Genericmeter Help

Eight Things To Know

  1. If your iPhone supports multitasking, Genericmeter will continue to record your data when you receive calls, answer texts, listen to Pandora, and run other applications. Please refer to your iOS documentation to learn more about multitasking.

    If your iPhone does not support multitasking, Genericmeter must be running to record your data. The following will stop Genericmeter from running.

    If this happens, just be sure to run Genericmeter again when you are done so it can continue to record data.

  2. Genericmeter uses the iPhone's GPS to record your location, distance, speed, and elevation
  3. Lock your iPhone using the lock button on the top of your iPhone to turn off the display before putting your iPhone in your pocket or armband. This conserves battery power, and prevents accidental touches. Genericmeter also automatically stops recording after 30 minutes if your location has not changed.
  4. Genericmeter automatically keeps all your data. A few years' worth of data will only consume space on your iPhone equal to the size of a few songs. Items can be deleted or edited by navigating to them in the Calendar or Routes views, and touching Edit.
  5. Use Genericmeter just like a stopwatch. In the Stopwatch view, touch Start when you start or continue, Stop when you need to pause or are finished, and then Done when you are completely done. Touch Reset when you are ready to start again.
  6. Add data manually. Forget to take your iPhone? No problem, just go to the Calendar view and touch +, or go to the Routes view, choose a route, and touch + / Edit.
  7. Genericmeter can be used for many activities including riding, running, walking, and more. Tap the Activity button in the upper right corner of the Stopwatch view, and choose (or create) the activity you want. You can do this before or after you press Start, or anytime before you press Done. You can also edit the item later to change the activity.
  8. Create and use routes when you travel along the same path. That way, Genericmeter will give you data that can rapidly help you improve. Read on...

Using Routes

Routes organize and compare your performance data. By creating a route and continuing to use it when following the same path, you can see your progress in the Map, Calendar, Graphs, and Routes views. Genericmeter rates your performance along a route using these icons:

Best Best
Better Better
Median Median
Worse Worse
Worst Worst

To create or rename a route, touch the Route button in the upper left of the Stopwatch view, then press + / Edit. Tap Add Route to add a route, or a route name to edit its name or settings.

Select a route before or after your start to associate your path with the route. You can also edit the item later to change its route.

Simply leave New Route selected when you have no need to group the workout with a route. You will still see those paths in the Calendar view and the Routes view under All.

The following settings may be changed for each route:

Best, Median, Worst - If on, shows your best, median, and worst workouts for the route, and competes against them when recording.

Competitors - If on, competes against your competitors for the route when recording.

Icons on Map - If on, best, median, worst, and competitor icons will appear on the map.

Icons on Graph - If on, best, median, worst, and competitor icons will appear on the graph.

Official Path - If on, the official path will appear on the map and graph.

Official Distance and Official Time set values used when calculating Remaining Distance and Remaining Time in the Stopwatch, and also for Announcements, Twitter, Facebook, and Email Updates. Change these settings to non-zero values to set distance and time goals for the route.

On Done Use Official Distance - If on, when Done is pressed on the Stopwatch, the official distance will be used instead of the recorded distance.

The Views

Stopwatch

Touch Start or Stop as you would with any stopwatch to start, pause, continue, and stop. Press Done when you are completely finished, and the data will be recorded in the Calendar and Routes views. Press Reset to get Genericmeter ready to start again. See Remote Control to learn how to use your earphone remote to start and stop.

Map

The Map view shows your current path as a dotted blue line. If you are following a route, it also shows the official path as a purple line, and icons for the best, median, worst, and competitors for that route. Use the left button in the navigation bar to zoom in and track your current location. Use the right button to zoom out to the whole route. Pinch to zoom in and out, and double-tap to zoom in.

Calendar

The Calendar view shows your data by day of month, including icons for best, median, and worst. Touch Weeks, Months, and Years to see summaries. Touch + to add data for the selected day.

See Calendar Settings for more information about sharing the Genericmeter Calendar with your iPhone Calendar.

Routes

The Routes view shows and manages your routes and history. Tap + / Edit to add or delete a route, or tap a route to change its name and settings, or to view its History and Leaderboard. The All item contains all of your data ordered by date.

See Using Routes for more information.

Graphs

The Graphs view shows your pace and elevation. Your current elevation path is shown as a dotted blue line, and the official path elevation is shown as a purple line.

Remote Control

The Remote Control view allows you to start and stop the Stopwatch, even when it is locked, and in your pocket, armband, or bike mount. Just slowly double-click your earphone remote (about a second apart) to stop or start. Remote Control start and stop capability is off by default. Remote Control also comes preconfigured to play an announcement when the iPhone's iPod is paused. This behavior may be changed to never play an announcement, or to silence the iPod and play an announcement on every click of the remote.

Note: Remote Control functions in Genericmeter only work with the iPod application, and not other audio applications such as Pandora.

Announcements

The Announcements view controls how Genericmeter speaks your pace, average, distance, and much more. Announcements can be heard on time or distance intervals, or on request using Remote Control. You can customize which of the 20 different announcements are heard, and in which order you hear them. To silence an announcement in progress, click the earphone remote.

Twitter

The Twitter view controls tweets that allow your coaches, friends, and family to view your progress. If you have signed in with Twitter, a tweet will be sent when you tap the Start button, and also when you finish by tapping the Done button.

When someone replies to your tweets, you will hear their reply spoken using text-to-speech technology. You can turn off this option, or set it to speak every tweet from friends. You can also create a list of Twitter users whose tweets are the only ones you want to hear.

You can configure what you would like Twitter to send when you stop, start, continue, or finish. You can have tweets sent at time intervals and distance intervals. You can also choose to exclude a link to a map of your current location, which is updated every 5 minutes.

Facebook

The Facebook view controls posts that allow your coaches, friends, and family to view your progress. If you have connected with Facebook, a post will be sent when you tap the Start button, and also when you finish by tapping the Done button.

When someone comments on your post, you will hear their comment spoken using text-to-speech technology. You can turn off this option. You can also create a list of Facebook friends whose comments are the only ones you want to hear.

You can configure what you would like Facebook to send when you stop, start, continue, or finish. You can have postings sent at time intervals and distance intervals. You can also choose to exclude a link to a map of your current location, which is updated every 5 minutes.

Email Updates

The Email Updates view controls emails that are automatically sent to your coaches, friends, and family to notify them of your route and location. Enter the email addresses of the people you want notified, and then emails will be sent when you tap the Start button, and also when you finish by tapping the Done button.

You can configure what you would like to be included in the emails. You can have postings sent at time intervals and distance intervals, or when you stop or continue the Stopwatch. You can also choose to exclude a link to a map of your current location, which is updated every 5 minutes.

Competitors

The Competitors view is used to browse and manage your competitors. The first competitor in the list is called Me by default, and is used for your workouts. Other competitors and their workouts are usually created during an import.

Competitors may be added or deleted by tapping + / Edit. Tap a competitor name to edit its name, initials, icons, and sharing options, and to see its history.

Register

The Register view is used to send your email and name with us. Set Receive Map to On to have an email sent with data and a map link after you press Done to finish a workout. Set Receive News to On to receive news of product updates. We will not share your email address with anyone.

Help, About

The Help view and the About view provide information about the product and us.

Settings

The Settings view contains:

When Stop Detection is ON, any time that you are stopped is attributed to stopped time and not elapsed time, and will not affect your average pace or speed. Before the stop is detected, elapsed time will continue to accumulate, but is rolled back to the beginning of the detected stop. When you start moving again, time will resume being attributed to elapsed time.

Offline Mode prevents Genericmeter from accessing the Internet, but it will continue to record your time, distance, speed, elevation, and path. This is useful if you want to avoid data access charges. Offline mode also helps minimize battery usage, because Map downloads, Twitter, Facebook, and Email Updates will not occur.

Distance and Weight control what units to use. Your Weight is used for calorie calculations.

Stopwatch Settings

Stopwatch Shows customizes what is shown in the Stopwatch.

Default Route sets the route that will be selected after the Reset button is tapped in the Stopwatch.

Run Shows and Walk Shows control whether running and walking display velocity as Pace (time / distance) or Speed (distance / time). This also may be changed by editing any Activity.

The Proximity Sensor turns off the touchscreen and dims the display when any part of your body is nearby, such as when you put your iPhone into your pocket. However, because the display is still powered, your battery will drain faster. Instead, we recommend that you use the top lock button to lock your iPhone before you put it into your pocket with our app running.

Landscape Mode lets you to turn your iPhone to landscape left to see the Map, or landscape right to see the Graphs when you are viewing the Stopwatch.

Twitter Settings

See Twitter.

Facebook Settings

See Facebook.

Email Updates Settings

See Email Updates.

Voices

Genericmeter has a built-in voice that speaks your announcements. Additional voices may be purchased that can also speak replies from Twitter, Facebook, and dailymile. Uses Acapela speech technologies licensed from the Acapela Group.

Calendar Settings

When Sync On Done is ON, your workout is synchronized to your iPhone Calendar when you tap the Done button in the Stopwatch view, and when a workout is edited. This is useful because the iPhone Calendar may be shared with iCal or Outlook, and with external calendars, such as Google Calendar or Microsoft Exchange.

Calendar is the specific calendar that is synchronized with the Genericmeter Calendar. We recommend that you create a separate calendar on the iPhone to store your workouts to more easily control sharing and display.

Title customizes what is included in the calendar item title.

Note customizes what is included in the calendar item note.

All Day Event causes your workout to be synchronized as an all day event.

Tap Sync All Now to synchronize all workouts in the Genericmeter Calendar to the iPhone Calendar.

Tap Remove All Now to remove all workouts from your iPhone's Calendar.

New Route Settings

Official Distance and Official Time set values used when calculating Remaining Distance and Remaining Time in the Stopwatch, and also for Announcements, Twitter, Facebook, and Email Updates. Change these settings to non-zero values to set distance and time goals for individual workouts for New Route.

Advanced Settings

Screen On controls whether the display auto-locks according to your iPhone's setting, is always on, or is on only while recording.

Use Location controls whether you allow Genericmeter to access the iPhone's GPS. This should typically be ON.

Best controls what measure is used to order the best through worst workouts of a route.

Poor GPS Time is a troubleshooting tool that causes the Stopwatch to show the time in which the GPS accuracy was unacceptable. It will only show such time if it is greater than zero seconds. It will also show an alert after the workout if the Poor GPS Time exceeds certain thresholds to guide you through remedies that have helped other customers.

Distance Markers shows or hides the distance markers in the Map.

Graphs Limit controls whether graphs are clipped at two times their averages so more overall detail is shown.

Power Off Remote After sets the time after which Genericmeter will stop listening for a remote control start request (a slow double-click), so as to save battery life.

Upload Map Every 5 Minutes controls whether maps are uploaded so that your Twitter, Facebook, and Email Updates recipients can view them. A map is always uploaded whenever a Map Link is posted in Twitter, Facebook, or Email Updates.

GPX Import Uses Local Time Zone controls whether standard UTC time is used (the default) or if the local time zone is used during import.

The Support Key is a special password that unlocks additional capabilities. It is used by the Abvio team for debugging and demonstration uses.

Import

Genericmeter can import GPX and KML files for uses which include:

  1. Import a file as the official path for a route, so you can see where you are going on the map and elevation graph.
  2. Import a file as a virtual competitor, so you can compete against the competitor, hear announcements of how far you are ahead or behind, and see their location on the map and graphs.
  3. Import files of your previously recorded workouts from other social fitness sites and applications, so you can view your workout history in Genericmeter. Note that only some social fitness sites and applications allow you to export the necessary information.

GPX is the preferred format for exchanging geographic information. KML import is limited to the KML files created by Genericmeter.

How to Import

  1. On your iPhone, tap the link or mail attachment you want to import in Mail, Safari, or other applications.
  2. You will be prompted about which application you want to open the file. Choose Genericmeter.
  3. Genericmeter will be launched, and will display a page showing a map and settings. You can accept the defaults, or adjust the following:

    Route - Choose an existing route from the list of choices, or tap + / Edit to create a new route.

    Activity - Choose an activity from the list of choices, or tap + / Edit to create a new activity.

    Competitor - Choose an existing competitor from the list of choices, or tap + / Edit to create a new competitor. Choose the competitor named Me by default to include this workout in your history.

    You can also choose whether to import the file as a path or as a workout.
  4. Tap Import. The file will be imported, and you will be shown the Info page for that workout.

Using Imported Files

Results of your import can be viewed using the Routes and Competitors views.

Finding GPX and KML Files To Import

The easiest way to find files to import is through other people who use Genericmeter.

You can also find GPX files on the Internet to import. Some GPX files contain only location information, in which case they can only be imported as a path. Some may also include timing information, in which case they can be imported as a path or a workout.

Because most social fitness sites are not adapted for mobile browsing, here is the most reliable way to import GPX files from them:

  1. On your computer, browse the social fitness site to find the GPX file you want. Then click on it to download it.
  2. On your computer, send yourself the GPX file as an attachment to your own email address.
  3. On your iPhone, receive the email, and then tap on the attachment to start the import process as described above.

Export

Genericmeter has many ways to export your data.

Exporting a Single Workout as GPX, KML, or CSV

  1. Tap the Routes tab.
  2. Tap a route name or All.
  3. Tap History to see the list of workouts for that route.
  4. Tap the workout you want to export.
  5. Tap Email/Export. (Alternatively, tap Splits to view and export split information as a CSV file or URL.)
  6. Choose what you want to share, and whether you want to share as a file attachment, or as a URL to a file on Abvio's site.

  7. Send the email to yourself or someone else.

Note: You can also start with the Calendar tab to navigate to a workout to export, then continue with #5 above.

Export Summary Data as CSV

  1. Tap the Routes tab.
  2. Tap a route name to export a summary for that route, or All to export a summary of all workouts.
  3. Tap the Email/Export button.
  4. Choose whether you want to export a CSV file as an attachment, or as a URL to a file on Abvio's site.
  5. Send the email to yourself or someone else. A CSV file or URL will be sent that includes all of the workouts associated with that route name, or all of your workouts if you chose All.

Send an Update Using Twitter, Facebook, or Email Updates

You can send updates automatically using Twitter, Facebook, and Email Updates.To send updates manually, use the following steps:

  1. Tap the Routes tab.
  2. Tap a route name or All.
  3. Tap History to see the list of workouts for that route.
  4. Tap the workout you want to export.
  5. Tap Send Update.
  6. Choose one of Twitter, Facebook, or Email Updates.
  7. Review or modify the text that will be posted.
  8. Tap Send.

Note: You can also start with the Calendar tab to navigate to a workout to send, then continue with #5 above.

Tips and Tricks

  1. Listen to music. Before you launch Genericmeter, get set up to listen to music. Launch the iPod app, and then start your music, podcasts, or playlists. Then launch Genericmeter, select your route, and touch Start. While you are underway, click your earphone control once to stop or start your music, twice quickly to skip ahead to the next track in your playlist, and three times quickly to skip backward in your playlist.

    Power Tip: Use your iPhone's Voice Control to control your music and get information. Press and hold your earphone remote until you hear the Voice Control tone, then say commands such as:

    See your iPhone documentation for information about Voice Control.

    Important: If your iPhone does not support multitasking, and during your workout you run the iPod application to change music, be sure to run Genericmeter again when you're done so it can continue to record.

  2. Leave your iPhone in your pocket. Turn on Remote Control in the Remote Control view, and then you can slowly double-click your earphone remote (about a second apart) to start and stop.
  3. Create custom activities. Want to add an activity like "Nordic Walking"? Just visit the Stopwatch view, tap the Activities button to view the list of activities, then tap Edit to add a new activity or change an existing activity. You can give each activity a custom name, decide whether to use pace (time over distance) or speed (distance over time), choose the distance measure, and set other characteristics. Be sure to chose an activity type that closely matches the speed of the intended activity.
  4. Reviewing past performance. To review an item in the Stopwatch, Map, or Graphs views, navigate to the item from the Calendar or the Routes views. Then touch the summary, the map or graphs, and you will be prompted to review the item. When you are done reviewing, touch Reset in the Stopwatch view.
  5. View the Map and Graphs in landscape. Want to see your map and graphs in landscape? Go to the Settings view, tap Stopwatch, and turn on Landscape mode. Then, whenever you are viewing the Stopwatch, you can turn your phone to landscape left to see the Map, or landscape right to see the Graphs.
  6. Start counting calories. Go to the Settings view, enter your weight, and then calories will be counted and can be shown in the Stopwatch view by changing Stopwatch Shows in the Settings view, under Stopwatch.
  7. Cycling safely with earphones. For safety, use only one earphone, and keep the other tucked inside your jersey. Go to Remote Control view and set announcements to occur on every click, which disables iPod Audio. Go to the Announcements view and set announcements to occur on a time or distance interval. Use your remote to start or stop the stopwatch, or to request an announcement.
  8. Cycling with a bike mount. If you cycle with a bike mount and want the display to stay on during your ride, tap More, then Settings, then Advanced, and change Screen On to either Always or When Recording.
  9. Battery tips:

GPS Troubleshooting

Genericmeter uses the iPhone's internal GPS to determine your location over time. While Genericmeter employs advanced technology to filter out bad data, it is still dependent on the quality of the location data reported by the iPhone.

Symptoms that Genericmeter has received bad data from the iPhone include:

The following suggestions have worked for many of our customers.

Check that Location Services is Enabled - Using the Settings application on your iPhone, tap General, then Location Services, and check that Location Services are enabled for Genericmeter.

Restart Your iPhone if GPS Reception is Consistently Poor - When iPhone GPS reception is consistently poor, try completely shutting down the iPhone and then restarting. To do so, hold down the Lock button on the top the iPhone and then Slide to Power Off. Wait until the iPhone is completely powered off. Then turn on the iPhone by holding down the Lock button until the iPhone starts. Restarting the iPhone has helped us as well as many of our customers in the past.

Turn Off 3G - Launch your iPhone Settings application, then tap General, then Network. Turn off 3G. After your workout, you can turn it back on and leave it on. (We believe this helps when the iPhone caches bad location data. Turning off 3G clears out this data.)

Use Our Latest Software - Make sure you're using our latest software. We are constantly improving our software and making it better able to handle GPS inaccuracies.

Restart iPhone After Updates - After you install a new version of Genericmeter, restart the iPhone. Our users have reported GPS reception issues after updating that are cleared only by restarting the iPhone.

Wait for Good GPS Reception Before Starting - After launching Genericmeter, wait several seconds for the iPhone GPS to warm up and report good GPS reception. If Genericmeter displays the Poor GPS Reception alert, please wait until the GPS status in the lower left of the Stopwatch shows 3 bars or more.

GPS Reception Is Poor Indoors - GPS reception is usually unacceptable indoors, because steel, wood, or concrete may be in the way of locking onto satellites.

GPS Reception May Seem Acceptable in the iPhone Maps App - Genericmeter requires sufficient GPS accuracy to track your activity, while the Maps app requires less to determine your general location. If you look closely at the Maps app display, you may see a large blue circle around your location indicating poor accuracy. When GPS accuracy is low, the iPhone uses Wi-Fi and cell phone tower location sensing to determine your general location, which is not accurate enough for tracking your workouts.

How You Carry Your iPhone Can Affect GPS Reception - The iPhone needs to see at least 3 of the 24 GPS satellites circling the earth to get a lock on your position. Your body absorbs some of the signal. Most people keep their phone in a pocket, an armband, or in the back pocket of a jersey. Try not to have the iPhone near metal, such as a metal zipper or bike tools.

Your Case Could Affect GPS Reception - If your iPhone is in a case you may want to try removing it and see if you get better GPS reception. Some of our customers have reported that they get better GPS reception once they remove their iPhone from the case. We carry ours in a form-fitting plastic bag without a case.

Tall Buildings and Trees Affect GPS Reception - Tall buildings, trees, terrain, mountains, walls or cliffs, etc. can reduce GPS reception.

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) Can Affect GPS Reception - RFI may interfere with GPS reception. Typical sources of intense RFI include microwave antennas, satellite dishes and especially power lines.

Monitor Poor GPS Time - Genericmeter will report the time that GPS reception was unacceptable in red next to the GPS indicator in the Stopwatch, and show an alert when tapping Done after a workout. To turn this off or adjust the value at which it occurs, see Poor GPS Time in Settings.

Turn Off Wi-Fi - When the iPhone cannot obtain acceptable location information from the GPS because of poor GPS reception, the iPhone will instead rely on less accurate information from a nearby Wi-Fi hotspot or cell phone tower location. That in turn may lead to an inaccurate determination of your location and poor results. One possible remedy is to turn off Wi-Fi during your activity, which also conserves battery power.

Use iPhone Within Acceptable Operating Temperatures - Apple has published the acceptable operating temperatures for the iPhone. Outside of those temperatures, the iPhone GPS may report erroneous or inaccurate location information to Genericmeter.

Edit Your Statistics - Even if you follow all of the guidelines we've outlined, from time to time GPS reception issues may cause Genericmeter to record erroneous results. Genericmeter allows you to edit the statistics on your activity such as the distance, time, climb, calories, etc. Feel free to edit your statistics after your workout.

Lock Your iPhone - Before you put your iPhone into your pocket, be sure to press the top lock button. This locks the iPhone, but Genericmeter will continue to record data. This also reduces battery usage by powering down the display. Note that you can use Remote Control to start and stop Genericmeter while it is in your pocket and locked.

Genericmeter Must Be Running to Record Data - If your iPhone does not support multitasking, make sure that Genericmeter runs continuously during your workout. If you answer a phone call, reply to a text, or use the iPod application to change music, just be sure to run Genericmeter again when you are done. Some of our customers have reported a habit of pressing the home button before putting their phone into their pocket, which is something to avoid.

Genericmeter Requires GPS Capabilities - The iPod touch, iPhone first generation, and some iPad models do not have GPS capabilties. While they can generally determine their location, this is through the use of cell phone towers or wi-fi locations, which are not reliable or accurate enough.

We Are Happy To Help - Write to us at support@abvio.com, and we will be happy to answer any question or help with any issue.


Thanks for being our customer! Please send comments and suggestions to feedback@abvio.com, and also rate Genericmeter in the App Store.

The Abvio Team