Comments on: iPhone Apps That Might Make Your Bike Ride Safer, Certainly More Fun http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/07/22/4451/ Covering Los Angeles's livable streets movement Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:06:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David Galvan http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/07/22/4451/comment-page-1/#comment-14511 David Galvan Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:35:27 +0000 http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/07/22/4451/#comment-14511 I use the TrailGuru app to map my rides (and hikes). It basically acts like a GPS tracker. Just turn it on, do your ride, then when you are finished you can post your GPX track to trailguru.com (it can be publicly viewable or only viewable to yourself) and download the GPX file, which you can later use to geotag photos you took with another camera. Or you can just look at your tracked route on a map. It also displays plots of the elevation gained or lost, and your speed during the route. Here's a publicly viewable track of a ride I did from Downey to Long Beach on the L.A. River Bike path: http://www.trailguru.com/wiki/index.php/Track:718E TrailGuru is free, but requires an iPhone 3G or later. Oh, and to save on battery drain, here's a trick: You can keep the app running even when the screen is turned off (locked iPhone) by doing the following: Before launching TrailGuru, go to your iPod and start a song playing. Then go back to the home screen (the song will keep playing in the background), and open TrailGuru. Start tracking, and then press the iPhone's lock button to turn the screen off (without exiting the app). If you don't want to listen to music, just turn the volume all the way down. Just make sure that you're using a long playlist or your whole music library, because when the music stops, the trailguru app will stop as well (it's not meant to keep running when the phone is locked, but this trick allows it to. Saves battery life because the screen is off.) I use the TrailGuru app to map my rides (and hikes). It basically acts like a GPS tracker. Just turn it on, do your ride, then when you are finished you can post your GPX track to trailguru.com (it can be publicly viewable or only viewable to yourself) and download the GPX file, which you can later use to geotag photos you took with another camera. Or you can just look at your tracked route on a map. It also displays plots of the elevation gained or lost, and your speed during the route.

Here’s a publicly viewable track of a ride I did from Downey to Long Beach on the L.A. River Bike path:

http://www.trailguru.com/wiki/index.php/Track:718E

TrailGuru is free, but requires an iPhone 3G or later.

Oh, and to save on battery drain, here’s a trick: You can keep the app running even when the screen is turned off (locked iPhone) by doing the following: Before launching TrailGuru, go to your iPod and start a song playing. Then go back to the home screen (the song will keep playing in the background), and open TrailGuru. Start tracking, and then press the iPhone’s lock button to turn the screen off (without exiting the app). If you don’t want to listen to music, just turn the volume all the way down. Just make sure that you’re using a long playlist or your whole music library, because when the music stops, the trailguru app will stop as well (it’s not meant to keep running when the phone is locked, but this trick allows it to. Saves battery life because the screen is off.)

]]> By: angle http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/07/22/4451/comment-page-1/#comment-14481 angle Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:03:15 +0000 http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/07/22/4451/#comment-14481 An iPhone as a rear blinkie? What's next, a caviar Clif Bar? An iPhone as a rear blinkie? What’s next, a caviar Clif Bar?

]]> By: Will Campbell http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/07/22/4451/comment-page-1/#comment-14381 Will Campbell Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:58:44 +0000 http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/07/22/4451/#comment-14381 I was using REI's Bike Your Drive app for awhile but all those mapping apps are just monster battery drainers. I was using REI’s Bike Your Drive app for awhile but all those mapping apps are just monster battery drainers.

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