Getting back into running and looking for a simple tracker app (android)
my old regular app has been dead since it got underwent featurecreep and got bought out by underarmour.
lots of apps now have way too many features.. social this, calorie burning that. i know its probably a good thing for them to branch out but i'm one of those luddites that prefer simple and to-the-point apps with no social features, no account needed, etc.
all i really need from the app is gps distance tracking and a clean interface with some basic readouts for pace and whatnot. having audio readouts for pace every kilometer was a nice feature but ideally the app would be simpler than that.
if all else fails i know i can just fallback on one of those 'full featured' apps like strava but i figured i'd ask here before i got too tied into any particular app (creature of habit)
Have you looked at OpenTracks? https://github.com/OpenTracksApp/OpenTracks theres a link there to the site that should have an apk link.
Or fitotrack https://codeberg.org/jannis/FitoTrack
On ios i found OutRun which is lovely and simple but i had to build it myself to work on my device but it is on the App Store for anyone that wants to try it.
ah this seems pretty solid, thanks for letting me know about these (kinda forgot about f-droid as a whole). this does everything i would want and it has sensible integrations with gadgetbridge if i ever got another budget smartwatch, although gadget bridge is quite unergonomic imo.
So not what you're asking for...
But I used "just run" and it followed the couch to 5k and in 2 months I went from not running to 30 min 5k 3x/week
Always run 3x/week, always 30 min, but it slowly tells you to take less breaks.
No ads, no cost, use headphones and it'll gently interrupt your music
Is there any reason you don't just use the built in Google Fit app? It can track various exercises, including running.
Provides stuff like map with route run, calories, time spent, avg time per km, elevation.
Pictures here
that's not built-in for every phone? at least not the fairphone or anyone of my friends phones (except one with a google pixel).
also i tend to stay away from google services if i can help it because of their tendancy to kill things that i get used to using. I've been bitten a bit too many times by being a creature of habit. not to mention updates changing the entire ergonomics of the app between updates, even with things like the clock app. call me particular/petty but i just cant handle uncommunicated change like that
Fair enough! You are entirely correct, I do have a Pixel phone and assumed it was just part of Android. It's a genuinely good service however, and has been around since forever. It'll also synch data to your other health apps, making jumping off easy.
But I get ya, I can't stand Google's tendency to just kill things either.
I'll second this, I've been using Google fit for years. It's simple, easy to use, and hasn't changed much over time.
I've heard good things about Nike Running Club and Run, Zombies but as far as I'm aware, every app wants all your biometrics these days.
I use Geo Tracker and have been happy with it.
very nice and simple. my main use for it is wandering around an unfamiliar neighborhood, park, or hiking area, and then being able to look back and correlate where I actually walked onto the map.