Best Free iPhone GPS Apps for Runners – A Review of 4 Free iPhone Apps for Running

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I used to run cross-country in high school and I haven’t been a lover of running since. I remember standing at the starting line with 100 other guys thinking to myself “I’m about to run 3 miles as fast as I can… this sucks.” Ever since I’ve really not liked running, but I’ve always loved the feeling I get after I’m finished. Over the last couple of years I’ve really wanted to get more in shape and eventually try a triathlon!  (I know, big goals, but one step at a time). So I started out slow! But as I ran more and more and realized that it can really be enjoyable when you’re not sprinting! It’s actually quite a meditative experience.

Oh, and did I mention that I LOVE gadgets! To be willing to try any sport, I must have all the latest and greatest gadgets. After reading Lance Armstrong’s It’s Not About The Bike (Amazon) I couldn’t be serious about riding until I had the latest SPD pedals, shoes, and cool ass bike clothes—I road seriously for about two months. My Trek 2000 hangs nicely on my garage wall now; it looks cool as people drive by and see it hanging there. Guess I should sell it, but then I might get back into riding someday…

So I’ve re-discovered (or actually discovered for the first time) the real joy in running. Running as a spiritual experience while enjoying the outdoors; running not to win anything, but to feel healthy and alive. It’s nice not having to put any huge expectations on myself… actually I have only one: I can run as slow as I want but just don’t walk. I have to admit that I do walk sometimes if I have to tie my shoes (before I started wearing North Face Boa’s which you never have to worry about tying!) or re-adjust my iPod, but I try not to stop jogging once I’ve started after my initial warm up walk.

As of this writing I’m running three times a week around 4 miles (at least I think). Which brings me to the point of this post; cool running gadgets!

I spent most of one evening searching the internet for cool gadgets and since I already have an iPod Nano I quickly added the Nike+ iPod kit to my Amazon Shopping cart plus a universal carrying pouch since I own North Face Boa Running Shoes and not Nike. But then I realized something, I already have an iPhone 3G and I’ll bet there’s a cool running App for that using GPS.

Oh, I forgot to mention my search initially started off with a Garmin Forerunner watch but those are way expensive. If you’re like me, free first is always best. Discovering features you may or may not want is nice when something is free, then you can move onto a more expensive running watch if you desire.

After doing some quick research on the web, I came across a discussion at DailyMile.com titled “iPhone Running Apps” which gave me some initial ideas and opinions about running Apps for the iPhone. I would consider myself somewhat of a techie but created a realistic and short list of requirements and features I was looking for in an iPhone App to track my runs:

• Free (would be willing to purchase if I really like the usability)
• Easy to Use
• Tracks distance, time, pace, i.e. the basics (calories would be nice but not a deal breaker)
• Ability to share my run/info on Facebook
• Upload to a website (maybe cool, but not a deal breaker)
• iPod is fully functional while running

That’s my list, pretty simple and realistic I think.

So here’s how this review is going to go down, the Apps I’ve chosen are:

• SportyPal
• RunKeeper Free
• iMapMyRun
• MotionX GPS Lite

Here’s how I chose these Apps.

First I searched the App store on my phone for “run” and chose the first free App that offered GPS. Next, I went to the category Health & Fitness and searched the Top Free Apps and went down until I found some free ones. I also searched GPS and that’s how I found MotionX GPS Light. Although for SportyPal, I found it listed in the discussion at DailyMile.com iPhone Running Apps and liked the simplicity of SportyPal’s website so I searched for them specifically as I wanted them in my review.

Here’s how I’m going to do this review. This process will be the same for each individual App

NOTE: Click on Images to View Larger Versions

I’ll download the App and start it for the first time a few hours before I run to set it up so all I have to do when I’m ready to run is start the App. I’m going to make sure I have my phone fully charged and have a playlist ready for what I want to listen to while running before I start up the App. I want to gauge its ease of use, how intuitive it is and my first impression once I start it and how long it takes for me to be up and running… so to speak.

Now, granted there’s probably someone who is thinking the control group will be invalid (or that there isn’t one) since once I’ve used the first App, all subsequent ones will be reviewed on a bias based on my experience of the first one. Technically you’re probably right. So now that we got that out of the way, let’s get to it.

I’m going to review and test these in the order listed above. I’ve driven the route with my car and the approximate distance according to my car is 3.8 miles. Did I mention I’m NOT training for a marathon or anything?

I’ll be using a 25 point rating system. Rating each feature I was initially looking for on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the best). Total possible points, 25.

SportyPal

Today I’m using my Sony DR-BT10CX Bluetooth Headset for music listening while running. I like these because there’s no wires (obviously) plus the sound is great and you get some bass which is hard to find in sport headphones. I haven’t used them for running much though so we’ll see how they work. I hate ear buds that I have to constantly mess with while running to keep them in my ear.

Upon logging into SportyPal iPhone App, I’m prompted for language and distance settings (Imperial or Metric) and Twitter Autopost setting. Hmmm, I think I’ll turn the Twitter Autopost to ON and see how that works. The only feature I really want is the ability to post my stats to Facebook when finished. I’m certain all my friends will want to know exactly how my running is going. Next it prompts to enter personal information like height, weight, email address and password. I hit “Save Profile” after entering that information and a message said “registration successful” then another message reads, “Please enter correct information in the fields for successful registration at www.sportypal.com” and I can’t really do anything else on the screen, sort of confusing…

OK, I just figured out you have to hit the “Back” button in the SportyPal App after you enter your information and see “successful registration” to get back to the main screen. That was a little confusing… but hey, it’s free right? Next I logged onto their website at sportypal.com. So far I really like their web interface, simple, intuitive, clean and easy. Although I did set the Twitter autopost to ON and haven’t seen anywhere to enter my Twitter account information yet. Oh, well.

Another thing, I realized that the email address/password combo it was asking for when registering on the iPhone during initial setup was for registration and access to their site www.sportypal.com. I entered the password to my email account (and thought it was a little strange and felt a little worried about giving my email password)… thinking it was going to need that for some reason… Duh. No big deal, I just changed it as soon as I logged into their web interface under profile settings.

Just flipping through the SportyPal interface on the iPhone App, I can tell I’m going to like it. It’s simple, clean and easy to use. The options on the home screen are a carousel type navigation and consist of:

• New Workout
• My Workouts
• My Records
• My Profile
• EULA (End User License Agreement)

OK, so now I’m all set to run. I  have my Sony DR-BT10CX Bluetooth Headset turned on and music is going (I’m using iTunes Genius playlist and have it set to Grunge Metal today). So here we go on my run, I’ll see you when I get back…

So I’m back and trying not to sweat too much on my keyboard. SportyPal was easy to use. I got my music going first then fired up SportyPal and once it got a GPS signal the screen said “Tap to Start.” I hit the screen and it started the timer and I started running. There’s a Lock feature also on the screen which allows you to lock the application while running. While SportyPal is locked, there’s a slider which allows you to unlock it. I had a hard time getting it to unlock when I finished my run so I exited out of the application by hitting the iPhone home button. Then when I re-opened SportyPal it asked if I wanted to resume my workout, I said, “Yes” and then stopped it.

After stopping the workout (run) it automatically uploaded the data to the web… that was nice. Then it asked if I wanted to share on Facebook or Twitter, I said yes. But

then I was informed that I must connect my SportyPal profile with Facebook via the web interface (it’s under Profile Settings) which I did once I got inside and it uploaded right to Facebook.

SportyPal’s web interface is pretty intuitive and easy to use as well, there’s a lot of options to share and/or embed the workout and map on other sites. The data immediately available to view and track is:

• Distance
• Total Time
• Average Speed
• Calories
• Start time
• End time
• Best(500 yd)
• Max Speed
• Max Pace
• Average Pace
• Total climb
• Total descend
• Location

There’s also an Analyze tab that breaks down the run by .25 mile increments listing the time and miles per hour. The distance recorded was exactly 3.8 miles (same as my car). I did notice that it recorded a top speed of 19.57 Miles Per Hour. Wow, I’m fast. I did notice too that where it recorded my top speed was actually the time during my run when I know I was running the slowest.

Conclusion: Total Points 25

• Easy to Use – Rating: 5
• Tracks distance, time, pace, i.e. the basics (calories would be nice but not a deal breaker) – Rating: 5
• Ability to share my run/info on Facebook – Rating: 5
• Upload to a website (maybe cool, but not a deal breaker) – Rating: 5
• iPod is fully functional while running – Rating: 5

I really liked this App for ease of use and basic features; which was exactly what I was looking for. There’s also the ability to use SportyPal for biking and other types of workouts, not just ones that cover distances or use GPS.

RunKeeper Free

This time I’m going to use my RocketFish Over-The-Ear Sport Headphones.

When you first start RunKeeper it’s pretty much the same process as SportyPal, enter an email address and password. Since I figured out with SportyPal that you would have to grant access to Facebook and Twitter via the web interface, I went ahead and logged into RunKeeper’s website and setup my Facebook connection and updated my profile. One nice feature with RunKeeper’s online profile setting is the ability to use your Facebook profile pic. I checked the option to “Auto-Share New Activities with Facebook” within the online profile section as well as for Twitter (although it just asked for my Twitter usename and no password so we’ll see if that works after my run).

I like the iPhone App interface. Since it’s made only for running, it keeps it simple and starts the GPS locator as soon as you open the App and give’s you a big “Start” button. Pretty simple, I like that.

OK, so I’m all set to go on my run… see you soon.

RunKeeper was great! Very easy to use and sticks to what it does best, running. Although you can add different activities that include cycling, skiing, wheelchair, snowboarding, etc. but it doesn’t prompt you to figure that out when you start. It’s based on a simple “activity” and you determine what that is later I guess. You can also turn off GPS mode and use manual entry so you could use it for about any activity. As soon as you open the App it starts the GPS signal and prompts you with a big Start button. Another nice feature is the Settings menu that has lots of easy to understand instructions on the basic functions. That’s nice in case you forget how to hit start. (although it also suggests how to use it with your iPod and some other useful info) As soon as I finished my run I hit Stop and it uploaded my data to RunKeeper.com automatically and posted to my Facebook. If you have a heart rate monitor there’s also an option to add that after your run.

The web interface is fairly similar to SportyPal in that it shows a map of my run on the main dashboard with all relevant information.

The distance it measured was 3.79 miles with average pace and speed. There’s a really cool interactive graph underneath the map. As you move your cursor along the graph it slides around your course and shows you specific data about that part of your run. It’s really interesting as it also shows elevations so you can really understand why you get winded during specific periods of your run. Pretty cool! It shows splits by mile as apposed to quarter mile. One nice feature I noticed is an added area for notes and comments about that specific run.

The data immediately available to view and track is:

• Start Time
• End Time
• Duration
• Distance
• Average Pace
• Average Speed
• Climbed
• Burned

Conclusion: Total Points 25

• Easy to Use – Rating: 5
• Tracks distance, time, pace, i.e. the basics (calories would be nice but not a deal breaker) – Rating: 5
• Ability to share my run/info on Facebook – Rating: 5
• Upload to a website (maybe cool, but not a deal breaker) – Rating: 5
• iPod is fully functional while running – Rating: 5

Overall I really liked this App as well. I really thought it would be hard to beat SportyPal and figured I would use it when this review was over, but I’m thinking I like RunKeeper now. I like the simplicity of starting the App and activity. The only downside I noticed was the ads that display. Which is not a big deal and I can live with ads since the App is free. Additionally, if I ever decide to upgrade to the paid version I have the option. The paid version includes: Training Workouts, Audio Cues, Geo-Tagged Pictures, iPod Controls (although the iPod works fine in the background), no ads. One nice feature of the paid version is you can have RunKeeper load up a specific playlist automatically when you start. I don’t always run with audio so that’s not a big selling point for me but may be for someone else.

iMapMyRun

I’m back to my Sony DR-BT10CX Bluetooth Headset again, cords suck.

Upon opening iMapMyRun, it prompts for the same information; setting up a username and password. One huge difference is the ability to connect with Facebook from the start. The home screen prompts for new account info OR connect with Facebook. I selected Connect With Facebook then entered my FB info. Once connecting to FB I’m prompted to create an account with MapMyFitness (or merge with an existing account if I already have one). Next I’m given the option to Opt-Out of email offers and then enter my age, height, and weight for calorie burn calculation. Next there’s a place called Social Update Settings which allows you to connect to Twitter and set update status to Live, On Finish, or Off. That’s cool. The same can be done for FB status, Off, Live, or On Finish. I set it to Off but will still upload to FB when I’m done.

One thing I noticed is that iMapMyRun keeps you logged in the entire time, both to their service and FB apparently, which makes since if you’re doing the auto updates. I just noticed that because there’s a Logout button on the upper right of main screen. When I logged out, it logged me out of the application and FB both. I suppose the other Apps did that as well but just didn’t give the option to log out. Who knows.

The main menu listed at the bottom of screen lists Home, Record, Settings. The Home screen has Profile, Routes, Training, Friends, Live, Faq menu options. Plus two buttons titled Add Ons and More Apps. There’s obviously a lot more to this App then the others and it appears that it stays logged into their site to have access to more info, friends, routes, etc. The Live option is unique to iMapMyRun, which may be nice if you want to track other runners or possible let friends track you during a marathon or race.

To start your Workout, you can either hit a big Green button at top left of home screen called Record a Workout or along the bottom menu the Record button. The next screen loads a map and connects the GPS and prompts you to hit a Start button to begin.

Well, the setup process was a little more involved but there seems to be a lot more options. I don’t have to access their website prior to my my run (to enable FB updates) since I did that via the App. So I guess I’m ready to run, see you when I get back.

I’m back from my run and the first thing I noticed with iMapMyRun was it caused my bluetooth headset to keep cutting out. Didn’t have that problem with SportyPal… possibly something to do with the constant GPS signal or something. I noticed after my run, iMapMyRun didn’t start my route at the right place, it was a few hundred feet short from where I actually started. At least the starting pin on the Google Map was off quite a bit. The distance recorded was 3.81 miles which was about the same as the others, which is weird though since it didn’t start my route at the same place.

The first thing I noticed about iMapMyRun’s website, www.mapmyrun.com, is how busy it is. It really looks like more like an e-commerce site.  It’s obvious it’s built more for a large community and offers race information, community forums, and of course, lots of ads. First impression, spammy. It’s hard to figure out where to find your run information, but after clicking on “My Runs” in the profile menu at top I’m brought to another screen that lists my runs. I click on my run and it finally brings up the map of my last run. Of course with some pop-up ads over the top and something about redeeming my MapMyPoints for incentives and gift cards. Whoopee.

Honestly, I can’t even find where my basic run stats are… like distance, average pace, etc. I just want to get out of this site and interface. The map is huge and takes up the whole page, but of course you still have to scroll down to get past all the ads and other crap I don’t care about.

There is a link I noticed promoting their new site (which is in Beta) and it looks a lot cleaner and more like the other sites I’ve looked at so far. Good for them.

I’m not listing the Data Available to View and Track like I did for the other Websites because I don’t know where it is; and I shouldn’t have to dig for it.

Although I can look at the App on my iPhone itself and I can see (after hitting a few menu’s and trying to figure out how to bring up my workouts):

• Date
• Type
• Start Time
• End Time
• Duration
• Distance
• Pace
• Calories Burned

Conclusion: Total Points 17

• Easy to Use – Rating: 1
• Tracks distance, time, pace, i.e. the basics (calories would be nice but not a deal breaker) – Rating: 5
• Ability to share my run/info on Facebook – Rating: 2
• Upload to a website (maybe cool, but not a deal breaker) – Rating: 4
• iPod is fully functional while running – Rating: 5

Even though I had to grade this App the same as the others, I would never use it. The App itself is difficult to use, not very fluid and the dis-jointed feel definitely spills over into their web interface. I hated using this App after the others. It was frustrating to use and then logging onto their website just made it worse.

MotionX GPS Light

Upon starting MotionX GPS Light, I’m not really prompted for anything right away like the others, just whether or not to allow MotionX to access my current location. I’m not prompted for a username or password, which tells me there’s probably not a web interface for this version. I played around with the App for a little bit and it’s actually quite impressive. Very good design and cool looking GUI. It immediately gives my Lat and Long coordinates and allows me to choose from several different options. In the middle of the home screen is a Mark Wypt button, (mark waypoint). I’m not real familiar with GPS devices but after poking around in this App for a bit I can tell that Waypoints must be important. I quickly found my way into settings where I discovered how to connect the App to Twitter and Facebook and notice an “Easy” share option which I’m hopping will allow one touch or automatic sharing of my run once I’m done.

One Kick butt feature I noticed right off the bat was a little Ipod button that when pressed, brings up my iPod controls from right there in the App. That’s something I didn’t notice on any of the other free Apps.

After installing the other Apps the next thing I usually did was go to their website and check out the web interface there to see if there were any social networking connections that needed to be made. But at this point (and after a quick look around motionx.com), I’m not sure there’s even a web interface for this App. But we’ll see about that when I get done running.

So now I’m off to run and from the main MotionX menu I’m going to select “Track Recorder” then hit “Start Track.”

OK, back from my run and I can say the iPod interface with this App is nice. Once I started my run it informed me that “Speed & elevation graphs will appear after 1 minute…” which I really didn’t pay attention to once I started my run. I like to just hit Start and assume it’s working and don’t like fiddling with something while I’m running. Once I finished my run I hit the “Pause Track” and “Save Track” buttons. After resting I re-opened the App to figure out how to upload my run to Facebook. It took me a while flipping through all the menu options but finally found the Share option. Since I had previously connected MotionX with Facebook, it uploaded automatically. I checked my Facebook wall and it posted my run as “Track 001″ with a listing of my basic stats: distance, pace, date, max speed, max pace, elapsed time, plus a link to Google Maps with my route. It also noted that the map to my run will expire in 30 days.

At this point I’m assuming (again) there’s not a web interface for MotionX, at least in this whole process there hasn’t been any email registration or suggestion I logon to any website. The only data I have available for my runs are in the iPhone App itself under “Tracks” on the main menu. Here it lists the usual stuff: Elapsed time, avg page, distance, Max Pace, altitude.

Conclusion: Total Points 18

• Easy to Use – Rating: 4
• Tracks distance, time, pace, i.e. the basics – Rating: 5
• Ability to share my run/info on Facebook – Rating: 4
• Upload to a website (maybe cool, but not a deal breaker) – Rating: 0
• iPod is fully functional while running – Rating: 5

MotionX GPS Light works… OK for running, but that’s not it’s primary purpose. It’s a real GPS tool that allows you to track routes, mark Waypoints and even has a built in Compass that only works with the iPhone 3GS. Although it did not appear to have any web interface, I would assume that if you purchased and used all the GPS tracking features it would have someplace other than the App itself to store and track data. I could see this App being useful for hiking, camping, or marking points of interest for things like fishing. But for running, not so much. There’s just too many other features, although they’re all really well done and cool, I want something more simple for running.

SO WHAT IS THE BEST FREE GPS APP FOR RUNNING?

First off, thanks for reading this review if you stayed through the whole thing. I really hope you’ve gotten something out of it. I was eager to get this review done so I ran three days in a row then took a day off before reviewing the last App. I must say I’m not used to running this many days in a row and it about killed me! So I hope you’ve enjoyed this review.

For me, the obvious winner was RunKeeper. Although I really liked SportyPal also so it was a close second. When I started this review and had some general knowledge of the Apps, I was eager to try iMapMyRun since I’d heard about it through several friends. But the dis-jointed interface and hideous website killed that one fast. I was more frustrated with it after my run as I’m sweating and trying to figure out how to get it to update my Facebook profile. Something that was pretty automatic and a lot easier with SportyPal and RunKeeper.

I think what I enjoyed most about RunKeeper was it’s simplicity and usability; plus I liked the way it posted all the stats to my Facebook wall. Their website is simple and easy to use and their interactive online graph is really cool. Plus, even though RunKeeper allows you to track activities such as biking, hiking, skating, etc., it’s focus is on running but allows the user to track many things by recording a simple activity.

Although most of the Apps do the same thing, RunKeeper does a good job of making the options feel easy and intuitive and not confusing. Likewise, SportyPal does a good job of keeping it simple as well.

A big plus for SportyPal and RunKeeper in my opinion was that the connection between Facebook and Twitter could be done through the web interface… the App updates their website which then posts them to Social Networks – I’m assuming. This resulted in one point of access from the iPhone App itself making it more seamless. As opposed to having to fiddle with two connections within the iPhone App. Something I found frustrating with iMapMy Run. I kept being prompted to login to Facebook to update my status or Logout of the App. Whatever the reason for this, it was confusing and frustrating.

Thanks again for checking out this review and happy running!

Update: About 6 months after I wrote this review I finally broke down and purchased the Garmin 110 GPS watch.  Two words, LOVE IT. You can check out my review on that here.

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