[Rich W3]

Put the WATCH in airplane mode via the watch and it forces the watch GPS to be used on the run rather than phone's. I have found the watch GPS to be much more accurate, and certainly less variable then phone compared to Garmin GPS watch. (1% to 6%) I then link my bluetooth headphones to to the phone to stream music from iheart during my run. Apple needs to add a setting on the qatch to force watch GPS if they want runner's to take it seriously over the long haul IMHO. Rich

[StraightlineBoy]

I ran one time with the AW2 and no phone. It seemed very accurate but I decided I really like having my phone while running for a variety of reasons. So here's my question:

Is it possible to run with music from the phone (wireless) but use the watch's GPS? I realize there's no reason to do that, but I'm still curious.

Don't pair your watch and headphones would make this possible I'd guess

[StraightlineBoy]

I see the latest update to the RunKeeper app now supports Watch-only GPS tracking so is a potential alternative to the Nike+ and Workouts app. I'll give it a spin tomorrow and report back with first impressions.

After using the Nike+ app for a bit now my only real issue with it is that Nike thinks my data belongs to them and that I shouldn't be able to upload it to other services that offer better analysis tools than the basic rubbish that they offer. I've used RunGap lately to get the data into Strava but a note from the developer compares getting data out of the Nike app being like trying to get stuff out of North Korea and it will work until Nike break it again and then it won't be supported.

[tcuprof]

I have found the watch GPS to be much more accurate, and certainly less variable then phone compared to Garmin GPS watch. (1% to 6%) Apple needs to add a setting on the qatch to force watch GPS if they want runner's to take it seriously over the long haul IMHO. Rich

Since I run the same route nearly every day, I have had numerous opportunities to compare the GPS on the watch and the phone. My observation is that they are very similar. The average distance is the same for both devices and the variance is very close. It's too soon to be certain but the watch might be slightly better in terms of variance. Frankly the difference is so trivial, I wouldn't be concerned about which GPS was used IF I were running with the phone.

[James Falconer]

Wish I was able to share some opinion, but as soon as I got my watch, winter decided to come. I love to run outside, so come spring and summer I'll have some solid experience and data to draw from!

[tcuprof]

Wish I was able to share some opinion, but as soon as I got my watch, winter decided to come. I love to run outside, so come spring and summer I'll have some solid experience and data to draw from!

Which reminds me...

We've had quite a bit of rain lately so I've been forced to run a few times on my treadmill. When I run outdoors the watch GPS is quite accurate, but when I run on the treadmill the watch consistently reports slower run speeds than the treadmill setting. Either the treadmill is mis-calibrated or the pedometer on the watch isn't very accurate. Anyone else seeing this?

[cheli007]

Not here. I've found the indoor distances surprisingly similar to the GPS outdoor distance totals.

[StraightlineBoy]

So I gave the RunKeeper watch app a try today. Picked a 5km route that I've done many times before so it's easy to compare. The headline is that it works. Distance was consistent with other apps and my Garmin, and got it uploaded to Strava via RunGap without issue. There was a few things I did note that could be improved though...
Despite picking average pace as a data field in the phone app, the only pace the watch displayed was current pace (like the Nike app) which is a worthless metric as it fluctuates too much.
I got no audio prompts thru my headphones giving splits (could be user error)
The upload from Watch to Phone is a mysterious process that seems to take several minutes and makes you wonder if your data has been lost (to be fair this is also true of the Nike app)
Overall though it works and it's good to have alternatives to the Nike app as I really don't trust Nike with my data (mostly that they will lock away MY data and limit what I can do with MY data)

[cheli007]

Looking at the watch settings for RunKeeper, I didn't see a "run indoor" mode (treadmill) like the activity app and Nike+. Did I miss something?

[StraightlineBoy]

Looking at the watch settings for RunKeeper, I didn't see a "run indoor" mode (treadmill) like the activity app and Nike+. Did I miss something?

I don't think so. I only see run, walk, cycle and "other", no mention of indoor vs outdoor.

[StraightlineBoy]

My second test of RunKeeper is giving me some serious doubts. In my first kilometre I set a bunch of personal bests today that I'm inclined not to believe (I'd like them to be correct!). I'll repeat the run on Friday with another app and see if I can get close to repeating the times or not

[eyecrispy]

My second test of RunKeeper is giving me some serious doubts. In my first kilometre I set a bunch of personal bests today that I'm inclined not to believe (I'd like them to be correct!). I'll repeat the run on Friday with another app and see if I can get close to repeating the times or not

What's causing you to doubt?

[StraightlineBoy]

What's causing you to doubt?

while the overall time for the run wasn't completely crazy it was faster than normal. That could be right but it logged my first kilometre at 4 minutes - a 5 minute kilometre is flat out for me so a whole minute faster definitely isn't right

[tcuprof]

while the overall time for the run wasn't completely crazy it was faster than normal. That could be right but it logged my first kilometre at 4 minutes - a 5 minute kilometre is flat out for me so a whole minute faster definitely isn't right

I don't see how the time could be off so it almost has to be an incorrect distance. Are you running with your phone or using the watch's GPS?

[StraightlineBoy]

I don't see how the time could be off so it almost has to be an incorrect distance. Are you running with your phone or using the watch's GPS?

This was a run just with the RunKeeper watch app - my iPhone was in my office at the time.

I have a theory. The trail on the RunKeeper map starts and my office door and runs until I pressed stop at my normal stopping point. I did not however start the RunKeeper app at my office door - I opened the app then but didn't press GO until I was out of the office complex and over the road, probably a couple of hundred metres away. It's like it's credited me with the correct overall time and distance (I know the 2.55km is correct as I've measured the route on other devices in the past) but squeezed extra GPS points into that timeframe or something weird like that which has messed up the splits. One thing is for sure, until there's a bug fix, I'll go back to either the Nike+ app or the iPhone Strava app.

[eyecrispy]

This was a run just with the RunKeeper watch app - my iPhone was in my office at the time.

I have a theory. The trail on the RunKeeper map starts and my office door and runs until I pressed stop at my normal stopping point. I did not however start the RunKeeper app at my office door - I opened the app then but didn't press GO until I was out of the office complex and over the road, probably a couple of hundred metres away. It's like it's credited me with the correct overall time and distance (I know the 2.55km is correct as I've measured the route on other devices in the past) but squeezed extra GPS points into that timeframe or something weird like that which has messed up the splits. One thing is for sure, until there's a bug fix, I'll go back to either the Nike+ app or the iPhone Strava app.

RK has been unreliable at best on the AW. I used to love it but it has flaked out in me more times than I care to mention since they released their AW app with the original watch. I stopped using them. Won't try them for awhile. Disappointing.

[tcuprof]

This was a run just with the RunKeeper watch app - my iPhone was in my office at the time.

And do you know for sure that other apps such as RunKeeper can access the watch's GPS?

Never mind. According to davsug's post on RunKeeper you can actually select in the RK app what GPS you want to use so I guess that's not it. Hmmm.

[StraightlineBoy]

Yeah disappointing is the word. Back to the only slightly flaky world of the Nike app today! Unreliable results are the worst even for someone who is never going to be an Olympic athlete. If you go for a run, give your all and then have no idea if the personal best is genuine or not then you've got nothing. Brands such as RK can do themselves a lot of damage by releasing apps that are unreliable because if you've been burned by them having just flogged yourself for 30 or 60 minutes then you're unlikely to rush back

[mstacheef]

Yeah disappointing is the word. Back to the only slightly flaky world of the Nike app today! Unreliable results are the worst even for someone who is never going to be an Olympic athlete. If you go for a run, give your all and then have no idea if the personal best is genuine or not then you've got nothing. Brands such as RK can do themselves a lot of damage by releasing apps that are unreliable because if you've been burned by them having just flogged yourself for 30 or 60 minutes then you're unlikely to rush back

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app on both the phone and Watch? I just did my 4th run with the latest version and it's more accurate and stable than any other app I've tried, and I think I've tried them all. The only 2 issues I have are elevation isn't showing, which they're going to fix, and he map doesn't show Mile markers, which they're going to add. The only one prob more stable is the stock Apple exercise app, but it doesn't have as many features. RK is worth it just to see the watch's GPS signal on demand IMO.

[StraightlineBoy]

No, for 2 reasons. This release is the first time RK has ever been on either my watch or my phone, specifically downloaded for the new GPS Watch functionality, so there are no remnants of old versions to overwrite. Secondly, if anyone writes apps, be they for the Watch or the phone that require uninstalling and reinstalling, turning settings on and off etc, then they have failed. People buy Apple products because they don't want to deal with stuff like that. It should just work.

And speaking of the NIke app, RunGap seemed to be having problems getting data from it yesterday, so perhaps Nike have been tweaking their servers and that's a dead route for me too.

Looks like for now I'm back to running with my phone and just using the Watch as a remote control for the Strava app because at this point there's no completely reliable GPS watch apps out there. Not the promise of the new Apple Watch at all, disappointed

[tcuprof]

Looks like for now I'm back to running with my phone and just using the Watch as a remote control for the Strava app because at this point there's no completely reliable GPS watch apps out there. Not the promise of the new Apple Watch at all, disappointed

Actually, there is (IME) one completely reliable GPS watch app, it's called Workout, and it's on your watch now.

[StraightlineBoy]

Actually, there is (IME) one completely reliable GPS watch app, it's called Workout, and it's on your watch now.

Sadly if there's one company even less likely to offer an "export to Strava" function than Nike, then that would be Apple! Having logged thousands of kilometres on Strava (running and cycling) I'm just too invested in that platform.

But yes you are right, for anyone without a Strava obsession, Workouts is probably the way to go right now

[rangerdeyo]

I've had good success with the MapMyRun app. Maybe you could try that?

[cheli007]

I've had good success with the MapMyRun app. Maybe you could try that?

Me too. I'm holding out hope they'll put out an update that utilizes the watch GPS.