Ultra-running with a smartphone: why an iPhone is a great activity track for long-duration events.
One of the regular ‘fads’ to do in the current era is logging your runs using some sort of smartwatch, usually from the likes of Garmin, Suunto, Polar, Fitbit, Apple, etc. However, as all require purchasing an extra device, I thought I’d re-remind everyone why using a smartphone can be an excellent option for with ultra/trail runs - that is multi-hour runs. As proof, I’ve completed a 3-day run from Courmayeur to Chamonix, a 55km Ballyhoura ultra-marathon and the 80km Raw Ultra, all while only using a smartphone for Strava and as my backup emergency device. The longest continuous activity was the Raw Ultra, which was almost 11 hours of continuous logging through Strava. With that, I used only 30-35% of the battery life in all that time: the phone could have easily tracked 30+ hours. How does this happen? Read on….
Firstly, the Safety bit
A regular perception in various circles is carrying a smartphone as your navigation device is the wrong approach. See this article in the Journal from 2013, “Your smartphone won’t keep you safe on mountain hikes” where it’s essentially stating that a smartphone is completely unusable in the hills), and by 2016, we have this this UKclimbing article “Smartphones in the Hills - Pros, Cons and Tips” acknowledging that it’s a supplement.
Thankfully, around 2016 was the start of the period where phones got ‘good enough’ to be usable. Screensizes had increased sometime around 2013-2014, however it wasn’t for another two years that battery life and the computing internals had made the necessary technical progressions to be able to sustain regular usage.
For the past few years, the only map and compass I use in the hills is a smartphone. Before everyone jumps on this, I’ll emphasise I have a lot of experience in the mountains so I’m comfortable moving around them and in serious terrain. If you’re not competent, bring a map and compass also - and even better, get some instruction from someone who is trained in the skills of map reading and mountain terrain. With that clause in mind, let’s explain:
How to Maximise Battery Life
Firstly, battery life is now amazing as long as you do three key pieces
It’s highlighted in the UKC article above: put your phone in ‘Airplane Mode’. You’re out in the mountains so shouldn’t be wasting any time checking whatever your social network is of choice, Tiktoking your life, or even messaging friends or family. You are in the outdoors so enjoy it! And not only that, your phone requires energy to connect to the mobile network. When you’re in a town or city, the nearest mobile phone tower is usually very close - in the mountains not so much, and because of this, it has to use even more power to stay connected. So, unplug the phone from the vehicle after charging it fully, and then stick it into Airplane Mode. Even if you want to log your hike, or are using the smartphone as a GPS/map, GPS still works in this mode: GPS only receives a signal and doesn’t transmit so modern smartphone don’t use much power for it.
Make sure to download your maps BEFORE you leave and while in the city where you have a good connection. I.e. make sure you prepare beforehand! The two most popular apps with excellent hill/mountain maps are ‘Trails - the Outdoor GPS logbook’, or ‘ViewRanger’ on iPhones. Both can be used for a certain amount for free, however to download offline maps, do you have to pay. Here’s the kicker: Trails is €2.29 for three months, or €5.49 for a year - a bargain.
Lastly, if you want to help battery power even more, make sure to put the phone in ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode also: in doing so it stops the screen lighting up for any notifications/reminders you may have set. Screens use the most power in a smartphone so keeping that off for when you need to use it is important too.
With those setups in mind, there’s two scenarios of battery life:
You know where you’re going and you just want to log the hike/trek/run so you’ll barely be looking at the screen all day: in this mode, battery life is amazing from a modern smartphone. With anything from around an iPhone 7 or later, you’ll easily get 24 hours of continuous tracking battery life and with an iPhone XR or an iPhone 11-era model, you’ll likely make it all the way to 48 hours. As most people go for hikes/trails for only a few hours, it means it’ll only use a tiny percentage of the battery while on the trek and leave a huge battery buffer for any unplanned incidents.
You don’t know where you’re going and you’ll be using the screen a lot: in this case, you’re now walking a finer line. Keep in mind, the screen is the most intensive for battery life. Apple gives specs of 18-hours of battery life with the screen continuously on for their newest model - older devices don’t do as well as that.. Keep that in mind, if you leave your screen on continuously for a hike of 6-7 hours, you’ve likely have used up at least 40% of the battery (as GPS is running also). That’s leaving a lot less of buffer however still a respectable amount.
In my case and all my long-distance adventures, I was either following signposts for the most part or only very infrequently having to check a map. With that scenario, the smartphone is an incredible tracker: I’d argue that the GPS accuracy is even better from a modern iPhone also than a Garmin or a Suunto!
Do you agree?
Want to join the chat on Twitter instead of using the comment box below? Here’s the Twitter thread :)