GOOGLEMAPSVS
CITYMAPPER
betweenRunkeeperandMapMyRun.
AlthoughI personalpreferthedesignof
Runkeeper(I’lltakeRunkeeper’s pastelcolours
andfriendlyfontsovertheboringbluesand
whiteofMapMyRunanyday),I’mgoingto
havetocallthissectionasa draw, basedon
thetechnicalstuff.
EverythingElse
Althoughtheirbasicfunctionalitiesare nearly
identical,bothRunkeeperandMapMyRun
offerplentyofotherfeaturesbeyondsimply
keepingtrackofyouwhileyoujogaroundthe
neighbourhood.Forinstance,inRunkeeper,
thesocialelementoftheappis a fairly
prominentfeature.
Asmentionedearlier, Runkeepercan
belinkedtoFacebook.Butevenif you
don’t dothis,youcanstilladdyourfellow
fitnessfanaticfriendstoadda bitofsocial
interactiontoproceedings.
Onceyouadda fewfriends,you’ll
findyourselfkeepinganeyeoutfor
theirprogress.Maybeyou’llevensenda
supportive‘Like’orcommenttheirway
fromtimetotime.You canalsogoforruns
together, andlogtheresultantstatsasa duo
(Runkeeperencouragescollaborationand
camaraderieovercompetitiveness).Making
a socialnetworkoutofexerciseregimesis
a greatidea,addinga friendlycommunity
feeltoanactivitythatcanoftenbeseenas
boringorisolated.
Beyondjustmonitoringyourrandom
runningroutes,Runkeeperalsooffersa wide
rangeoffitnessplansandallowsyoutoset
specifictargetslike‘Run10KbyJanuary.’
You canalsouseRunkeepertomonitor
otheractivities,includingcycling,hiking,
skiing,skatingandrowing.Asanall-in-one
fitnesscompanionapp,it’s hard tofault,in
allhonesty.
MapMyRunalsohasa socialelement,
butit isn’t asprominentonthemobile
app.WhileRunkeeperhasaneasilyacessed
‘Friends’tabinthebottomrightofthepageatalltimes,MapMyRunrequiresyoutoclick
intoa sidemenuandthenselect‘Activity
Feed’inordertoseewhatyourfriendsare
upto.It’s a smalldifference,butthismakes
thesocialelementseemlesscentraltothe
MapMyRunexperience.
I’vebeenusingbothappsonandoff
fora coupleofweeks,andthere certainly
seemstobea bitmore sociabilityon
Runkeeper. Thatcouldonlybeaccurateto
mygroupoffriends,though,admittedly.
It’s worthnotingthatMapMyRun
supportsa widerrangeofexercisetypes
thanRunkeeper, though.Aswellasthe
oneslistedabove,youcanalsomeasure
boxing,canoeing,cricket,football,hockey
andmanyothersportsonMapMyRun.
Bothappsalsohavea paidpremium
service.MapMyRun’s ‘MVP’servicecosts
£4.99a monthor£22.99peryear, and
includesextrabenefitssuchasbroadcasting
yourrunningstatisticslive,advertremoval,
more trainingplansandaudiocoaching.
The‘RunkeeperGo’upgradewill
costyou£7.99a month£29.99a year,
butithassomecoolerupgradesto
justifytheslightlybiggerprice:youcan
getRunkeepertomakeyoua pace-
basedpersonalisedmusicplaylistand
accessweatheranalysis,aswellaslive-
broadcastingyourrunningstats.
Winner:Runkeeperedgesit thanksto
bettersocialintegrationandthatcool
bespokeplaylistfeature.
Overallwinner:Runkeeeperwins.
ThishasbeenourclosestAppBattleyet,
though,becausetheactualservicesoffered
here are literallyexactlythesame.But
Runkeeperlooksnicerandseemstowork
bettersocially. If youreallywanttomonitor
someboxingorcanoeing,though,you’ll
needtoswaptoMapMyRun.mm