I've been testing a couple gps tracking apps so I can see my stats for my commute.

So far I've been using Softrace and Sportypal. I think I like Softrace better so far.

What are your favorites? Are there any other apps that are similar or better?

MyTracks is as accurate as my bike computer and painlessly uploads to GoogleMaps. It does AutoStop so the data is accurate.

I tried EveryTrail, but likes My Tracks better

SB

Ah, I forgot about My Tracks, I'll give that one a try on my way home. I've never heard of EveryTrail.

The only one I've used is My Tracks and it does all I need. It is open source, so if you want some other feature, you can add it yourself.

What new features do any of the other apps have?

Softrace is cool because other people can "challenge" you by riding the same route and trying to beat your time.

My Tracks + RideWithGps here.

Just started biking, but I've been torn between My Tracks and CardioTrainer.

I've been using CardioTrainer for a few months. I really like it, but will take a look at some of the other apps mentioned in this thread.

Unfortunately, I accidentally dropped my bike last weekend and cracked the glass on my Droid, which I had forgotten to remove from the handlebar mount. I'm waiting for Motorola to fix it.

Ouch, sorry to hear that. Hope it doesn't cost too much.

I use mytracks. For uploading routes to my device I get them on google maps online either mapping them out there or importing GPX and then save them under google's "my maps". It is then possible to view any route saved under google's "my maps" right on your phone just by browsering through "layers" and then "more layers" in the Android map interface.

== powering your android phone ==

What I'm most interested in is how people power their Android phone. I'm using a Droid Incredible which seems to be on the better end of the scale and it still only gets 4.5 hours using something like mytracks. I've been doing a lot of research on places like instructibles and suposedly it's a piece of cake to use a 5-volt resistor to drop down a 4AA or any other battery pack to USB power to power any USB device. Haven't tried it yet, no idea how long it will last if it does work.

== caching maps on android ==

the one problem i have with google's default map application on android is there's no way to explicitely tell it to cache maps and routes. The only thing you can do so far as I can tell is scroll along your route and hope the app caches it.

Worst of all if you quit the map application when you reopen it you have to redownload your route again off google's "my maps"... if that's where you're viewing it from that is. I have not found a way to save it to my phone and then re-open it off the device.

That said, I think Android is sufficiently "there" to use for major on road touring as long as one has a power source for their phone.

Another interesting possibility is using a dynamo hub to power android phone. I'm not sure if it could provide enough power to keep it running indefinitely, but it could certainly significantly extend the run time.

I also agree that some sort of map caching would be great.

I've heard a lot of good things about Minty Boost, where somebody designed a circuit with 2xAA batteries with a USB adapter, fitting in a small Altoids Mint Tin. They sell it for $19.95, and it's also been a project in Make Magazine.

I'm not related to this, but I've been looking at it a long time.

To add to the thread, I've been using MyTracks and it works well, but I also have too many things sucking down my battery power on my EVO.

--Lance

I use Velox Pro that has pretty nice tracking feature as well as a very useful Bike Computer. You can upload your tracks to velox web site and share it with people and it gives all the normal stats like max, average speeds, etc. I'll try MyTracks just to compare.

I have Sportypal on my phone, it has a map, can set goals, share on Facebook and Twitter, see their advance on graphs, altitude changes and more. This feature-packed app can additionally be acclimated for any type of activities i think.

I like MyTracks myself. I would caution that the elevation data seems to be kind of suspect, and the latitude and longitude are far more accurate.

For my purposes it is more of a toy really. Most of the time I am on a route I already know fairly well, so I don't really need the GPS. I was kind of hoping that the elevation data would have been good enough that it could give me a reliable % grade for a hill, but it doesn't seem to be able to give me anything very accurate.

I use RunKeeper. It is much nicer now that they completed their big upgrade. I also like the fact that I can go to their paid version and my wife can track my rides real time because my routes tend to vary quite a bit. I do wish that it recognized stops. You can pause it if needed but I prefer not to since I forget to restart it sometimes.

There are a multitude of USB power supplies on the market now. Duracell makes one called the Powerhouse that looks nice and has a built in Li-Ion battery. I also found another one that I think was made by Energizer that uses 2 AA batteries. The one that uses the AA's sounds good to be since in a worst case scenario I can always stop in a store and pick up a couple of batteries if needed.

That one isn't available for the antiquated version of Android that I have unfortunately.

Supposedly Moto is going to release a 2.1 update for my phone, but someone leaked a ROM of what we presume to be the release candidate, and I am tempted to flash it and be done with this nonsense.

I made one of these for my wife- https://www.instructables.com/id/How-...harger-simple/ Only took an hour (mostly spent trying to find the soldering iron which I had left in the trunk of the car while fixing the trailer brake lights) and it generates a enough juice to keep her G1 charged while driving. The box is small enough to mount on your fender, rack or whatever. There are commercial ones as well but I know I can keep this one going indefinitely and it was dirt cheap.

Will try to make this solar usb charger, but tell me how much does it really extend the life of the battery with gps turned on?

I use SportsTracker, so far I like it, the only drawback is that there is no autostop. Otherwise it works great. I will try the Sportypal and MyTracker.

Does anyone know where I can get a bike mount for motorola droid?

My Tracks.

Where do you guys put the phone at when you ride? I'm sort of new to this road biking thing, and it seems like people are putting the phone in their jerseys? I've got an Evo and I can't imagine that thing in a pocket on a shirt while I am peddling as fast as I can. Is that typical?

Guys, you have to try endomondo. You can get it off the market, and it's online interface (for your desktop or laptop) is awesome too. Not only does it have great logging features, but it uses the best of all the programs. It's free too! It uses Google for the map, it also gives you a display of how fast you are going, how far you are going, and you can set goals. Sounds stupid right? Well, you can set your goal for let's say 20 miles, and it will tell you when you have hit 20 miles and you can turn back. Awesome! Super sweet. You definitely have to at least try it. After you confirm your account to activate it, the website it will direct you to is the mobile one on your desktop, make sure that you change the address to endomondo.com and get rid of the mobile thing or it won't show the map. Have fun! It's my new favorite!

Autostop is on it as well! (after you enable it in the options) Super simple to change from Km to Miles as well!

ANd the new SportyPal Pro version it's not bad at all, i just downloaded the demo version, it got autostop/autostart (https://sportypal.com/sportypal2)
synchronize any track from the community that you want to ride on it. Set up a goal and all other new options that I haven't tried yet.
It's worth to take a look at it.

+1

But wish it had an auto-pause

How do these apps behave in the mountains, when you might lose cell signal? Are they robust enough to continue collecting GPS data even when they can't download a map?

Thanks,

tcpasley

Reduce, reuse, rebicycle