Best free time and distance app for IPhone5

[jenman1]

Hi, I am about to graduate from C25K on my next run probably Saturday, as I am busy working travelling and staying over before that. My question is according to the App I have on my iphone5 (ARGUS) I ran 5.04Km in 30:05 minutes, that is nearly 1.5 k more than the last time I ran. It could be correct but seems a massive difference in 2 days. Love some advice on Apps, thinking of putting a running Watch on my xmas list but would like the best app until then, I don't even mind paying if its accurate. Got to say the wind was blowing behind me today but even so that's quick.

[Tomas Graduate]

1.5 km out of 5 km sounds like a big variation. Very big.

There's a limit to how much influence the app has on the accuracy, most of it is caused by the GPS receiver in your iPhone being a) the cheapest Apple could find and b) integrated together with loads of other noisy electronics. You're simply not going to get super accurate GPS readings from a phone.

I used Runkeeper for a long while before getting a GPS watch, and although it was sometimes inaccurate (pretty much always estimating longer distances than reality, very rarely the other way around) it didn't really matter, because it was fairly consistent. So I could see improvement week by week as I was running what Runkeeper told me was 5 km. In reality it was less, probably 4.5 km, but that didn't matter, because I was still able to compare the time it took, and that was far more interesting to me than knowing the speed itself, if you see what I mean. Runkeeper is free, so it's worth giving it a shot.

But all in all, don't expect any app running on a phone to be "accurate".

[jenman1 Graduate in reply to Tomas]

Thank you Tomas, maybe I will treat my self to a GPS watch and put something else on my xmas list. I also run along an old railway track that is now for walking running cycling etc, it is also out in the sticks so maybe my I Phones GPS struggles. You guys on here are awesome with the advice. Thank you.

[Realfoodieclub Graduate]

Before I got my Garmin I used Runtastic. The routes I did were exactly the same on Runtastic and Garmin and I had even checked them on a route mapper. I started with the free version and used that for ages then they had a one day free pro version so I went with that. I never felt the need to sign up for the monthly subscription thing with them. I got handy stats with just the pro version. There are quite a few out there I am sure someone else will help with them.

[jenman1 Graduate]

Thank you, you guys are awesome on here with advice.X

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Runkeeper allows you to programme intervals, which can be useful. Endomondo does the best job, of the freebies I have tried, of keeping track of your PBs and fastest sections within a workout. Like Tomas, I find Runkeeper generally registers 1k before my GPS watch does. However GPS watches are not infallible and the Garmin users often have a moan about inaccuracies.

I do most runs with both Runkeeper and the watch and they rarely agree and rarely return the same distance on the same route, but near enough for comparisons.

All GPS systems in Europe should become more accurate in 2016, when the European Galileo satellites are switched on, hopefully giving an accuracy down to 1 metre.

[jenman1 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thank you, you guys are great on here, such experts on all things running. X