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Anybody satisfied with workout app?

Night Spring said:
Oh, come on. Just because someone thinks that "ten years behind" is an exaggeration, doesn't mean they think it is up to date.
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I agree. Ten years behind is a little bit exaggerated to say the least. But I do expect Apple to be the leader here and not one to follow. It is not like the lack the money for updating the Fitness app. They AW is out now and it is time for them to step up and fix some things and hopefully before OS2.

I love my Apple watch but would just like to see it be what it could be.
 
Nugget said:
And -- again -- this thread is not discussing the device. It is a discussion of the "Workout App." In that context, my statement "The native fitness app is at least a decade behind competitive products in the fitness space" turns out to be a point of agreement between us, and not "off the charts" absurdity.
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I still think your characterization of the Workout app as a "decade behind" is misleading. Ok, so it may be missing features dedicated fitness device had ten years ago. But if Apple put its mind to this, they could write the software to add these features in, I'd say about half a year.
 
Newtons Apple said:
I agree. Ten years behind is a little bit exaggerated to say the least. But I do expect Apple to be the leader here and not one to follow. It is not like the lack the money for updating the Fitness app. They AW is out now and it is time for them to step up and fix some things and hopefully before OS2.

I love my Apple watch but would just like to see it be what it could be.
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This is starting to remind me of when the first iPhone didn't have copy and paste.
 
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Night Spring said:
This is starting to remind me of when the first iPhone didn't have copy and paste.
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Yep. I waited until the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 (I think) to make the jump. That is how long it took Apple to get the core email and calendar functions to a level that it could replace my Blackberry. And they gave it enough memory that it could replace my iPod for music. Until then, it was a novelty toy from my point of view...
 
Night Spring said:
I still think your characterization of the Workout app as a "decade behind" is misleading. Ok, so it may be missing features dedicated fitness device had ten years ago. But if Apple put its mind to this, they could write the software to add these features in, I'd say about half a year.
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I think I see the confusion here -- I am not saying that it will take Apple ten years to close the gap. I am saying that devices ten years ago were more featureful and useful than the Apple Watch workouts app is today. They're ten years behind when it comes to consumer expectations and competition in this space. They are literally a decade behind. That is a statement on position, not on their pace.
 
exxxviii said:
It should will not take Apple 10 years to overcome the deficiencies (I hope), but I do not think that it will be OS2. My hunch is that we will not see material progress until 2016 or later.
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I would agree that we're unlikely to see the Workout App close much of any gap with WatchOS 2. My expectation is more that the third party developers will finally be in a position to close the gap and what happens with the Workout App will no longer be a problem for non-casual users. Apple may never feel the motivation to truly expand the Workout App into the space occupied by Garmin, Suunto, et al. But you can be damn sure that RunKeeper and Strava will as soon as the platform allows them to.
 
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za9ra22 said:
Given that you're not in any position to know how hard and fast I walk, in whatever circumstance, nor to judge my knowledge of and understanding of exercise and technology, I'll opt to not dignify your comments with a response.

On edit, I will however say that you asked for factual examples of the deficiency of the workout app, rather than what you perceived as opinions on the subject. I gave you factual examples, not opinions. I didn't ask for your opinions in return, because I have no interest in them whatsoever. Your reply admirably demonstrates why.
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Oh I AM in a position to know how "hard and fast" you walk and your "knowledge" of exercise and technology. You have posted everything anyone needs to know when you expect that going to a grocery store counts as "exercise". Feel free to be offended, but you seriously are confused between "activity" and "exercise".

By the way, since you brought up "factual" - perhaps you should actually read the manual. In essence, you have to actually EXERCISE in order to get credit of exercise.
 
exxxviii said:
My hunch is that you do not understood the list of deficiencies and the significance of those deficiencies. It is an incomplete and immature product in the fitness and activity space. It should will not take Apple 10 years to overcome the deficiencies (I hope), but I do not think that it will be OS2. My hunch is that we will not see material progress until 2016 or later.
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Hunch all you want. In spite of what some make it out to be, the concepts behind the AW's fitness capabilities aren't exactly rocket science.

My "hunch" is that many here are expecting one thing and not getting it, and then blaming Apple for deceptive marketing.
 
Night Spring said:
I still think your characterization of the Workout app as a "decade behind" is misleading. Ok, so it may be missing features dedicated fitness device had ten years ago. But if Apple put its mind to this, they could write the software to add these features in, I'd say about half a year.
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The issue here is almost entirely software, because the sensors in the watch are capable of deriving remarkably sophisticated data if suitably programmed to do so, and the algorithms to interpret the data are included.

As it stands, the watch performs one of the most crucial features of fitness programs pretty well already - motivation. Most professionals in the field will tell you that after getting someone to begin a fitness regime, the most critical thing is to motivate them to continue, and then build on their successes. The rings, reminders and progress reports seem to do that pretty well.
 
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I'm underwhelmed. My biggest gripe is the lack of weight training support - and I hope it's added down the road.
 
za9ra22 said:
The issue here is almost entirely software, because the sensors in the watch are capable of deriving remarkably sophisticated data if suitably programmed to do so, and the algorithms to interpret the data are included.

As it stands, the watch performs one of the most crucial features of fitness programs pretty well already - motivation. Most professionals in the field will tell you that after getting someone to begin a fitness regime, the most critical thing is to motivate them to continue, and then build on their successes. The rings, reminders and progress reports seem to do that pretty well.
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Totally agree here, very well said. A lot of these issues will be solved or alleviated with OS updates. The data is there, it just has be parsed and quantified.

It's a home run as far as motivation is concerned. AW is the first fitness device for many, some of whom are deriving awesome benefits and are healthier as a result.
 
dandrewk said:
Oh I AM in a position to know how "hard and fast" you walk and your "knowledge" of exercise and technology. You have posted everything anyone needs to know when you expect that going to a grocery store counts as "exercise". Feel free to be offended, but you seriously are confused between "activity" and "exercise".

By the way, since you brought up "factual" - perhaps you should actually read the manual. In essence, you have to actually EXERCISE in order to get credit of exercise.
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I think, given that you seem bent on personalising everything, I'll pass on this, and further nonsense. Thanks.
 
Nugget said:
No. The iPhone 1 was released in 2007. Phones in 1997 (a decade prior) definitely did not have cut and paste. State of the art for mobile phones in 1997 was the Motorola StarTAC which didn't even support text messaging at that time.

Why are you so combative and argumentative?
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And IMO, you are bring overly literal. The point of the post you are responding to was that the iPhone was behind the Blackberry in one particular feature -- never mind how many years behind it was, exactly -- but did being behind in one feature make the iPhone overall a lesser device than Blackberry?
 
I will be returning the Apple Watch and probably get something like the Fitbit Charge HR instead.

Maybe after watchOS 2 comes out, it'll be fully baked.
 
Night Spring said:
And IMO, you are bring overly literal. The point of the post you are responding to was that the iPhone was behind the Blackberry in one particular feature -- never mind how many years behind it was, exactly -- but did being behind in one feature make the iPhone overall a lesser device than Blackberry?
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It is a poor analogy for two reasons:
Firstly, cut and paste was not a ten year old feature in 2007.

But more importantly, because we are not discussing the Apple Watch as a device. We are discussing the Workout App specifically.

In the context of the Workout App, the software in the Apple Watch is unquestionably ten years behind competitive products in the marketplace.

For crying out loud, dandrewk even admitted in this thread that he agrees with this statement.

I think he's just keen on being inflammatory and argumentative, and that's what motivated the flawed iPhone cut and paste analogy.
 
Nugget said:
I think he's just keen on being inflammatory and argumentative, and that's what motivated the flawed iPhone cut and paste analogy.
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Actually, I was the one who first mentioned the analogy. And I was not thinking in terms of the exact years the technology was behind, but more in terms of people's reactions to the lack of this feature they wanted. A lot of people were outraged that Apple left out copy and paste, and were saying "come on Apple, how could you leave this out???"
 
Fair enough, you're right on that. Sorry. I would say that we're not really talking about one lacking/missing aspect of an app which otherwise advances the state of the art by a large margin. The iPhone was leaps and bounds more advanced than any other mobile phone that we'd seen before in 2007.

With the Workout app we're looking at an app which, taken in whole, is really just a small subset of what you can get from competing products today. I don't think it has a single feature which didn't exist in the Garmin 305 which came out ten years ago. And at the same time, it lacks core functionality which did exist in the 305. It's not really the same dynamic as the iPhone 1.

I also haven't seen any outrage in this thread, just dissatisfaction and hopes for improvement.
 
When I run on a treadmill, my tracked distance on the watch is consistently longer by a little over a mile compared to what the treadmill mileage says I've run. I tried the Apple suggested calibration process for the watch, but mileage is still wrong. What am I doing wrong? (other than trying to use the watch as a real fitness tracker--Hey oooh! Rim shot! Try the veal, etc.)
 
dandrewk said:
My "hunch" is that many here are expecting one thing and not getting it, and then blaming Apple for deceptive marketing.
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I disagree. Apple was deceptive in marketing the Workout app, touting that you could use it with the Watch to train for and run a marathon.

You cannot train for a marathon with an app that inaccurately and inconsistently calculates your mileage and pace.

The Watch itself is fine, and will be better once third parties can writ native apps. But the topic of the thread is the Workout app which I, as a runner, find mediocre at best.
 
Mod note: Please keep the arguing down and stick to the topic please. Several posts have been removed.
 
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