Review by Vinson Phua
I am an average Polytechnic(Pre-University) student currently pursuing a Diploma in IT(Mobile Business Solutions) who is striving to pass his NAPFA test before serving National service in the Singapore army.
Spending money on applications has always been something that irks me, after all, who would want to spend money on an application that can be only used on a particular device? I have always downloaded those apps which are labeled 'free'.
I started running not too long ago, constantly trying to integrate it into my life. I've just recently completed my first 10KM in the yellow ribbon run. I wanted something that could track my run details, improve my runs and challenge myself as well as track other activities like cycling or hiking.
I started looking for devices and exercise applications. I'm not going to cover all of them in great detail but will share with you my research on several options I came to know about.
Research
Nike +
I got my iPhone and Nike+ seemed like a great idea but spending so much money on a device, shoe was not really ideal. I even read that the battery on the Nike+ sensor was not replaceable and you had to replace it once the battery is depleted. I was also lured by the fact when I signed up for my 2nd 10KM run, the Nike physical race, that Nike offered the devices with a 50% discount. However, the battery replacement and cost turned me away.
Nike+ GPS
Next was the launch of the Nike+ GPS application for the iPhone. At $1.99, I nearly bought this application on impulse but after reading several reviews and comparisons, I decided to hold back and do more research on other running applications before committing and boy did I NOT regret making the decision to hold back.
For both Nike+ and Nike+ GPS, I've read that the website needs a whole new layout because the flash advertisements make the page load like a snail and people complain that they still receive advertisements to buy Nike products even though they already own them.
Runkeeper Pro
Runkeeper Pro was an application used by my friend, he kept complaining that every time it uploaded updates to Twitter, it posted his distance in miles, not kilometers(People in Singapore love metric)even though he set it to metric. I explored the lite version of Runkeeper and it's really not too bad with the features they are offering. Of course, I won't go through the details. I read a writeup on the application and was actually sold by the statement by Runkeeper CEO Jason Jacobs.
"All of you big guys jumping in with major marketing budgets, you are doing this as a brand play," writes Runkeeper CEO Jason Jacobs. "We are not. You are doing this to try to ultimately sell more people your footwear/apparel. We are not. You are big and slow moving. We are not."
I found this statement so true after taking a step back and looking at applications by Nike or New Balance. It sparked in me that why should I buy into a large company only producing an application just to help them market their products?
Speaking of the truth, I wanted to just get the application just because of the statement made as well as the features the application provides but frankly speaking, the $9.99 price tag blew me away and I was unsure whether to dive into an application and I wasn't sure that there was an even better or equal application to match it.
I decided to do more research, googling VS Nike+ VS Runkeeper pro let me to a Runkeeper Pro vs Nike+ GPS and lo and behold, I came across a comparison chart by company Abvio.
This is a writeup of Nike+ GPS vs Runkeeper Pro
http://skylark64.blogspot.com/2010/09/nike-gps-vs-runkeeper-rundown.html
The chart does a comparison of three running applications, Runkeeper, Nike+ GPS and...Runmeter.
http://www.abvio.com/running-guide/
After reading, I knew that the chart was showing how good Runmeter was and what extra features it had over it's competitors. It seemed biased at first, because Abvio was the company who developed Runmeter in the first place.
I read reviews and Runmeter seemed to have what it boasted and what I really liked about it was that I could control the start/stop of my run with the iPhone earphone remote and that everything is 'iPhone eccentric' meaning I didn't have to sit and wait for slow loading websites to show me the details I need and everything was on my iPhone device. I could even view the maps of my runs on my iPhone and if I wanted, view on Google maps.
Hopefully I haven't bored you out...
Let me break Runmeter down...
Affordability
At US$4.99, it's just roughly over an hour of part-time work. It's not that expensive and not that cheap either(so you know that they aren't just creating the application as a 1-time basis but improving it with new versions constantly as well.)
Features
Updating to networking websites. This one I like. It posts what you want to be posted, either on Twitter or Facebook. The application has text-to-speech which reads what you want, be it your wall or just replies to your tweets.
Heck, even when you're done running, it serves as a Twitter/Facebook reader.
It shows you your
- Run time
- Distance
- Speed
- Map of where you are running
- Routes
And something that other running applications that I've come across was missing: Stop detection.
It saves your routes in a calendar for you to view and creating a separate calendar makes things easier to see. The application has a default calendar but I created a calendar just for the application.
Even if you download the Runmeter application(there are other applications made by Abvio like Cyclemeter and Walkmeter), you can set your activity to cycling, hiking, skating, skiing, swimming(make sure you have a waterproof case! walking and you can even add in your own activity.
I think I've missed out on the many more features but I daresay that the features this application has are enough and more than what I want to know. I'm still discovering the features and if you want a whole list of the features, do check out Abvio's website which will tell you much, much more of the features of Runmeter.
http://www.abvio.com/runmeter
Usage
I read reviews on the Appstore saying that this application drains battery life, I do not agree. I went for a 5.8km run which took me 35 minutes 55 seconds with only my WiFi turned off and iPod application playing and it took only 5% of my iPhone 4 battery.
Running with this application that supports iOS 4 multitasking is great! Calls can come in and my runs are still being recorded. You can even set when you want to hear your run updates announcements from time, distance, pace to remaining distance, climb, from best and so forth. You can customize what you want to hear and when you want to hear it.
Buttons were well placed and I didn't have a fumble or 'fat-finger' anything. Pressing the stop button came with a confirmation whether I really wanted to stop my run and it was a sweet experience.
My first run was in a stadium not too far from home, off roads that were not shown on google maps. It was a test to see whether the application was able to track or whether it was only able to track when I was running on roads. To my surprise, it recorded the many circles I ran around the stadium with great accuracy.
Upon stopping my run, I was given the final details of my run and it sent an auto-update to Twitter and an e-mail was sent to emails that I specified.
Problems
No matter how good an application is, there would be problem that one would find. Not many that I could pick out, which is good so far!
I found some potential problems with the Runmeter application.
Starting music of the iPod via remote controlStarting the iPod via remote caused the workout to be paused. Probably I'm a newbie at this but how do you start your music with the remote without having the workout stopped? I enabled remote controls but somehow, it interferes with the iPod controls. In the end, I found that I had to double tap and play the iPod. It somehow messes up because the iPod controls are linked to the application start/stop feature.
Potential to be an irritating text to speech reader that doesn't stop talking
Enabling the text to speech for Twitter makes the reader read new tweets when I open the application. It would be nice to have the reader only read the tweets only when I start my exercise. Is there a way to do just that?
You could switch the twitter settings to read only mentions
Suggestion for Improvements
It would be great if there was an inbuilt pedometer in the application itself so an activity like stair climbing can be done to see how many steps has been taken.
Support
What I really like was the speed and efficiency of the support at Abvio. When I was considering to purchase this application and wasn't really sure it had a map feature that showed where I ran, I created a ticket via the Abvio website. The CEO of Abvio, Steve Kusmer replied in 24hrs, more like in 2 hours and I didn't know that he was the CEO because he did not even mention his position in the e-mail(real humble!) reply and I only found out reading this article...
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/09/07/run-app-updates-news-on-the-nike-runkeeper-and-runmeter-fron/
Conclusion
Runmeter is the first application that I bought and I have absolutely no regret that I spent my hard earned money on this application. Given that I am a die-hard-no-downloading-paid-apps person, Runmeter has really satisfied me with it's many features that I am still in the process of discovering and I'm sure that the humble fitness-favoring programmers programming Runmeter would continue their hard work improving their application for customers in the years to come.
Rock on Abvio!
____
A video on a study on Runmeter by Mikel King
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjakSnyeuOI
I haven't been updating my blog on Runmeter simply because it was great pleasure using it to record my runs! I was kind of disappointed when they removed the free voice to improve the application and then started charging voices to speak twitter, facebook or dailymile replies.
Well...this
update about Runmeter is to tell you that the team @Abvio has been
working hard to bring us version 5.0.5! I'm so happy to share with you
that...From "http://www.abvio.com/2011/04/12/5-0-5/"
Here’s what’s new in our 5.0.5 update, just released to the App Store.
➤ Now get one free voice for speaking replies from Twitter, Facebook, and dailymile. See More > Settings > Voices > Get Voices.
➤ Decimal separator always pronounced as “point” in English.
➤ Added Clock to Stopwatch fields.
➤ Bug fixes and performance improvements.
How awesome is that?! One free voice of YOUR choice! I was spoilt for choice testing which voice to choose and in the end, I downloaded Laura's voice because I liked her voice most.
I used the most updated Runmeter and found that the competitors part of Runmeter needed a fresh upgrade and so I emailed a suggestion:
"
Wed, Apr 13 2011 9:45am
Dear Person-in-charge,
I kind of like the new version 5.0.5. Thanks for the update. I would like to ask whether te competitors can be synced automatically to another Runmeter user instead of having to keep importing runs from someone else?
My girlfriend uses Runmeter as well and I would like to be able to \\\'compete\\\' her routes but i find that importing all of her runs is a chore. Maybe this could be incorporated in the near future like a Sharing/syncing integration upgrade to the current competitor part of the Runmeter app.
Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon!
Yours Sincerely,
Vinson
Sent from my Satellite-Enabled Phone
"
...and this was the reply, check out the prompt reply!
"
Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 02:09
Hello Vinson,
Thanks for the suggestion. We'd certainly like to make it easier to share and compete against runs. Right now the best way to do it is for her to use Email Updates to send you an email on done after every run, and then you can simply tap the import link on your iPhone. But farther down the road, we'd like to make it much easier and syncing with the Internet.
But I have to recommend highly against competing against your girlfriend. Unless you be sure she wins every time. ;-)
Best,
Steve Kusmer
Abvio
*****************
Please rate or review us in the App Store. Thank you!
www.abvio.com/rate-cyclemeter
www.abvio.com/rate-runmeter
www.abvio.com/rate-walkmeter
Abvio Support
Ticket History: XXXXXXXX
"
This brings great news for all Runmeter users! They are going to incorporate new features in the near future! I can't wait for the cool updates!
Rock on AbviÕ! :)
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