watch" app on the iPhone and tap General and then Diagnostic Logs.

How long was the walk? And did you long touch and see the menu with the End option?
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Thanks
It will be less ambitious than WOD, and it’s a good way to experiment Swiftui

SwiftUI does look very powerful, especially on the watch where the existing development environment is relatively limited. I am not brave enough to use it yet though! Maybe next year.

 

[FunkyMagicUK]

I prefer the "crown and side" button (actually I'd prefer an EXTRA physical button that is set aside purely for focused app and has no general UI) - with Force Touch being second choice. I'd be concerned about using Long Touch as often midrun especially with long sleeves I glance and its as though something has been clicked or swiped (screen is switched etc etc).

However - having just ran up the app on my wrist to test (whilst sitting still) - is there something odd happening as I get similar behaviour to the poster above where when I click the buttons now it just returns directly back to the home screen and the activity is gone with no summary screen etc and nothing is recorded??

(I allowed it to tick up to 30 seconds plus - as figured maybe it doesn't record a tiny workout as a workout?).

One other whilst I'm here...if in "Map Only" mode and switching to other apps and back etc...the "direction up" seems to lose itself regularly and end up on "North Up" - and it can be difficult to press the little button to get it back to "direction up" - is there something I'm missing here? (or if not then an easier way of switching map orientation than tapping the tiny compass icon?).


(I’m not on a beta)

 

[cfc]

I prefer the "crown and side" button (actually I'd prefer an EXTRA physical button that is set aside purely for focused app and has no general UI) - with Force Touch being second choice. I'd be concerned about using Long Touch as often midrun especially with long sleeves I glance and its as though something has been clicked or swiped (screen is switched etc etc).

However - having just ran up the app on my wrist to test (whilst sitting still) - is there something odd happening as I get similar behaviour to the poster above where when I click the buttons now it just returns directly back to the home screen and the activity is gone with no summary screen etc and nothing is recorded??

(I allowed it to tick up to 30 seconds plus - as figured maybe it doesn't record a tiny workout as a workout?).

One other whilst I'm here...if in "Map Only" mode and switching to other apps and back etc...the "direction up" seems to lose itself regularly and end up on "North Up" - and it can be difficult to press the little button to get it back to "direction up" - is there something I'm missing here? (or if not then an easier way of switching map orientation than tapping the tiny compass icon?).

I will still allow shortcuts to control which approach you use to end the workout, so you will be able to choose what works for you, but I am just deciding what the default should be. My first thoughts are to make it as similar as possible to the current approach (i.e. long touch), but if that results in a higher chance of accidentally ending workouts then I will change it.

There was an issue with Map Only mode forgetting the rotation mode when the watch has a compass and you are using that to control the rotation, but this will be fixed in the next beta.

It sounds like watchOS 7 is causing problems (as first betas often do). I am currently installing iOS 14 / watchOS 7 on my test devices so I will be looking at it soon. I like to leave it a day or two before installing betas in case they brick the device. Having been bitten a couple of times in the past I now prefer to let others take the risk first!

Hopefully it is something easy to fix. I have been holding fire on releasing a new beta so that I can try to make sure it works on watchOS 7, so if it is an easy fix then I will release the beta soon. If it isn't easy then I will be busy for a while...

 

[FunkyMagicUK]

^^ just to be clear I’m not on the WatchOS beta or a beta of your app.

I happily used your app to track an activity and follow a route at the weekend and I’ve changed nothing since then.

Does it cancel/abort the workout if no GPS was ever found maybe? (I’m indoors).

 

[cfc]

^^ just to be clear I’m not on the WatchOS beta or a beta of your app.

I happily used your app to track an activity and follow a route at the weekend and I’ve changed nothing since then.

Does it cancel/abort the workout if no GPS was ever found maybe? (I’m indoors).

It assumes that you have started the workout in error if you end it within a minute. In that situation it just goes back to the main menu. Would that explain it?

Glad you clarified that you weren't using any betas. Has anyone else tried the app on watchOS 7?

 

[FunkyMagicUK]

It assumes that you have started the workout in error if you end it within a minute. In that situation it just goes back to the main menu. Would that explain it?

Glad you clarified that you weren't using any betas. Has anyone else tried the app on watchOS 7?

Yes that would definitely be the answer! Phew. Funnily enough first test was about 10 secs and I thought it might be a failsafe of some kind, so did a test of longer than 30 seconds (but less than 1 minute).

No sprinters expected to use WOD then!??

 

[cfc]

No sprinters expected to use WOD then!??

I didn't think of that!

 

[twisted-pixel]

That is worrying. Please could you send any log files beginning with "WatchMap" or "Jetsam" to info@workoutdoors.net. To do this go to Apple's "Watch" app on the iPhone and tap General and then Diagnostic Logs.

How long was the walk? And did you long touch and see the menu with the End option?
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The walk was just under 4 miles/1 hour. It shows up in Workoutdoors on phone, but not in phone workouts. (see screenshots). I ended the workout the same way I always do (Long press to get to the End/Pause options. Press End, and then 'Done' in the top left) but, this time there was no 'Done' option. You can see in the screen shots the items in WorkOutdoors and the corresponding record in the health app...but last night's walk isn't there.

There are no logs in diagnostics for WatchMap or Jetsam

 

[cfc]

The walk was just under 4 miles/1 hour. It shows up in Workoutdoors on phone, but not in phone workouts. (see screenshots). I ended the workout the same way I always do (Long press to get to the End/Pause options. Press End, and then 'Done' in the top left) but, this time there was no 'Done' option. You can see in the screen shots the items in WorkOutdoors and the corresponding record in the health app...but last night's walk isn't there.

There are no logs in diagnostics for WatchMap or Jetsam

View attachment 927129 View attachment 927130

What was there instead of the Done button? Was it still showing "Saving..."? If so then it could be that the watch needed rebooting because watchOS was confused. This can happen occasionally with watchOS 6 let alone with a first beta of watchOS 7. I suggest rebooting both the watch and the iPhone.

I have got it working on watchOS 7 and so far it seems to be working fine. Early days though.

 

[twisted-pixel]

I rebooted both devices and this time it did work as expected.

 

[cfc]

I rebooted both devices and this time it did work as expected.

That's good to hear. Hopefully it was just a one-off due to the unreliability of a first beta. Thanks for letting me know.