WorkOutDoors: Apple Watch as a true competitor of a Garmin|Suunto running watch?
I am an avid runner, and like to test watches.
This article is my review of WorkOutDoors, a
terrific workout app for the Apple Watch.
My watches "history"
I have been running now regularly for a little bit more than 5 years, and have had different running watches:
- I started with a TomTom back in 2015,
- then switched to a Garmin Forerunner 235 in 2016,
- tested an Apple Watch 3 in 2018 but sold it after a few weeks as it was missing too many things as a running watch,
- I had issues with the Garmin Fenix 5 (with 2 different models),
- So finally bought a Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR Baro, which I kept for 2.5 years.
Back to the Apple Watch - why?
I loved my Suunto, but I was missing the ability to create advanced interval trainings (Suunto only allows super basic ones), and also the smartwatch features were not really great.
When checking out options, I had a look at the latest Apple Watch/WatchOS stuff, but also checked out if there had been any app that could provide a better experience than Apple's pretty basic Workout app.
And that's where I stumbled upon WorkOutDoors, which seemed to deliver exactly what I had been missing back in 2018!
Here is a quick list of what I had been missing:
- GPS icon: (to show the GPS signal) - the Apple watch workout does not show that, and starts after a countdown of 3 seconds. I want to be 100% sure that my watch acquired the GPS signal before starting my run. Super basic feature, and I can't believe Apple has still not fixed it.
- Maps / route on the wrist: when running in places I don't know, I usually draw a route and upload the GPX to my watch, so that I don't get lost. Not possible with the default workout app.
- Customisation: I like to customise what will be displayed on the screen during running, which again is super basic on the default workout app.
- Intervals: being apple to use the same app for everything would be a plus.
WorkOutDoors
What's that?
According to its website:
WorkOutDoors is the only Apple Watch workout app showing fully functional vector
maps. It is also the most configurable workout app, with many screen layouts and
300+ metrics.
And indeed, looking at the website and the many screnshots it has, the app looked really promising. So I watched a couple of Youtube videos on it, which confirmed that it was close to what I was missing, and so I bought an Apple Watch Series 6 in October '20, to try it out (and knowing that I could still send it back if the test was not successful).
How does it work?
As with anything related to an Apple Watch, you have to install the iOS app, which then installs an app on the Watch as well.
The iOS app looks like this:
It is used for configuring the app, seeing past workouts details, downloading
maps tiles (more on that later).
But a lot of things can be done on the Watch itself.
Only for running?
Nope, WorkOutDoors allows you to record pretty much any kind of activity (27 different activities, ranging from classical ones such as cycling, hiking, walking, to more specific ones such as snowboarding, sailing, wheelchair race, yoga, ...).
The nice thing is that for each activity, you have dedicated screens, which
you can customise at will!
By default you have 4 screens, but you can add more if you want (I quickly
tested and stopped at 11 screens, so plenty of choice!)
Below is a quick look at those screens:
You can go really deep with customisation, and that's in my opinion where the app shines - and is on par with a Garmin or a Solar in terms of information displayed.
This may be overwhelming/a little bit complex, but you can also stick to the default screens, which are good enough for a casual runner.
Using it from the Watch
Prepare for a Run
When starting the app, you get presented with this screen:
As you can see, this is "straight to the point", with:
- top left: GPS signal - blue is good (4 or 5 bars)
- battery level
- time
- workout type, along with the last time you practiced it.
You can also click on the 3 dots icons, which will display some options:
- Open Workout: in case you want this big button to start the workout ;)
- Fixed Length: if you want the workout to end after a specific distance ,time, number of calories burnt, or steps,
- Interval schedule: if you want to have an interval training,
- Workout history: to display the information about one of your previous workouts.
Running
If you click on the workout directly (e.g. Running), the app starts measuring it.
Depending on the screens you have configured from the phone, you'll see the
information you selected.
Moving from one screen to another is done by swiping to the left or to the
right.
Of course, screens can include a map, either full screen or slighlt smaller with
information at the bottom.
It is also possible to have a "button" icon for manually setting an interval/lap (like you would do with physical buttons on a running watch); see the screenshot above. I tested it and it works really fine.
Finishing a run
Once you're finished running, you long-press on the screen, and hit Finish, which displays the following:
If you click on one of the categories (Pace, Elevation, ...) then on the top right icon, you will then get details on the category, e.g. Pace splits below:
Once you hit "Done", the workout is saved in Apple's Fitness app (and of course in the WorkOutDoors app as well).
Exporting to 3rd party platforms
It is possible to configure exports to Strava (manual or automatically once a workout is finished), or exporting to GPX and TCX files.
I don't use the Strava export since I'm using RunGap to export my workouts to both Strava and SmashRun, which I use a lot more than Strava these days - it provides many useful metrics if you want to analyse your runs.
Configuration from the watch
In addition to the iPhone app, it is also possible to configure WorkOutDoors from the Watch itself. This is done by long pressing the screen, then selecting "Settings":
From there, it is possible to configure a lot of options:
What is really nice is that you can alter the settings even if you have started a run! I used that a few times when I started a run and after some minutes I realised I forgot to select the route I wanted to run. Super nice, and not sure that's possible with regular running watches (at least it wasn't possible on my Suunto).
Post-workout Analysis
The iPhone app allows to dig a lot deeper in your workouts (compared with the small watch screen):
Conclusion
I love this app and have been using it almost exclusively for running (although for Interval workouts, I still prefer using Intervals Pro, as I find it more customisable, and it comes with spoken intervals prompts).
Edit 05/02/2021:In fact, WorkOutDoors does provide spoken intervals prompts, I just didn't realise it!
Pros:
- Turns your Apple Watch into a real running watch,
- Fills the gap of the default workout app (GPS icon, customisation, ...),
- Extremely customisable,
- A lot of details both on the watch and via the iPhone app,
- Settings can be changed even when a workout is started,
- Last but not least, the developer, Ian, is super nice and reactive, open to feedback/ideas.
Cons:
- Not a problem for me, as it is totally worth it, but this app is not free: it costs 5,99€.
Tags: Running