Hi all. I decided to use today's ride out to test out using my Samsung Galaxy S2 to plan and follow a route and then track and post it. Quick write up of what I used in case it's interesting or useful to someone.
First the phone. I've had the SGS2 for a couple of months and have been nothing but impressed with it's speed, display quality and signal quality. The GPS is very quick to get a fix and tracks perfectly, even under fairly dense tree cover. The compass is less reliable, but the best software seems to use GPS direction and compass data together and overall it works very well. The ONLY gripe I have with the phone is the battery life. On my ride I made the screen stay on with GPS running and a 3G signal for map downloads on the move. All this drains the phone. A ride of much more than 1.5 hours would drain it I think. Could consider putting a double capacity battery and cover in just for the ride, or use an external battery pack but that would leave cables dangling.
OK so the phone needs mounting to the bike so I can see it quickly and easily. I went for the Ultimate Addons Waterproof Bike Mount, about £20. It consists of a case with zip into which the phone goes, which then connects to the handlebar mount and can be quickly released. The case isn't waterproof but it seems to keep the rain out. It seems to me that the case disconnects from the mount a little too easily for my liking and I'll take steps to make sure it can't go far. Wish it clicked in properly.
I had 3 pieces of software running while out and all tracked my route properly and recorded it. All bought via the Android Marketplace.
CARDIO TRAINER PRO. This is part of the Noom software which I'm using to track my weight loss, diet and exercise. I have a target to lose 30lbs by Xmas! This software is great for helping with that. The trainer part tracks where I've been, calories burnt etc. Tracks can be uploaded to Facebook with a map when done. During the workout it speaks to me regularly: how far I've been, speed, calories burned etc and can also play my music for me. Very configurable, most of the features are present in the free version too.
Next up I have Strava which a cycling friend invited me to use and we share details of rides within a small group. It works happily in the background and uploads to the Strava servers at the end. Logging on to the Strava site shows a nice analysis of rides, elevation gain, speeds etc. I'd live without it if I hadn't joined that group, but it's free and works nicely.
I had Viewranger running in foreground. There seem to be previous few programs which will guide you around a route, but many which will record tracks. Viewranger has to be one of the most impressive pieces of Android software I've seen. It's not overly flashy or cluttered, it's intuitive to use and it just works properly. I've imported routes into it from CycleStreets.net site without any fuss. I've created routes from within the software by tapping waypoints onto the screen. As you ride and approach each waypoint it moves on to the next, with an optional sound. If you go more than a configurable distance offtrack it will sound an alarm. I missed a path to get me off the TPT and was grateful for this feature today. I'll post a screenshot later, but it shows the map( OpenCycleMap, free), planned route, track taken, current direction, direction to next waypoint and compass rose. Overall it works extremely well.
Viewranger seems to aim to make it's money from map purchases. The actual software cost 60p! You then buy credits for downloading OS map tiles. However, the software does give extremely good access to the excellent OpenCycleMap data which is free. For me that's better than using OS maps which have way more info than I need.
Lastly, I mentioned earlier CycleStreets. This is showing great promise for planning cycle routes either on the PC for import into Viewranger or on the phone itself via 2 young but promising programs. CycleStreets itself provides the routing and map display for you, while BikeHub acts like a SatNav for bikes. Both use the same central server and I understand are funded by the Cycle industry. At present you can't import a route into BikeHub but the developer tells me it's coming soon so I'll post a review when I've been able to test it out.
Hmmm... waffled on more than I'd intended, lol. Hope it's useful to someone.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
First the phone. I've had the SGS2 for a couple of months and have been nothing but impressed with it's speed, display quality and signal quality. The GPS is very quick to get a fix and tracks perfectly, even under fairly dense tree cover. The compass is less reliable, but the best software seems to use GPS direction and compass data together and overall it works very well. The ONLY gripe I have with the phone is the battery life. On my ride I made the screen stay on with GPS running and a 3G signal for map downloads on the move. All this drains the phone. A ride of much more than 1.5 hours would drain it I think. Could consider putting a double capacity battery and cover in just for the ride, or use an external battery pack but that would leave cables dangling.
OK so the phone needs mounting to the bike so I can see it quickly and easily. I went for the Ultimate Addons Waterproof Bike Mount, about £20. It consists of a case with zip into which the phone goes, which then connects to the handlebar mount and can be quickly released. The case isn't waterproof but it seems to keep the rain out. It seems to me that the case disconnects from the mount a little too easily for my liking and I'll take steps to make sure it can't go far. Wish it clicked in properly.
I had 3 pieces of software running while out and all tracked my route properly and recorded it. All bought via the Android Marketplace.
CARDIO TRAINER PRO. This is part of the Noom software which I'm using to track my weight loss, diet and exercise. I have a target to lose 30lbs by Xmas! This software is great for helping with that. The trainer part tracks where I've been, calories burnt etc. Tracks can be uploaded to Facebook with a map when done. During the workout it speaks to me regularly: how far I've been, speed, calories burned etc and can also play my music for me. Very configurable, most of the features are present in the free version too.
Next up I have Strava which a cycling friend invited me to use and we share details of rides within a small group. It works happily in the background and uploads to the Strava servers at the end. Logging on to the Strava site shows a nice analysis of rides, elevation gain, speeds etc. I'd live without it if I hadn't joined that group, but it's free and works nicely.
I had Viewranger running in foreground. There seem to be previous few programs which will guide you around a route, but many which will record tracks. Viewranger has to be one of the most impressive pieces of Android software I've seen. It's not overly flashy or cluttered, it's intuitive to use and it just works properly. I've imported routes into it from CycleStreets.net site without any fuss. I've created routes from within the software by tapping waypoints onto the screen. As you ride and approach each waypoint it moves on to the next, with an optional sound. If you go more than a configurable distance offtrack it will sound an alarm. I missed a path to get me off the TPT and was grateful for this feature today. I'll post a screenshot later, but it shows the map( OpenCycleMap, free), planned route, track taken, current direction, direction to next waypoint and compass rose. Overall it works extremely well.
Viewranger seems to aim to make it's money from map purchases. The actual software cost 60p! You then buy credits for downloading OS map tiles. However, the software does give extremely good access to the excellent OpenCycleMap data which is free. For me that's better than using OS maps which have way more info than I need.
Lastly, I mentioned earlier CycleStreets. This is showing great promise for planning cycle routes either on the PC for import into Viewranger or on the phone itself via 2 young but promising programs. CycleStreets itself provides the routing and map display for you, while BikeHub acts like a SatNav for bikes. Both use the same central server and I understand are funded by the Cycle industry. At present you can't import a route into BikeHub but the developer tells me it's coming soon so I'll post a review when I've been able to test it out.
Hmmm... waffled on more than I'd intended, lol. Hope it's useful to someone.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
