Working with Audio – iCardio, iRunner, iBiker (iOS)
One of the biggest perks of exercising with your phone, besides tracking your workouts with a Fitdigits app, is using all of the awesome audio functionality that the mini-computer we now call smart phones have to offer. Be it jamming to your favorite iTunes playlist, exploring new music on Spotify, or being enthralled by an intriguing podcast, your phone offers you a myriad of options to entertain yourself while working out.
On top of that, Fitdigits apps have some unique audio functionality of its own. Voice feedback gives you a verbal summary of your workout thus far at pre-defined intervals, allowing you to adjust your workout as necessary to meet your goals.
I. Music, Podcasts & Other Audio
iOS 7 brought the introduction of the Control Center, a pull up menu from the bottom of the screen. The Control Center allows users to change songs, pause music, and more without leaving the app.
Another option to change songs, podcasts, audio books and more is to leave the app entirely. Fitdigits apps will work in the background as you browse through your other apps, and if you want updates of your workout, you can turn Notifications on. Go to Activity Options (gear icon on home screen) > Heart Rate Zones > Zone Alerts & Prompts > Zone Local Notifications. Also, you can turn on voice feedback or audio alerts, but more on that below.
Workout Voice Feedback
Fitdigits, using shrink ray technology perfected in “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”, has inserted a built in personal trainer right into your phone! Voice feedback gives your real time stats on your workout, based on pre-defined intervals. First things first, let’s turn voice feedback on.
Select your activity type you want to change settings on, then go to Activity Options (gear icon on home screen) > Voice Feedback. From here you can choose the sex of the voice and whether and what it will announce when you transition between Heart Rate Zones. Next are the Triggers. This is your chosen interval for when you will hear voice feedback. You can choose to have voice feedback come in when you you reach a certain amount of calories, elapsed time, and/or distance. For this example, I have chosen to have voice feedback triggered when I travel 1/4 of a mile.
The final option is what you want spoken when you reach the trigger. I have left all options turned on- I will get my current heart rate, calories burned, distance, time and pace. If you have music or other audio playing, when voice feedback occurs it will dim so you can hear the stats over your music or other audio.
If you cannot wait for the trigger, at any point during a workout, you can hear voice feedback by double tapping the middle of your screen when you viewing the dashboard.
In-Workout Settings
You also have the ability to make some small adjustments to voice feedback once you have started a workout. If you find yourself in a gym without headphones and want to turn voice feedback off, merely tap the gear icon in the lower right, and switch “Voice Feedback” to OFF. You will also see an “Audio” volume slider. This is the volume of the voice feedback, and will not change the volume of the rest of your phone. If you feel you are being yelled at, turn the volume down here. You may also want to check the volume settings in the iOS device (slide up from bottom of any screen) or iTunes music, as the level there can also affect the workout feedback volume.
