Best Running Apps?

I get small variations in pace between apps. It's usually due to the time being of by a second or two. Or the distance is of by a few tenths of a mile.

The pace is usually within a few seconds. Nothing significant. If you're seeing a difference of 15 seconds, perhaps one of the apps isn't recognizing a pause.

 

I don't know why everyone is recommending the native app. The native app doesn't have audio feedback telling you distance, pace, etc. It's kinda distracting to flip over my wrist to see all that information while im running.

 

To each their own, I guess. The native app, while very basic, is very stable. If your experience is with NRC and the inherent bugginess that most users have, the reliability of the stock app is very refreshing.

Personally, I don't use the stock app, but the lack of audio feedback isn't a factor in why I don't.

 

WorkOutdoors: the one and only with offline maps!!

 

Workoutdoors is great, but I have experienced several issues after finishing my run => the data was not saved correctly and I have lost all the trace.
But it has great (and unique) features !

 

Sorry you have lost data. Please let me know the details and I will take a look.

 

Another vote for iSmoothRun. It’s the most similar to a Garmin (which is a good thing IMO). It can be a little bit buggy post-run (I’d just use the iPhone app to review past runs and weeks) but for the run itself, it’s fantastic and super customizable.

I want to like NRC as I have a long history with their service but it’s unbearably cluttered with stuff I don’t want and can’t turn off.

 

We have already discussed that in another thread.
After finishing my workout, the data has not been saved (it occurred 3 times, if I remember) in the Phone app (and also in the apple "actvity" app).
So I have lost all my track...
It's a shame, I am always a bit scary about that and I am reluctant to use this app for "important" workouts (big trails or races).
I have tried to pair/unpair my watch, re-install the app but it hasn't fixed the issue.
Maybe it's due to my S2 which is a bit to slow for a so powerful app ?

 

That is very odd. I haven't heard of the app randomly losing workouts. I have heard of the data consistently not making it because of a watchOS / iOS bug, and the suggestion I made in that thread of reinstalling the watch app fixes that. But I have never heard of workouts randomly going missing. It is the sort of thing that people would definitely complain about!

There is a theoretical possibility that watchOS may kill off the app whilst it is saving the workouts, which would be more likely for slower watches and longer workouts, but I haven't heard of it happening. WatchOS often kills off apps when another app is used but in theory apps running a workout are protected from being killed off by the OS. However I wonder if that protection goes away after the workout is ended but before it is saved. It shouldn't but you never know because it can sometimes have issues when sending the route (which is done after the workout is saved). Do you run any other apps during or immediately after the workout?

It could be that you have just been unlucky. WatchOS is not yet completely reliable and occasionally does strange things. In theory WorkOutDoors works even on an S0 watch, but it is pushing the boundaries of what any watch can do, so it is possibly more likely to stress watchOS than other apps.

Please email me if it happens again so that we can see if there is some sort of pattern.

 

I always wait until "Done" appears on the watch after saving the workout to avoid errors but 2 or 3 times, it has failed.
I don't run other apps during workouts.

 

If the Done button appears then the app has sent everything to watchOS and it is out of its hands. That rules out watchOS killing the app off during saving.

It sounds like a watchOS issue, especially if the workout does not appear in either the iPhone app or Apple's activity app. This is because the app uses two completely different mechanisms to send the workout data to the phone. Firstly it asks watchOS to save the workout to the Health system, and secondly it asks it to send a workout file to the iPhone app. If the Done button appears then that is because watchOS is saying that it has successfully saved the workout.

The fact that watchOS is telling the app that the save was successful and yet neither very separate task is completed makes me think there was a communication problem between your watch and the iPhone at the time. This sort of thing is usually constant rather than random and is fixed by a reinstall of the watch app, but neither applies to your situation.

Has it happened recently? I am wondering if it was an occasional watchOS issue that has been fixed recently.

 

It appears 2 weeks ago for the last time.
All my devices are up to date.
I am pretty sure I have seen the "done" button so I can't explain why I don't have the data in both apple health and your iphone app.

 

I used to use Runkeeper, now I use Intervals.

I use the Galloway Run/walk routine. I find the Interval app is very customizable. Most importantly, you can actually hear the start of the run or walk intervals above the traffic noise, etc. Also, you can customize countdowns to the start of each interval (i.e it gets you ready for the next interval). I highly recommend this if you plan on mixing running with walking.

 

Ok my current dilemma....

-When I use the built in Apple Workout app, the pace seems to be off. It seems to show up around 10 seconds faster than the actual pace. Then I use RunGap to upload it to RunKeeper, and RunKeeper seems to have a more accurate average pace....but it doesn't upload any pauses in the workout, so the splits are completely off.
-When I use the RunKeeper app, the splits are also very much off for some reason? Pauses show on the map, but any pauses seem to completely mess up all the splits. Whatever mile I took a pause on has a dramatically higher pace, and the miles around it have a dramatically quicker one listed.

 

I really hope that some day apple will allow apps to use the GPS of the watch instead of the phone's when the two are connected...

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I think Apple do allow for this. It depends on how the app is coded. For example, I believe the NRC app uses the GPS of whichever device the run is started from. iSmoothRun has an option to use either "Watch only" or "Watch + iPhone".

 

Hi @ftaok

Unfortunately Apple doesn't allow this. I think that this way Apple wants to "protect" the AW's battery.

Maybe @cfc who is developer can help us on this.

See also the disclaimer here: https://hole19.zendesk.com/hc/en-us...sed-on-the-location-of-my-Watch-or-my-iPhone-

 

On iSmoothRun, I can set my run as a "Watch Only" run. I know that this uses the GPS of the AW (because the location flag on the iPhone screen does not activate). I can still receive texts and phone calls because my AW is still connected to the iPhone.

Not sure why the Golf app developer can't do this? Perhaps the implentation is different with iSR. Perhaps the iSR-AW app and the iSR-iPhone app aren't connected when in WatchOnly mode. This makes sense because after the run, it takes a few minutes for the iPhone to log the run, so perhaps the app reconnect after running.

I do know for sure that the AW and the iPhone are connected the whole time.

 

The "Watch Only" option in iSmoothRun just means that the app only runs on the watch, but unfortunately it will still use the iPhone GPS if the phone is connected. iSmoothRun acknowledge this in their FAQ (http://www.ismoothrun.com/faq.html):

"If you have your phone with you, switch off Bluetooth. Although the app uses the watch's GPS, Apple will use the phone for GPS info if the two devices are connected, which usually results in poor location data."

One particular (and very common) situation where this causes issues is when someone starts near their iPhone and then leaves it behind, such as at home or in their car. This means that the watch has to switch to using its own GPS when it gets out of range of the phone. This switch can sometimes cause a poor GPS signal for a few seconds and very occasionally a lot longer if the watch GPS struggles to get a lock whilst the user is moving.

Unfortunately Apple have decided in their wisdom that apps cannot control this, which is very annoying! Until they change their minds it is best to follow the advice given by iSmoothRun and switch off the iPhone's bluetooth if you bring the phone with you (and also even if you only start nearby it).

 

I haven't tried iSR, but under Watch only http://www.ismoothrun.com/faq.html#AppleWatch:
If you have your phone with you, switch off Bluetooth. Although the app uses the watch's GPS, Apple will use the phone for GPS info if the two devices are connected, which usually results in poor location data.

edit: Ok, not fast enough.

 

Another shout out to Workoutdoors app. It's been rock solid for me on AW S3.

 

@cfc If I put the watch in airplane mode will I be able to record a run?

I need the phone’s Bluetooth enabled for my airpods...

 

OK, I stand corrected.

This makes sense now. There was this one outdoor run where I selected Watch Only. My phone was inside my house. The beginning of the run map was all messed up. Mileage ended up being correct. I thought it was an auto-pause issue, but it was probably my AW still connecting to my iPhone via BT and the iPhone's location was used until I got out of range.

 

You can connect your airpods to the watch

 

I will have the watch in airplane mode in order to “cut” the connection between the phone and the watch and use only the watch’ GPS.

So the AirPods will be connected to the phone.