Track Runner v4 with Heart Rate Monitor Support and SensorCore Integration

We are incredibly excited to announce the latest version of Track Runner has just gone live. Before I go into explaining all the new features, thank you to our amazing team who worked so hard on this update. Our last update was extremely well received, but we wanted to make this one even better, and I think we achieved that.

We do get a lot of Feedback, and we enjoy reading every single piece and responding to it. One particular request we see all the time is heart rate monitor (HRM) support. We absolutely get it – heart rate helps runners understand their performance level and allows for a much more focused training experience. Truth of the matter is, we simply couldn’t offer broad heart rate monitor support due to technical restrictions in Windows Phone 8.0, but we certainly designed the app with this feature in mind.

Thankfully, with Windows Phone 8.1, this is a thing of the past. We are now able to support Bluetooth 4.0 heart rate monitors. Strictly speaking any such monitor should work, but we do have a list of tested devices in our new knowledgebase. To be clear, on Nokia phones you’ll also need the Cyan update to use heart rate monitor support, but thankfully that is rolling out quickly. See this page on Nokia’s website for more information on Cyan availability.

We thought very hard and long how we could make heart rate data as awesome an experience as possible. And this is what we came up with:

• customizable heart rate zones: you don’t have to know exact bpm values to train efficiently. Just browse the 5 heart rate zones (settings – heartrate) to see which ones you want to utilize in your training and voice notification will help you stay “in the zone”. If you know your max and/or resting heart rate you can make the zones fit you even better.
• post-training analysis: beside giving your average bpm and max heart rate of your run, we integrated heart rate into the pacer graph so you can see how much stress that crazy fast mile put onto your system. We also provide your average heart rate split by split.
• Cardio Map: If you trained with your HRM the diary will now show a Cardio Map after your training. The route appears in the colors of the heart rate zones so you can see which parts you ran in which zone. And if you think that’s neat why not share the map on social networks? Because you can!
• statistics page: it’s been a long time coming but the ominous “?” is gone and replaced by your average heart rate – with time span selection as usual
• gear: heart rate monitors are completely integrated into gear tracking so you can track their mileage. You can also set your default HRM. For information on your HRM’s battery level just pause the run from any run screen.

 

Here’s a big screenshot of the Cardio Map that can be shared to social networks (you’ll need the Twitter Beta to share to Twitter, the current release version of Twitter does not support Windows Phone 8.1’s new sharing features we’re taking advantage of).

 

The diary’s much improved landscape modus:

At this point we expect you to say “wow”. But that’s not all: This update also includes support for Nokia / Microsoft’s SensorCore technology, enabling Track Runner to use motion data during your run. Obviously you’ll need a SensorCore enabled phone for these features, but the good news is that the new Lumia 635 and Lumia 630 cost less than $100! We’ve been testing with these devices for a few weeks, and we really like them. They’re great for running and definitely recommended. So, what kind of motion data are we talking?

• Cadence Analysis: Being able to count steps means that we can compute your stride rate. That’s great news for runners, since increasing the stride rate can help minimize injuries. A good stride rate should be around 180 (but you may want to check with your orthopedist). We found the data to be very reliable, as long as the phone is inside a pocket. Armbands are discouraged.
• Cadence Analysis is completely integrated into Gear tracking – allowing you to compare your stride rate on different shoes to help you decide which ones are best. To make sure that interval training – you may stop or walk during rest phases – does not skew the data, we’ve made sure to exclude interval training workout from average stride rate computations for shoes.
• Auto-Pause and Auto-Resume: Pauses your run after 5-10s of inactivity. This works great at traffic lights, but to trigger it you need to completely stop running. Jogging in place will not trigger Auto-Pause. The run is automatically resumed once you’re running again (this takes about 20 meters / 20 yards.) We’re hoping to improve this a little bit with further updates, but once you remember to not move for a few seconds, it works great.

There is so much to this update, and the last few weeks we’ve been exclusively testing. We believe the app is very stable now, but if you do encounter some problems, please let us know via the in-app feedback form or at http://trackrunner.uservoice.com. Clicking the green question mark on the bottom right of this page will also get the job done.

Lastly, all of these features are available for free. There’s no catch – no in-app purchase, no ads, no terribly annoying rating reminders. We don’t compromise, and neither should you, so give Track Runner a go if you’re not already using it. If you like the app, please leave a 5-star rating on the Windows Phone Store.

Thank you.

Sarah & The App Cauldron Team