Cardiotrainer app for the G1

I have had a G1 for a while now, and one of my favorite apps right now is Cardiotrainer. Like Google's My Tracks and other apps, Cardiotrainer uses the GPS in the G1 to record a route. Much more so than My Tracks, however, Cardiotrainer is geared toward use while exercising.

For me the most important and useful feature is the real-time information on speed/pace, which helps me keep focused by reminding me when my pace is slowing down. You can also see a map view on the display of your phone to get some sense of where you are in your route and so forth.

Another very nice feature is that you can upload your tracks to the Cardiotrainer site to be archived for later review. You can either have tracks upload automatically as soon as you finish, or manually. Once tracks are uploaded, there are some additional options, including downloading them in GPX or KML format, or creating a link to a specific track for sharing. Here is an example of a track I ran in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago, using the URL provided by the Cardiotrainer site.

There is also a Facebook app that when installed on your account, will show a list of your recent tracks in a box on your profile and publish a line about your most recently completed track as soon as you complete it. The items include links to the maps.

Cardiotrainer also has music integration, but I haven't experimented with that. I'm not too happy with the sound quality of music played on the G1, so I just carry an iPod classic in my other hand when I am running. My issues with the music on the G1 may not actually reflect inherent problems with the G1, but rather the fact that to fit music onto my memory card, I convert it to a lower bit rate than I am used to. Also I find using a dongle to plug headphones into the mini-USB port on the G1 annoying, since the dongles I buy always seem to fail within a few weeks of use.

The people at Cardiotrainer are really committed to making their app a winner, so they have been adding features and resolving issues at a really remarkable pace. The app now is very stable, reflecting I think improvements in the G1 firmware for handling GPS as well as steady improvements in Cardiotrainer, so you probably won't have any troubles with it. If you do have trouble, the people are very responsive. They also take suggestions for additional features very seriously.