Because I purchase Equitrack right before we left, I didn't spend any time playing with it or looking for online tutorials on how to use it. It didn't matter. Upon return, I found out there aren't any. I searched for instructions to resolve one nagging thing I couldn't figure out on my own, and found nothing that addressed it. Their website is easy to navigate and does have some info, including FAQ's, but I found the site pretty basic and lacking information. It didn't tell me anything I hadn't already figured out on my own.
The one nagging thing I couldn't figure out while using the app in the saddle, was how in the H-E-double toothpick does a person go back/find the original tracking screen?? If I missed something, please do tell. For some lucky reason, I took screenshots with my phone - before I knew the tracking screen wouldn't save - and I also figured out what I call a "work around" to get back to the screen. Press "new ride" to go back - while active - otherwise, the tracking screen disappears...it's a bummer, because it's a great graphic! Know that riding information is saved into another plain text format.
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| Tracking screen at the end of our first ride. |
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| Map screen at the end of our first ride. I forgot to start the app when we started (start/stop was the same place) and added the light blue line for the untracked part of our ride. |
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| Tracking screen at the end of our second ride. |
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| Map screen at the end of our second ride. The light blue line is the untracked part of the ride. I was fumbling with trying to locate the app's tracking screen and hit the wrong button. The white location words were added for those who read my previous related riding post. |
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| Map screen of our outdoor arena and pasture ride. I love how the round pen looks like an upside-down bottle cap! The yellow circled areas were added, they are places where I absolutely did not ride. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a screenshot of the original tracking screen...poof, it's gone! |
A couple additional things to note on the Original (black) Tracking Screen:
• I never saw the top "Speed" circle change numbers, even while moving. I assume it's tracking the current speed. If it's not going to visibly change, why bother showing it on the screen?
• The bottom "Energy" circle always showed me at "0". I sure hope I'm expending more energy then that! I entered my weight, which is the only requirement their website mentions. This feature didn't work for me.
The app does offer some different levels of riding programs, including three pre-programmed. I did not try them, and therefore cannot comment on how they function. I did try entering my own riding program, and what I saw looked limited at best. However this app is marketed as an Equine Training Assistant, so there must be more to the training portion then meets the eye. For example, you can add sounds. I guess sounds might come in handy? You can read how this feature might work here. Do people really ride with earbuds on? I'm lucky if I can keep my hat on! Additional sound comments have been edited, because I can't stop laughing from being plain ol' silly. Seriously, if I play with the riding program features, I'll do a follow-up review. Don't hold your breathe, or make a sound!!
Quirks found with the Equitrack version 2.2 (yes, the version matters):
• there is no navigation to get to the original tracking screen
• the app doesn't save the original tracking screen
• the riders "me" energy expenditure doesn't work
• my freestyle program rides did not list (they saved, but didn't list 1-10)
• map tracking isn't exact
• the phone GPS doesn't work in our indoor arena (no fault of the app)
• you can't add landmark points to the map
• my husband is pretty sure the only time Koda goes 13+ mph is in the trailer!
Favorable things about Equitrack version 2.2:
• it tracks distance
• separation of ride time vs elapsed time, as well as total time
• the original tracking screen is very eye appealing
• the original tracking screen is easy to read
• you can keep track of rides on more then one horse
• the cost is reasonable. I purchased the app for $3.99 (iphone only)
• hybrid maps rock, glad the app pulls the different choice
• the app stayed ON and tracked our entire rides (this is huge, so many cut out)
• weather, location, date etc is auto included in saved riding data
• you can add notes about your ride
Rated *** (3 out of 5 stars, because of the quirks).
With all that said, I had fun using Equitrack!! I was hoping to track all my riding time on Koda, and use our arena riding data as a conditioning gauge, but instead plan to continue using this app where I think it functions best - tracking trail riding adventures.
5 comments:
Wow, pretty cool! Might even come in handy if you got lost (?) Can you use it to re-trace your path??? I ask because I've been lost several times before while riding alone, but once I let Kadie have her head, she took us straight back to our camp. :) She's a lot smarter than me...and apparently so is your phone. I don't think I'd be able to figure it out.
I don't think you can access the original screen, but you can access the information.
Go to My Stable.
Pick the horse. That will take you to a screen that gives you the history of your horse. If you select Last Ride (in tan just below the pic) you can see a summary of your last ride.
This screen is pretty cool, since you can add in information about the ground conditions (drop down menu) and add additional information under the Notes section. For me, if the ground conditions are strange I will select from the drop down menu and pick a condition and then add more information about the ground conditions in the note section, so I can refer to that the next time I ride the trail.
If you want to look at rides from earlier than the last ride, then instead of selecting last ride, click on the history button. That takes you to a screen that has your ride history by month. Click on the month you want to access and that takes you to a screen that has a brief summary of each ride. Click on the one you want and it will take you to the summary page (like what you see in the last ride option) where you can look at the map of where you rode, check ground conditions, figure out how long you were on trail, or read your notes.
I love this app.
Lorie, this app is pretty cool! There are others, one of which I am tempted to get. You can add way points on the map. I didn't realize this app didn't have that feature. Yes, you can kind of re-trace your steps by zooming into the map. It would be hard to get your exact path tho, but it would definitely help you get oriented in the right direction. It doesn't give reverse co-ordinates or anything like that. I think if I did a lot of remote riding out West, I would get a good handheld GPS unit - cuz I would get lost!
Karen, yes the specs from my arena ride is stored in the history text. I can see where the note section would come in handy if you do a lot of trails. It's pretty cool that the weather and location data is auto added. I'm guessing some of the quirks I found will eventually get fixed. I do like this app for tracking trail ride activity, for $3.99 it's worth it!
The only thing I wish they would add is mile markers on the map. And, if I could have everything, red, yellow and green trail lines to show speed on the map. (red being slowest and green being cantering).
Agreed, mile markers would be awesome! I never would have thought of different colors to match speed rates, because mine would almost all be the same slow color - but I could see the value for you endurance riders. Great ideas! If enough people ask for it, someone will make it happen.
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