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Juiceboy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 10, 2011
181
103
I've gone from a Fitbit Charge HR to an Watch S2.

Everything about it is great i'm still learning lots, but i'm a bit sad the workouts and heart rate details are just so limited compared to what fitbit offers. The Activity phone app only shows you your average heart rate is for the session, it doesn't show any sort of graph of your HR over time during the workout. (it's just really satisfying seeing when you really pushed yourself during your workout then just one average

Also i was really sad to find out that the Nike+ Run Club (running) app hasn't been updated to include GPS yet. seeing the route of your run is another great thing, but i guess they will update the watch app when their watch edition comes out. i made that mistake yesterday so i'll have to try and do both Nike and built in activity run app next time.

Is there another goal beside "KJ / move rings? i really have no interest in calories burnt, i'm much more about the total step count and distance? I'm really thinking i'm going to have to keep wearing both for fitness tracking. Most of my health data comes from Nike Running and fitbits offerings, but it's hard to make the switch to apples health when fitbit continues to be more compelling. If only they love each other enough to work together on their data.

Any tips in converting would be great.

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exxxviii

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2015
1,423
557
Wear both. That's what I do. AW is not a good fitness or activity platform yet. No software support.
 

matrix07

macrumors G3
Jun 24, 2010
8,226
4,895
It's just a software. Provides your feedback to Apple and they will add it if they deem it important enough.
 

ANDJOE

macrumors 6502
Aug 3, 2010
265
371
There are/will be 3rd party apps that can provide a lot of detailed stats. Watch OS3 makes available a lot of granular data to developers and but no killer app exists yet.
Worth noting that Apple has only been shipping activity trackers for 18 months now.
 

MBHockey

macrumors 601
Oct 4, 2003
4,055
303
Connecticut
Don't use the 'workout' app. Try Runkeeper. I get nice graphs of my HR during my workouts, as well as a map of the run.
 

bozokelly

macrumors newbie
Jun 14, 2016
16
10
Perth
I'm a fitness instructor and couldn't agree with you more. I would love to see where my HR has peaked and dropped. When you look at a run workout in the activity app you can get a breakdown of your pace, I think it would be fantastic if you get the same breakdown on you HR by tapping the avg HR section. I am going to submit this to apple as feedback and the more people that do that the more likely it will be updated. :cool::rolleyes: In the mean time I have been using Heartwatch which gives you a very in-depth breakdown.
 

Pencilnink

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2016
48
17
I'm the same as you and went from a Fitbit Charge HR to an AW2. I feel the Fitbit is just so much easier to use for workouts I mainly use the Fitbit for sleep tracking. Yesterday was my first try using the AW2 for workouts and I didn't bother using Apple's workout logger, I used Cardiogram for heart rate and Record by Under Armor. Still more to learn and I feel I should wear both the same time to test out how they compare.
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protobiont

macrumors 6502a
Jul 6, 2010
650
141
I'm the same as you and went from a Fitbit Charge HR to an AW2. I feel the Fitbit is just so much easier to use for workouts I mainly use the Fitbit for sleep tracking. Yesterday was my first try using the AW2 for workouts and I didn't bother using Apple's workout logger, I used Cardiogram for heart rate and Record by Under Armor. Still more to learn and I feel I should wear both the same time to test out how they compare.
View attachment 663356 View attachment 663357

Thanks for suggesting cardiogram! Huge improvement over the default hr complication and health app.
 

matrix07

macrumors G3
Jun 24, 2010
8,226
4,895
In the mean time I have been using Heartwatch which gives you a very in-depth breakdown.

Is that an app?

I think it's good that watch 2 brought many fitness enthusiasts into the ecosystem. Your feedbacks will be crucial for Apple to make a watch more fitness friendly. I don't think Apple now have a full idea of what the watch should do yet.
 
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boomhower

macrumors 68000
Oct 21, 2011
1,570
56
I use Motofit for workouts. Great in depth HR tracking and streams to you iPhone so you can set it up for easy viewing of HR. I also use a chest band HR monitor as the wrist based in both units leave a lot to be desired for accuracy.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
I've gone from a Fitbit Charge HR to an Watch S2.

Everything about it is great i'm still learning lots, but i'm a bit sad the workouts and heart rate details are just so limited compared to what fitbit offers.
Remember (as Pencilnink pointed out), you can use different apps to view the details that your Apple Watch collected during a workout.

I used my Apple Watch to record an outdoor cycle exercise the other night. The Apple watch recorded all sorts of details from that. Notice how differently the two apps below report the same heart rate data:

Apple's Activity app just gives me an average heart rate:

IMG_0273.PNG

Cardiogram app gives me much more heart rate detail:

IMG_0272.PNG

So the watch itself recorded all sorts of data during that cycle. It's just that Apple's Activity app doesn't show you everything that got recorded in any detail. But it's easy enough to find other apps that will.
 
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B.A.T

macrumors 6502a
Oct 16, 2009
865
771
Idaho
I am seriously considering the series 2. Are there any apps that allow you to look at maps of your runs at a later date? Seems like Apple's activity app does not do this.
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,882
8,053
I am seriously considering the series 2. Are there any apps that allow you to look at maps of your runs at a later date? Seems like Apple's activity app does not do this.

Activity app in Watch OS 3 does show a map if you do an outdoor run or walk workout.
 
Go into the Health app, it provides more precise data points and is the permanent log of all things related to health data. You may consider looking at third-party apps that include more data points than the standard workout app. I'm not a health app guru but I'm sure there are a few on here that may be able to point you to those apps.
 
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Luba

macrumors 68000
Apr 22, 2009
1,807
379
Like someone said above if it's just software meaning that the AW is not missing any sensors then AW will catch up with time. How much of a head start does Fitbit have? 2 years?
 

exxxviii

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2015
1,423
557
Like someone said above if it's just software meaning that the AW is not missing any sensors then AW will catch up with time. How much of a head start does Fitbit have? 2 years?
The activity and tracking market has at least a five year head start over Apple. I was using an employer, health insurance-sponsored tracker like five or six years ago, before the Fitbit one was introduced. I think that Apple's biggest gap is that they so far have undervalued the significance of data presentation and data integration. This is where platforms like Fitbit and Garmin are king. Everyone's tracker hardware pretty much does exactly the same thing with pretty much the same level of accuracy. It is what happens to the steps, HR readings, flights of stairs, etc. after they leave the physical collector device that differentiates the products. I think Apple missed this to date.
 

goat5570

macrumors member
Jul 9, 2008
44
7
The activity and tracking market has at least a five year head start over Apple. I was using an employer, health insurance-sponsored tracker like five or six years ago, before the Fitbit one was introduced. I think that Apple's biggest gap is that they so far have undervalued the significance of data presentation and data integration. This is where platforms like Fitbit and Garmin are king. Everyone's tracker hardware pretty much does exactly the same thing with pretty much the same level of accuracy. It is what happens to the steps, HR readings, flights of stairs, etc. after they leave the physical collector device that differentiates the products. I think Apple missed this to date.

This is the best explanation for what I think most peoples issues are with the watch as a fitness device. If Apple does not want to develop the software side of the collected data, then allow it to be exported. Let 3rd party developers do what has made the iphone a big success. Without the app store and supported apps, the iphone is not much different from other phones. Without great apps and Apple locking the gathered data to the watch with a below average app (workout), it will never take off as a great fitness watch.
 

exxxviii

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2015
1,423
557
Can I look back at a map from my run a month ago?
This is actually a great question and a bit of a potential problem... Geocoded runs and bikes consume a crapton of space. So, neither the watch or the Activity app on the phone could afford to store maps indefinitely. I assume that the watch only stores the most recent activity. I wonder what the archival process is for purging old activities out of the phone is?
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,882
8,053
This is actually a great question and a bit of a potential problem... Geocoded runs and bikes consume a crapton of space. So, neither the watch or the Activity app on the phone could afford to store maps indefinitely. I assume that the watch only stores the most recent activity. I wonder what the archival process is for purging old activities out of the phone is?

I think it takes less space than you think. It's just numbers -- the latitudes and longitudes of where you were at, and the times you were there. The map itself is downloaded each time you tap on the map thumbnail to view your route. If you are on a slow connection, you can see the map gradually download.
 

exxxviii

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2015
1,423
557
A Garmin TCX file for a 5 mile, 45 minute run is 300KB. A Garmin TCX file for a 100 mile, 5.5 hour bike ride ride is 14 MB. I think that it is time that drives volume, more than distance. So, that means that files are about ~300 KB/hour. So, that works out to around 3 activity hours to fill 1 MB of memory. A 256GB phone could store a lot of runs, but if you had a 32GB phone, would you want your space burned up that quickly?
 
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