Mobile phones, tutorials, tech in general

If you like the famous Latin saying: “Mens sana in corpore sano” or “A healthy mind in a healthy body”, then you probably have some outdoor sport activity that keeps you fit and healthy. I present you Sports Tracker, a free app that will help you record and improve your runs/hikes, using the GPS receiver in your Symbian phone.

This tremendously useful application is the successor to the Nokia Sports Tracker, and is available only for touchscreen phones at the moment (S60v5) – I’m using it on my trial Nokia X6 16GB, and it works perfectly! Update 14.05.2010. FP2 phones supported also! You can download it in the OVI Store.

When you launch the app, you will see the following screen.

You can start tracking new workout, browse your previous workouts (if any), modify the settings, access your latest workout, see the sunrise/sunset time in your area, and send download link to your friend for this app via SMS.

I recommend that you start with the Settings.

Here you have 4 options, and I will begin with General Settings.

1. Access point – you will be using the selected AP to upload your workouts to Sports Tracker website (this feature is coming soon), and to download updates. I like to select home WiFi connection.

2. Memory in use – select where do you want to keep workout files – phone’s memory or mass storage (memory card).

3. Measurement unit – you have 3 options here, select the one that suits your needs: Metric (distance in kilometers, speed in kilometers per hour), Imperial (distance in miles, speed in miles per hour) and Nautical (distance in nautical miles, speed in knots).

4. Map material – you can choose between “Empty background”, “Phone” and “Phone and network”. I usually select Phone, because I don’t need detailed maps while running.

5. Workout backlight – I suggest you choose “Automatic” (which will follow your phone’s settings), because “Always on” will drain the battery.

6. Autolap signal – select if and how you want to be notified when you finish a lap. I like to hear a sound, light notification isn’t that useful to me.

7. Use automatic keylock – very useful option, because this automatically locks your phone after the selected period of time.

8. Altitude offset – lets you select your elevation. I keep this field at 0m.

OK, now go back one level, to the “Settings” screen, and select “User”. Fill in your name, age, gender and weight in the corresponding fields.

In the Activities view (in the “Settings” screen), you can tweak the settings for each type of workout, as shown below.

If you have a heart rate belt, pair it with your phone by clicking the Heart Rate field.

Finally, we finished the setup! Go back the the start screen, and select “New workout”.

Select the activity type in the first field, for example cycling.

You can skip the second field, or select some of the previous workouts.

In the third field, select how often do you want to hear a sound (“on each 1km” is just fine), or select “Route based” if you’re running/cycling in circles.

Now click “OK”, and you’ll see the following screen.

Wait for the “GPS fix OK” message, click “Start” and you’re ready to go! Once you’ve finished, click “Options->Stop”, and you’ll see the details of your workout. The image below shows my workout, I cycled with my friend Cvijan few days ago around the Belgrade lake Ada Ciganlija.

You can edit the workout details by clicking on the pen icon, or share the screenshot of the workout with your friends by clicking the envelope icon. You can also scroll down to see additional details, graphs, etc…

As I’ve mentioned before, the “Upload to website” feature is coming soon.

Now that you know how to use Sports Tracker, on your mark, get set, go!!!