Today I thought I should review the GPS and running applications that I use and rate them accordingly In the past year I have used 4 applications, all of them GPS based; namely Runkeeper, Trailguru, Garmin and lately Nokia Sports Tracker.
Runkeeper and Trailguru are Iphone based applications which utilise the inbuilt Iphone GPS hardware and Google Maps.
All you need is to be outdoors with your Iphone so that you gave direct satelite link. It generally takes a a minute or less for one to get a satelite link but time varies with location. I have also noticed for some reason that during the winter times and when weather is bad sometimes it takes a while to get a good satelite link or at times non at all. Sometimes there is data interference
Once link is established you are good to go. Pressing the appropriate button on either of the applications will initialize the tracking of your run. The application will calculate the route, the direction, the speed, the altitude, time taken and the overall distance covered. All these parameters are available in real time.
With both applications you can toggle between the dashboard of the parameters or the map route showing your current geographical location. I guess this feature requires a data connection to the network in order for the current map location to be downloaded.
Runkeeper is really cool in that it has an audio feed which if you touch the screen of the iPhone it will tell you your current pace, distance covered up to that point. This is useful for me when I am running because when running you want to maintain your concentration and it's very inconvenient for one to visually check for statistics on the phone. I find audio feeb better in this regard.
Trailguru also has it's own cool feature which allows you to take geo tagged pictures which can be uploaded together with the other running statistics information.
Both of these applications allows uploading of the statistics to the respective apps websites where you create a free account. You can store your data for individual review or you can share it with friends or anyone who cares to see it.
Both applications, through their websites allow you to review your runs in great detail and this helps you if you are training for some upcoming event.
The biggest shortfall that I found with both applications is that they do not have any external accessories that are compatible. At the moment you cannot use a heart rate monitor or a foot pod with either application. So information like the calories burnt during the run is calculated from your BMI index and age together with GPS data rather than a direct link to your heart rate. The calculation is therefore less accurate but I have to say the error margin is low.
The other issue is that of the battery. This problem which can be blamed on the way the iPhone operates. The application has to be open and on the screen for it to be active. This means that the all the resources that are needed to keep the application in front are being used during the workout. AS far as I know there is no iPhone application that can run in the 'screen save' mode except the Ipod application and the camera.
Generally with my fully charged battery I can only run a total of about 2 hours before the iPhone runs out of battery. I therefore cannot reliably use the iPhone applications for a full marathon. Having said that, the developer of Runkeeper and other people on his website has pointed out that they were able to run the full marathon with the Runkeeper application.
Usually when you have software updates on the iPhone sometimes some old problems are solved and new ones can be created from the updates and this may course the applications to behave abnormally. There is nothing more frustrating when you go out running and halfway during the run the application crushes and fails to save your data. This has happened on some occasions.
One beautiful thing with both applications is that you can play music in the background while working out. You have to set your music before you start your application because you will not be able to do this in the middle of the run otherwise you would have to shut down your application first.
I believe you can take calls while using the applications. What I do not know is whether the application stops recording while you take a call or it recording still takes place in the background. The reason I do not know the answer to that is because I generally always ignore calls while I am running. Sorry folks if anyone tried to get in touch with me during the said time, at least I had the courtesy to call you back!
These are two very versatile applications which are always being updated particularly runkeeper. New and exciting features are always being added both to the Iphone apps and their respective websites.
They are worth taking a look at if you can live with the minor shortfalls discussed. There are other applications for the iPhone available from Itunes App Store but I have not used them therefore cannot write a review about them.
In my next article I will review the Nokia Sport Tracker and Garmin Forerunner 405. I will make relevant comparisons to the Iphone apps, Runkeeper and Trailguru.
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