frustration with runkeeper

[ajwyld]

Mostly I'm happy with runkeeper, but yesterday it really annoyed me. My headphones have gone walkabout (all 3 teenagers deny all knowledge, yeah, right...) so I decided to go without music and just stick my phone in the pocket with the volume up to use the runkeeper time prompts. All went well until the 15 minute mark when I heard: 15 minutes, xxx distance, xxx pace, activity paused, activity stopped, activity complete". Fished phone out of pocket. Too late to restart the activity, so I started a new one. Did 5 minutes OK, but then about 3 minutes later the same thing happened AND if failed to record the distance done in the last 3 minutes and claimed my pace had gone from 9mpkh to 16 ! Really frustrating ! (I switched from mapmyrun to runkeeper as I prefer its audio prompts).

[Tomas Graduate]

I don't think you can blame runkeeper for that. You should blame your phone that seems to interpret fabric touching the surface as if it was input from you.

As for the sometimes erratic distance readings (and hence also erratic speed readings), you should blame your phone's GPS chip.

Apart from this, I certainly agree with you that it can be frustrating. I ended up buying myself a forerunner watch to a) get physical buttons instead of a touch screen and b) get a "proper" GPS receiver instead of the cheapest one available integrated with dozens of other types of radio equipment. As it doesn't play music, there's not even a problem with head phones

[ajwyld Graduate]

Tomas, you're probably right. I'd locked my screen, but I suspect it unlocked itself for some reason. I have a Samsung S3 mini, and its GPS is certainly a little flaky. Am contemplating getting somesort of watch type device, except all the ones I've seen look too ugly and too big for regular wear... (Happy to take recommendations, particularly for something that could double as a watch. I have very small wrists. Had set my heart on a fitbit force before they were withdrawn... The new "shine" thingy is pretty; but reviews say it doesn't work very well...)

[Tomas Graduate]

Afraid I can't help with recommendations. I bought a Garmin Forerunner 220 based on reviews online, and it certainly does what it's meant to do, and by checking its distances against the online map on runkeeper.com I can see its far more precise than the gps in my iphone. I particularly like its vibrating buzz when I complete a pre-defined lap (by default set to 1 km), and I love being able to quickly glance at it to see my current speed whenever I want, without having to fiddle with stuff on the phone.

However, "pretty" is fairly low down on the list of adjectives that comes to mind when describing it. It's not much bigger than typical "macho" watches with umpteen dials and knobs and buttons, but I also don't like those. So while I'm happy to wear it for the odd day or two, it will never see me in an evening shirt and tie, that's for sure.

[helcl Graduate]

I have the garmin 220 as well, but only for running. I love it but would never wear it as a watch