apple watch calibration question?

[nicho]

i ran for the first time with my apple watch last night (i'm not really a runner. i've done plenty of walking, but no running).

on the watch, i used the apple workout app. on my phone, i also ran the runkeeper app with gps on (i did not open runkeeper on my watch). at the end, the watch said 2.5 miles, runkeeper said 3.1 miles. i can't say for certain which, if either, is right.

i get that the watch may not be calibrated on my first attempt. my question is, if runkeeper is accessing the gps can the watch also use the data to calibrate, or am i locking it out and stopping it from calibrating properly?

 

[Julien]

The Watch still has access to GPS. The Watch only uses GPS data to calibrate it's pedometer (accelerometer) and not for actual GPS point to point mapping.

 

[nicho]

The Watch still has access to GPS. The Watch only uses GPS data to calibrate it's pedometer (accelerometer) and not for actual GPS point to point mapping.

thanks. i heard only one watch app at a time has access to GPS data from the phone (so two third party apps would not be able to access it simultaneously, for example) and i was wondering if this was a limitation of the phone's APIs or just that of the watch.

 

[Julien]

thanks. i heard only one watch app at a time has access to GPS data from the phone (so two third party apps would not be able to access it simultaneously, for example) and i was wondering if this was a limitation of the phone's APIs or just that of the watch.

GPS is Location Services and many apps can access it simultaneously. This will give you an idea of how it works,

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203033

 

[exxxviii]

at the end, the watch said 2.5 miles, runkeeper said 3.1 miles. i can't say for certain which, if either, is right.

Odds are that Runkeeper is right. RK does occasionally flake out, but it is generally pretty close.

The accuracy gap is a little bigger than I would expect on a first run. But maybe it will tighten up with more activity.

I have run with both Workout and RK simultaneously. And I have run with just Workout. I have not had the sense that a single or multiple GPS-consuming apps affects accuracy.