Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[cfc]

I also want to prepare for the folding iPhone that is rumoured to be released this year. Apple gave a few unsubtle hints yesterday about making sure that your app can run with different screen shapes and sizes.

The rumours are that the folding iPhone (Ultra?) will be passport sized. This means an outer display that is shorter and wider than any current iPhone, and an inner display that is almost the size of an iPad mini. So I will need to make sure that the iPhone app can work on both sizes (and probably various sizes in between to allow for multi-tasking).

Apple announced the ability to test apps with variable screen sizes, so my plan is to use that to make sure that it will run properly on either of the screens on the folding iPhone. They usually give only developers about 10 days between a device being announced and it being available, so I want to get as much done in advance as possible. Unlike most people I will be hoping for a much longer delay between the announcement and the release!

There are also rumours of an Apple Watch Ultra 4 that is quite different to the existing models, so I will probably need to modify the app to best make the most of whatever screen size that has. Although that will hopefully only involve minor tweaks rather than the major changes that will probably be required for the new iPhone screen sizes.

 

[BrianGGG]

I am hoping to release a new version to the App Store soon now that Apple have fixed TestFlight and I am no longer worried that I have broken something major (🤞).

After that I will release a new beta with many new activity types and the ability to create custom ones. It will also probably have the ability to import interval schedules, which is what I am working on now. My aim is to release that version to the App Store before the new watches come out in September.

What’s the next big thing after that ? 😃

 

[cfc]

What’s the next big thing after that ? 😃

I will see what happens in September / October because the hardware announcements often change my plans. Currently the most requested feature not in the next version is the ability to show live workout information on the iPhone (mainly for use by cyclists who mount the iPhone on their handlebars). I may also extend that to allow the app work without an Apple Watch, which would open up a whole new market of potential users.

So if nothing else changes by the time I have handled the hardware releases then that will be top of my to-do list. However it looks a big year for both iPhone and Apple Watch hardware so it may take a few months to deal with whatever is announced.

 

[Chillpascal]

Heyhey,
Since a week I cannot start a new interval when pressing the action button. It used to be working and I've not changed any settings since. The screen turns orange for a second when pressing the button, but does not start a new interval.

Anyone else experiencing the same issue?

Versions:

1. WOD 6.2.5
2. Apple Watch Ultra 1 WatchOS 26.5
3. Apple iPhone 16 Pro iOS 26.5

 

[cfc]

I released the latest version of the app to the App Store yesterday. Many thanks to all the beta testers who have helped with it!

As usual it was released using a phased system, so it should gradually get rolled out over the next week to people with automatic updates enabled. However you should be able to manually update to it at any time.

Sorry that this version took so long, especially as it is a relatively minor release. It has been ready to go for a few months but a bug in Apple's TestFlight system made me think that it was not stable enough.

The upside of the delay is that I have done most of the work on the next version, which should be ready for beta testing very soon. I will give it a few weeks to tidy things up and to make sure that the current version is stable (in case I need to release an emergency bug fix version). But once I am confident about it then I will release a new beta with the improved activity types and interval schedule functionality.

 

[cfc]

Heyhey,
Since a week I cannot start a new interval when pressing the action button. It used to be working and I've not changed any settings since. The screen turns orange for a second when pressing the button, but does not start a new interval.

Anyone else experiencing the same issue?

Versions:

1. WOD 6.2.5
2. Apple Watch Ultra 1 WatchOS 26.5
3. Apple iPhone 16 Pro iOS 26.5

This was a bug in watchOS 26.5. I have worked around it in the latest version of WOD which was released yesterday (v6.3.19). So if you update to that then it should be fine.

Note that you may need to reboot the watch as well because that seems to help with action button issues.

 

[patsio]

I released the latest version of the app to the App Store yesterday. Many thanks to all the beta testers who have helped with it!

As usual it was released using a phased system, so it should gradually get rolled out over the next week to people with automatic updates enabled. However you should be able to manually update to it at any time.

Sorry that this version took so long, especially as it is a relatively minor release. It has been ready to go for a few months but a bug in Apple's TestFlight system made me think that it was not stable enough.

The upside of the delay is that I have done most of the work on the next version, which should be ready for beta testing very soon. I will give it a few weeks to tidy things up and to make sure that the current version is stable (in case I need to release an emergency bug fix version). But once I am confident about it then I will release a new beta with the improved activity types and interval schedule functionality.

...and for the 1st time watch app updated too!! 🙂 Cheers!

 

[cfc]

...and for the 1st time watch app updated too!! 🙂 Cheers!

That's good to hear! I suspect that it is because I restructured the code to work around the action button problem in watchOS 26.5.

Back when WOD was first written (almost a decade ago!) watch apps had two separate components: an 'extension' and an 'app'. However newer watch apps now only have one component (just the 'app'). My guess is that Apple don't thoroughly test watchOS with apps that have the older structure, which is why one aspect of the action button didn't work properly until I restructured the app.

So it may also explain why the watch app was not always being updated at the same time as the iPhone app. And maybe it will fix some other niggles. Hopefully without introducing some new ones...

 

[oric1sg]

That's good to hear! I suspect that it is because I restructured the code to work around the action button problem in watchOS 26.5.

Back when WOD was first written (almost a decade ago!) watch apps had two separate components: an 'extension' and an 'app'. However newer watch apps now only have one component (just the 'app'). My guess is that Apple don't thoroughly test watchOS with apps that have the older structure, which is why one aspect of the action button didn't work properly until I restructured the app.

So it may also explain why the watch app was not always being updated at the same time as the iPhone app. And maybe it will fix some other niggles. Hopefully without introducing some new ones...

Sorry to disappoint you, Ian.

My iPhone was updated to v6.3.19 yesterday morning but my Ultra 3 is still on v6.2.5 this morning after 24 hours later. I shall monitor it for another day to see if it will auto update to v6.3.19

 

[cfc]

Sorry to disappoint you, Ian.

My iPhone was updated to v6.3.19 yesterday morning but my Ultra 3 is still on v6.2.5 this morning after 24 hours later. I shall monitor it for another day to see if it will auto update to v6.3.19

Oh well. At least this release should still be stable even if the versions are inconsistent.

It only seems to happen when the app is in "phased release" mode for the first 7 days, so it shouldn't be an issue for long.

 

[Lauart]

new to app. Trying to connect WOD to Strava but action button to authorize connection doesn’t seem to work. Help please

 

[Lauart]

new to app. Trying to connect WOD to Strava but action button to authorize connection doesn’t seem to work. Help please

 

[cfc]

new to app. Trying to connect WOD to Strava but action button to authorize connection doesn’t seem to work. Help please

A few people have mentioned this recently so I suspect that either Strava have broken something or there is a problem in the latest release. I am investigating to see if it is something I can work around but in the meantime please use Strava’s own app to upload by connecting it to Apple’s Health system in the settings. Or maybe use a third party app like HealthFit or RunGap:

HealthFit: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/healthfit/id1202650514?mt=8
RunGap: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rungap-workout-data-manager/id534460198?mt=8

My first thought was that it was a problem in the new release of WorkOutDoors but a couple of people have mentioned updating to the latest version to try to fix it (without success). However they haven't yet confirmed this when I asked.

The issue only seems to happen when initially authorising the app. After that it still uploads as normal. So it is generally only happening to new users, most of whom will be using the new version. This makes it hard for me to be sure that it isn't a problem with the new version.

So if anyone is still running v6.2.5 and hasn't connected to Strava then it would be interesting to know if you can?

 

[oric1sg]

Sorry to disappoint you, Ian.

My iPhone was updated to v6.3.19 yesterday morning but my Ultra 3 is still on v6.2.5 this morning after 24 hours later. I shall monitor it for another day to see if it will auto update to v6.3.19

It's been 2 days and the watch still didn't auto update this morning. I went to the App Store on the watch and clicked the "Update" button. Now the watch is v6.3.19

 

[cfc]

I have figured out the Strava problem. It is because Apple changed something behind the scenes in the way Strava's authentication response is sent to the app.

I have worked around it in the code and released a beta if anyone wants to try it? It only involved a one-line change to the code so it's just as stable as the App Store version. I have released it to a few people who reported the problem and so far it has fixed it for everyone who has tried it.

Sorry about that. It is only an issue with the initial one-off connection to Strava. So it mainly affects new users of the app, which is why no-one (including myself) spotted it during beta testing.

If you are experiencing the problem and want to try the beta then please email me at info@workoutdoors.net

Here's some further detail for any developers experiencing similar problems when using Safari for OAuth who search and find this post: the problem was that 'sourceApplication' parameter in the openURL method of the app delegate is now blank instead of indicating that the callback url is from the SFSafariViewController.

To fix it I no longer check that it is from Safari and instead look at every url to see if it is formatted in a way that means it came from Strava via Safari. At some stage I will rewrite it to use ASWebAuthenticationSession (which wasn't around when I first coded the Strava connection about 9 years ago), but for now I need a quick solution.

 

[coachjeffroc]

Question: The data below (fitfileviewer) shows the end of a fast interval and the beginning of my "standing rest" of 75 seconds. It seems like my data "freezes" when I have 0.0 oscillation...

In real time, the heart rate is updating on the screen and I'm notified by the voice as my heart rate comes back down as you can see in the WOD log, but it's not getting written to the .fit? Just curious. Not a big deal!

The image is from fitfileviewer.

 

[cfc]

Question: The data below (fitfileviewer) shows the end of a fast interval and the beginning of my "standing rest" of 75 seconds. It seems like my data "freezes" when I have 0.0 oscillation...

In real time, the heart rate is updating on the screen and I'm notified by the voice as my heart rate comes back down as you can see in the WOD log, but it's not getting written to the .fit? Just curious. Not a big deal!


View attachment 2639801


The image is from fitfileviewer.
View attachment 2639800

That's odd. Please send the wkt file for that workout to info@workoutdoors.net and I will take a look. To do this tap the Export button 3 times quickly.

 

[Buadhai]

Odd Screen Appears After Pause Attempt via Action Button
This on an Ultra 1 / 26.5, WOD 6.3.19

I have WOD set so the action button pauses every type of workout I do, including swimming. Normally it works fine. But swimming today my wife had goggle trouble so I pressed the Action button to pause the workout but instead of the Pause screen I got the odd screen pictured here. Since the watch was in water lock mode I couldn't press the screen buttons. I pressed the Digital Crown button which returned me to WOD but the swim workout had not paused. Eventually I give up, got out of the pool, restarted the watch and started the workout over again. Then the Action Button worked as expected.

What should I have done when that odd screen appeared?

 

[cfc]

Odd Screen Appears After Pause Attempt via Action Button
This on an Ultra 1 / 26.5, WOD 6.3.19

I have WOD set so the action button pauses every type of workout I do, including swimming. Normally it works fine. But swimming today my wife had goggle trouble so I pressed the Action button to pause the workout but instead of the Pause screen I got the odd screen pictured here. Since the watch was in water lock mode I couldn't press the screen buttons. I pressed the Digital Crown button which returned me to WOD but the swim workout had not paused. Eventually I give up, got out of the pool, restarted the watch and started the workout over again. Then the Action Button worked as expected.

What should I have done when that odd screen appeared?

View attachment 2640632

View attachment 2640631

Are you sure that the WOD watch app is v6.3.19? Apple often don’t update it with the iPhone app.

To check go to Settings/ More in the watch app. If it is not up to date then update it by using the App Store on the watch.

If it is up to date then please try rebooting the watch as that often fixes action button problems.

 

[coachjeffroc]

Odd Screen Appears After Pause Attempt via Action Button
This on an Ultra 1 / 26.5, WOD 6.3.19

I have WOD set so the action button pauses every type of workout I do, including swimming. Normally it works fine. But swimming today my wife had goggle trouble so I pressed the Action button to pause the workout but instead of the Pause screen I got the odd screen pictured here. Since the watch was in water lock mode I couldn't press the screen buttons. I pressed the Digital Crown button which returned me to WOD but the swim workout had not paused. Eventually I give up, got out of the pool, restarted the watch and started the workout over again. Then the Action Button worked as expected.

What should I have done when that odd screen appeared?

View attachment 2640632

View attachment 2640631

I got this today too on my run... weird... I had a lap button on my screen, though (which I put there the last time this flaked out).

 

[cfc]

I got this today too on my run... weird... I had a lap button on my screen, though (which I put there the last time this flaked out).

Did you try what I suggested to @Buadhai : checking the watch app is up to date, rebooting etc?

 

[lucco78]

Hi everyone,

For several years now, I’ve been experiencing a random issue with the Workout app while listening to music through headphones.

Typically, I start my music first, then launch the workout app and select my interval workout. Sometimes the following happens:

• The music volume lowers, as if the watch is about to play the voice guidance for the upcoming interval summary, but no voice announcement is actually heard.
• The music then stays at a reduced volume for quite a long time. Pausing and resuming the workout doesn’t solve the issue.

For example, today I started my workout, paused it after about 400 meters, then resumed it. Before the end of the first kilometer (roughly 4 minutes after starting), the initial workout summary was suddenly announced, followed immediately by the halfway summary for the first interval. Since it was a 1 km warm-up, the watch announced my 500 m split when I was already around 800 m into the interval.

After that, everything worked normally again.

I’ve experienced this behavior across multiple generations of Apple Watch and several versions of watchOS, so it doesn’t seem to be related to a specific device or software version.

Has anyone else experienced this or found a possible explanation?

Thanks,

Luca

 

[cfc]

Hi everyone,

For several years now, I’ve been experiencing a random issue with the Workout app while listening to music through headphones.

Typically, I start my music first, then launch the workout app and select my interval workout. Sometimes the following happens:

• The music volume lowers, as if the watch is about to play the voice guidance for the upcoming interval summary, but no voice announcement is actually heard.
• The music then stays at a reduced volume for quite a long time. Pausing and resuming the workout doesn’t solve the issue.

For example, today I started my workout, paused it after about 400 meters, then resumed it. Before the end of the first kilometer (roughly 4 minutes after starting), the initial workout summary was suddenly announced, followed immediately by the halfway summary for the first interval. Since it was a 1 km warm-up, the watch announced my 500 m split when I was already around 800 m into the interval.

After that, everything worked normally again.

I’ve experienced this behavior across multiple generations of Apple Watch and several versions of watchOS, so it doesn’t seem to be related to a specific device or software version.

Has anyone else experienced this or found a possible explanation?

Thanks,

Luca

Is this an issue with WorkOutDoors or Apple's Workout app?

If it is with WorkOutDoors then have you tried the new options in the Voice settings in v6.3.19? In particular the "Recreate Synthesizer" option helps some people with some audio apps.

Make sure that you are running v6.3.19 on the watch first though as Apple often do not update the watch app when you update the iPhone app. To check go to Settings / More on the watch app.

 

[lucco78]

Hi, the issue is with WorkOutDoors obviously!
Now I am with version 6.4, this morning withe the last beta, I think the 6.3.19.
But the problem is here for years, randomly...

 

[cfc]

Hi, the issue is with WorkOutDoors obviously!
Now I am with version 6.4, this morning withe the last beta, I think the 6.3.19.
But the problem is here for years, randomly...

Unfortunately it is out of my control and only affects some people. This version is a last attempt at fixing it for a while (because I have run out of things to try!). It contains 3 new options for people to play with to see if they help with whatever audio app they are using.

So hopefully one or more those options will help.