I go for long bicycle rides (30 miles +/-) and use Endomondo to keep track of distance, calories, speed, etc. It updates all this information regularly with computer-generated voice and I can hear it through my earphones. One thing Endomondo doesn't do is tell me what time it is. I wear wrist braces because of my history of carpal tunnel problems, so the only way I have for telling time right now is to strap my watch onto the handlebars. Does anyone know if there is an app that will tell me the time at regular intervals? Thanks.
If you are rooted, you can use Tasker to do this, I believe the "Say" command is listed under "Misc" and you can set up a task to say the time at any desired interval. You could even set it up to begin when Endomondo starts and stop when it exits.
gr8nole said:
If you are rooted, you can use Tasker to do this, I believe the "Say" command is listed under "Misc" and you can set up a task to say the time at any desired interval. You could even set it up to begin when Endomondo starts and stop when it exits.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds perfect. I'll take a look at Tasker. Thanks!
Edit - Tasker looks like a very useful tool. It also clearly has a learning curve. This will take time, but it could be fun.
Related
Hey everybody,
I'm looking for a GPS tracking program for when I run. I'm interested in somethng that:
1) MANDATORY: has a COUNTDOWN timer (I time my runs to specific durations.
2) MANDATORY: Can power off the light without turning off the GPS radio
3) OPTIONAL: can save your runs to track progress
I've downloaded two freeware programs and though both are very rich in features (maps, logs runs, can power off the light, can even change the interval for sampling the GPS location), neither of them have a countdown timer despite being advertised as having a "timer". Looking online, they all say "timer" but aren't clear whether they're duration or countdown timers.
Anyone have any recommendations?
felixdd said:
I'm looking for a GPS tracking program for when I run. I'm interested in somethng that:
1) MANDATORY: has a COUNTDOWN timer (I time my runs to specific durations.
2) MANDATORY: Can power off the light without turning off the GPS radio
3) OPTIONAL: can save your runs to track progress
I've downloaded two freeware programs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which one?
felixdd said:
Anyone have any recommendations?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With GPS Cycle Computer you can set time based laps (1,2,5 mins) and be alerted when lap is over. It can turn off the screen keeping GPS alive and it can save you runs.
Regards,
Ł.O.
I have GPS Sports Tracker and GPS Cycle Computer.
Neither of them appear like they can do countdown timer...at least not immediately apparent anyways.
I downloaded G-Watch as well, but don't know whether it can turn its screen off.
Let me know if there are any better alternatives out there!
Hi,
recently I tried out Sygic which works really nice except for one thing:
when Sygic is running in background after a while (seems randomly) the GPS message disappears (upper message in attached pic), the Sygic message remains (lower message in attached pic).
When I click the Sygic message, the app behaves as if I restarted it (says "initializing" on top right). Luckily, it remembers the old route.
Yet sometimes I don't drive myself and would like to do other stuff and have Sygic tracking in the background.
It works fine with Google maps.Yet not with Sygic. Especially when I launch any other app (even the browser, a video or something), Sygic stops tracking immediately (not always but often) or some time later.
GPS is set to never turn off in Sygic and all settings are set to "optimal".
Could that be the Android OS turning something off for Sygic as it might believe it's no longer used or something?
Sygic is more sophisticated than Google maps and uses more ram. If you start opening other apps after Sygic then they will get higher priority in ram. Sygic doesn't really stop so much as get pushed out of memory until it gets switched to again. Not much you can do about it really.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Ah that explains the issue, already feared something like that.
The only annoying part is that it no longer tells me where to go when that happens.
Does anyone know whether this happens with other apps such as Navigon as well?
Since the newest update (at least I didn't notice it before) Sygic has an option "Run navigation in back..." under Battery management.
Haven't tested it yet but that supposedly sets the oom_adj values low enough for the app not to get killed.
Ah thanks, that is new indeed.
Yet I tried this and eventually the same thing happens sooner or later. :/
Open Sygic.... go to SETTINGS than go to BATTERY MANAGEMENT (i don't know witch is the correct option in english as my SYGIC is in ITALIAN)... the first setting that is show to you is the opportunity to deactivate the GPS signal after a definite time.... change it!
Yeah that option is now replaced, you can only check/uncheck it. I checked it so it keeps running in background but still shuts off after a while when using other apps.
You're right. I have the same problem. This is ridiculous. You are running navigation and expect it to give you the directions at the right moment, but you don't know that in the meantime, while you got a phone call and checked your messages it was turned off silently and no longer working.
Without an option to guarantee it's working and can't be stopped in the background, you're as if you have no navigation at all.
If this can not be fixed it's better not to even install Sygic, cause this takes away a major part of what this app is meant to do. So stupid.
I have tried Igo and it was the same. How serious is that?! To have a navigation, which can stop while you're using it and need it, without warning!
Did anybody find a solution to this?
Not really.
Either simply leave Sygic running in foreground / don't leave it running in background for a while or use a different app.
After I purchased it I also noticed some other annoying issues, e.g. voice says "take exit number 24" instead of how we navigate here "take next exit to A2" (our motorway navvigation signs do not show the exit numbers anyway), forcing me to look at the app way more often when there is an exit leading to 2 different motorways.
Due to such issues as well as this annoying "I die if you leave me running in background" I decided to switch to Navigon. Nicely, this app even tells you which motorway to take AND where it leads to, so I don't even need to look at it.
I haven't run a full test yet. Yet I left a video running in full screen and Navigon kept running in background navigating. Once I know more, I report back (if I don't forget). In any case, I wished I didn't have spent the money for Sygic after all. What do free map updates any good when the app isn't suiting oneself.
P.S.: I did inform Sygic support about the background issue and they requested more information as they didn't experience this issue yet. I provided that but didn't get another reply, the thread was then archived.
Landorin said:
Not really.
Either simply leave Sygic running in foreground / don't leave it running in background for a while or use a different app.
After I purchased it I also noticed some other annoying issues, e.g. voice says "take exit number 24" instead of how we navigate here "take next exit to A2" (our motorway navvigation signs do not show the exit numbers anyway), forcing me to look at the app way more often when there is an exit leading to 2 different motorways.
Due to such issues as well as this annoying "I die if you leave me running in background" I decided to switch to Navigon. Nicely, this app even tells you which motorway to take AND where it leads to, so I don't even need to look at it.
I haven't run a full test yet. Yet I left a video running in full screen and Navigon kept running in background navigating. Once I know more, I report back (if I don't forget). In any case, I wished I didn't have spent the money for Sygic after all. What do free map updates any good when the app isn't suiting oneself.
P.S.: I did inform Sygic support about the background issue and they requested more information as they didn't experience this issue yet. I provided that but didn't get another reply, the thread was then archived.
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Click to collapse
I agree with you also for the way Sygic works. It's s not that great. Thanks for sharing about Navigon. Please, test it and post here if the situation with "silent background death" is the same. I would appreciate it if you let me know and will be checking to see how you feel about it when you post your comments.
tiho5 said:
I agree with you also for the way Sygic works. It's s not that great. Thanks for sharing about Navigon. Please, test it and post here if the situation with "silent background death" is the same. I would appreciate it if you let me know and will be checking to see how you feel about it when you post your comments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using Sygic for quite a long time and noticed that on my Galaxy Captivate, after initialization, if you switch to some other app then return to Sygic (either from the app icon, or from the task bar) it always restart.
However on my Galaxy S3 after switch back to Sygic it just continues wherever it left off. I guess that my Captivate had less memory to run Sygic while I have plenty on the S3.
Also in Sygic, go to Settings / Notifications and Sounds / Advanced and turn "Sound always on" would let Sygic to continue to turn-by-turn announcement even if it is not in the foreground, even when the screen is off.
I have plenty of free memory (using HTC one x) and still it's killed. But this is not a problem of sygic. it's a problem of Android. Or may be indrrd sygic didn't make the right settings for the memory registration of this app (if that's something that they could do). As I see the oom values of this app are pretty high usually when I check.
Also about the voice: I have this option checked. But I never had an occasion when it spoke to me when it was killed. I'll check again. May be I didn't notice it...
Thanks for your comment on that. I'm surely going to test this.
tiho5 said:
I have plenty of free memory (using HTC one x) and still it's killed. But this is not a problem of sygic. it's a problem of Android. Or may be indrrd sygic didn't make the right settings for the memory registration of this app (if that's something that they could do). As I see the oom values of this app are pretty high usually when I check.
Also about the voice: I have this option checked. But I never had an occasion when it spoke to me when it was killed. I'll check again. May be I didn't notice it...
Thanks for your comment on that. I'm surely going to test this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably you haven't set the option to switch off GPS after a certain amount of time. Go to Settings /Battery management / Switch GPS off after... then move the slider until you see "never".
pentel1954 said:
You probably you haven't set the option to switch off GPS after a certain amount of time. Go to Settings /Battery management / Switch GPS off after... then move the slider until you see "never".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for trying to help. This option is set properly to "never" with me.
Hey all,
sorry for the late reply.
Sad news: Navigon dies in background as well. Just like Sygic, it doesn't always happen. But once you start using other apps actively it will eventually kill Sygic and Navigon silently. As someone already pointed out, it's likely an issue due to how Android works.
I had the relevant options ticked to never disable GPS or anything and it made no difference.
So you can use another app but you can't actively use your smartphone, e.g. I can have Poweramp run in foreground and switch tracks without Navigon dying (it also keeps talking to me via voice, even when the screen is turned off). But if you're not the driver and want to do more than just that then you'd need a second device or so.
Cheers,
Landorin
P.S.: at least now I could test both apps and personally, I'll stick with Navigon. Navigation by voice is so well developed that I don't need to look at the app while driving and if I do look at it, track assistant is better developed too (it shows you the motorway signs). With the app "Directory Bind" I was also able to move the whole big app + maps onto the external SD card.
Hopefully, the Sygic devs will listen to the community feedback and catch up in development over time.
Landorin said:
Hey all,
sorry for the late reply.
Sad news: Navigon dies in background as well. Just like Sygic, it doesn't always happen. But once you start using other apps actively it will eventually kill Sygic and Navigon silently. As someone already pointed out, it's likely an issue due to how Android works.
I had the relevant options ticked to never disable GPS or anything and it made no difference.
So you can use another app but you can't actively use your smartphone, e.g. I can have Poweramp run in foreground and switch tracks without Navigon dying (it also keeps talking to me via voice, even when the screen is turned off). But if you're not the driver and want to do more than just that then you'd need a second device or so.
Cheers,
Landorin
P.S.: at least now I could test both apps and personally, I'll stick with Navigon. Navigation by voice is so well developed that I don't need to look at the app while driving and if I do look at it, track assistant is better developed too (it shows you the motorway signs). With the app "Directory Bind" I was also able to move the whole big app + maps onto the external SD card.
Hopefully, the Sygic devs will listen to the community feedback and catch up in development over time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this elaborate report. It will be useful for many.
And yes, the navigation soft producers must make some conclusions.
If I find a good way to protect an app from being killed, I'll post it here.
You can try Fameelee - Family Locator app and you will never get such problems. 24/7 real time accurate gps location tracking, ability to see location history of your app members for the last 30 days, get notification once your app members reach some specific places (that you match by yourself), sms and call logs tracking and a lot of more. App is free and avaiable on appstore and google play market
I was able to use the watch today while driving and it was great. Nice to switch apps and send texts, navigate, send myself notes, etc.
Quick question. So if my phone screen is off and sitting in cradle, is there a watch command that I can "say" to turn the screen on my phone?
Thanks.
esoh said:
I was able to use the watch today while driving and it was great. Nice to switch apps and send texts, navigate, send myself notes, etc.
Quick question. So if my screen is off and sitting in cradle, is there a watch command that I can "say" to turn the screen on my phone?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you have to tap the screen, or move the watch in a position like if you were gona talk to it. Wich is good, otherwise everyone would be able to start talking to your watch
Foggy79 said:
No, you have to tap the screen, or move the watch in a position like if you were gona talk to it. Wich is good, otherwise everyone would be able to start talking to your watch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the question was in regards to controlling the phone via the watch commands.
I haven't seen anyway to turn the phone screen on by a watch command. Everything I've told to open on phone will keep the screen off but load it in the background for when you turn it on. My guess is so you don't tap something you don't want pulling it out of your pocket.
esoh said:
I was able to use the watch today while driving and it was great. Nice to switch apps and send texts, navigate, send myself notes, etc.
Quick question. So if my phone screen is off and sitting in cradle, is there a watch command that I can "say" to turn the screen on my phone?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there is a way to do this. But it's a little more complicated. You will need tasker, autovoice and the xposed framework with the google now api module. Look over here and do the same with a tasker task to turn on the screen (secure settings plugin needed). I'm quite sure that's the only way, but you will have to disable ART and install all these apps (5 in total).
coolsilver said:
I think the question was in regards to controlling the phone via the watch commands.
I haven't seen anyway to turn the phone screen on by a watch command. Everything I've told to open on phone will keep the screen off but load it in the background for when you turn it on. My guess is so you don't tap something you don't want pulling it out of your pocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, I misread the question... The only app that opens on the phone and turns on the screen via a watch command here is my navigation from google maps (navigate home, navigate to work).
spiderflash said:
Yes there is a way to do this. But it's a little more complicated. You will need tasker, autovoice and the xposed framework with the google now api module. Look over here and do the same with a tasker task to turn on the screen (secure settings plugin needed). I'm quite sure that's the only way, but you will have to disable ART and install all these apps (5 in total).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this, but I was hoping for something a bit more simpler, like "turn screen on."
I have been looking for a way to make suggestions to the Wear team but I haven't been able to find anything. Anyway, I thought that this would be a command that could be useful at some point.
What I want to do:
I have Trigger which activates a task in Tasker named Driving, whenever it touches my NFC-enabled car dock.
In Tasker, I have three tasks: DrivingAM, DrivingPM, and Driving.
DrivingAM and DrivingPM both work fine individually. I want DrivingAM to be only activate if it's between 6am and 9am. I used a single task, Driving, to check for this condition. I have root enabled.
What I tried:
if %TIME > 6.00
if %TIME < 9.00
Perform Task DrivingAM
end if
else
Perform Task DrivingPM
end if
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Click to collapse
Note that the priority for the Perform Task DrivingAM and Perform Task DrivingPM is +1, so, if I understand it right, it will perform these tasks first if it meets the condition before finishing the current task at hand.
To my understanding, this will:
If it is later than 6am, go to next code, where if time is earlier than 9am, perform task DrivingAM; else, perform task DrivingPM.
But nothing happens... what am I doing wrong?
@Printerscape Use another condition for time in profile instead of using if in the task.
Sent from Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9005
thahim said:
@Printerscape Use another condition for time in profile instead of using if in the task.
Sent from Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9005
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think Trigger can do that... I tried to set it up like that:
Trigger One-
NFC -> Time between 6am and 9am, run DrivingAM
Trigger Two-
NFC -> Time between 9:01am and 5:59am, run DrivingPM
But the NFC chip doesn't trigger it correctly... I think the NFC chip can only carry one set of direction?
I don't think Trigger can do ifs, like:
Trigger-
NFC -> If time between 6-9 run DrivingAM, else run DrivingPM
Also, I don't use profiles in the Tasker app, since I'm not using Tasker to activate these tasks.
I am running the latest official international rom (1.3.4f). Was wondering if anyone is having accuracy issues with the indoor modes that do not use GPS. I tried the treadmill run last night and completed 4km according to the treadmill in the gym but only 2.7km according to my watch.
I also have an issue with trying to sync this activity. All of my other walk activities before the indoor run synced properly and all of my walk activities synced today. I get a partial sync failed error in the app, so I am guessing this activity is the issue for some reason as everthing else is being synced properly. Anyone have a similar issue.
Other than this I am extremely pleased with the watch and its accuracy for GPS related activities and the HR monitor data.
Thanks
Edit: just completed another indoor run and noticed a neat little feature that I missed in my first indoor run. When you stop and save the run there is a little button labelled "calibrate" that allows you to update the distance you have actually run. I don't know if this then updates the algorithm for future but it at least keeps each indoor run accurate.
Maybe this was the issue with the first run not syncing
Treadmill: How do you think the watch is measuring that?
It counts your steps and takes your walking stride length. That can't be anywhere near the reality.
Sync: partial sync error occur sometime, just try again.
fzelle said:
Treadmill: How do you think the watch is measuring that?
It counts your steps and takes your walking stride length. That can't be anywhere near the reality.
Sync: partial sync error occur sometime, just try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I knew that it was calculating steps that way but the algorithm seems out by quite a bit. If I was to scale that up to a bigger run then it would be out by a larger margin. It should allow you to either enter stride or base it on an average stride for that activity based on age, height and weight.
Just for info for anyone else. It was the run indoor activity that was causing the sync issues. I was getting the message everything until I deleted the run activity from the watch. Will try another indoor run in the hope that this is a one off.
This has been bothering me for a long time! I'm not sure that I feel better or worse finding out that others are seeing the same thing.
When I run on a treadmill, the reported mileage on my watch is always way less than what the treadmill says. This morning, my Amazfit Pace told me I ran 2.7 miles, while the treadmill reported way above 4 miles.
Is there a way to adjust the stride length that the watch uses?