Key features missing from all free bicycle apps?
#26
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I do what you're asking with Garmin. I have a 130+ unit on the handlebars, recording GPS data and pedal power-meter data. I create segments on the webportal for Garmin Connect. These segments can be loaded, selectively, to the 130+ headunit. While riding, the unit advises me that I am approaching a segment, and, when I'm "on segment," it tells me whether I'm ahead or behind my best recorded pace by X number of seconds.
#27
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Have you looked at the extra features available in Cyclemeter? I don't have it, but I'm assuming some of what you want may be available for a price.Cyclemeter also plays nicely with Strava, Facebook, Twitter and more, while importing and exporting routes is also easy.
- Price Free (in-app upgrades available for $9.99 each)
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(when paired) To be able to use the phone in order to easily tap N plot on the spot routing, amending active status on the fly for that route. Giving the default option to save that route file as a copy or to override the existing file (depending how the user setup the config defaults) .
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#29
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I think they need to figure out a way for the mapping utilities like RWGPS or Strava to integrate incident reporting. So if on a ride you encounter a problem, you can report it and it would appear as a small icon specific to the type of incident. If multiples happen in the same area, the icon would accrue a little number. I thought the driving app Waze does something like this.
Then overlay this with the already existing DOT data on traffic volume per road color code.
So when planning a route, you can see what you're getting into. Majority of fatal and serious bike accidents in towns sometimes occur in pretty concentrated areas.
So stuff like this:
-tire destroying debris in bike lane
-doorings near hit
-hits/near hits
-high/dangerous traffic
-dogs
-extreme poor road condition worse than expected
-close passes
Then overlay this with the already existing DOT data on traffic volume per road color code.
So when planning a route, you can see what you're getting into. Majority of fatal and serious bike accidents in towns sometimes occur in pretty concentrated areas.
So stuff like this:
-tire destroying debris in bike lane
-doorings near hit
-hits/near hits
-high/dangerous traffic
-dogs
-extreme poor road condition worse than expected
-close passes
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If it's so simple to create that it's not worth paying for, then maybe OP should create it himself.
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i recently inherited my daughters android phone. i might delve into this investigation once again. the iphone en devour was an expensive outlay and so i abandoned that quickly.
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Agree. No need to be distracted by real time info other than a quick glance at the bike computer for current distance and speed.
#33
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Most people seem to want something else though, which is why such an app probably doesn't exist, there's simply not enough money in it. I couldn't create anything as I have no skills in this area, but I happen to know someone who does. To get him talked into making an app just for me and some odd hundred people out there is a tough sell but he's got a long history in open source so who knows.
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I know what times I've been hitting certain points on my routes. So just looking briefly at my timer, I know if I'm ahead or behind what my previous rides have been. And a glance at the timer prior to starting a segment and when finishing a segment also lets me know how well I did that segment.
#35
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Thread Starter
Half a year later and I'm stoked to announce that I've been busy helping out in making just the kind of app I was looking for in my previous posts. I do most of the UI design as well as provide the developer with useful test data.
The app still needs some polishing and features for the division of a track into legs/segments but basic tracking and racing seems pretty solid and I already use the prototype exclusively for all my rides. Here's a taste of the interface so far:
Recording a new route
Home view with track selection
Racing mode comparing progress with track average (green counter beside timer)
I'd love to hear what other bikers think of this project.
The app still needs some polishing and features for the division of a track into legs/segments but basic tracking and racing seems pretty solid and I already use the prototype exclusively for all my rides. Here's a taste of the interface so far:
Recording a new route
Home view with track selection
Racing mode comparing progress with track average (green counter beside timer)
I'd love to hear what other bikers think of this project.
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looks like phone...iphone or android?
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what? not sure about all the nay-sayers and smack-down business but i recall this thread starting about mid last year and i think most were put off by the hoity-toity dissatisfaction of what was available in free apps. like developers are supposed to just put down what they are doing (family or owrk) and bow to the demands of a non-paying user. as a developer i know i was, all this work takes time as i'm sure the OP now is learning.
#39
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Depends on what you're after. Since I specifically did not want a typical "google maps"-based layout it's pretty much perfect for me already. Only the "checkpoint" functionality is incomplete, but I've been told the most difficult bits (code wise) in this whole enterprise have already been dealt with.
My developer guy also says it's done in a way so it should works on both android and iphone, but I'm using it on an android phone.
Have you done an app, cool! Any chance of finding it on an app store somewhere?
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what? not sure about all the nay-sayers and smack-down business but i recall this thread starting about mid last year and i think most were put off by the hoity-toity dissatisfaction of what was available in free apps. like developers are supposed to just put down what they are doing (family or owrk) and bow to the demands of a non-paying user. as a developer i know i was, all this work takes time as i'm sure the OP now is learning.
#42
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The idea behind "free" software is that the source-code is freely available to use and/or alter as desired, without restrictions.
It isn't about mooching.
Some companies pay their employees to write free software. In academic environments, it is normally the case that one makes results, including code, freely available. I understand that isn't identical to apps for a phone, but the grotesque mischaracterization of the free software ideal is what I found most objectionable, including the ideas that the products are by necessity inferior, and that whoever writes such software is a chump.
It isn't about mooching.
Some companies pay their employees to write free software. In academic environments, it is normally the case that one makes results, including code, freely available. I understand that isn't identical to apps for a phone, but the grotesque mischaracterization of the free software ideal is what I found most objectionable, including the ideas that the products are by necessity inferior, and that whoever writes such software is a chump.
Last edited by Polaris OBark; 03-02-23 at 02:16 PM.
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Depends on what you're after. Since I specifically did not want a typical "google maps"-based layout it's pretty much perfect for me already. Only the "checkpoint" functionality is incomplete, but I've been told the most difficult bits (code wise) in this whole enterprise have already been dealt with.
My developer guy also says it's done in a way so it should works on both android and iphone, but I'm using it on an android phone.
Have you done an app, cool! Any chance of finding it on an app store somewhere?
My developer guy also says it's done in a way so it should works on both android and iphone, but I'm using it on an android phone.
Have you done an app, cool! Any chance of finding it on an app store somewhere?
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Most people are going to see it a "doesn't cost me money".
Software can be "free" (no cost) but not be "open source".
https://opensource.stackexchange.com...e-as-in-speech
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"Free" is ambiguous. The way you are using the term is basically jargon (used by a limited group).
Most people are going to see it a "doesn't cost me money".
Software can be "free" (no cost) but not be "open source".
https://opensource.stackexchange.com...e-as-in-speech
Most people are going to see it a "doesn't cost me money".
Software can be "free" (no cost) but not be "open source".
https://opensource.stackexchange.com...e-as-in-speech
Nothing ambiguous about it: https://www.fsf.org
The GPL (GNU Public License) is recognized by everyone who writes software, as well as the courts.
Not all open-source software is licensed under GPL. However anything licensed under GPL is free and open-source. (There are many other open-source licensing standards.)
If you use any of the unix command-line shells, python, ssh, ssl (which you are doing to read this website), anything linux or freeBSD, and a vast number of other programs, you are using free and open-source software. No one in their right mind would refer to that terminology as obscure jargon.
Last edited by Polaris OBark; 03-02-23 at 03:10 PM.
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there is open source SW and there is free SW. the two are not the same. open source is typically source code which becomes the downloader's responsibility to compile,link, and use, sometimes an exe is already there. free SW is just that, free SW that can be immediately used. there is plenty of that in google store and apple store. want open source code? dive into gitHub.
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#49
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Nothing ambiguous about it: https://www.fsf.org
The GPL (GNU Public License) is recognized by everyone who writes software, as well as the courts.
Not all open-source software is licensed under GPL. However anything licensed under GPL is free and open-source. (There are many other open-source licensing standards.)
If you use any of the unix command-line shells, python, ssh, ssl (which you are doing to read this website), anything linux or freeBSD, and a vast number of other programs, you are using free and open-source software. No one in their right mind would refer to that terminology as obscure jargon.
Not all open-source software is licensed under GPL. However anything licensed under GPL is free and open-source. (There are many other open-source licensing standards.)
If you use any of the unix command-line shells, python, ssh, ssl (which you are doing to read this website), anything linux or freeBSD, and a vast number of other programs, you are using free and open-source software. No one in their right mind would refer to that terminology as obscure jargon.
The vast majority of people here are not going to be familiar with FSF and the fairly-specific meaning they apply to "free" (or any of the rest of you mentioned).
The vast majority of people here are going to see "free" as meaning "no cost to me".
So, you managed to prove my point.
This is ridiculous. Very few of the people using this website will have any idea about what any of this means!.
Last edited by njkayaker; 03-03-23 at 08:58 AM.
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Half a year later and I'm stoked to announce that I've been busy helping out in making just the kind of app I was looking for in my previous posts. I do most of the UI design as well as provide the developer with useful test data.
The app still needs some polishing and features for the division of a track into legs/segments but basic tracking and racing seems pretty solid and I already use the prototype exclusively for all my rides. Here's a taste of the interface so far:
Recording a new route
Home view with track selection
Racing mode comparing progress with track average (green counter beside timer)
I'd love to hear what other bikers think of this project.
The app still needs some polishing and features for the division of a track into legs/segments but basic tracking and racing seems pretty solid and I already use the prototype exclusively for all my rides. Here's a taste of the interface so far:
Recording a new route
Home view with track selection
Racing mode comparing progress with track average (green counter beside timer)
I'd love to hear what other bikers think of this project.
the “cadence” cycling app does a really great job of this for any strava segments that you’ve starred and synced. instead of a map, it shows a cross section of the ride with your current position, best, and either last or average. it’s really fun racing yourself. at any time you can switch from the live segment race to any of the other data screens.
a lot of the complexity is probably in automatically figuring out which segments you’re possible running, given that GPS coordinates certainly don’t exactly match ever.
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