Those that have a running app on your iPhone

brittigno

Does the GPS function use up data using these sorts of apps? I don't want to go over my 300 mb plan by running.
I tried running around the track in the gym I go to using their WIFI, but it doesn't track correctly. I may run a slow mile, but I certainly do not take 241 minutes to run a mile. O__O

thefreebiemom

Hmm thats a tough one. I have been using the GPS on my running apps but haven't looked at my data usage. I know wifi tracking on them sucks.

I haven't been worried about it because before I started using the apps I barely used even a fifth of my data, we use mostly wifi. I will go to my acct and check right now to see what my data counts were yesterday on my 30 minute hike.

brittigno

Thanks.

I'm usually not too worried about data either because I'm constantly on WIFI (which is why I opted for the 300 mb plan) but just in case. I didn't know if it used a ton of data or not.

McSteve67

The gps itself doesn't use data but the app might download a little bit if it's plotting your route to a map. Very small amount in any case.

brittigno

That's good to hear, thanks!

New to these iPhone things...

madtownjeremy

Yeah, +1 to McSteve. It doesn't eat up a whole lot of data, but GPS tracking does eat up a TON of battery power.

I use the MapMyRun and MapMyRide apps for running and cycling and so far they've worked great and have been surprisingly accurate.

tenunderfour

Yeah, +1 to McSteve. It doesn't eat up a whole lot of data, but GPS tracking does eat up a TON of battery power.

Word. I completely drained my iPhone battery using one of these apps on an 18 mile run. Serves me right for not keeping my Garmin charged!

thefreebiemom

Okay so I was looking at my data usage for yesterday.

First off, apparently I need to be more careful about closing my apps that are running in the background because it has very large chunks of time with data all together instead of little spots of data every time I use it.

For example. Yesterday starting at 11:15am all the way until a new data slot was logged at 6:49pm it said I used 4195kb of data. That included a .25 mile walk between the restaurant we ate lunch at and the tire place that was changing our tires, me messing around with MFP app adding in foods and exercise and stuff and then our 31 minute hike through a canyon later that afternoon. I might have looked at a couple of news articles on yahoo during that time too but I don't remember looking at any away from the house and at home we have it connected to wifi. So I think it would be safe to say that most of those Kb were used between MFP and mapmyrun. During all the other days and chunks of time my data usage doesn't really go over 1000 or so Kb so those apps seem to affect it somewhat.

brittigno

Yeah, that's what I downloaded, the MapMyRun. I'm not too worried about the battery life because I usually go home after working out and chill out at the house all day. -___-

but thanks, everyone! I'll have to try this out during my next run.

thefreebiemom

I love the mapmyrun app. Once on a mountain hike it lost signal for a few seconds but then kicked right back in there and filled in the gap based on our new location.

Francesca3162

Nike has an app for runners as well.

thefreebiemom

Nike has an app for runners as well.

Yeah that was pre-programmed on my phone and it won't even let me delete it. Unfortunately it doesn't really work unless you have the special thing in their shoes to sync it with.

madtownjeremy

Word. I completely drained my iPhone battery using one of these apps on an 18 mile run. Serves me right for not keeping my Garmin charged!

I discovered today on my crosstrain ride that GPS burns FAR less juice if you disable 3G on your iPhone. I think it's because when 3G is turned on, the phone uses the three nearest cell towers to determine your position as opposed to just the GPS antenna, which is a far bigger drain. Good to know.

MB_Positif

I use my phone a TON and average under 300mb of data each month. I use Runkeeper to track my runs.

bregalad5

I use RunKeeper and haven't had any problems at all. I'm usually on wireless as well, and my runs are short-ish, but it does eat a ton of battery, especially if I'm listening to music as well (using Google Music, which is also using data)