Apple watch GPS issue

I use to run with NRC and had so many issues on my Watch. Apple’s own integrated app is fine for tracking runs. Last year I tried all Running apps supporting the Apple Watch and I found none of them had enough advantages over the built-in app to compensate for their shortcomings. I will try again this year to see if there were improvements but as I understand from your post NRC is still not good enough.

Do you run with or without your iPhone? If with I believe these Apps when thetered to iPhone will use your phone’s GPS. This should me mentioned somewhere in the support section of their websites. When you leave your iPhone behind they will be forced to use the one in the Watch. You could try all three options (phone, phone + watch, watch) on the same route and same App and compare the results and conclude if it’s an issue with the App or with your GPS. One App, Runkeeper if i recall well, used to make you chose which option when starting a run.

I did not try Strava’s Apple Watch app yet, they didn’t have a Standalone app the last time I looked into it. I see they do now. I will give a shot.

Thanks.

I didn’t know that, I thought phones GPS were receiving data from the same place all GPS are receiving it. I will look into it. Beside, on your phone you’re also getting location data from wifi routers-when in the vicinity-which is supposedly more precise than GPS.

As for Garmin, I guess that depends on your needs. I have been very happy with my Apple Watch for several reasons, one of them being music stored on the watch. I have found all Garmin options to be clunkier for music and data syncing especially. The fact that you can also switch to a different app anytime you want and still retain your data inside the Activity app is also a big plus for me.

The GPS in my Watch has been very reliable when I use Apple’s app, down to the 100m for my regular running route. During races, it’s also pretty much on the money with the race’s markers.

Hi all,

I have recently moved from a Garmin to an Apple Watch Series 3 GPS and I must admit, whilst the watch is great, it certainly isn't as reliable as the Garmin for running. I have only completed a couple of training runs, which weren't recorded correctly (same runs as I have been recording using Garmin in the past so could compare directly), but when I ran a half marathon this Sunday, every mile was being over recorded on the AWS3 and by the end of the race it had recorded 13.4 miles.

The really strange thing is that when I looked at the actual route in Strava on my Mac later that day, the route was exactly the right route 13.1 miles long!

I have read that the AWS3 uses the pedometer function in the watch to record the actual real time data and only the GPS to 'track the run' for map purposes. I hope I am wrong here as I bought the AWS3 because it had GPS and therefore could use just one watch for everything....

I am hoping someone at Apple might be able to tell me where I am going wrong!

Thanks