5.0.8/5.0.9 Updates
Even though we’ve been at the Apple WWDC this week, the march of progress continues. Actually, make that the marathon of progress. Or the century of progress. Or the superultramarathon of progress.
New in 5.0.9:
➤ Tightened algorithms for stop detection to reduce false positives.
➤ Added units for speed/pace in Facebook messages.
➤ Fixed issue with Share page.
➤ Fixed two issues for support of iOS 3.1.3.
➤ Improved KML output.
➤ Fixed calendar summaries label wrapping issue.
New in 5.0.8:
➤ Fixed a bug with route selection.
June 8, 2011 at 9:22 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
Runmeter Story: Marty Damrell Runs Boston!
I retired two years ago after serving 30 years in a small Colorado school district as a math teacher and technology director. I have been running for 25 years and have really enjoyed being able put a greater emphasis on running the last two years and improve all of my race times since retiring. I was never very fast but it is nice to still see improvement at 55 years of age and a big part of that is being able to use good tools in your training. Runmeter is a very important part of my training and racing in a number of ways. I have used other iPhone apps as well as a Garmin 305 and have found Runmeter to provide the best set of training features and Abvio has always been timely and friendly with any support issue or feature request. I believe that Abvio listens to their customers and makes every effort to add the features customers want.
To help me, my iPhone and Runmeter go with me on every run to provide accurate feedback on my training distance, speed, and time. I have a number of routes that I run on a regular basis and I can compare my progress on a daily basis or compete against my best performance. I have a few mountain routes that I ran several times during last summer and I am looking forward to running them again this summer to measure my progress. I have relied on the voice announcements during my long marathon training runs to keep me on the proper long run pace and have relied on the announcements during my marathon pace runs to keep me on my projected race pace. I am a geek at heart and love to combine my love of running with my love of useful technology. Hearing my pace and splits, seeing my data post-run, and recording and comparing my progress over time with Runmeter are now an integral part of my training. Good data can be a great motivator!
For my wife’s peace of mind, my iPhone and Runmeter go with me on every run to provide updates on progress and to identify my location. When I start each phase of my workout my wife receives an email with the route information and map link and she can follow my progress. I believe that the use of tracking for safety is one of the most underappreciated GPS tracking features in Runmeter. I know my wife appreciates the fact that she knows I’m still moving along on my training runs and I have been really appreciative of the proactive response from my biggest supporter when the weather turns ugly and I’m miles from home.
By the time I headed to Boston this spring I had 35 family and friends that wanted to follow my progress during the race. I decided that I would not listen to Runmeter during Boston, I would instead rely on the course mile markers and take in all of the sights and sounds of running Boston, but I wanted Runmeter to let my family and friends know how I was doing. I set Runmeter to email 35 people and to post to Facebook at the start of the race and when I was done. On race day I started Runmeter, tucked my iPhone into my iFitness belt, ran the race, and stopped the app shortly after finishing. Boston starts at 10:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. Colorado time and I had friends and family following me mile-by-mile. Runmeter was very reliable and accurate the entire race. I was surprised at how many comments I received via email or on Facebook immediately after the race. When I returned to Colorado I had a number of people who were not on my email list comment on my race because the map link had been forwarded on to them. I didn’t really think about it at the time but now I appreciate the fact that I had a number of supporters following my progress, they knew when things were going well and when things started to get tough. Letting friends and family follow you via Runmeter gives them a much greater insight into your race and allows you to share the good times and bad times. Runners and non-runners appreciate the data and map links that were made available to them on race day; they could be part of my Boston Marathon. Thanks again to Abvio for a great app!
Route: Boston Marathon
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/5a99/8dcf/4b54/9ad8/Runmeter-Run-20110418-1002.kml
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/dYuKs2
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/5a99/8dcf/4b54/9ad8/Runmeter-Run-20110418-1002.kml
Run Time: 3:13:59
Distance: 26.21 miles
Average: 7:24 /mile
Fastest Pace: 6:07 /mile
Ascent: 391 feet
Descent: 813 feet
May 9, 2011 at 6:20 pm | Running, Stories
5.0.7 Update
5.0.7 is now available in the App Store, and we encourage all users to update to it.
While we had made speed accuracy improvements in 5.0.6, we discovered a case where your location at the end of a workout on one day could lead to issues as you started out another day if the app was still in memory. Our apologies for this bug, but after two and a half years of constant coding and testing, we were due. It has been more than year since we last asked Apple for an expedited review. We also included a few other fixes as well.
Onward toward our next major release!
New in 5.0.7:
➤ Speed and Pace measurements improved to be less affected by GPS accuracy.
➤ Dailymile no longer displays DailymileCommaSepRouteNameFmt route name.
➤ Bug fixes and performance improvements.
May 6, 2011 at 4:18 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
5.0.6 Update
This is our sixth update to Runmeter, Cyclemeter and Walkmeter this year. Why so many? Because we are entirely committed to making the absolutely best GPS fitness apps available for iPhone. With the release of v5.0.6 we continue our tradition of apps that are designed to be easy to use and powerful, while on the road, on the trail and on the run.
Thanks for your continued support. We have lots of cool new stuff coming this summer!
What’s New in 5.0.6:
➤ Speed and Pace measurements improved to be less affected by GPS accuracy.
➤ Announcements are now played consecutively, rather than interrupting an announcement in progress.
➤ Facebook support updated to post to body of stream rather than user comments.
➤ Added Calories Use Elevation switch under advanced settings, to control use of elevation in calorie calculations.
➤ Added Direction to configurable Stopwatch fields to show direction of travel.
➤ Added Total Time and Arrival Time to configurable Stopwatch fields.
➤ Selecting New Route no longer changes activity.
➤ Updated Calendar Sharing titles to not include “On” and “route”.
➤ Ciao! Italian now supported.
➤ Bug fixes and performance improvements.
May 3, 2011 at 12:17 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
A Free Voice
One of the most smile-producing features in our apps is the ability to speak replies from your friends on Twitter, Facebook, and dailymile. After it was introduced over a year ago, we received lots of positive feedback, but we also heard loud and clear that the robotic voice we used was hard to understand. In 5.0, we replaced the robotic voice with a high-quality commercial text-to-speech system from our partners at Acapela, and because we pay royalties to Acapela for their brilliant software, we charged for it through an In App purchase for US$0.99.
Going forward, we believe that text-to-speech capabilities are going to be very important for our future innovation. We also want past users of this capability to continue to benefit without additional charge. And so with our 5.0.5 update, we are making one free voice available to every customer, both past and new. To get a free voice, just go to More > Settings > Voices and then tap Get Voices and choose your voice and follow the instructions.
You only need to get a voice if you are using Twitter, Facebook, or dailymile, because we include a built-in announcement voice that uses audio files instead of the Acapela system. If you already purchased a voice, you still have one free voice available.
If you don’t need a voice just yet, or if you already purchased a voice, you might want to hold off using that free voice. More voices are coming, including some that will not only bring a smile to your face, but will also make you laugh. And laughing while exercising is a great way to improve your health.
April 12, 2011 at 2:19 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
5.0.5 Update
Here’s what’s new in our 5.0.5 update, just released to the App Store.
➤ Now get one free voice for speaking replies from Twitter, Facebook, and dailymile. See More > Settings > Voices > Get Voices.
➤ Decimal separator always pronounced as “point” in English.
➤ Added Clock to Stopwatch fields.
➤ Bug fixes and performance improvements.
April 12, 2011 at 2:17 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
April Fools: Introducing Dogmeter!
April 2, 2011 – We here at Abvio love helping people lead healthier lives, and being dog lovers, we thought it would be great if could do the same for our four-legged friends. But we love a good joke, too, so we have to let you know that Dogmeter is a side effect of that part of our brains that invents all those other features. We’d like to thank our neighbors Echo (the collie) and Molecule (the chihuahua) for being such good sports about posing with our iPhones. After the photo shoot, we took Echo for a walk, and you tell from Molecule’s face that he’s about to get a treat! OK, back to coding that next cool feature and taking care of our customers.
If you missed the joke because you were too busy running, walking or cycling on April 1st, good for you! The press release is below, and visit the Dogmeter product page, too.
New application from Abvio targets the 23.7 million dogs whose owners have iPhones.
San Francisco – April 1, 2011 – Abvio Inc. today announced Dogmeter, a new application that pioneers a completely new market: canine exercise. Canine obesity and related disorders are rampant among the world’s dog population, with more than 42% of all dogs not meeting a healthy canine BMI standard of 0.27. The new Abvio application has been shown to increase dog exercise an average of 23% among its beta users.
"Abvio created a wonderful application for people, but by adapting it for the world’s dogs, they can help man’s best friend have longer active lives," said Bassett Shepard, professional dog trainer. "Never before have dog trainers been able to measure real results of dog exercise, and use Text-To-Bark technology to command the pack."
Abvio’s applications have been known for their ability to provide audio feedback to runners, cyclists, and walkers, and now dogs can benefit. Dogmeter’s Text-To-Bark technology uses recent discoveries in dog linguistics to transform commands such as "Stop" into the fundamental phonemes of dog language. Studies have shown this technology to be twice as effective in causing immediate obedience. By setting up a Twitter or Facebook account for your dog, any tweet or posts that you make are communicated directly to your dog.
"I couldn’t believe it. My dog Corey had sprinted far ahead of me, and was just about to have his way with the neighborhood poodle, Fifi, and I tweeted ‘Dismount Now!’ to him, and all of the sudden he turned tail and came back," said Charlie Millan, dedicated dog owner. "But even better, one day I saw that he had wandered into the yard of my cranky neighbor, so I tweeted my special command ‘Bombs Away’, and well, let’s just say that I didn’t have to waste a plastic bag."
Dogmeter works with any canine iPhone carrier, and will be available in the iTunes App Store as soon as we can catch up with our friends’ dog, Norman, who sprinted away with the source code. Users who purchase within the first thirty days will receive our the new Canine Command voices, which include the commands like "Bombs Away", "Dismount Now!", "OMG Don’t Eat THAT!", "Who’s a Good Boy? Who’s a Good Boy?" and the ever-popular "SQUIRREL!!!!".
Learn more about Dogmeter at www.abvio.com/dogmeter.
About Abvio Inc.
Abvio Inc. is a privately held, award-winning San Francisco-based iPhone application developer devoted entirely to building comprehensive, easy-to-use applications for human and, uh, canine fitness. Please visit
www.abvio.com to find out more.
###
Media Contact:
Lori Scribner
Abvio Public Relations Representative
Phone: 619.993.1784
March 31, 2011 at 10:30 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
5.0.2 Released
After we do a major release, we follow up with a number of smaller releases to add features and fixes. 5.0.2 just became available on the iTunes Store, here’s what is in it:
➤ Added Duplicate/Compete command for competing against your own runs, rides, and walks.
➤ Added Cross Country Ski activity.
➤ Added individual switches to control sharing options on activity completion.
➤ Fixed Sync All Now button on the Calendar Settings page so that you can once again sync all your workouts to the calendar.
➤ Added ability to import KML files not created by our app.
➤ Bug fixes and performance improvements.
Here’s a repeat of what was in 5.0.1:
➤ Added support to change first weekday in calendar. See More > Settings > Calendar.
➤ Added on/off switches to the prompt after Done button for Twitter, Facebook, dailymile, and Email Updates.
➤ Added odometer options to stopwatch for year, month, week, day.
➤ Added announcements for speed and pace, which override the activity default.
➤ Offline Mode renamed to Internet Access in Settings.
➤ Bug fixes, including fixes for voice selection and purchasing user interface.
Thanks as always for your questions and suggestions!
Steve and Kevin
Abvio
March 3, 2011 at 2:50 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
5.0.1 Released
Here’s what’s new in 5.0.1:
➤ Added support to change first weekday in calendar. See More > Settings > Calendar.
➤ Added on/off switches to the prompt after Done button for Twitter, Facebook, dailymile, and Email Updates.
➤ Added odometer options to stopwatch for year, month, week, day.
➤ Added announcements for speed and pace, which override the activity default.
➤ Offline Mode renamed to Internet Access in Settings.
➤ Bug fixes, including fixes for voice selection and purchasing user interface.
As usual, simply get the update using iTunes on your computer or the App Store app on your iPhone.
Thanks for your feedback!
February 21, 2011 at 7:00 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
Massive 5.0 Update
App development is a marathon, and we’re happy to let you know we’ve finished our first ultra. Today we’re announcing our 5.0 update, which has been developed over the past six months, with months of user testing. It’s been submitted to the App Store for review, and is available now. Thanks to the dozens of beta users who gave us feedback, and to the hundreds of customers who wrote to us with suggestions and comments.
Scroll down to read what’s new, or read our press release, or better yet, view screencasts of the top three features in 5.0.
dailymile Integration
Import and Virtual Competition
Voices
What’s New in 5.0
VOICES
➤ A new built-in voice speaks your announcements without the need for purchased voices.
➤ Includes a professional text-to-speech engine, replacing our prior engine. (We heard your feedback!)
➤ Purchased voices are now required to speak replies from Twitter, Facebook, and dailymile.
➤ Voices are available through In App Purchase at a low price.
➤ Many voices are available, both male and female, with more to come. See More > Settings > Voices.
IMPORT
➤ To import, tap a GPX or KML link or file attachment in Mail or Safari. (Note: after installing our app, restart your iPhone to assure that iOS will launch our app to handle GPX and KML files.)
➤ Import the official path for a route, so you can see where you are going on the map and elevation graph.
➤ Import your previously recorded workouts from other social fitness sites and devices, so you can include them in your workout history.
VIRTUAL COMPETITION
➤ Import a workout as a virtual competitor, so you can hear announcements of how far you are ahead or behind, and see their location on the map and graphs.
➤ Every map and email that you share includes an import link so that it can be imported.
➤ Added a leaderboard to every route. See how your most recent workout compares to your competitors, as well as your best, median, and worst workouts for that route.
DAILYMILE INTEGRATION
➤ Login to post your workouts to dailymile.com, a rapidly growing community of 200,000 members who have logged more than 20 million miles while running, biking, and walking.
➤ Updates your workout every few minutes with dailymile, optionally including a map link to your location and stats.
➤ Speaks replies from friends on dailymile during your workout for encouragement.
➤ You can add comments on your workout and on the replies from friends, during and after your workout.
AND MORE
➤ Each of the six stopwatch displays can be configured to show one of 40 different statistics by tapping on the settings icon on the stopwatch.
➤ Added the ability to enter notes before or during a workout by tapping on the notes icon on the stopwatch.
➤ Improved responsiveness of speed and pace displays.
➤ Added official distances and times that can be set for each route.
➤ Added the ability to set the default route. See More > Settings > Stopwatch.
➤ Added split pace / speed announcement type. See More > Announcements.
➤ Added support for descent, kilojoules, and grade.
➤ Updated to the latest Facebook integration library to fix unrequested log outs.
➤ Fixed issue that caused iPod volume to stay lowered.
➤ Improved cycling calorie calculations.
➤ Changed GPX export to create segments between stops.
Check for our updates often! In the past year we have released 5 major updates and 15 minor updates, supporting our goal to be the best GPS fitness app in the iTunes App Store. Thank you for your feedback. Please recommend us to your friends!
January 26, 2011 at 11:35 pm | Cycling, Running, Walking
