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Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

Hi, first of all I want to thank you for the awesome app, the experience of my Apple Watch would be half without WOD. :)
About my question, in Europe and specially in the Czech Republic we have a lot of marked hiking and cycling trails. Would it be possible for example to optionally turn on the display of these routes on the map?
All the routes are part of the OSM project and Thunderforest displays them in its web interface, unfortunately on the WOD maps it is only the routes and not the markers over these routes.(sample of the same place from WOD and from Thunderforrest is on the pictures)
For the Czech Republic, the routes have different colors, and these colors are also stored in OSM, so displaying them would be great, but that's not so important.
Absolutely awesome would be the possibility to define your own source of map tiles, the community around OSM is very strong and offers a large number of specialized maps for hikers, cyclists and other sports... but I understand that this is probably beyond the scope of the WOD.
Thanks for the great work
 

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crempa said:
Hi, first of all I want to thank you for the awesome app, the experience of my Apple Watch would be half without WOD. :)
About my question, in Europe and specially in the Czech Republic we have a lot of marked hiking and cycling trails. Would it be possible for example to optionally turn on the display of these routes on the map?
All the routes are part of the OSM project and Thunderforest displays them in its web interface, unfortunately on the WOD maps it is only the routes and not the markers over these routes.(sample of the same place from WOD and from Thunderforrest is on the pictures)
For the Czech Republic, the routes have different colors, and these colors are also stored in OSM, so displaying them would be great, but that's not so important.
Absolutely awesome would be the possibility to define your own source of map tiles, the community around OSM is very strong and offers a large number of specialized maps for hikers, cyclists and other sports... but I understand that this is probably beyond the scope of the WOD.
Thanks for the great work
Click to expand...
I will improve the map rendering in the future. As you say Thunderforest provides the information but I do not display it. When I added it I was mainly focussed on displaying the contours and hill shading. Unfortunately such improvements are not high priority at the moment (which is a shame because, like the navigation features, it is the sort of thing that I love coding).

Displaying any source of OSM map tiles is very unlikely. It would be possible but would not be easy. The data comes from OSM and generally has the same tag names but there are usually several major differences between sources.

For example Thunderforest has more data, but it only goes to a certain zoom level (14) and therefore has a lot of data in one tile, whereas Mapbox has less data and goes to higher zooms so the tiles are much smaller. Also each source splits the data into different layers, so the app would need to handle that. There are usually other differences such as how they tell you the z order of map features (what is on top of what).

It is not too difficult for me to add a new source, but making it possible for the user to do that would be a lot harder. The code is actually pretty flexible because it has handled 3 different sources of OSM data over the years (the first source was a company called MapZen which went bust over 5 years ago). However it is not flexible enough to make it possible for the user to add a new data source.

Again it would be fun to code, and would be useful for a few people, but it doesn't really fit in with what the app is about. As you say it: is beyond the scope of the app. At some time in the future I may rewrite the code to make it easier to add new sources, but I doubt I will make that ability available to the user.
 
cfc said:
I am looking forward to coding the navigation stuff because I find that sort of thing fun.
Click to expand...

This is great news on so many levels!
First of all, there is a chance that it will be relatively fast :)
Secondly - the effect of the work you want to do and which you do with fun is usually much better :)

I really regret that AW has AOD at all - if it didn't, it wouldn't change anything for me, because I don't use it anyway, and WOD would already have navigation :D

But seriously - we have discussed many times here how such navigation functions could look like and how it is solved in other applications (e.g. Footpath) and other ecosystems (Garmin/Suunto) and what is the best in each of them, because none is perfect. I can't wait for the navigation function in WOD, because I really hope that it will be a dream come true and a trail navigation system that I've been waiting for all my life ;)
 
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I think navigation without AOD wouldn' t be good. It's very important for me that the screen stay On when I am following a single with my mountain bike. I hope you can do the two thing in the next update. It would be great.
 
LeTraKeuR said:
I think navigation without AOD wouldn' t be good. It's very important for me that the screen stay On when I am following a single with my mountain bike. I hope you can do the two thing in the next update. It would be great.
Click to expand...
The next update will have AOD but not navigation. That is top of my list for the following version (depending on what Apple announce at WWDC).
 
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Just ran with WOD and I have 2 points.

1) It's possible to start workout with action button on Ultras like with default Apple Workout? Currently when I tap to run, it start directly or with countdown.
2) I really miss AOD 😄
 
I use the Hiking module and whenever I end a hike I get this message:
Error with end selection / Unable to end a workout that is not currently active.
I'm getting the correct data after ending the hike but would like to know why I'm getting the above message.
I've restarted the Watch and reinstalled the app neither of which helped.
 
stradify said:
I use the Hiking module and whenever I end a hike I get this message:
Error with end selection / Unable to end a workout that is not currently active.
I'm getting the correct data after ending the hike but would like to know why I'm getting the above message.
I've restarted the Watch and reinstalled the app neither of which helped.
Click to expand...
There are two possible reasons for that message. The first is if you run another workout app at the same time as WorkOutDoors. WatchOS only allows one workout session to be running at any one time, so if you start a session in another app then the workout session in WorkOutDoors will be killed off and you will get that message when you end the workout. The app tries to keep going but some data may be lost and you get a voice message when you start a workout in another app and again when the app tried to save the workout at the end.

If that doesn’t explain it then please check that you have given the app permission to read and write all the health data. To check this go to the Settings app on the iPhone and select Privacy / Health / WorkOutDoors. Make sure that every health setting is enabled (you may need to scroll down to turn them all on). Note that if you have installed on a new iPhone then you may need to give permission again.

If the health permissions are all enabled then you may be experiencing a rare bug with iOS/watchOS where the watch seems to lose the permission. To fix this switch all of the health permissions off, then reboot both the iPhone and the watch, and then switch them all on again. This procedure nudges iOS into sending them to the watch again.
 
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Over the past few months I've experienced the map freezing up when doing outdoor workouts. I'm not able to swipe between screens but the metrics at the bottom of the screen with the map--time, distance, and heartrate in this case--continue to be active. When I finish the activity all the data, including the gpx recording, is present and sent over to the iPhone app. This is an intermittent problem but it has happened often enough that it has become a concern when relying on the app for navigation, such as when following a gpx track on a hike or run. I thought it should be brought to your attention.

I emailed you the wkt file. Let me know if you need anything further from me to investigate this.
 
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tcarlisle said:
Over the past few months I've experienced the map freezing up when doing outdoor workouts. I'm not able to swipe between screens but the metrics at the bottom of the screen with the map--time, distance, and heartrate in this case--continue to be active. When I finish the activity all the data, including the gpx recording, is present and sent over to the iPhone app. This is an intermittent problem but it has happened often enough that it has become a concern when relying on the app for navigation, such as when following a gpx track on a hike or run. I thought it should be brought to your attention.

I emailed you the wkt file. Let me know if you need anything further from me to investigate this.
Click to expand...

Is it possible that you have locked the screen using the 'Screen Lock' or 'Water Lock'? The behaviour you are describing sounds like when I lock the screen (which I do when it's raining heavily so I don't get any accidental screen presses).
 
tcarlisle said:
Over the past few months I've experienced the map freezing up when doing outdoor workouts. I'm not able to swipe between screens but the metrics at the bottom of the screen with the map--time, distance, and heartrate in this case--continue to be active. When I finish the activity all the data, including the gpx recording, is present and sent over to the iPhone app. This is an intermittent problem but it has happened often enough that it has become a concern when relying on the app for navigation, such as when following a gpx track on a hike or run. I thought it should be brought to your attention.

I emailed you the wkt file. Let me know if you need anything further from me to investigate this.
Click to expand...
Sorry you are having problems with the map freezing. This has been reported about 20 times in the 7 weeks since watchOS 9.4 was released. Initially once a week but more frequently recently as the freezes mount up. Apart from one exception, all of the users were running 9.4 and all but 4 of them had a series 7 watch like yourself. The other 4 had a series 6.

When people have the problem then they tend to get it repeatedly. The vast majority of users are not having the problem so I am trying to spot a pattern between the users that are having issues.

The exception was one user who had the problem on a series 8 running watchOS 9.3.1. He was zooming in and out on the map, which is very resource intensive, so my guess is that watchOS now deals with the watch being stressed by killing off the 3D rendering system that WOD uses to draw the map. It may be that this is a good thing because in the past it would sometimes kill the whole app if the watch was really stressed.

So my guess is that watchOS 9.4 thinks that series 6 and series 7 watches are stressed when they maybe are not. Or maybe something (possibly watchOS itself) is going rogue on series 6 and 7 watches, which is why the rendering system is being killed.

I have been ignoring the problem in the hope that watchOS 9.5 (apparently due imminently) will fix it. One person who reported the problem has been using the 9.5 beta and said that it hadn't happened since he upgraded. However he hadn't had it long, so it is too early to tell.

Also, I don't know how the rewrite will affect the issue. SwiftUI may use less resources and fix the problem, or it may use more and make it worse. I have been testing on a series 7 and an Ultra and haven't had the issue with either.

My current plan is if watchOS 9.5 doesn't fix the problem then I will offer the SwiftUI beta to those users to see if that helps. If neither help then I will need to contact Apple to try to fix it. Unfortunately I imagine they will be super busy at this time of year (WWDC).

If you do get the problem then I recommend rebooting the watch so that is less stressed. Also please email the wkt file to info@workoutdoors.net (thanks for the file @tcarlisle). To do this tap the Export button 3 times quickly.
 
Richo5 said:
Is it possible that you have locked the screen using the 'Screen Lock' or 'Water Lock'? The behaviour you are describing sounds like when I lock the screen (which I do when it's raining heavily so I don't get any accidental screen presses).
Click to expand...
The screen is lock, waterlock, etc. is not turned on. It is the map in the app only that is freezing up.
 
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cfc said:
Sorry you are having problems with the map freezing. This has been reported about 20 times in the 7 weeks since watchOS 9.4 was released. Initially once a week but more frequently recently as the freezes mount up. Apart from one exception, all of the users were running 9.4 and all but 4 of them had a series 7 watch like yourself. The other 4 had a series 6.

When people have the problem then they tend to get it repeatedly. The vast majority of users are not having the problem so I am trying to spot a pattern between the users that are having issues.

The exception was one user who had the problem on a series 8 running watchOS 9.3.1. He was zooming in and out on the map, which is very resource intensive, so my guess is that watchOS now deals with the watch being stressed by killing off the 3D rendering system that WOD uses to draw the map. It may be that this is a good thing because in the past it would sometimes kill the whole app if the watch was really stressed.

So my guess is that watchOS 9.4 thinks that series 6 and series 7 watches are stressed when they maybe are not. Or maybe something (possibly watchOS itself) is going rogue on series 6 and 7 watches, which is why the rendering system is being killed.

I have been ignoring the problem in the hope that watchOS 9.5 (apparently due imminently) will fix it. One person who reported the problem has been using the 9.5 beta and said that it hadn't happened since he upgraded. However he hadn't had it long, so it is too early to tell.

Also, I don't know how the rewrite will affect the issue. SwiftUI may use less resources and fix the problem, or it may use more and make it worse. I have been testing on a series 7 and an Ultra and haven't had the issue with either.

My current plan is if watchOS 9.5 doesn't fix the problem then I will offer the SwiftUI beta to those users to see if that helps. If neither help then I will need to contact Apple to try to fix it. Unfortunately I imagine they will be super busy at this time of year (WWDC).

If you do get the problem then I recommend rebooting the watch so that is less stressed. Also please email the wkt file to info@workoutdoors.net (thanks for the file @tcarlisle). To do this tap the Export button 3 times quickly.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. Glad to know you're already investigating the issue and that hopefully solutions are on the horizion. For the time being I'll minimize the zooming, but that does kind of defeat the purpose of having a map. lol.
 
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cfc said:
Multi-activity sports are also on my list of features to add, but are surprisingly rarely requested, and are therefore not high on the list. When I first wrote the app 6 years ago I was expecting that to be one of the most requested features, but strangely it hasn't been, even since Apple improved support for it in watchOS 9. My guess is that the share of the market for Apple Watch is still much lower amongst triathletes etc, but maybe the Ultra will help to change that over time. However at the moment multi-sport support is low on my list. Sorry about that.
Click to expand...
Feature request: I would also love to have the Multi-Activity sports option inside the WorkOutDoors app.

Like you, I'm rather surprised that this feature is seldom requested, considering its potential to be a game-changer for triathletes. This is particularly true given WOD's existing functionality to import maps - a primary reason why I bought the app. I know the Multi-Activity sports feature is not high on your priority list and you explained very well why, but I just wanted to push this feature request as well. I hope this appeal can contribute to elevating its priority! As a resident of Sweden where the sport 'Swimrun' is popular, this feature is indispensable. This sport involves transitioning in and out of the water numerous times during a single race, necessitating the ability to track automatically multiple sports (running/open water swimming) in a single session.

I hope this feature will be a reality someday and thanks a lot for the great app overall!
 
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I am looking to record interval workout using WOD, for example 6x800m with 400m rest and 4x200m with 200m rest. How can I do this in WOD and record an interval workout, how do I start and stop intervals etc. ?

Example of what I am expecting it to look like
 

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spacemnspiff said:
How do I start and stop intervals with a S7 watch?
Click to expand...
Create a schedule on the phone and send it to the watch. Then tap the circle with 3 dots in next to the activity you want and then select Interval Schedules. Then choose the interval schedule and it will start the workout.

If you haven't configured it to end when completed then end it in the normal way (long touch of the screen and then tap end).
 
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I am thinking of a simpler/lazier way of simply starting a run activity, then start and stop interval in the middle of a run, is that possible?
 
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