iSmoothRun iPhone app does everything, except run for you (Review)

**The information of a sweepstakes giveaway at the end of the post.

There's a point in every runner's life when just going out for a run isn't enough. We need to know how long and how fast we went. For many, a pedometer solution, like Nike+ iPod, is satisfying enough. But, if you ever tasted the excitement of a race, especially a longer race, then you have probably also experienced the disappointment with limitations of a pedometer, especially its inaccuracy. And you lusted after the GPS devices the runners around you had.

If you are really a hard-core runner, (and if you have enough money to support that addiction) you probably have a Garmin, or some similar wrist watch with GPS. However, these days we have an alternative solution, for those of us who are not willing to splurge for a Garmin. Most modern smart phones have built in GPS, and support apps that can track your training, log it online and connect you with like-minded and like-footed people.

There are many apps available for all smart phone platforms. I used RunKeeper for iPhone for more than a year - it tracks my distance and coaches me, logs my run on RunKeeper website and connects me with the members of my "Street Team," which is something like an online running group, or like friends on FaceBook. There were certain things I wished the RunKeeper would do, such as log on my data to DailyMile, a social network for fitness geeks. And I wished it would track the mileage I put on my shoes. Many updates later, it still doesn't do those things.

Then I discovered iSmoothRun, a $4.99 app which does it all. And, it does it better than any other app I tried. iSmoothRun uses both GPS and accelerometer to track your run, so based on your average stride, even if you lose GPS signal, it'll still track your distance. You can, for example, warm up outside, and continue your run on a treadmill. It also measures your time, pace, calories burnt, and even your cadence (i.e. how many steps per minute you're taking). It has auto-pause feature, which pauses the timer after 10 seconds of inactivity, but the duration can be set anywhere from 5 to 60 seconds of inactivity. So, if you have to wait for an extremely long red light, the app will pause your training, until you resume moving.

If you base your training on HRM (heart rate per minute), you can connect an ANT+ heart rate belt through a Wahoo Fisica connector (sold separately) and the app will give you updates on your heart rate, and warn you when you get too excited…or work too hard!

The list of features is long and sweet, and I'm not going to list them all. A couple of things I must mention, however, are the setting which lets you duck or pause the music while you're getting audio cues on your training. I like listening to audiobooks on long runs, and often, when the app gives me the update on the distance, I miss a sentence or two of a story. It's not a big thing, but it was something I wished I could work around. Well, now I can set the audiobook to pause, get the update on my run, and the story resumes right where it left off, without me losing a word.

Another big improvement is the way you can customize intervals - unlike RunKeeper, in which you can repeat intervals only if they are of the same kind - for example, I could enter a 1-minute interval to be repeated 12 times, but if I wanted to have 15 minutes warmup before, then I had to enter the warmup and each of the 12 sprint intervals manually. iSmoothRun lets you customize the intervals in groups, and then add those groups into the workout - example, 15 min warmup is one group, 12 repeats of 1 minute sprint with 1 minute recovery is another, I could add to it 15 minutes steady running as the third group, then 15 minutes cooldown…you get the idea. After each interval the app gives you the data for it - speed, pace, length, heart rate, etc.

Finally, the app syncs the data with both sites I use for tracking my training - RunKeeper and DailyMile (it also connects with RunningFreeOnline and TrainingPeaks). I can use RunKeeper live feature on it too, enabling my progress to be tracked live as it happens on the map, which my family uses to estimate how long I'll be gone, and to locate me when/if I get injured. (If you're not on any of those networks, you can still analyze your runs on your device, or have the data sent via email.)


I was so amazed by iSmoothRun, that I contacted the programmers and had a brief e-mail interview with one of them. Here's what he had to say:

Q: Who is behind iSmoothRun App?

A: We are Ros and Manolis, the developers from Lake Horizon Ltd.

Q: Where are you based?

A: We are based in Greece. All programming is done in Greece. The amazing graphics design was done in Denmark by icondesign.dk

Q: Where did the idea for the app come from? Obviously, there are runners behind it, because the app covers most of the requirement a runner can have for tracking his runs.

A: When I tried my first running App I was excited because I could see the potential. Sports watches with the small screens and insufficient computing power had very limited functionality. The idea of having two GPS devices on me while training didn't seem rational. Unfortunately all the running Apps I tested left many things to be desired.

After waiting for 2 years, I realized that no one was going to built the App I needed, because it seems that the target audience for those Apps are the people who don't run, and not runners. That's why we see a proliferation of C25K apps. And it makes sense because the target audience is much bigger, and with easy requirements. Simple GPS tracking and social features are enough. On the other side if you try to build an App for runners (I define my target group as "runners who follow a training plan"), people who race, you have to be prepared to be judged and compared against Garmins and Polars (no easy task).

By that time my Polar broke, I started to get interested in running form, so I needed also something to measure cadence. iPhone 4 was introduced with a much better GPS and battery life. Add my love for the iPhone and programming, and I started the project just for fun.
In one month I had all the basic GPS tracking and cadence measuring done, and was able to use it on my runs. From that point I got hooked and obsessed with the App.  Next step was adding intervals training and coaching. Now the App was starting to be really good. With the addition of the ANT+ sensors (for heart rate monitoring) we had everything we needed.

At the same time the economic crisis in Greece got worse, and I decided to publish the App in the App store.

So that's the story. The App is built by runners just the way we want it to be. We want an App that will help runners perform their training plan, log all the quantitative data, provide a complete log and help them at any point evaluate their training status.

Q: The app is, as far as I could find, iOS only. Do you have plans to spread it to other platforms, i.e. Android, BlackBerry, etc.?

A: Unfortunately, we have limited resources and for the moment we are interested in iOS, since there are a lot more to be done for cyclists, triathletes and runners of course. Better to give a groundbreaking App in one platform than a simply good App for everyone.

Q: What can we expect from iSmoothRun in future? Are you planning to develop a web site, or will continue partnership with RunKeeper?

A: From the beginning we decided to stay focused only on one platform and provide the absolutely best product possible. The version that is coming out in a few days has automatic logging of weather conditions, auto pause for cycling even if no sensors are used, and a tool to calculate and log Heart Rate recovery (HR drop in 60 secs).
In parallel we are working to offer localized versions for the major European languages.

We believe that we have finished the first phase of development, that offers runners and cyclists a truly advanced tool and we are ready to start create even more interesting features. We are very interested in the logging of all aspects of an athlete's life like nutrition, resting HR, weight, body fat measurements, VO2max measurements etc, provide tools for testing protocols like Cooper or Conconi and advanced statistical analysis.

Meanwhile we will keep our strategy of being completely open, regarding the export of our data and connectivity with other web services like RunKeeper or Daily Mile etc. We are not very interested in the social aspects, so we are happy we can focus on our tasks and leave the social functionality to others that have proven to be best at.

Q: What kind of relationship you have with RunKeeper, since your app obviously works in sync with their database, including RunKeeper Live?

A: Since June RK offers a partner program, where anyone can connect and use the Health Graph API. We are very proud to be the first iPhone App, and we do believe we complement RunKeeper's services very nicely. The RunKeeper community has really shown their preference for iSmoothRun and as RunKeeper's API evolves we promise many more exciting features.


**Lake Horizon Ltd. is giving 20 promo codes to listeners of RunCast podcast, to download the app for free from iTunes App Store. The details on how to enter the lucky draw will be recorded in the next episode of RunCast, to be released on Thursday, August 18.