Do you bike, hike, ski or perform any activity that involves lots of hills? Did you ever wonder just how much climbing and descending you're doing? If so, Elevation Tracker is for you. This app uses the iPhone's GPS receiver to track elevation changes, and displays an elevation profile in real time. It also shows statistics including:
- Starting, ending, minimum and maximum elevation
- Total climbing and descending
- Average gradient (climbing and descending)
- Maximum gradient (climbing and descending)
- Time moving, time climbing and time descending
- Distance
- Average speed and maximum speed
You can view these statistics for a portion of your route by dragging the range selectors across the profile. For example, you can check the altitude gain for one particular climb or compare your average speed on different climbs.
The free download lets you track one trip at a time, resetting your data between trips. You can add these features as in-app purchases after download the app:
- Save previous routes: After you finish a route, you can save it and it will appear in the History tab for future reference. ($1.99)
- Email route data and profile images: If you want to share your route data, you can send an email message containing the final stats and the profile image. You can send this message directly to a friend, or post it on your Facebook wall by emailing to your personal Facebook publishing address. ($.99 and requires the History upgrade)
- Update from an elevation database: GPS is never as accurate for elevation as it is for location. If you'd like your data to be more accurate, you can connect to an online database to overlay the GPS data with more accurate geological survey data. Data is provided by gpsvisualizer.com, which is free but accepts donations. ($1.99 and requires the History upgrade)
The app works in the background or with your device locked, and can run alongside other GPS apps you might be using. Give it a try!
