I've spoken of my Trailguru love in the past. It's a simple GPS application that has, unfortunately, seemed to drop off the radar at least as far as software updates are concerned. I know its creator is still on the scene -- because I can track his bike runs on the trailguru.com website -- but the iPhone application languishes. That's a big shame, because I have friends on trailguru.com and I have localized months and months of progress there. The site isn't polished or perfect, but I really do like using it.Today, however, I discovered something fabulous. I learned that Runmeter -- an otherwise excellent application without a cobranded website -- can export its trails to gpx files and e-mail them off. Why is that so exciting?
Well, it means that I can use the Runmeter app on my iPhone 4 -- running in the background using iOS "multitasking" -- and then later send my results up to the Trailguru site via my desktop system. I e-mail them to myself and then use the Trailguru webpage to load the gpx files.
Runmeter is a solid app that keeps improving, especially for walking and biking. (I am not a runner.) It's got a bunch of features I like and, admittedly, a few I'm still waiting for. Over the last few weeks, Runmeter's latest update seems to have really integrated well with iOS 4.
My biggest reason for not using it regularly, however, was my attachment to trailguru.com. As of today, that barrier is gone. Sending and then uploading the files is, admittedly, a little annoying but not enough of a burden to keep me from switching over. I'm going to be giving the my new Frankenguru set-up a try for the next week -- and I suspect it may be the long-term solution I've been looking for.
Being able to use Runmeter in the background on my iPhone 4 sure seems to help a lot for long walks and bikerides for me. How do you deal with excursions that last 4 or more hours at a time? Let me know in the comments!
