Review: MapMyRide App for iPhone

I've been meaning to try this application on my iPhone to see how hard it might be on my battery. I do keep track of my rides on MapMyRide and this application records your route. It works well for shorter rides, but haven't tried it for a ride longer than 90 minutes before.

To cut to the chase, it totally drained my 100% charged iPhone in 28 miles - and of course I didn't realize that until after I had completed the 40 mile ride. Granted, I am not the fastest out there, and Mr. Wanderer isn't the speediest bike so it probably took me longer than some to complete those 28 miles... Part of the reason it is such a drain on the battery is in order for the application to work the phone cannot "go to sleep" or be locked. This is a hard enough drain on the battery, then combined with the GPS at the same time it just gets worse.

It is a nice feature though, and it is good to know about how long you have until your phone is totally sucked dry. Kind of defeats the main purpose of having a phone with you on a long and solo country ride - better to map your ride on their site manually or with a GPS upload of some kind....

I know that people complain about the iPhone battery life anyway - but I've really never had any reason to complain about it. I have the 3G.

i think there have been some updates since i last used that app but in the past i ran it for 5 hours and still had some battery left when i was finished. i stopped using it though because i got a garmin

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Originally Posted by moonfroggy

i think there have been some updates since i last used that app but in the past i ran it for 5 hours and still had some battery left when i was finished. i stopped using it though because i got a garmin

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Which iPhone do you have? I don't think mine lasted 3 hours...

3G since the newest update for the phone itself the battery life seems to be a lot less. not sure why that would change the battery life so much but it really does seem to be less so maybe if i ran the mapmyride app now i would end up with way less battery life. maybe i will test it out if i have time to go for ride tomorrow. if i do i will let you know.

If you're looking for something different that's compatible with mapmyfitness programs, I use worksmartlabs Cardio Trainer on my Driod Incredible and I have friends that use it on their iPhones. I like that even when I'm hiking and don't have cell reception, the GPS still records my route and I'm able to upload it to mapmyfitness to track my workouts. I've used it for 5-6 hrs and although it's been low, my phone still has a charge.

I use the app. and another one called RunKeeper... battery life is greatly enhanced if you do a few things.....in your settings disable WiFi and Bluetooth.
Makes a big difference on battery drain

Oh also.... Push notification

Does iPhone do Bluetooth? I do all those changes but I have never seen a setting for Bluetooth. Also I make the screen as dim as possible.

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Originally Posted by moonfroggy

Does iPhone do Bluetooth? I do all those changes but I have never seen a setting for Bluetooth. Also I make the screen as dim as possible.

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In Settings under General.

Karen in Boise

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Originally Posted by moonfroggy

3G since the newest update for the phone itself the battery life seems to be a lot less. not sure why that would change the battery life so much but it really does seem to be less so maybe if i ran the mapmyride app now i would end up with way less battery life. maybe i will test it out if i have time to go for ride tomorrow. if i do i will let you know.

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Let me know if you do, I have the 3G as well. It could be the newest update has a lot more going on in the background that drains the battery quicker. I never have Wifi enabled, and the screen is quite dim though it could perhaps be dimmer. Will check that out.

Will also check out Runkeeper and worksmartlabs Cardio Trainer.

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Kano

In Settings under General.

Karen in Boise

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wow i never noticed that. or i think i knew about it once and forgot because i don't use it. it was off on my phone already so can't turn it off to save battery.

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Originally Posted by moonfroggy

3G since the newest update for the phone itself the battery life seems to be a lot less.

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I've noticed this too.. my 3G is begging to be recharged after less than a day now, and I usually went a full 2 days between charges before. I am NOT a heavy phone user, so to basically have to leave my phone plugged in or remember to charge it after every other phone call is really not working out for me... it's very frustrating.

I tried using the mapmyride thing a while back, but it was a waste of time.. if I get turned around somewhere it's easier to pull up google maps and figure out where I am or where I want to go.

I may be wrong, but I've just attributed my perception of shorter battery life to being coincidental with my phone's 18 month age. I've not researched the impact of new updates though. Wish it wasn't such a pain to get the battery changed!

Even so, I don't know anyone who says they get more than a few hours' life from an iPhone with location services turned on. Might be okay for short runs, not so much for cycling unless you've got an accessory battery. And with the accessory batteries, they're just huge.

+1 on the planned obsolescence. I don't think that's anything new, but it's especially annoying when the battery isn't user-replaceable. DH's iPhone contract is up in November ... that means it's, what, 20 months old? and he's definitely noticing decreased battery life.

You-all think the iPhone battery life is bad, try an HTC Incredible. :rolleyes: There's only so much you can do with a battery smaller than a credit card - and these phones have more processing power than my first three computers put together. That said, there's at least one accessory battery for the Incredible that's slightly higher capacity than the OEM one that fits in the same space. Got one on order...

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Even so, I don't know anyone who says they get more than a few hours' life from an iPhone with location services turned on. Might be okay for short runs, not so much for cycling unless you've got an accessory battery. And with the accessory batteries, they're just huge........

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It isn't the location services - while that does hit my battery I can still go more than a day between charges if I leave it on. I think it is either the GPS or some new feature of the very recent OS upgrade that really increased the drain with those services turned on. I do not know how the GPS function differs from the location services - one would think them to be the same but it is the only thing that makes sense.

well i only had time for one and a half hours on the bike i lost about a quarter of battery on the bar that shows how much charge is there. the mapping worked really well. the brightness was set to dimmest possible. i know for certain the newest phone upgrade is affecting battery because i charge phone completely each evening then take it off charger and have it near the bed at night and since the newest upgrade my phone is loosing charge at night. used to be a full in the morning and now it is slightly less than full. that or my cats have been playing games on my phone at night.

for you iPhone-ers using route/ride apps, check out the Mophie battery case (mophie.com). From all the reviews of this little gem, it should eliminate most, if not all power drain issues.

your friendly geek :)

spazz