Suggest suitable activity app

[AndyAudi]

So - my quest to be more active

Looking at basic health app on my iPhone was, I thought, a reasonable indication of activity for step count etc

Switched to cycling last week or so in a bid to be a bit more efficient & actually cycled yesterday where I would’ve normally walked (& quite a bit more also - sore legs today!). Disappointed to see phone doesn’t seem to record that activity & my step count yesterday 2500….

Thinking about it phone must know to switch off when I’m driving so prob does same when I’m cycling…..

What do I get to record my activity that’s simple to operate & understand - I did also consider a watch to record heart rate.

[WH16]

It's easy enough to record activities other than walking with Apple Health on your iPhone - you just need to tell it what you are doing and start/stop accordingly.

But do remember - it is the exercise which counts, not the recording of it! (I know logging helps with accountability and tracking progress, but some people seem to worry too much about what their various devices think vs what they are actually doing).

[Douglas Quaid]

I use strava. It records running, walking, cycling etc. I have had a subscription before but now just use the free one. It does what I need it to do.

[paulrockliffe]

I use Strava and have it linked to Samsung Health so that my watch tracks stats across all exercises. If I didnt need the Strava features particularly I would just use Samsung Health, I'm sure Apple are similar. For combining different exercises I would set a few broad goals, but the new Vascular Load metric Samsung have is doing that I think.

[Blue_star]

I think a smartwatch would be a massive leap forward in what you are trying to achieve

[MattyPete]

If you are happy to use an app to view results and don’t need a screen then something like the new FitBit Air is hard to beat.

[AndyAudi]

WH16 said:

It's easy enough to record activities other than walking with Apple Health on

But do remember - it is the exercise which counts, not the recording of it! (I know logging helps with accountability and tracking progress, but some people seem to worry too much about what their various devices think vs what they are actually doing).

Thanks
I think looking at the App I d have to manually add in my KM, there s no magic stop start button as I see?

Think I was on the bike half a dozen times yesterday just jumping on- which saw a huge drop on my recorded steps, from my legs I feel I ve done more exercise than normal but no way of knowing.

Thanks all will look at Strava - didnt reslise there was a free version

[bodhi]

MattyPete said:

If you are happy to use an app to view results and don t need a screen then something like the new FitBit Air is hard to beat.

Agreed - and if you do want a screen there are still a couple of Fitbit models available - the Sense 2 and Charge 6 (iirc). Best thing about them is the new Google Health app (previously the Fitbit app) which is one of the most useful imllemtations of AI I've seen. It gives you reports after workouts which it auto detects with the watches, summarises how you slept, gives you a review of the day etc etc. Of course being AI its better with more context, and you can chat away to it when it gives your reviews. For eg mine.knows that if I exercise it's likely to be golf so gives me custom warm up routines, and that I have an irritating cat that wakes me up every night at 3am.

[WH16]

AndyAudi said:

Thanks
I think looking at the App I d have to manually add in my KM, there s no magic stop start button as I see?

Actually, I think you are right. I had assumed one could record directly from the app, but it seems it is not possible. I normally start and stop directly from my watch - which records into the Apple Fitness app.

[petrolbloke]

You can use Strava or Komoot for tracking. You can also buy a lifetime map pack for Komoot and plan routes with it. I've found that GPS tracking on a smartphone uses the battery up more quickly, even more so if the screen is on a lot. For those reasons I have a Polar smart watch for tracking on foot and a Wahoo bike computer for cycling.

I've had bad experiences with Garmin and Fitbit devices so wouldn't recommend those.

[4154QLD]

I've just bought one of these.. https://us.amazfit.com/products/helio-strap?srslti...

No subscription
Measures heart rate and a bunch of other things
Has a work-out tracker etc..

No screen - which I preferred.