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Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features
- Thread starter cfc
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I guess it was just a one-off then. Thanks for keeping an eye out and letting me know.
It's great to hear that you would pay again for major updates. I don't plan to go that way at the moment, because I don't want to put people off. My current plan is to increase income by getting more people to use it rather than by charging more, but if that doesn't work then I may have to look into alternatives like charging for major updates.
The problem is that I can't seem to get Apple to feature it, or any of the major Apple websites to even mention it, despite many emails over the last year or two. The only places I get any publicity are on these forums and on reddit, so I rely on users recommending it to friends and on social media. So anything that anyone can do to spread the word would be much appreciated! 🙂
I wish I knew! Apple have a form for developers to ask for their apps to be featured. I fill it in and submit it to them after most releases, but they never get back to me. I like to think that it's good enough to be featured on the Watch App Store but if it isn't then it would be useful to know what I can do to correct that.
It may just not sell enough for Apple to be interested. They understandably prioritise well-known apps over less well-known ones, so I figure that the more people know about it then the more chance there is that they will feature it. I also email the major Apple new sites (MacRumors, iMore, AppleInsider 9to5Mac, CultOfMac etc) after each major release, but they never reply either. I guess they get lots of emails asking them to mention apps and, like Apple, they only tend to write about the well-known ones.
I know that a mention on a website or blog can make a massive difference because a major website in Germany wrote an article about it a few months ago and it made more in Germany on that one day than it usually makes in the whole world for a month. And since then almost half the total worldwide sales have been from Germany.
So it is a bit of a catch-22 situation where you need to be featured or mentioned in order to get better known, but it's hard to get featured or mentioned unless the app is well-known. The best solution would be marketing, but I don't have any budget for that, so I rely on word of mouth and forums like this and reddit. MacRumors is good because they allow developers to have threads like this, whereas most of the other sites ban them.
So if you like the app then please just spread the word!
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Many thanks! I am adding the intervals functionality at the moment.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the app.
mgmooij
macrumors member
Hi there, thanks for the amazing app! I'm glad I chose the AW4 with this app instead of a Garmin, Polar, Suunto... The navigation functions are what I searched for .
I have a couple of questions:
1. Is it possible to add a remaining distance field when running with a gpx route?
2. With the target I noticed that the yellow circle does not follow the gpx route (when using that), but instead is in a direct line above the arrow. Would it be possible to let the target follow the route?
3. Or would it be possible to add a target at a fixed distance before the arrow, that shows the direction when there are paths that cross each other?
4. What does the setting Intelligent Distances?
5. Would it be possible to make the splits screen more customizable? It would be nice to choose what to display there and how large and for how long.
Sorry for all the questions... And thanks for the very very very great app
I have a couple of questions:
1. Is it possible to add a remaining distance field when running with a gpx route?
2. With the target I noticed that the yellow circle does not follow the gpx route (when using that), but instead is in a direct line above the arrow. Would it be possible to let the target follow the route?
3. Or would it be possible to add a target at a fixed distance before the arrow, that shows the direction when there are paths that cross each other?
4. What does the setting Intelligent Distances?
5. Would it be possible to make the splits screen more customizable? It would be nice to choose what to display there and how large and for how long.
Sorry for all the questions... And thanks for the very very very great app
Wow - thanks for the very kind words about the app!
To answer your questions: The GPX route is currently only displayed and not used for any logic. So for example the app does not even know how far along the route the user is - it merely shows the route on the map. However I have started work on improving this and when that is implemented then the app will be able to show the remaining distance (& estimated time, ascent etc) and also position the target icon on the route when it is ahead of the user. This should either be in the next version or the one after.
When Intelligent Distances is switched on (the default) then the app uses Apple's distance estimates instead of the raw GPS. For example this means using the pedometer when GPS is poor. However their estimates were a little unreliable in the past, which is why I added the option.
I do plan to make the information displayed (and spoken) at splits more configurable in the future. Again this will probably be in the next version or in the version after that, depending on how things go.
Thanks again for your comments about the app. It's always great to get such enthusiastic feedback!
Thanks for translation offer. If the app ever takes off enough to make translation worthwhile then I may take you up on that.
There won't be a beta version for a while because I am adding lots of new functionality, but if you send me an email at info@workoutdoors.net then I will add you to the beta program for the next one. Many thanks!
There won't be a beta version for a while because I am adding lots of new functionality, but if you send me an email at info@workoutdoors.net then I will add you to the beta program for the next one. Many thanks!
OMouyau
macrumors newbie
Hi there !
Sorry if some of those topics have been covered already !!
May be I just need to be educated on this 🙂 ?
I have a consistent data discrepancy between the summary of WOD at the end of a run, and what Strava and Garmin Connect are making out of the data. I do understand that they run their own algorithm and whatever it does, it shrunk the distance and the time.
Summary: for each of my runs, I always "loose" 100m to 200m.
Here is one example :
- WOD 10.12km, 48:11 (is it moving time or elapsed time ?).
- direct upload from WOD to Strava : Strava distance 9.99km, 47:51 (moving) 48:26 (elapsed).
- Exporting GPX from WOD and upload to Garmin. Garmin Connect 9.99km, 47:59 (moving) 48:21 (elapsed).
When I look at the route traced on the map, it is exactly all the same on all three, including starting and finish point.
Intelligent Distance is set by default at "on".
The next topic is not exclusive to WOD and this is not a complain, more like a funny observation.
About the all "countdown" thing before the start of a workout, this is new to me. I never saw this until I got an Apple Watch. It is used by WOD, Apple native app and even Nike run App. Way back we had the simple stopwatches with, as main feature, a start/stop button.
"You are ready ? Yes. Well ok I press start and off you go".
Why should I wait for a countdown after I press start. Pressing start, means I'm ready 🙂 !
Over time even the most advanced sport devices kept a simple start/button. You just make sure your device has the time for GPS lock and off you press start.
Is the simple start/stop button dead 🙂 !
I wanted to have a "start" button, instead of waiting for the "countdown". Found the way around by "removing" the countdown. Although a big"er" start button would be a nice feature (or actually, just something that says "start" on it).
Racers don't usually watch their screen before a start, just having the finger ready to press on the "so called and now dead" "start button" lol. On WOD it is the thin yellow band to start the "running" activity, could easily be missed.
Ok I'm done, thanks for listening ...
PS: interesting conversation on the race feature, with distance autocorrect, I have been reading ...
Oli.
Sorry if some of those topics have been covered already !!
May be I just need to be educated on this 🙂 ?
I have a consistent data discrepancy between the summary of WOD at the end of a run, and what Strava and Garmin Connect are making out of the data. I do understand that they run their own algorithm and whatever it does, it shrunk the distance and the time.
Summary: for each of my runs, I always "loose" 100m to 200m.
Here is one example :
- WOD 10.12km, 48:11 (is it moving time or elapsed time ?).
- direct upload from WOD to Strava : Strava distance 9.99km, 47:51 (moving) 48:26 (elapsed).
- Exporting GPX from WOD and upload to Garmin. Garmin Connect 9.99km, 47:59 (moving) 48:21 (elapsed).
When I look at the route traced on the map, it is exactly all the same on all three, including starting and finish point.
Intelligent Distance is set by default at "on".
The next topic is not exclusive to WOD and this is not a complain, more like a funny observation.
About the all "countdown" thing before the start of a workout, this is new to me. I never saw this until I got an Apple Watch. It is used by WOD, Apple native app and even Nike run App. Way back we had the simple stopwatches with, as main feature, a start/stop button.
"You are ready ? Yes. Well ok I press start and off you go".
Why should I wait for a countdown after I press start. Pressing start, means I'm ready 🙂 !
Over time even the most advanced sport devices kept a simple start/button. You just make sure your device has the time for GPS lock and off you press start.
Is the simple start/stop button dead 🙂 !
I wanted to have a "start" button, instead of waiting for the "countdown". Found the way around by "removing" the countdown. Although a big"er" start button would be a nice feature (or actually, just something that says "start" on it).
Racers don't usually watch their screen before a start, just having the finger ready to press on the "so called and now dead" "start button" lol. On WOD it is the thin yellow band to start the "running" activity, could easily be missed.
Ok I'm done, thanks for listening ...
PS: interesting conversation on the race feature, with distance autocorrect, I have been reading ...
Oli.
Attachments
When Intelligent Distances are on (which they are by default) then the app uses Apple's distance estimates instead of the raw GPS route. These estimates do things like using the pedometer when the GPS signal is poor, so they are theoretically better than the raw GPS route (but not always!).
The reason that this distance can be different to the one shown when you export a GPX file to Strava or Garmin is because GPX files can only contain a route rather than distances, so they effectively use the raw GPS distance. The difference of 120m over 10km is not too bad but if you want consistency then you could switch off Intelligent Distances so that the app also uses the raw GPS distance.
WorkOutDoors shows Moving time if Auto-Pause is on and shows Elapsed time otherwise. I plan to add the ability to show either in the future when I have added Auto-Pause to more activity types.
In terms of the countdown I did indeed copy the approach used by the native app. However I am planning to change the start mechanism to allow for workout options other than "open", but I may not copy the Apple approach for that, and may instead add some sort of big start button to make things easier in races. It will be optional because most people just want to press one button and go rather than press that button and then have to press another button.
Thanks for the feedback!
The reason that this distance can be different to the one shown when you export a GPX file to Strava or Garmin is because GPX files can only contain a route rather than distances, so they effectively use the raw GPS distance. The difference of 120m over 10km is not too bad but if you want consistency then you could switch off Intelligent Distances so that the app also uses the raw GPS distance.
WorkOutDoors shows Moving time if Auto-Pause is on and shows Elapsed time otherwise. I plan to add the ability to show either in the future when I have added Auto-Pause to more activity types.
In terms of the countdown I did indeed copy the approach used by the native app. However I am planning to change the start mechanism to allow for workout options other than "open", but I may not copy the Apple approach for that, and may instead add some sort of big start button to make things easier in races. It will be optional because most people just want to press one button and go rather than press that button and then have to press another button.
Thanks for the feedback!
^^ & ^
Countdown turns off: Settings - Workouts - Show Countdown.
I have this setting off and then the exercise begins immediately when I choose the exercise.
Countdown turns off: Settings - Workouts - Show Countdown.
I have this setting off and then the exercise begins immediately when I choose the exercise.
mgmooij
macrumors member
About the difference after exporting to Strava: yesterday I did a trailrun of 17,3K in a forest. GPS was most of the times 4 bars, sometimes 3 and a couple of times 2 and grey or red... Average 21m. But then I noticed a message at the bottom of the workout screen: "Note: Apple considered 2.3km of the workout as invalid"... And after exporting to Strava I've run 19,4k accordding to Strava! Can you explain what happened? (See screenshot for GPS and the note at the bottom).
Another thing: I had turned on the voice during splits, but the pronouncing of "kilometers" in Dutch is not good. Are you able to change that?
Thanks!
Another thing: I had turned on the voice during splits, but the pronouncing of "kilometers" in Dutch is not good. Are you able to change that?
Thanks!
The reason for the difference is the poor GPS. If it goes red then it is really struggling. However the app uses Apple's distance estimates by default and they are doing their job of using the sensors such as the pedometer to calculate the distance when GPS is poor.
What happens is that the GPS route is zig-zagging because it cannot get a signal and so the distance using the GPS positions is too long. This is corrected by Apple's distance estimates but the export to Strava uses a GPX file, which can only contain a series of positions rather than distances, which is why it is longer in Strava.
WorkOutDoors keep track of both Apple's distance estimates and the distance if you were to use the raw GPS, which is why it can show you that warning message when there is a large discrepancy.
Having said that I have not seen such a poor GPS signal for a while. What was the terrain like: was it thick forest? I think you have said that you have an AW4, but did you have your phone with you, and if so then what model is it (because it would use the phone GPS)? If you did have your phone then it may be worth switching it into airplane mode or turning it off to force the app to use the watch GPS.
In terms of the dutch pronunciation the app simply asks watchOS to say"x kilometres" in whatever language the watch is using and watchOS does the rest. It could be that the spelling is the issue, so I will look into changing the spelling according to the language.
mgmooij
macrumors member
Yes, I was having my iPhone with me (XS) and that could be the GPS-problem because I was wearing it in a belt at my back... Next time I will try the airplane-mode indeed ;-)
BTW: the forest was thick but not that thick. I was also bad weather (raining). And indeed AW4.
About the pronunciation: instead of saying "x kilometres" it has to say "x kilometer", does that help?
It sounds like the combination of the belt, forest and rain could have been the cause of the poor GPS. Hopefully the watch will do a better job.
I will set it to "kilometer" for Dutch in the next version. Does anyone else who speaks a different language think I need to change it for their language?
The app does not currently support interval workouts but I am literally adding it at the moment for the next version.
The app includes direct uploading of workouts to Strava and also the ability to export a GPX file for uploading to other platforms. It also saves all workouts to Apple's Health system, so you can use third party apps like HealthFit or RunGap to export from there to many different systems.
Thanks for your interest in the app!
@cfc one more question.
Does your app use the Apple watch’ GPS or it tries to pair with iPhone’s GPS?
I noticed that by opening in my Apple Watch these apps:
- ismoothrun
- runkeeper
- built in workout app
the gps (location services) icon is shown in iPhone (and I don’t know if this is a good practice).
Does your app use the Apple watch’ GPS or it tries to pair with iPhone’s GPS?
I noticed that by opening in my Apple Watch these apps:
- ismoothrun
- runkeeper
- built in workout app
the gps (location services) icon is shown in iPhone (and I don’t know if this is a good practice).
All third party apps will use the iPhone GPS if present and connected, and the watch GPS otherwise. Unfortunately Apple do not give apps the choice to use the watch GPS if the iPhone is connected (which is very annoying!).
I think the idea is to save battery power on the watch, but it would be nice for the user to be able to decide!