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Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features
- Thread starter cfc
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I guess that many would be interested as it will have (some) positive impact on battery life. And it seems to be very trivial to implement.
Is there any place to vote for feature requests or how do you measure the given feature demand?
I keep track of the requests myself.
At the moment I am focussed on watchOS 26, iOS 26 and the Ultra 3. However when that dies down in a month or two then I plan to spend another month or two tidying up (before the Xmas rush), and that is when I may make some easy changes like that. It depends on what tidying up is needed.
And then in the new year I will start on major features. I find that January to May are the best time for major changes because there are just too many distractions between June and December (WWDC, new hardware & software, Xmas, etc).
At the moment the most requested major features are custom activity types and interval schedule improvements (import/export), but mirroring live metrics to the iPhone is also gaining in popularity recently, so I will decide at the time what to work on.
Are the watch temperature sensors supported nowadays? Or maybe it is in the roadmap.
I'm about to purchase a second hand Apple Watch; trying to decide between a Series 7 and Series 8.
The Series 8 cost a little more but temperature support would be nice for running, especially if it can be recorded in the FIT file for later analysis.
I'm excited to become a WorkOutDoors user soon!
I'm about to purchase a second hand Apple Watch; trying to decide between a Series 7 and Series 8.
The Series 8 cost a little more but temperature support would be nice for running, especially if it can be recorded in the FIT file for later analysis.
I'm excited to become a WorkOutDoors user soon!
The app does not yet support the water temperature sensor but I don't think that is available in the series 7 or 8. Do you mean the weather temperature?
I may add weather information in the future but only if I can find somewhere that provides the data for free (which I can't at the moment).
I hope you enjoy your Apple Watch when you get it!
Hi cfc. Regarding weather information it might be worth looking at met.no - if you haven't already. I know that's what Home Assistant (open source home automation platform) uses for their dashboards and it seems to be quite reliable. The weather data is global, not just for Norway.
From https://api.met.no/
"The MET Weather API is an interface to a selection of data produced by MET Norway. The data are freely available for use under a Creative Commons license, including commercial use."
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Thanks for that. I think someone else mentioned that site last year, so it is on my list of services to investigate when I do look into adding weather.
wow, an ability to import a structured workout would be the last thing I need to switch from native app to WO completely. For now I use Watchletic as an intermediary app (ex. from intervals.icu) and direct import (ex. from Runna).
Hi! Thanks for replying so quickly 🙏
I referred to the skin temperature sensor, the main Series 8 addition.
It's wristTemperature in SensorKit - SRSensor
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/sensorkit/srsensor/wristtemperature
Maybe it's only active during sleep (for health and ovulation cycle tracking) and not activities tho.
Thank you ❤️ I eventually got a good deal on a Series 7 in very good condition and the first thing I did was to buy/install WorkOutDoors on it, the whole reason why I got it
I'm super impressed by how reactive and readable the map is, and how readable it remains in Always On mode.
I'm gonna enjoy that for trail running in new places. For now I've been coping with breadcrumb navigation on a Garmin FR645M, missing so many turns due to its limitations: it's a fantastic upgrade.
The watch died at 3% battery at the end of the first activity I recorded and WorkOutDoors lost 1/4 of the data recorded in the middle. I'll be extra careful with battery levels knowing it can lead to data loss.
Hopefully that can be improved with a more robust way to record data in WorkOutDoors.
As you say I don't think that skin temperature is available during a workout.Hi! Thanks for replying so quickly 🙏
I referred to the skin temperature sensor, the main Series 8 addition.
It's wristTemperature in SensorKit - SRSensor
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/sensorkit/srsensor/wristtemperature
Maybe it's only active during sleep (for health and ovulation cycle tracking) and not activities tho.
Thank you ❤️ I eventually got a good deal on a Series 7 in very good condition and the first thing I did was to buy/install WorkOutDoors on it, the whole reason why I got it
I'm super impressed by how reactive and readable the map is, and how readable it remains in Always On mode.
I'm gonna enjoy that for trail running in new places. For now I've been coping with breadcrumb navigation on a Garmin FR645M, missing so many turns due to its limitations: it's a fantastic upgrade.
The watch died at 3% battery at the end of the first activity I recorded and WorkOutDoors lost 1/4 of the data recorded in the middle. I'll be extra careful with battery levels knowing it can lead to data loss.
Hopefully that can be improved with a more robust way to record data in WorkOutDoors.
Sorry you lost some data when the battery ran out. WorkOutDoors persists the data every couple of minutes so it shouldn't more than that if the watch runs out of battery, and certainly not from the middle of the workout.
I suspect that you accidentally paused and resumed it (maybe by pressing both side buttons at once). Please can you send the wkt to me at info@workoutdoors.net and I will take a look. To do that tap the Export button 3 times quickly.
It's not impossible that I accidentally pressed Crown + Side Button while cycling, I'll be attentive to that the next times 👍
In the meantime I sent you the wkt file which contains a lot more data than what gets exported in the FIT file 🤓
I'm not concerned about the wristTemperature data anymore since I got a Series 7 😆
Different topic, but I'm also an app developer, currently making one for treadmills which writes FIT files.
I went deep into that topic, and added:
- Device Info gets updated with the peripherals currently connected: that way in the FIT file you can see which sensor was used when and if there are unexpected disconnections.
- Record message battery_soc (field 81, uint8) is used to record when the phone's battery % changes: it allows users to figure out the battery drain rate when recording an activity.
- a bunch of developer fields for various purposes
I'm sure that won't be used often, but I liked discovering all the extra info in the FIT files recorded by my Garmin and Wahoo devices, using Fitfileviewer.com
In the meantime I sent you the wkt file which contains a lot more data than what gets exported in the FIT file 🤓
I'm not concerned about the wristTemperature data anymore since I got a Series 7 😆
Different topic, but I'm also an app developer, currently making one for treadmills which writes FIT files.
I went deep into that topic, and added:
- Device Info gets updated with the peripherals currently connected: that way in the FIT file you can see which sensor was used when and if there are unexpected disconnections.
- Record message battery_soc (field 81, uint8) is used to record when the phone's battery % changes: it allows users to figure out the battery drain rate when recording an activity.
- a bunch of developer fields for various purposes
I'm sure that won't be used often, but I liked discovering all the extra info in the FIT files recorded by my Garmin and Wahoo devices, using Fitfileviewer.com
Error [unintelligible] - Unable to end workout that is not currently active.
On my last few runs I end the workout as usual but when I'm about to press "Yes" on the confirmation screen, the above phrase starts repeating over and over again. Pressing the Digital Crown stops it and the workout is saved.
Confirm End Workout is enabled.
This doesn't happen on cycling workouts.
What am I doing wrong here?
On my last few runs I end the workout as usual but when I'm about to press "Yes" on the confirmation screen, the above phrase starts repeating over and over again. Pressing the Digital Crown stops it and the workout is saved.
Confirm End Workout is enabled.
This doesn't happen on cycling workouts.
What am I doing wrong here?
I often hear about that error message from watchOS, but I have never heard of it repeating over and over. However there are two possible reasons for it being spoken once, so one of them is probably the cause for you:
The first possibility 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 the app will get that message from watchOS 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.
I don't run any other workout app. I checked the privacy settings. All were enabled except for a few workouts that I'd never do. (Not much cross country skiing in Thailand). Now I've enabled everything.
As we've discussed in the past, my watch (original Ultra) seems to have some ghost/phantom taps problems. Could a phantom tap caused this to happen?
And, yeah, it repeated over and over again. I wonder if this could have been due to a long phantom tap? As if a finger were doing a long press on the confirmation screen?
As we've discussed in the past, my watch (original Ultra) seems to have some ghost/phantom taps problems. Could a phantom tap caused this to happen?
And, yeah, it repeated over and over again. I wonder if this could have been due to a long phantom tap? As if a finger were doing a long press on the confirmation screen?
I can't think how a phantom tap would cause that but it wouldn't surprise me if it could.
If the 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.
Hello,
I wanted to thank you again for your amazing app. Your app is the only reason I go back to an Apple Watch from Garmin. I just wanted to see if there was a timeframe for Apple Watch Ultra 3 screen size support given it is a little bigger. Super excited to return to the Apple Watch Ultra 3 from Garmin and your app will of course be the authority for all my outdoor trail runs etc. Thanks so much.
I wanted to thank you again for your amazing app. Your app is the only reason I go back to an Apple Watch from Garmin. I just wanted to see if there was a timeframe for Apple Watch Ultra 3 screen size support given it is a little bigger. Super excited to return to the Apple Watch Ultra 3 from Garmin and your app will of course be the authority for all my outdoor trail runs etc. Thanks so much.
I released a version to the App Store yesterday that in theory should handle the Ultra 3 screen size. I have tested the changes on the Ultra 3 simulator that Apple provided last week and it seems ok. However I will probably find that it needs some tweaking when I get my hands on an actual device.
So I plan to release another version after the Ultra 3 has been out for a little while. This will contain whatever issues arise from the Ultra 3 and also whatever changes I have missed for iOS 26 and watchOS 26. There are already a couple of things that I have fixed for them which will be in that version.
Glad you like the app!
Hi!
I'm playing around with the latest available version: 6.1.12 adding iOS / WatchOS compatibility
On an iPhone SE 3rd gen, I found a couple screens where the tab bar at the bottom prevent using some controls or reading the text.
I'm playing around with the latest available version: 6.1.12 adding iOS / WatchOS compatibility
On an iPhone SE 3rd gen, I found a couple screens where the tab bar at the bottom prevent using some controls or reading the text.
Yes that is one of the things I have fixed in the code and which will be in the version released after the Ultra 3 has been out for a while (to allow time to hear about any other watchOS/iOS 26 and Ultra 3 issues with the app).
Unfortunately the only solution for screens like that was to make the area of interest even smaller on the SE models. The new iOS 26 tab bar is so large and high above the bottom of the screen that it means less room for content than before.
There's a way create an integration on Workoutdoors to import planned workout/schedule/intervals from trainingpeaks ou intervals.icu?
Importing schedules from FIT files is on my to-do list. I have coded it up to work with the current interval schedules, but they don’t yet support nested repeat loops. I asked around on here a while back and most people said there would be complaints if I released without supporting nested repeats.
So I decided to hold fire because nested loops would take a while to implement and there were higher priorities at that time. However it is now joint top of my list (along with custom activity types) so I may start work on it when things have settled down. I plan a period of tidying up first though, so it won't be available for a while.
So I decided to hold fire because nested loops would take a while to implement and there were higher priorities at that time. However it is now joint top of my list (along with custom activity types) so I may start work on it when things have settled down. I plan a period of tidying up first though, so it won't be available for a while.
Hey @cfc, I'm currently looking into generating turn by turn directions for GPX files with GraphHopper or equivalents.
I tried a few things in order to understand what WorkOutDoors accepts as input for navigation, and was successful with generating an accepted GPX using the free version of plotaroute after a few other unsuccessful attempts.
I'm noticing that the navigation items are simple waypoints, formatted as such:
Does WorkOutDoors recognize these waypoints as turn by turn directions by the symbol specified within <sym></sym>? In my sample I see Left, Right, Left_slight, Right_slight, Right_sharp
I tried a few things in order to understand what WorkOutDoors accepts as input for navigation, and was successful with generating an accepted GPX using the free version of plotaroute after a few other unsuccessful attempts.
I'm noticing that the navigation items are simple waypoints, formatted as such:
XML:
<wpt lat="59.232101" lon="17.99095">
<time>2025-09-18T00:28:13Z</time>
<name>Turn left</name>
<cmt>Turn left</cmt>
<desc>Turn left</desc>
<sym>Left</sym>
<type>Waypoint</type>
</wpt>Does WorkOutDoors recognize these waypoints as turn by turn directions by the symbol specified within <sym></sym>? In my sample I see Left, Right, Left_slight, Right_slight, Right_sharp
Is this for automatically adding TBT directions to a route, similar to the built-in "detect bends" ?
ie - just checking you do know you can manually add them in Plotaroute?
Yeah exactly, I'm typically creating routes via Strava & Komoot, neither of which include turn-by-turn navigation cues in their GPX.
For trail running route especially, detect bends isn't working out: due to the bendy nature of the trails themselves, the watch keeps sending unnecessary notifications.
I'm evaluating options at the moment to add turn notifications automatically based on map data.
On a simple street test, both Plotaroute and Footpath do well and they cost about the same per year.
Footpath's workflow is a lot better on mobile tho, and has a WatchOS app that provides pretty good offline navigation, even in Always On mode (WorkOutDoors's map/navigation freezes in AOD)
I don't know how close is @cfc in implementing navigation cues or routing within WorkOutDoors.
I'm considering making my own solution to add turn-by-turn waypoints to GPX files, if that doesn't take too much work.
For my use case, it would be convenient if it can imports Strava routes.
And with a free GrassHopper tier, this purpose buit solution would cost $0/month instead of
- $24/year for Footpath
- $27/year for Plotaroute
- $80/year for RideWithGPS - it's a great service but would be crazy pricing for adding navigation cues to existing GPX
