RunKeeper gives you the opportunity to track your activities e.g. running, cycling, skiing etc. This application uses the GPS inside the iPhone and when doing your activity, the app displays data such as your current distance, speed, pace etc. in real-time.
When you end your activity the app submits the data of your activity to their web-system and afterwards it’s also visible on your personal user account on RunKeeper.com. From your user profile, your can see maps displaying the route of your activity. It also gives you all sorts of graphs, statistics and more. It’s a very well designed system and the RunKeeper team continually releases new features.
This system is not unique. In the past I’ve been using other systems like this, e.g. Run.GPS on my Windows Mobile phone. It has some of the same features, but not as many as this app offers. Furthermore, the user experience of much better!
As if it wasn’t enough. It’s completely free!
I’ve been using the free-version of RunKeeper for some time now, but since it really satisfy me I decided to bought the Pro-version. The Pro-version provides me with a female voice e.g. on every 5 minutes informing me about my current distance, pace and time doing the workout. That’s great. Furthermore, it integrates with the iPod. It’s also gives some kind of interval workouts, but I have not used that feature yet. The free-version does really provide you with many great features – so just try this out before you consider buying the Pro-version.
I’ve been using the Nike+ too, but for me it cannot compete with RunKeeper. For me the biggest advantage of RunKeeper is the ability to track the geographical position which gives me the position, speed and elevation over time. Since the Nike+ function like a pedometer it’s not aware of position and therefore you only have the chance to see your speed over time. In this topic I do really like graphs and statistics. Therefore only RunKeeper can offer me this core functionality and Nike+ is for me a bad alternative.
If your are already using RunKeeper, please feel free to join my Steet team. Visit my RunKeeper profile.
Price: Free or 9.99$ (pro-version)
App homepage: http://runkeeper.com/
