iPhone - 'sleep' mode?

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

One for people who know the iPhone better than I do - it was given to me 12 months ago and is becoming a little tempremental to say the least. It's an old one, iPhone 3G which can only take iOS 4.2

I have been trying to use Strava on it. I can't use MapMyRide or a couple of the others which I have looked into (ridebygps or something similar) because I don't have an old enough version of the app available to me after only deciding to use the iPhone in this manner quite recently. (Finance is not there to replace it with anything, so please don't go there). The new versions (even free) won't install & run on iOS 4.2 but if anyone has an older version please keep reading...

I seem to have a problem with the strava app by which when the iPhone goes to sleep it is physically pausing the app completely. It may be a strava bug for all I know because it is not consistant. Sometimes I can get 4 hour rides out of it with all the stats etc having changed no settings at all, but recently I am back to being able to fly according to strava....

So being an IT engineer (just not a smartphone user - don't laugh there was no signal at my old home, no signal at work and nothing in between on my ride to work so I never saw any point in having one) I was wondering if there was a way of controlling the level of sleep when the iPhone goes to sleep? I can't leave it unlocked because I carry the iPhone in a pocket in a plastic bag and don't have space on my bars to mount even a trip meter, only my lights.

Anyone an iPhone whizz? or perhaps you have an older version of iPhone and have Mapmyride or ridewithgps on one of their older versions of the apps (I know how to transfer apps between phones without using iTunes if that helps) - no different from recovering music off an iPod... thanks

 

[Nebulous]

I had an iphone 3gs and used to run cyclemeter. It worked pretty well. Despite all the doom and gloom about battery time on smart phones I had close to 6 hours from it on a couple of occasions. It may mean uploading your rides and then sending them to Strava, so a bit of a workaround. I think it cost £2.99 when I got it.

The only other thing I can think of is that older iphones/ ios could only run one app at a time. This changed with IOS 4, but not entirely according to this. As an IT person that should mean more to you than it does to me - but is it possible that you are using something else which interrupts Strava, then it doesn't come back properly?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I had an iphone 3gs and used to run cyclemeter. It worked pretty well. Despite all the doom and gloom about battery time on smart phones I had close to 6 hours from it on a couple of occasions. It may mean uploading your rides and then sending them to Strava, so a bit of a workaround. I think it cost £2.99 when I got it.

The only other thing I can think of is that older iphones/ ios could only run one app at a time. This changed with IOS 4, but not entirely according to this. As an IT person that should mean more to you than it does to me - but is it possible that you are using something else which interrupts Strava, then it doesn't come back properly?

thank you. I will have a better look at the link later today, but it certainly seems interesting and possibly quite feasible that something else is interupting Strava, but ironically I actually think that single trace later on in the ride was when a text message came through even though I did not look at it.
I also had a quick look at cyclemeter and unfortuantly for new installs which is what it would be for me, it now requires a minimum of iOS 4.3 which my iPhone can't take. iPhone 3GS can take the newer versions of iOS but I guess before long you will be in the same boat as me, just make sure you have all the apps you want before that date - they won't update but you will still have them, you just won't be able to re-install them or buy new ones...

 

[marinyork]

I know this is going to sound silly, but might it not just be a GPS issue within the app and OS. This exact kind of issue has happened on so many other phones and apps with GPS.

Can you not run a second app that forces it to record even in sleep mode? This is what people do for other apps albeit not on that OS.

 

[veloevol]

Maybe unrelated but MSN exchange email stops your older iPhone from being 'always on' for security reasons. Had this problem on my old phone, made the 'always on' setting greyed out.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I know this is going to sound silly, but might it not just be a GPS issue within the app and OS. This exact kind of issue has happened on so many other phones and apps with GPS.

Can you not run a second app that forces it to record even in sleep mode? This is what people do for other apps albeit not on that OS.

I am guessing that the app is also 'going to sleep' becuase it stops recording time as well, so I can go out for 2 hours and it will still say 1 min 56 seconds travelling say 25km as the crow flies. What I don't get is why sometimes it works and sometimes it does not... I do have full routes recorded. so between the 18-25th December it worked just fine, but on the 27th december it stopped working again and has not done since... (yet again). for example http://app.strava.com/activities/33915413 on Christmas Day which worked just fine and I did nothing different to normal - even the same pocket & plastic bag, bike etc!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Maybe unrelated but MSN exchange email stops your older iPhone from being 'always on' for security reasons. Had this problem on my old phone, made the 'always on' setting greyed out.

Gmail, only set to work at home... still exploring the options in the first link which might be something, the question is do I need something else on, or something else off... will play again tomorrow on next ride...

 

[marinyork]

What I don't get is why sometimes it works and sometimes it does not... I do have full routes recorded. so between the 18-25th December it worked just fine, but on the 27th december it stopped working again and has not done since... (yet again). for example http://app.strava.com/activities/33915413 on Christmas Day which worked just fine and I did nothing different to normal - even the same pocket & plastic bag, bike etc!

As I said, on other OSs people get round this by having another app forcing the GPS to stay on. What you describe is remarkably similar to this. I have a similar issue with another OS (legacy), with another legacy smart phone that isn't supported with a completely different programme that uses it in a similar way to strava. But I can't tell you what the app would be, simply hypothesise about the existence of such a programme and solution. Have the strava developers given an opinion?

 

[fossyant]

I've used an Edge 705 for a long time. Decided to use the android phone for Strava for commutes(I don't use the 705 for commuting) but the power use etc etc, I just plumped up a bit of cash for a Garmin 200. Not looked back. Super fast boot and lock

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

...Have the strava developers given an opinion?

Strava support have not been helpful... I logged a helpdesk call, got the automated email to confirm it had been logged and when I went to check on it, found that it had been deleted (got an error message saying closed or deleted but it has not been closed (sorry I used to run a helpdesk FWIW). But for some reason strava has started recording my rides again...

I may look at a Garmin 200 or similar at some point, but like having the maps option available - I would also still need to carry the iPhone so some of it seems counter productive when I can just carry the iPhone and use that, but finances dictate that at the moment it is not an option - maybe when I no longer need £200 a month physio and can work again.