Resolved Apple Watch & iPhone step tracking

[Blujelly]

Hi All,

Sorry if this has been mentioned I've tried to have a little look around.

Just curious both IP and AW track my steps, so assume if I carry both around me at the same time the will sync together and try to get an accurate (with maybe a few discrepancies) reading of my step count and distance?

Then I'd also assume if I were to walk away from my IP with my AW on and go out of distance from my IP that it would then sync back up after once in range?

Does this sound correct? Or completely wrong?

Thanks all

 

[Enygmatic]

Hi All,

Sorry if this has been mentioned I've tried to have a little look around.

Just curious both IP and AW track my steps, so assume if I carry both around me at the same time the will sync together and try to get an accurate (with maybe a few discrepancies) reading of my step count and distance?

Then I'd also assume if I were to walk away from my IP with my AW on and go out of distance from my IP that it would then sync back up after once in range?

Does this sound correct? Or completely wrong?

Thanks all

Correct... the Watch has its built-in accelerometer/pedometer functioning. You can do quite a bit with it (fitness-wise) sans the phone - you just lose out on the distance features, since you won't have GPS, and the use of any 3rd party apps (if using one).

 

[Blujelly]

Correct... the Watch has its built-in accelerometer/pedometer functioning. You can do quite a bit with it (fitness-wise) sans the phone - you just lose out on the distance features, since you won't have GPS, and the use of any 3rd party apps (if using one).

I assume if you went out of distance with the AW it would then guestimate the distance via steps? just minus the added feature of having GPS from the IP? or not

Thanks for the above.

 

[Enygmatic]

The recommendation is to take the Watch (and phone) for multiple 20-min Open walks or runs to calibrate the Watch effectively. The more you do this, the better it gets at calculating your pace(s). This, in conjunction with the steps measured by the pedometer, (ideally) provides more accurate estimates for distance when the Watch is used without the phone.

 

[maflynn]

The recommendation is to take the Watch (and phone) for a 20-min Open walk or run to calibrate the Watch. The more you do this, the better it gets at calculating your pace(s).

The distance isn't too bad, and for my AW, its off about a quarter of a mile if I do a 3 mile run. I probably need to try bringing my phone with me on my runs.

 

[Blujelly]

Thanks for the response all, majority if the time I'll be carrying both just wondered what happens if you take one with out the other. even when I go the gym/running I'll be carrying both, as I normally use my IP sleeve for gym work

I have noticed a slight difference on the two but nothing drastic I'd say out by like 3-4%

 

[Enygmatic]

The distance isn't too bad, and for my AW, its off about a quarter of a mile if I do a 3 mile run. I probably need to try bringing my phone with me on my runs.

A quarter-mile? Jesus... that's horrible. Yes, try bringing the phone with you. We have distance markers set up along our 5k route and outer perimeter of one of our flight lines; my watch is probably a good 100-150 ft short, enforcing my belief that the calibration process does work.

 

[maflynn]

Yeah, I guess. I was just happy it said 3

 

[Enygmatic]

Yeah, I guess. I was just happy it said 3

LOL

Try calibrating while running, jogging, and walking at your typical paces.

 

[Blujelly]

Saying that I've just looked at mine.

IP is saying just over miles
AW is saying 1.3 miles.

I'd imagine over time it would calibrate better

 

[maflynn]

LOL

Try calibrating while running, jogging, and walking at your typical paces.

I did, and that was the result. I'll try it again the next time I'm on a short run. Today's my recovery day, so no running and Sunday I'll be doing a 10 mile run, so I'd rather not have my phone with me for that extended run.

 

[Blujelly]

by calibrating I assume you man having both with at the same time for 20 minutes or more?

 

[Enygmatic]

by calibrating I assume you man having both with at the same time for 20 minutes or more?

Yes... Apple's official recommendation is to select "Other" and "Open/No Goal", then walk or run for 20 minutes in an open field, or some other uncovered area for maximum GPS/satellite coverage.

 

[r0k]

The distance isn't too bad, and for my AW, its off about a quarter of a mile if I do a 3 mile run. I probably need to try bringing my phone with me on my runs.

I've been taking my iPhone 6 on every run this season. I use runkeeper and the glance on the watch is set to show my average pace. Not so useful during interval training but useful for almost every other run. I wear cargo shorts. I know not appropriate for running but they give me a place to tuck my iPhone 6 during a run that doesn't require me to wear one of those plastic sleeve things that interferes with touchid. If it's a real downpour, I put my iPhone in a sandwich bag in my pocket. I have mixed feelings about phone OS 2.0 because I really don't want runkeeper running just on my watch, ignoring GPS from my phone and racking up 10% distance errors. I'm clueless when it comes to pace and without the pace indication on my wrist, I'd run a minute or two faster than what I should and bonk at 6 out of 13 miles or even 3 out of 6 miles in some cases.

 

[iVegas]

Thanks for the response all, majority if the time I'll be carrying both just wondered what happens if you take one with out the other.

If you go for a walk/run and leave behind your phone all your steps will sync up between the watch, health app and activity app once they reconnect. I did learn this week that the opposite does not happen. I forgot my watch so I made sure to keep my phone on me to track steps. When I got home the data did not sync to the watch, which was a little disappointing.