Golf Scorecard: 1st version submitted.

I've just completed a real golf round with v1.3.4. It works perfectly. Having ability to record the putts with a simple button press is an excellent idea.

Thank you for your positive feedback. I'm glad to hear that it worked as intended.

One more thing to note:
- The summary of the actual recorded golf activity says I spent 494 Calories for the whole 18 hole round in about 4 hours (and 10.65km walk).
- However if I manually create a golf activity in Garmin connect with 4 hours of playing, then it will calculate that I would spend about 1200 calories.
- So... I don't know which one is correct.

...

My app does not compute any calories. I suppose this happens either on the F3 in the background or on Garmin Connect. I wouldn't trust both values and be simply confident that you deserved an extra ice cream and you keep your body fit and mobile.

Ps. If it can mark the sub-activity for each hole (similar to multi-sport activities) and mark the lap for each stroke, then all I can say is... PERFECT!!!

I had this in the code but it is currently de-activated. When you (would) mark a lap on the F3, the system shows a confirmation screen that kind of interrupts the flow. I find this disturbing and not necessary. Currently the API does not allow me to suppress this behaviour. Once Garmin fixes this, it is very simple to re-activate it. See also my next post...

Also... I am planning to add Garmin Epix to my gadget collection so... later porting to Epix is greatly welcome :-)

I don't have an Epix to test it on, and the screen is not round. I'll have a look in the simulator whether the app works reasonably well without heavy modifications, and might then support the Epix too.

Where to go from here?

Apparently my first version of Golf Scorecard has reached a reasonably stable and "complete" status. The question is then what should come next and how to implement it. Whatever may come, I will always try to let the App stay out of the way as much as possible. Everyone who plays golf knows that - particularly on the green - there is no time to play with gadgets. It disturbs the concentration, and it delays the game. You can be sure to annoy your flight mates if you handle a toy rather than repairing pitch marks, mark your ball, help with the pin etc.. That's why so far all important functions can be achieved with only one button press.

Adding functionality would require either additional button events (currently not supported by the API), for example a "hold" event for the ESC or start button, or the possibility to catch and process the "light" key. Or, alternatively, to add additonal functionality to the menu - which is the opposite of "staying out of the way" during a round.

Here are a few ideas I am chewing on, with their specific problems:

1) Mark the position of the green by a lap marker. Problems: (a) how should the user mark it, if not by a menu command? (b) The system invokes a special lap marker screen which interrupts my app and gets into the way. I don't know how to suppress this.

2) Save the position of the green as a property. (This is not the same as setting a lap marker because the FIT file and the system are not involved). One could save one position per hole, and later load the saved positions during future rounds and display the distance to it. Again, the question is how the user should mark the green without the need to get into the menu. And the saved positions help only if you play the same course again. Unless...

3) Keep a growing collection of courses on the F3: before the round starts, one would either select a course that is already stored, or assign a course ID (e.g. a number between 1 and 9) for a new course. The app would maintain up to 9 courses, each with up to 18 GPS positions (obviously one per hole). The player would have to mark the green for each new course (see my last point).

4) Courses could be defined and maintained on an external server which would have to respond to JSAON requests of the app. I'm afraid this goes beyond my capabilities.

5) Courses could be defined on a smartphone app, and sent to the F3. Problem: I am not a developer and have zero experience with iOS or Android development.

So I'm not sure how to proceed, and whether there should be additional features at all...

Bug fix: Version 1.4

Version 1.3.4 had a nasty bug that caught only new users, i.e. those users who didn't have a valid set of properties already (I hope)

There was a crash report on the IQ store, and it took me a while to debug it (I needed to delete the app's property storage first), but I hope it is fixed now.

There are no new features, but if you haven't tried 1.3.x successfully already, I recommend to grab the update.

Dear planetscooter,

I've just got my new Garmin Epix. Is it possible to port your great Golf Scorecard app to Epix?

I am very fervent to try your Golf Scorecard app on my Epix.

Regards,
Q

Can't test on Epix

Dear planetscooter,

I've just got my new Garmin Epix. Is it possible to port your great Golf Scorecard app to Epix?

I am very fervent to try your Golf Scorecard app on my Epix.

Regards,
Q

Dear QUARKTD1, unfortunately I can't test on an Epix because I don't have one. And the user interface will look a bit odd because it is coded for a round display. But I will try to open the next version up for the Epix.

Speaking of the "next version": it is ready to be released as a beta, but I must work on the description and create a beta for a separate IQ store product line. I tested the version a few times and it works great. One improvement is that you can now store the pin positions of up to 5 courses, and load one of those 5 courses when you play that course the next time. It will then show the distance to the pin... more to come soon.

Completely new version (in beta)

I have just uploaded a completely new version to the IQ store. However, it does, for now, not replace the existing app, because it is still in beta and might cause issues here and there. So you have to find it in the App store. Look out For "Golf Birdie beta". It will probably take a few hours until it has passed the review process.:D

The user instructions are too long for the store. Therefore, I created a web page: http://timecaptured.eu/?page_id=633

If you are interested, please navigate over and have a look.

New features:
- shows yards for those poor people that live in non-metric countries
- shows the distance of the last two shots
- measures the pin coordinates in the background and allows to save those as one of 5 courses
- load courses (after you have measured them once) and display the distance to the pin (!). Yeah. Finally.
- streamlined user interface

Have fun. Bug reports please here and not or not only in the IQ store.

New version (beta) now online

The beta of the new version is now online in the IQ store: https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/00c18a5f-f639-4c35-bdbe-ffce6f338707

Remember it doesn't replace the old version yet, but exists as a separate app. So you will not be updated automatically. And remember that it is the first beta, tested only by myself on a Fenix until now.

By the way: I opened it for the Epix, too, but I had no chance to test it. The screen layout will look quite messed up on the Epix, but that could be fixed later if it works.

Suport for Forerunner 235

This looks like a really promising app and I would love to help beta test it on the Forerunner platform. I see you were able to provide compatibility for the rectangle style Epix, would you also be able to do this for the Forerunner 235? Thanks for your hard work!

Disc Golf capabilites

Hey, Boss! love the app I have been using it for Disc Golf with my boys and manually have been converting the distances to feet. is there a possibility to add a setting so it will automatically do this?