Palm Pre/JogStats app as a GPS Trainer Review

I recently switched over to Sprint/Palm Pre after numerous problems with my old network (people really believed I was screening my calls) and smartphone's OS (crashed on regular basis). I have been using Linux on my desktop and laptop for several years and was excited to see Palm adopted a Linux flavor (WebOS). I took a chance and was an early adopter of the Palm Pre and have been happy with my sevice and phone (except for an initial battery issue). You can check out the CNET review of the Palm Pre here.

I have been envious (I know, a sin) of my training buddies high tech gadgetry and decided to start getting my monies worth out of my Pre. At the time epiphany, JogStats was the only app that offered GPS support (among other features desired). But, the Pre library is growing daily and there are now a handful of others (I plan on another review of JogStats, BikePro, WorkOut Tracker, any other newcomers to the app library and a Garmin in a head to head battle royale).



JogStats is fairly basic to use with a few toggles for preferences. After entering my weight and activity (cycling), I was off and riding. You can also choose a live screen mode, which shows your stats in real time, but, I chose to have the screen shut off to save some battery life. Also, there is a metric and English units toggle. I checked the phone a couple of times during my rides against my cyclo-computer and found the distance results to be within several meters. The GPS tracking ability of the Pre has been great so far, although, we are still in winter and I have not made any epic canyon rides, yet.

Using the GPS ability is a battery hog. I started each ride with 100% battery life and left on all my normal Pre functions. The battery seemed to drain in a linear relationship to time, with about 50% life at three hours. This would give a rider about a six hour ride. I never talked on the phone during the rides, but, did send a few text messages. This expedient use of battery life (my Pre can normally go two days between charges - making a few phone calls and lots of data usage) makes me a little worried about the Pre's primary function - to make phone calls. I would assume based on my observations, rides under four hours would still allow you to make a few short calls (or lots of texts) with battery life to spare. However, anything above four hours and you probably are playing on borrowed time. And, when was the last time you saw a pay phone on your ride?

Post rides, I checked the results that Jogstats compiled on the Pre. The distance, mapping (you need to download GPX Mapper (free) in the apps catalog for this feature) and altitude vs time graph all seemed to be accurate. The route feature on the Pre only has the geometry of your route and does not overlay it on a real map, just a solid green background. This would really be a great feature and hopefully future versions will include map overlay. Also, the speed vs time graph never worked for me. I am not sure if, because like the app's name suggests, the graph is scaled to a jogging pace, but, there is no way I could find to reset the scale. (And God knows, I probably will never walk down the block to check if the speed vs time graph works). JogStats also has a calories burned feature, which ran a little high when compared to my heart-rate monitor and a wattage/time calculator, but was in the ball park. Besides, who doesn't enjoy thinking they need to eat a few extra calories post ride. Jogstats can email a .png file or post your results via twitter (I am sure all your friends can't wait to talk to you about your days training session). JogStats also saves your workouts for later viewing on the Pre, and, I would assume is only limited by the free memory the Pre has available (Pre's have a fixed 8gb memory).


All in all, JogStats does it's job great. While this app is the most expensive of the lot ($6.99, there is a week-long free trial), I would have to give JobStats a good recommendation if you are into post ride compliation. The lack of route/map overlay hinders Jogstats value for real time use. Like I said, I am testing out other apps and will post a head to head review in the near future.