Proposed App Feature : Active Background Mode

[JPCH]

I'm still frustrated by the Battery Life issue, typically for this use case:
- Etape du Tour, 197 km, 4 passes, 5000+ m of climbing, 10+ hours, a call at the end to inform my wife
- Ibike used for power based pacing + performances logging

I think that with the multi-tasking of iOS, there is a hope if the iBike App is designed to continue activity while in the background with periodic notification of key parameters (MotionX has exactly this capability).
The sequence would be:
- Disable all power hungry features (including GPS if needed)
- Activate recording from the app
- Quit the application
- 1 minutes later the screen is switched OFF automatically
- Periodically (let say every 5'), the app notifies me visually and vocally of a few programmable parameters, for example
Vocal: distance, altitude, power during the last 5'
Visual: idem + HR + elapsed time + ...
- Screen switched OFF again
...
- At any time, I could reenter the app and use the full display mode.

This mode seems ideal for this kind use case, I would use it very often (instead of having to go back to Garmin).

Let me know if it looks possible for Velocomp to implement the feature before the season starts.

JP

[Velocomp]

This is a good idea and we will take a look at it!

[lorduintah]

There was some interesting information on another thread.

It dealt with turning off other apps - deliberately - that could be running in the background.

Double click the home button to show the list of apps that have been in queue for multitasking.

Hold the contact on one of them until they shake with a <-> red minus flag next to each. Touch and keep contact on the red minus and the app will be removed from the multitasking sue. Do this for all the icons as they march through this panel and I believe you have emptied out the multitasking apps - which could inevitably lower battery consumption.

Tom

[JPCH]

Just to get an idea of the potential, I did the following test:
- iPhone 3GS fully charged
- Flight mode: no 2G/3G, no WiFi, no GPS
- fresh environment: all other apps closed
- Screen's brightness set to the minimum
- app running alone for as long as possible

Result: after 10 hours, 18% of battery left. Everything was still responding (speed, cadence, slope, wind, cardio ...)

My conclusions:
- A 10+ hours of autonomy seems perfectly possible in the active background mode (and probably much more)
- I would like to have this feature asap (it's a key feature for the product)

[sun]

Another suggestion.

- Add color display feature to 'DFPM' field like 'Power' field in iDash's screens
- Add DFPM field in to 'Interval Workout' program screen, or customizable
- GPX routing function like garmin edge.
- Voice announcements.
- Continuous CdA
- LTHR. After completing a 'Perform fitness test', average HR set to Max HR. It should be set to LTHR.

Please refer 'Cyclemeter' app. It is a very powerful cycling app.
Thanks.