Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[cfc]

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!

Sorry - no-one has ever asked for emailing from the watch. I will have a look into it for the future though.

The WorkOutDoors watch app can upload a workout to Strava without requiring an iPhone, but to set that up you need to have an iPhone to do a one-off authorisation of the app with Strava.

When you say there is shared data in the Health app, does that include workouts? If so then you can use HealthFit to access it. However if you can't see workouts in the Fitness app then maybe Apple do not allow workout data to get from "family" watches to the health system on the shared iPhone.

 

[FleetwoodMacRumors]

The WorkOutDoors watch app can upload a workout to Strava without requiring an iPhone, but to set that up you need to have an iPhone to do a one-off authorisation of the app with Strava.

Thank you for your replies! I'm definitely willing to do this - just want to be clear what will work. So I download WorkOutDoors on any iPhone (not linked to my watch); in that app I go through some process to grant access for the WorkOutDoors app (both phone and watch) to upload to my Strava. Then in WorkOutDoors on my watch, I enter in my Strava log in information and the app on my watch will directly upload my runs to Strava. Is that right? If so I'm buying right now!

 

[cfc]

Thank you for your replies! I'm definitely willing to do this - just want to be clear what will work. So I download WorkOutDoors on any iPhone (not linked to my watch); in that app I go through some process to grant access for the WorkOutDoors app (both phone and watch) to upload to my Strava. Then in WorkOutDoors on my watch, I enter in my Strava log in information and the app on my watch will directly upload my runs to Strava. Is that right? If so I'm buying right now!

Sorry - no. You need to authorise Strava using the WorkOutDoors iPhone app, which then sends the authorisation token to the WorkOutDoors watch app. So you would still need an iPhone connected to the watch for the transfer of the token, but not for uploading any workouts to Strava after that.

 

[FleetwoodMacRumors]

Sorry - no. You need to authorise Strava using the WorkOutDoors iPhone app, which then sends the authorisation token to the WorkOutDoors watch app. So you would still need an iPhone connected to the watch for the transfer of the token, but not for uploading any workouts to Strava after that.

I'm willing to do that too, so the process is (1) setup Watch without Family Setup and authorize WorkOutDoors with Strava (2) unlink Watch from iPhone and re-setup Watch with Family Setup. However, do you know whether the authorization token with stay on the watch after step 2 (or get stored in iCloud so it can be retrieved)? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[cfc]

I'm willing to do that too, so the process is (1) setup Watch without Family Setup and authorize WorkOutDoors with Strava (2) unlink Watch from iPhone and re-setup Watch with Family Setup. However, do you know whether the authorization token with stay on the watch after step 2 (or get stored in iCloud so it can be retrieved)? Sorry for all the questions.

It depends on whether the app is uninstalled when you re-setup the watch with family sharing. Sorry but I don’t know how that works yet.

You could always try it and if it doesn’t work then ask Apple for a refund for the app.

 

[MJ22]

I’m having problems with the screens I set in the phone app syncing with the watch. No matter what I’ve done when I start a running workout on the watch the screen is not what I have set up (it’s not any screen I have personally customized). I have force quit both apps, tried adding an extra screen, and it still defaults back to this screen I don’t want and did not set up. Help please!

 

[cfc]

I’m having problems with the screens I set in the phone app syncing with the watch. No matter what I’ve done when I start a running workout on the watch the screen is not what I have set up (it’s not any screen I have personally customized). I have force quit both apps, tried adding an extra screen, and it still defaults back to this screen I don’t want and did not set up. Help please!

Have you tried rebooting both the watch and the iPhone? When the iPhone and watch apps are not talking to each other then it usually means that iOS and/or watchOS have got confused so the best thing to try is to restart both devices and then send the data again.

 

[MJ22]

Have you tried rebooting both the watch and the iPhone? When the iPhone and watch apps are not talking to each other then it usually means that iOS and/or watchOS have got confused so the best thing to try is to restart both devices and then send the data again.

Oh perfect that worked! Thanks!

 

[bealzeos]

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

@cfc are there any plans for stryd support?

I am thinking of making a christmas present to me...but i don't want to leave workoutdoors and go to ismoothrun for stryd support.

So please can you add it? Or are there even plans for it?

Thanks, Bernd

 

[cfc]

@cfc are there any plans for stryd support?

I am thinking of making a christmas present to me...but i don't want to leave workoutdoors and go to ismoothrun for stryd support.

So please can you add it? Or are there even plans for it?

Thanks, Bernd

Stryd support is far and away the most requested feature in the last few months so it is top of my list. I have bought a footpod and spoken to their developers, who were very helpful.

I just need to release the next version of the app (hopefully next month) and then I will start work on Stryd integration.

 

[cichykot]

uuuuu ----I think it's means this will be for a two, three month....ech.......

 

[runnerunner]

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?

I have the same problem in some cases. Have noticed that it is important to keep the arm very calm or to use the following solution: I solve it so that I start the app beforehand until the heart rate is displayed correctly and not statically. After that I finish the workout and start a new one. Alternatively: Start the workout and put it immediately into the pause, then when the heart rate is displayed, I will stop the pauses.

With my Garmin 245 I had no heart rate issues...

 

[DontGetTheCheese]

I have the same problem in some cases. Have noticed that it is important to keep the arm very calm or to use the following solution: I solve it so that I start the app beforehand until the heart rate is displayed correctly and not statically. After that I finish the workout and start a new one. Alternatively: Start the workout and put it immediately into the pause, then when the heart rate is displayed, I will stop the pauses.

With my Garmin 245 I had no heart rate issues...

Ran with my Fenix over the weekend, no strap, and the Fenix had me 15 bpm above my theoretical age max and 10 bpm average above what I typically do on that run. I'm either a genetic freak, putting my self at serious risk, or the HRM on the Fenix kind of blows.

Stryd support would be awesome. GPS is a lot better on S6 but I think it still runs a tad long, if you could use Stryd for the distance calculation, and get power in there, it would be a winner. I don't run based on power but I like to see it sometimes. It really opened my eyes to run both ways on a gradual hill and see 315 vs 275. I never considered that even a gradual incline could be 10% harder.

 

[johnl1275]

I just need to release the next version of the app (hopefully next month) and then I will start work on Stryd integration.

@cfc Any chance of getting a some details on the features of the new release?

 

[cfc]

@cfc Any chance of getting a some details on the features of the new release?

There is nothing really interesting in this release, but lots of boring features that I have been meaning to add for a while.

The main change is the addition of all the settings to the iPhone app, instead of just being available in the watch app. This has taken by far the most time to implement because there are a lot of settings.

There are several new workout types including pool swimming. I haven't been able to test that due to lockdown, so I am going to see how it goes during the test period. It probably won't make the main release because I haven't tried it myself, but hopefully there will be lots of useful feedback on it during testing, and I may include it if that goes really well.

I have also added workout persistence every few minutes so that data can be recovered in the event of a problem such as battery loss. WatchOS already does this with Apple's Health system, but I wanted to add it for the WorkOutDoors app.

There are enhanced interval analysis capabilities in the iPhone app where it now shows totals by interval type as well as for each individual interval. For example you can now see your stats across all the "fast" intervals separate from the stats across all the "recover" intervals.

There are some new units available, such as showing energy in kJ instead of kCal (for the southern hemisphere), and elevation speed in terms of metres/hour instead of metres/minute.

I have added lots of new debugging capabilities to help me diagnose when there are problems. As I say - this release has lots of boring but necessary stuff!

The only major new feature that is fun is that I have also added lots of new theme configuration options, including different map colour schemes and a new optional "light" mode for the iPhone app. A few people commented that they didn't like the look of the app, so I have made that more configurable.

There are loads of other minor changes but nothing too exciting. When this release is out then I will start work on Stryd and route/navigation improvements, which are joint top of my to-do list.

 

[johnl1275]

The main change is the addition of all the settings to the iPhone app, instead of just being available in the watch app. This has taken by far the most time to implement because there are a lot of settings.


The only major new feature that is fun is that I have also added lots of new theme configuration options, including different map colour schemes and a new optional "light" mode for the iPhone app. A few people commented that they didn't like the look of the app, so I have made that more configurable.

I am actually REALLY excited about new theme configurations! Maybe I am an easy customer... 😂😂
And having all the settings on the phone will be super helpful as well. I am constantly changing settings and I find it easier to make the changes on the phone. 👍👍👍

 

[johnl1275]

Lots of love for WorkOutDoors in this video:

It is the last app he mentions... Saving the best for last.

 

[cfc]

Lots of love for WorkOutDoors in this video:

It is the last app he mentions... Saving the best for last.

That’s great to see! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Miggui]

That’s great to see! Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks Ian ! Can you tell us when the new release will come ?

 

[cfc]

Thanks Ian ! Can you tell us when the new release will come ?

The first beta is being tested at the moment (many thanks to those currently testing it!), so it depends on how that goes.

If the testing goes well then I am hoping to release it to the App Store sometime in January, but I won't release it until it is ready.

 

[Miggui]

The first beta is being tested at the moment (many thanks to those currently testing it!), so it depends on how that goes.

If the testing goes well then I am hoping to release it to the App Store sometime in January, but I won't release it until it is ready.

Thanks for your work ! We ll waiting for it and the next one with the stryd compatibility !! It will be the graal for many of us 😉😉

 

[DontGetTheCheese]

Can't remember if I mentioned this before but audio alerts shut down Overcast. Frustrating when running relatively short intervals.

 

[cfc]

Can't remember if I mentioned this before but audio alerts shut down Overcast. Frustrating when running relatively short intervals.

The app uses the watchOS/iOS pausing mode, which means that spoken audio apps are paused and then sent a request to resume when the alert is finished. Unfortunately some podcast/audiobook apps don't seem to correctly handle the resume request and need to be resumed manually.

It is worth rebooting the watch and iPhone to see if that helps, because sometimes that fixes it. If it does fix it then my guess is that watchOS or iOS have got confused and are not sending the resume request to the audio app until they are restarted.

The next version of WorkOutDoors will have the option to control the mode used when interacting with other audio. As well the current Pause option (which lowers the sound for music), there will be a Mix option (which merges the alerts with the audio) and a Duck option (which lowers the sound of the audio for both music and spoken audio). Hopefully these should help when the audio app does not handle the pause mode correctly.

 

[involuntarheely]

would it be possible for WOD to broadcast heart rate data via the iphone to other devices? say, a bike computer connected to ANT+ sensors.

 

[NME42]

would it be possible for WOD to broadcast heart rate data via the iphone to other devices? say, a bike computer connected to ANT+ sensors.

You could try Blue Heart or HeartCast for that purpose. Downloaded the first but never had tried it.