law826

Q: Workout app and MapMyRun Distances Are Inconsistent

I have been tracking my runs with the Workout App, and the distance/pace/calorie calculations seem to be much different from those calculated by MapMyRun (and other distance tracking devices as well). The Workout app Will consistently underestimate the distance of my run (3.5 miles versus 4 miles respectively). I was curious to see if anyone else had the same problem. I have carried my iPhone with me on all my runs.

Apple Watch

Posted on Apr 30, 2015 4:32 AM

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Q: Workout app and MapMyRun Distances Are Inconsistent

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  • by fg37,

    fg37 fg37 May 18, 2015 4:51 PM in response to dhy8386
    Level 1 (5 points)
    May 18, 2015 4:51 PM in response to dhy8386

    I agree that the different calculations for stride length, etc. for walking vs. running make complete sense -- when you don't have the phone with you. Why would you have the watch throw out perfectly good GPS data in favor of less reliable stride data based on generalized calculations? I suppose you could argue that you don't know if the GPS data is necessarily "perfectly good," but it seems to be much better than the stride data for many of us.

     

    I've only had the watch for 2 weeks, so I'll be interested to see if the run accuracy improves over time. Maybe if the GPS consistently tells a different story than the stride data, the stride data will correct itself over time. Just hypothesizing/hoping.

  • by swandy,

    swandy swandy May 18, 2015 4:51 PM in response to dhy8386
    Level 4 (1,542 points)
    Apple Music
    May 18, 2015 4:51 PM in response to dhy8386

    Yes, but the article on Calibration says the purpose of said calibration is so that the Watch can be more accurate WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR IPHONE ALONG. No where does it either state or imply that when you have your iPhone along, the Watch will not make use of the iPhone's GPS information.

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill May 18, 2015 4:53 PM in response to dhy8386
    Level 10 (104,073 points)
    Apple TV
    May 18, 2015 4:53 PM in response to dhy8386

    dhy8386 wrote:

     

    ... And thus you are getting steps based distance and pace, not GPS-based. Submit feedback on it and in the interim choose Outdoor Cycle when you run. I assume it will just report the GPS data which is what you want. But I assume there is no pace associated with cycling so that will be the compromise.

    NO, that's incorrect.

  • by dhy8386,

    dhy8386 dhy8386 May 18, 2015 4:53 PM in response to swandy
    Level 1 (10 points)
    May 18, 2015 4:53 PM in response to swandy

    Agree, but I have never seen it described that it specifically uses the GPS to measure distance, only calibrate. So then maybe its my bad if it says that somewhere else.

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill May 18, 2015 5:00 PM in response to dhy8386
    Level 10 (104,073 points)
    Apple TV
    May 18, 2015 5:00 PM in response to dhy8386

    dhy8386 wrote:

     

    Agree, but I have never seen it described that it specifically uses the GPS to measure distance, only calibrate. So then maybe its my bad if it says that somewhere else.

    Think about what you are suggesting for a moment.

  • by fg37,

    fg37 fg37 May 18, 2015 5:01 PM in response to dhy8386
    Level 1 (5 points)
    May 18, 2015 5:01 PM in response to dhy8386

    I have submitted feedback, but thanks for the reminder. I hope everyone else is doing the same.

     

    This is exactly how they market it: "GPS. Along with its accelerometer, Apple Watch uses GPS on your iPhone to more accurately measure distance and speed during workouts you do outside — like walking, running, and cycling."

     

    So, yeah, I expect it to do that.

  • by Lohvarn,

    Lohvarn Lohvarn May 19, 2015 11:16 AM in response to law826
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Apple Pay
    May 19, 2015 11:16 AM in response to law826

    Well, Watch OS 1.0.1 has been released, which claims to have improved run/walk distance and pace calculations. Let's hope this takes care of our issue!

     

    For me personally, walking was spot on, although 1) I don't walk as far as I run, and 2) I carry my iPhone in my pocket (vertically) when I walk vs. in a belt pouch (horizontally) when I run, which is something people have theorized caused issues.

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