Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[cfc]

Hi, after using a Garmin product nearly a year I'm back with a Apple Watch 6 and using your App for running.
Unfortunately I think I have the same issue like back in the days with my Apple Watch 4.

After starting the app and starting to run, it takes approx. 4-6 min. time to show the heart rate. Sometimes it shows a fixed heart rate for nearly a few minutes until it works fine.

1) I tried to switch to pause mode immediately after starting to wait for the heart rate to be immediately exit the pause mode when HR is displayed. Unfortunately that also takes a few minutes.
2) At the same time I tried to switch to the WatchOS Heart rate app during the pause mode, but that app also takes just as long there until the HR is in the official HR app displayed.

Do you have an idea for my issue? thanks in advance...

Edit / wish:
At the same time as GPS signal is displayed as available, the heart rate should also be displayed as available in the initial image (where the sports can be selected or in the "Open Workouts" screen).

It sounds like you have a difficult wrist for the watch to get a reading. It is worth checking Apple's suggestions for how to improve things (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207941#heartrate) but a few people just cannot get on with Apple's sensors for some reason (veins a long way below the surface, tattoos etc).

Some people who find this, such as @andrewstirling, use an external HR monitor instead (which the app will use automatically if paired with the watch). Some of them only use an external monitor in the colder months and can get by in the warmer months, but a few people need it all year round.

I would love to show the HR in the main menu alongside the GPS signal. However Apple only allow some apps to get frequent HR updates outside of a workout. Developers need to request access, which I have done many times to no avail. I never hear back from them.

In some ways it may be a good thing because the fact that the app uses the GPS outside of a workout is causing a few people issues with watchOS 7 (the app never seems to go away and needs to be force killed), so using the HR outside of a workout may cause similar problems.

 

[andrewstirling]

And for me I’d get a heart rate no problem outwith the workout but once I start running I’d lose it again. So not sure it actually adds much functionality

 

[firewire9000]

Can I have the screen on like the stock workout app inst of blurring it with the time?

 

[cfc]

Can I have the screen on like the stock workout app inst of blurring it with the time?

Unfortunately Apple do not allow third party apps to use the Always on Display yet. Hopefully they will allow it in the future, and when they do then I will add it to WorkOutDoors.

 

[andrewstirling]

They barely allow their own apps to show. Just the time and workout app so far. I’m quite sure they could get messages, activity rings etc to show but for some reason they just don’t.

 

[pattn]

Hey mate, is there any known issue with sync to strava? It seems like pausing is ignored after uploading it to strava directly from WOD. Also mile splits dont transfer to the fitness app? Did not had any issues before watchOS 7 ://

 

[cfc]

Hey mate, is there any known issue with sync to strava? It seems like pausing is ignored after uploading it to strava directly from WOD. Also mile splits dont transfer to the fitness app? Did not had any issues before watchOS 7 ://

Strava have a habit of ignoring any pause information sent to them and then determining the pauses themselves as part of their "moving time" calculations. Every other system I know of respects the data that is sent to them, but Strava always think they know better. To be fair sometimes they do (their terrain database is usually more accurate than a barometer) but mostly their recalculations just confuse things in my experience.

If you send the wkt file for the workout to info@workoutdoors.net then I will take a look and see if we can find a way to force Strava to respect the data in the file that is sent to them. To do this tap the Export button 3 times quickly.

The splits are calculated by the Fitness app itself, and there have been problems for some users of any third party workout app since watchOS 7. It seems a bit random and I haven't heard of an explicit fix for it yet. See here for a discussion on Apple's forums: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251809580

 

[pattn]

Strava have a habit of ignoring any pause information sent to them and then determining the pauses themselves as part of their "moving time" calculations. Every other system I know of respects the data that is sent to them, but Strava always think they know better. To be fair sometimes they do (their terrain database is usually more accurate than a barometer) but mostly their recalculations just confuse things in my experience.

If you send the wkt file for the workout to info@workoutdoors.net then I will take a look and see if we can find a way to force Strava to respect the data in the file that is sent to them. To do this tap the Export button 3 times quickly.

The splits are calculated by the Fitness app itself, and there have been problems for some users of any third party workout app since watchOS 7. It seems a bit random and I haven't heard of an explicit fix for it yet. See here for a discussion on Apple's forums: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251809580

dude you are fast as h... - with wkt file you mean the gpx? or is it a file type?

 

[cfc]

dude you are fast as h... - with wkt file you mean the gpx? or is it a file type?

Sorry - I forgot to say how to send a wkt file in my initial reply and only edited it later.

The wkt file is the internal file used by the app. You can export it by tapping the Export button 3 times quickly. Thanks.

 

[pattn]

Sorry - I forgot to say how to send a wkt file in my initial reply and only edited it later.

The wkt file is the internal file used by the app. You can export it by tapping the Export button 3 times quickly. Thanks.

ok sent

 

[mike mike]

Just switched to Watch 6, the option for determining North up (green arrow) and head up (red arrow) does not work in Watch 6. One can still use the bulls eye to determine the position on the map, but tapping the green and red arrows does nothing.

I had Watch 3 with WatchOS 7.1, it worked fine.

 

[cfc]

Just switched to Watch 6, the option for determining North up (green arrow) and head up (red arrow) does not work in Watch 6. One can still use the bulls eye to determine the position on the map, but tapping the green and red arrows does nothing.

I had Watch 3 with WatchOS 7.1, it worked fine.

Someone else mentioned this problem, and another person had similar problems with compass metrics. My guess is that there is a rare bug in watchOS 7 where it partly persists the fact that the watch does not have a compass. When the app asks watchOS if it has a compass then it replies that it has, but when the app asks it for compass readings then it does not reply.

The simple workaround for the map rotation was to touch the watch screen for a second and tap Settings then Map then Rotation. Then change the "Map Orientation" to "Direction of Travel". This will make the app work as it did for your series 3 watch without a compass.

I do not know how to get it working for the compass. One of the guys who had the problem completely reinstalled both the iPhone app and the watch app and rebooted both devices but still had the issue with metrics. Hopefully it is something that will be fixed in a future version of watchOS.

 

[lucco78]

Hi, some problem restoring "workout history" to my grand new Apple Watch 6... Any suggestion?

 

[cfc]

Hi, some problem restoring "workout history" to my grand new Apple Watch 6... Any suggestion?

WatchOS does not back up the contents of the watch app so the workout history on the watch app is not preserved. Sorry about that. If I automatically restored them from the iPhone app when the user changed watch then it could take a very long time to send them all (and probably use a lot of battery power).

The main workout history is stored in the iPhone app. The workout history on the watch only stores the last few workouts (currently 50) in case you need to see them whilst away from the iPhone. For most of the life of the app the workouts were not stored on the watch at all, but some users were away from their phone for a few weeks and wanted to view recent workouts on the watch, which is why it was added.

 

[Kridal]

Hi!
I'm having a problem with my heart rate.. I tried to do what apple suggest to fix it but no luck. It takes from 1 minute up to 10-15 minutes before the heart rate is correct. In the app it is a flat heart rate line in the start of the workouts.

Didn't have this problem before! Any tips or known problems about this?

 

[cfc]

Hi!
I'm having a problem with my heart rate.. I tried to do what apple suggest to fix it but no luck. It takes from 1 minute up to 10-15 minutes before the heart rate is correct. In the app it is a flat heart rate line in the start of the workouts.

Didn't have this problem before! Any tips or known problems about this?

Some users find that wrist-based sensors struggle to work for them for whatever reason, especially as the weather gets colder. I know of many people who use an external sensor over the colder months, and some people who use one all year round (e.g. as mentioned by @andrewstirling on the previous page of this thread).

 

[Kridal]

Some users find that wrist-based sensors struggle to work for them for whatever reason, especially as the weather gets colder. I know of many people who use an external sensor over the colder months, and some people who use one all year round (e.g. as mentioned by @andrewstirling on the previous page of this thread).

I see.. Dont like using belt! Thats why I wanted a watch with wrist-based sensor. It worked very well earlier, even tough its not colder now! Then I just have to wait and hope it will be ok again. By the way: I have no trouble after it first got contact. Then it works trough the whole training session.

 

[andrewstirling]

I use a polar arm based sensor which I wear just over my elbow and it works great. The Apple Watch sensor never really works for me whilst running.

 

[cfc]

I see.. Dont like using belt! Thats why I wanted a watch with wrist-based sensor. It worked very well earlier, even tough its not colder now! Then I just have to wait and hope it will be ok again. By the way: I have no trouble after it first got contact. Then it works trough the whole training session.

The hardest part for the sensor is getting an initial "lock" on your heart rate, which is why the missing data is often at the start of a workout. The main thing to try is to have the strap as tight as possible without being too tight, but a few people sometimes (or always) have trouble with the watch sensor.

 

[Kridal]

The hardest part for the sensor is getting an initial "lock" on your heart rate, which is why the missing data is often at the start of a workout. The main thing to try is to have the strap as tight as possible without being too tight, but a few people sometimes (or always) have trouble with the watch sensor.

Is it possible to see on the watch (either the watch itself or in the WOD-app) when the sensor get "locked" before I start training? Just like the gps..

 

[cfc]

Is it possible to see on the watch (either the watch itself or in the WOD-app) when the sensor get "locked" before I start training? Just like the gps..

Unfortunately Apple will not let the app do this. They do not allow apps to get frequent heart rate updates outside of a workout unless they give the app special permission to do so. I have asked them for this permission several times but have never heard back.

You could always start a workout on the watch without starting it in real life. When you get a good heart rate lock then end and discard the workout. Then quickly start the real workout and it may maintain the lock. I have never heard of anyone trying this but it may work. It may also be quicker because you are stationary when it is trying to get a lock.

 

[cichykot]

stryd ... stryd .... stryd ... please do this.
its really important things.

 

[FleetwoodMacRumors]

@cfc How well does this app work with a watch using Family Setup (the new functionality where the watch is for a different user than the phone and so a lot of data doesn't sync over)? Specifically, how would I be able to get my workout data (route, distance, duration, pace/elevation/cadence/heartrate graphs) out of the watch so I can save and go through my workout history? TIA

 

[cfc]

@cfc How well does this app work with a watch using Family Setup (the new functionality where the watch is for a different user than the phone and so a lot of data doesn't sync over)? Specifically, how would I be able to get my workout data (route, distance, duration, pace/elevation/cadence/heartrate graphs) out of the watch so I can save and go through my workout history? TIA

To be honest I have no idea because it is so new that I have never investigated it and have never heard from anyone who has used family setup (which is why I have never investigated it).

Can you see workouts created using the watch in the Fitness app on the iPhone? I can't seem to find out if Apple show them. If they do then you can analyse the data there and export it to other systems by using an app such as HealthFit. If Apple do not show such workouts on the iPhone then there probably isn't much you can do. Sorry about that.

 

[FleetwoodMacRumors]

Can you see workouts created using the watch in the Fitness app on the iPhone? I can't seem to find out if Apple show them. If they do then you can analyse the data there and export it to other systems by using an app such as HealthFit. If Apple do not show such workouts on the iPhone then there probably isn't much you can do. Sorry about that.

No, I can't see watch workouts in the Fitness app (I can see shared data in the Health app though). So you're saying your watch app can't use the internet connection on the watch to export the data somewhere? Even something like e-mailing the TCX files from the watch would be acceptable to me. Please, you're my only hope!