App: Hiker

[FONT=Arial Black]Hiker[/FONT]
https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/a230c855-7adf-415a-bb1c-289f27304563

Please use this thread for any questions and feedback.

Description
Hiker is designed for walking or scrambling outdoors. The app captures the hike data using the standard Garmin activities which can be uploaded via Garmin Connect. The activity is classed as a hike.

There is one main screen showing clock, timer, distance, steps, ascent and current heading. If a compass is present in the watch then the heading will display the current heading, otherwise it will display the direction of travel from the GPS trace.

Following this there are a number of graph screens:

Elevation
Pressure (Not available on the Forerunner watches)
Temperature (Using the Garmin Tempe temperature sensor)
Heart Rate

The data within these screens is sampled every 2 minutes which gives a history over the last 4 hours. The min, max and average values are taken from this sampled data. Any other data is read directly from the activity which you will see in Garmin Connect.

The last screen displays a trail as representation of the path walked. A data point is mapped down every 2 minutes when there's a good GPS signal. The start is represented by a green square and the current position is a red cross. Below the trail is the last known good position in degrees, minutes and seconds.

On starting the app it will wait for a good GPS signal which can bypassed. Use left and right swipes or the up and down buttons to move through the screens. Activities can be paused using the start/stop button. If you forget to resume the activity after a number of steps you will be asked if you wish to resume the hike.

Versions
v1.06

Added a breadcrumb trail of the hike.
Corrected the animation for up and down buttons.
Optimised the code to reduce the memory usage. This allowed the above trail feature to be added to all the existing supported watches.

v1.03

Added support for D2 Bravo, D2 Bravo Titanium, fēnix® 3 and fēnix® 3 HR.

v1.02

Added support for Forerunner® 230, Forerunner® 235, Forerunner® 630 and Forerunner® 735XT.
Added a heart rate graph. (Note: There is an issue with the vívoactive® HR firmware. This has been fixed in the beta release and will work in the next full release.)
Improved the display of the GPS status.

v1.00

Initial release for vívoactive® HR.

TERP1234 over 8 years ago

I tried this nice looking app on my Vivoactive HR (2.90) together with my Tempe sensor. But the app doesn't seem to see my Tempe, although other apps have no problems with it. So no temperature reading or graph.
Would it also be possible to have the temperature available as a data field in the main screen?

Great! The temperature field is added now.

dh1carman over 8 years ago

Uk Position

As a professional mountain leader this is a great app!! Is it possible to have the location data in GB OS Grid, ibstead og Lat and Long?
Dave H

JohnD25 over 8 years ago

Hi Dave

I appreciate the comments.

As a professional mountain leader this is a great app!! Is it possible to have the location data in GB OS Grid, ibstead og Lat and Long?

I have briefly looked at what it would take to convert the position data to GB OS Grid and it's not easy. I'm running close to the memory limits of the watches and therefore haven't put effort into trying to add this. I may look into this again but not for the foreseeable future.

Regards

John

Gelopinti over 8 years ago

Calories

Hi John,

I'm going to buy a new Forerunner 235 and I'd like to know if in your app is possible to add burned calories in one available field or if they (total burned calories of the activity) are showed in garmin connect when you put data inside.

Thanks a lot for your work, I love trekking and your app would be very useful for me!!

Michelangelo

JohnD25 over 8 years ago

Hi Michelangelo

I'm going to buy a new Forerunner 235 and I'd like to know if in your app is possible to add burned calories in one available field or if they (total burned calories of the activity) are showed in garmin connect when you put data inside.

Currently the calories isn't displayed as a data field but they are listed under the heart rate graph. This will be the calories for the session and should match what you see in Garmin Connect.

Regards

John

Former Member over 8 years ago

Hi, registered to say that this is a fantastic app, great work! Previously I've been using Garmin's walk app for my hikes, but didn't find the scrolling screens to be very convenient. Your app gives me everything I want on one screen PLUS historical graphs - fantastic! One big omission for me personally is the sunset field. Knowing how much daylight I have left is critical for winter hiking. Would love to see that added. Also, there's the Pace field which can be used in a pinch, but some people might be interested in an avg. speed field.

A minor usability comment - if I want to stop & discard a hike, it takes 3 clicks to do so:
1. End hike screen -> yes
2. Save hike -> no
3. Discard hike -> yes

Feels like step 3 is redundant.

JohnD25 over 8 years ago

Hi, registered to say that this is a fantastic app, great work! Previously I've been using Garmin's walk app for my hikes, but didn't find the scrolling screens to be very convenient. Your app gives me everything I want on one screen PLUS historical graphs - fantastic! One big omission for me personally is the sunset field. Knowing how much daylight I have left is critical for winter hiking. Would love to see that added. Also, there's the Pace field which can be used in a pinch, but some people might be interested in an avg. speed field.

Thanks for the compliment. I like both of your suggestions but I won't be adding any more functionality to the app as I have reached the memory limits of the older watches that I support. These features will have to wait for the next app that I write.

A minor usability comment - if I want to stop & discard a hike, it takes 3 clicks to do so:
1. End hike screen -> yes
2. Save hike -> no
3. Discard hike -> yes

Feels like step 3 is redundant.

I can understand why you have made this comment but you wouldn't be happy if you accidently hit the discard option after completing a long hike. You may think this would be unlikely but try using a touch screen with gloves on; that's a pretty small target with a fat finger! At least this way it gives you a second chance to correct your mistake.

Regards

John

Former Member over 8 years ago

Heading

It is possible to display the current heading in degrees/minutes instead of cardinal direction?

NicoMando over 8 years ago

is it possible to use this app to follow a course (for example a .gpx hiking trail) from the watch?
I tried but I was only able to use the built-in hiking app of the watch, not this one.

JohnD25 over 8 years ago

Hi Paxis

It is possible to display the current heading in degrees/minutes instead of cardinal direction?

I'm now very limited by the memory in older watches, so adding additional functionality is challenging. I'll see what I can do.

John