Run Keeper Tracks Your Running
May 21, 2009 by Ryan Ray
This is another post for any of you fitness nuts/nerds out there. If you missed my review where I confess my love for Lose It! Then check that out HERE for more health orientated reviewing. I should review more fitness apps which therefore could in turn get me in shape! That’s a great idea if I’ve ever heard one. Now that we all know how lazy and sloth like I am, let’s talk about this app that has been out in the app store for quite awhile. It goes by the name RunKeeper, and I picked up the free version. As you’ll later discover the only difference between the free and $9.99 version is that in the paid version you get voice cues every 5 minutes or some time increment such as that. These cues tell you how far you’ve gone, how fast you are going, etc… I know some runners who don’t like to fumble with their iPhone on their armband to see how they are doing so those cues are worth it to some. For me I only sometimes last for 15 minutes running, so those cues would only happen 3 times. I don’t have a need for those cues yet.
RunKeeper works by tracking you using your iPhones GPS. Obviously that’s how it knows how fast you are going and how far you’ve gone. It even measure your altitude, something that comes in handy if you don’t run in the states of Kansas, Illinoise, or Indiana. I believe after seeing all three states and living in one they have no hills whatsoever! Once you’ve tapped the RunKeeper icon and let it load, you get a homescreen that looks like this.
As you can see the most important thing in the bottom area of the screen is your GPS strength. Mine was poor as I was indoors and on WIFI when taking these screen shots. The people over at Run Keeper recommend turning of WIFI and being outdoors for the GPS to work best. It makes sense so I try and follow a long when I’m actually using the app. Another thing that is important to follow is that you don’t hit the top lock button on your iPhone. This will turn off the GPS function of the iPhone and ruin your run! Simply tap the lock button in the top left of the RunKeeper screen. This won’t let the iPhone go to sleep and succesfully keep your GPS on. Once locked you can rotate the screen to display for wearing on your right or left arm. Also below are posted shots of my one run history. RunKeeper stores your info on it’s website at runkeeper.com As you can see I should have a long list of running history, but I just started for the summer so give me a break please!
Here are two more shots of my one run history. On the left is my average speed, and my mile speed. On the right is how long it took me to run and how far I ran in that time. A 7:30 mile is not bad, considering I didn’t stretch and I was running up and down a huge hill. Also as you can see it saves the map history of my run. That’s my favorite part anyway.
So that is pretty much the app. It’s simple and does it job well, and on top of all that it’s FREE! It’s free at least if you don’t need voice cues. Or if someone buys it for you, then of course it’s free for you. If you are runner let me know what you think about this app, or even if you aren’t a runner. Below is my video review, be sure to watch it in HD! Thanks for reading!
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I’ve used this app for cycling for about three weeks and it works very good.
The longest ride has been over 3.5 hours on a full charge. You have to turn off WiFi & 3G, and use the top lock button but it works.
Hey Art thanks for the comment! It’s great to hear from other users and uses of Run Keeper. It sounds like you use it often and put it to good use. They do recommend to do just as you did by turning of Wifi, 3G will help save battery since you go for some long rides hah. Again thanks for the comment and good luck cycling!