Running Apps on the iPhone

I recently switched from the HTC Desire to the iPhone 4s and I’m pretty happy so far. The things that usually use on my phone and that I have to look for on the Apple app store are:

• a podcasting client
• an app to record GPS files while running
• an app for turn-by-turn navigation

The podcasting client was easy, I’ve already used instacast on my iPad, it syncs with iCloud and works perfectly for what I need.
This post deals with the second app, the running app. When I was on Android, I usually used runkeeper. It worked fine and the only downside was that I had to go to the website to get the GPX file (and they tried to hide it pretty well). On iOS, the app seemed a bit… jumpy when it comes to filtering the GPS signal:

This wasn’t really what I was looking for.
I also tried a few other ones, but most of them where targeted towards getting you on some website and wanting you to buy some sort of premium subscription.
I looked for a paid app that isn’t free but offers good value, this is where I noticed Runmeter:

The company that develops it has a nice comparison online. While this has to be taken with a grain of salt, I think they did an ok job.
Things I like:

• It has support for adding runs to the calendar after you’re done. It’s kinda neat to see your calendar and know what you’ve done next to all the other stuff.
• It is able to attach a gpx to an email and export it that way. It is also able to send customized reports with direct links. I’ll probably use this to automate the import into my custom tailored runalog (that is in dire need of a bit of code polish):
  
• It is able to customize the voice feedback. You can pretty much combine whatever information you want to hear.
• It doesn’t force me to go to any website. The only thing you have to sign up for is sending automated emails after every run. You can also use the iPhone to send those, but iOS limits apps to just popping up a prefilled “compose” window and not actually sending them. I don’t have a problem with using the developers webservice.
• It has a whole lot of social yadda yadda integrated. I don’t use it, but I like the fact that I could.

So far I am happy with the app, it’s actively being developed and the price of 4.99$ is ok for something that I use every day.
–> App store link