Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

jwlbel

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 29, 2012
939
1,824
I like to go hiking and I do the exact same hike each time and I get extreme inconsistencies each time. I use the apple outdoor walk app each time. The distance is always pretty much the same, so that is not a problem. For elevation, I have gotten everything varying from 889 ft to 1002 ft and what the watch counts as “stairs”, I have gotten everything from 14 flights to 62 flights.

Any explanations? My starting location is always my house and I hike up the hill and turn around at the exact same place each time and then walk back home. So ideally everything should always be the same on the app. I am using my iPhone XS Max (which I take with me) and Apple Watch series 4
 
I think there are two basic ways that these apps will calculate elevation changes. One way is to use a barometric sensor that may be available on the AW or the iPhone. The other way is to use the elevations available on the map/GPS and calculate it that way.

I can't say which is more accurate or consistent.

I would try using the WorkOutDoors app to record your hikes. The developer of that app is a regular MR member and is very responsive to feature requests and bug reports.
 
I like to go hiking and I do the exact same hike each time and I get extreme inconsistencies each time. I use the apple outdoor walk app each time. The distance is always pretty much the same, so that is not a problem. For elevation, I have gotten everything varying from 889 ft to 1002 ft and what the watch counts as “stairs”, I have gotten everything from 14 flights to 62 flights.

Any explanations? My starting location is always my house and I hike up the hill and turn around at the exact same place each time and then walk back home. So ideally everything should always be the same on the app. I am using my iPhone XS Max (which I take with me) and Apple Watch series 4


"SNAP" Exactly the same here, and I do some very steep hill tracks. The only time I get the correct flights climbed is indoors going up the stairs. My fitbit gives me over 100+ floors on the hills whereas the Apple Watch gives me varied numbers, just like you are getting.
The only time I get a good flights climbed score is in adverse weather conditions when its very windy or blowing a gale on the hills. I don't worry about it:)

Flights climbed on the Apple Watch are based on atmospheric pressure changes, and I bet when you got the high score it was very windy.
 
I just looked on google maps and it said the incline is 1121 feet. So, assuming that is correct, the highest that my Apple Watch showed as 1002 ft is still way off.
 
Believe the watch is barometric altimeter, so, not great for tracking, imo. Windy day, numbers are off. No way to re-calibrate when at a known elevation. And in turn, floors will be off. See same with iPhone, where exact same route, one day says one/two floors, others eight, and the climb is well greater than either of these numbers (GPS said did 1000' today's new hike, iPhone says 5 flights; couple of weeks ago hike, 800', 31 flights, windy day).

A GPS tracking app would be the way to go, but even then, elevation will not always be exact, particularly if not great line-of-sight to satellites (see swings of 2-10 feet on same route; much better, than "native", but never 100% accurate).
 
I just looked on google maps and it said the incline is 1121 feet. So, assuming that is correct, the highest that my Apple Watch showed as 1002 ft is still way off.
That doesn't seem too inaccurate. It's not like your trying to track a target for a missile.

I looked at my last 7 runs. I run the same exact route every time using iSmoothRun, with my AW S2 and iphone Xs. The elevation change that got recorded ranged from 192 to 215. The average was 201.

My S2 doesn't have a barometer, but the Xs does. Not sure what sensor is being used, if at all.

In any case, my suggestion still stands and that is to get WorkOutdoors and see if that gives you more consistent results. At the very least, the developer would probably tell you what sensors are being used.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.