Buddy Runner Android App

I’m into running. I make no apologies for it. There’s nothing better than going for a long run. What makes it even better though is the amount gadgetry available to use while you’re running. Heart rate monitors, GPS equipment, etc. But for those of us who can’t justify splashing out at least £150 plus on toys, there are always free Smartphone applications.

Last year I used Nokia Sports Tracker on my N95 8GB, which was great. So good, I seriously considered only Nokia’s for my next phone choice. But, I decided to jump the S60 ship and landed with my HTC Dream (AKA Google G1) which uses the Android operating system.

The first thing I did was search the App Market for running apps, and a few came up. I installed a couple apps and tried them out but my favourite was Buddy Runner (BR).

Buddy Runner is a GPS tracking app with a nice, simple UI. In the app itself, three tabs are visible at the top of the Screen; Workout, Map and History (my version doesn't have the settings tab as shown in the screenshot. to access settings i press the menu button).

The workout Tab shows you your Time, Distance and Pace (these can be shown in Km or Miles). In the settings panel you can change how your pace is calculated (from start, last few sec, etc). You can also set audio feedback – a nice lady will tell you your time, pace and distance every 0.5 miles, 1 mile or every 10mins, etc, depending on your preference. Personally, I turned audio feedback off. I keep my phone in a belt when i'm running so don't hear the audio notifications all the time.

The GPS is surprisingly good. With my old Nokia Sports Tracker, it would take around a minute or so before it locked but (at most) 30 seconds and Buddy runner is locked and ready to go. The map is obviously linked to Google Maps – enough said there. Again they keep things simple in the History tab too. It displays your activities to date (showing date, time & distance). You cans select an activity to expand it and show the activity details such as date, time, distance, pace, calories burned and status, which leads me onto to the good stuff.

If it wasn’t enough having a great free GPS tracking app on your phone, once you’ve finished a run, the software will automatically upload the run details and store on your own Dashboard, then email you with a link to the site. If you know your username the dashboard is easy to find as it’s www.buddyrunner.com/USERNAME.

You can see from the screenshot you get some nice graphs. Once you’ve added a few you can compare runs, see your personal bests set when using BR, etc. Another great feature is the ability to post updates on your runs to Facebook, Twitter or Friendfeed.

I’ve been out a few runs now with Buddy Runner and I still think it’s great. In comparison to Nokia Sports Tracker, you can’t get the same depth of analysis of your runs, but the UI, even that on the BR site, is a lot cleaner, simpler and easier to follow. As a cheap and simple alternative to that Garmin GPS gadget you’ve always wanted, it’s a must.

The trail sticker on the BR website banner suggests that the free period may be up soon. How long the free trial will last I’m not sure. What I do know is that if it’s not too expensive (i.e. just a few pounds), I’d buy it.

Go to www.buddyrunner.com and see what you think.

Happy running!