Sports Tracker

[Boris+]

I mentioned on a different thread that we use our Sports Tracker.com app on our mobile phones when we go for a walk when we are on a cruise, it's free and very useful.

Just thought I would share this - it might be an extra way of recording your cruise. So, if we are in port and going for a walk we just remember to start it when we leave the ship - and hope we remember to stop and save it when we return to the ship.

The app is easy to find by searching in the app store on your mobile phone, and there is a website you can register with. We find that the most economical way to use the app when we are on a cruise is to do a walk, save it and then view it etc online when we get home.

You can see on the app on your mobile phone what distance you did and how long it took, and view the map part of the app - we leave looking at the streetview until we get home and are online.

So, it's free, and you can share it with friends via facebook too.

Hope this is of use to forum members - afterall - it's free!

Em

[HK phooey]

Guffaw

[Boris+]

It's also very good if you are trying to keep fit or get fit.

Em

[david63]

Depending on where you are one thing that you need to be aware of are roaming charges when using some apps in foreign countries. Also these types of app can, on some phones, be very battery intensive.

[Boris+]

Hi David,

My phone is a windows phone, and on a pay as you go system. I know that I had the roaming bit turned off because I am too tight-fisted to leave it on when we are on a cruise. Actually, I don't have the roaming bit switched on ever I think. We use my phone to do the Sports Tracker bit when we go walk about on a cruise, and husband's phone is on a contract (but still a windows phone), and so he does all the 'navigation' using a combination of a good old-fashioned map and sat nav on his phone. However, if we feel that we are in a 'dodgy' area by mistake, obviously my phone is not on show (it goes in my pocket or bag as soon as I switch on the Sports Tracker at the point of leaving the ship), and if we feel 'unsafe' then husband's phone gets hidden also, and we just rely on his map. So far so good, it's been quite safe.

However, all the walks we did on the cruise are safely saved in the 'diary' on this app, and when we got back to the UK we quickly got all our walks on Sports Tracker sent onwards via facebook on the app mentioned, using the 'save and sync' icon on the app.

I am really certain that I didn't get clobbered for any huge phone charges when we were on this particular cruise (nor any other cruise for that matter), and happy that this app worked very well. It's just a shame that there was no streetview facility - but that's not really surprising in Venice.

Em

[Quizzical Bob]

Thanks for the tip Boris. I've put it on my iPhone and when I do my daily constitutional I can see how far and how quickly I've performed. As David says, I need to check how the mapping is done when you're roaming.

[Boris+]

We do another thing (same but a bit different) - daughter has just started going for a countryside amble with her baby in a carrier, and just before she leaves her home she logs onto something called 'Glympse' - and then we can watch her progress around the route 'live' as it were. It sort of gives her a feeling of security knowing that a family member has a watching eye on her progress, so that if she has a problem we know we can drive to exactly where she is using the quickest route to help her.

It's easy enough in an urban area to ring for help and say quite precisely where you are, but ringing and saying that your location is by a knarled tree or a rusty gate isn't much help when there loads of those around! So, 'Glympse' is something (I think is based in the USA) useful for us. Daughter has an android phone which is great - but we have to 'watch' on a laptop because our windows phones won't interact with the Glympse website 'yet'.

Enjoy your sports tracker.

Em

[david63]

On Em's recommendation I thought I would have a look at this Sports Tracker (once I had found the right one).

Very quickly got rid of it as it appears to "eat" battery power. Since installing it I have had less that 24 hours out of a full charge.

[Quizzical Bob]

On Em's recommendation I thought I would have a look at this Sports Tracker (once I had found the right one).

Very quickly got rid of it as it appears to "eat" battery power. Since installing it I have had less that 24 hours out of a full charge.

Any GPS app will soak up the power. If you're not actually using it then it's best to unload it from your memory. On an iPhone/iPad you do this by double-clicking the home button which will let you see all the programs that are loaded. Depending on your version of IOS you either flick these off towards the top of the screen or press the little 'X' in the top corner. It's a good idea to do this regulalry as it will speed up your phone.

[Boris+]

Just back from a lovely walk with Sports Tracker and granddaughter - and neither of them managed to drain my battery, I've got a Windows phone and it doesn't really bother my battery level at all.

Sorry about that David - hope you get it sorted out.

Em