Xrun Review

For most people, weight control is simply calories in versus calories out. Xrun is a simple and easy to use app that helps you determine and track what is right for you and your goals. Contrary to the name, it doesn't have anything to do specifically with running. Any exercise routine works equally well since it only tracks exercise duration.

A one-time setup of your personal data (i.e., height, weight, waist and hip size) and goals takes about a minute. Entering your daily efforts is quick and easy, so no excuses for not keeping track.

Once you have some history entered in your exercise diary, your progress is presented in two charts. The "My Exercise" bar graph shows how you did compared to the goals you set for yourself, clearly displaying your level of success. The "My Weight" graph maps your weight change against a background of obese (red), overweight (yellow), your goal (labelled and dashed line), "People's Choice" (PC - your peer group, whatever that means) and the ideal weight (as published in the medical literature: US Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, according to the app's author).

It's that simple. If you need more, a ten-minute video provides examples and details.

Overall, this is a very simple version 1.0 app. For its purpose, it does what it does well. But I'd like to see future revisions bring some refinement and flexibility. For example, I don't exercise daily, so I'd prefer a settable time period. Or, perhaps settable units such as miles may make it more appropriate to my form of exercise - e.g., miles instead of just minutes. Or, an option for types of exercise to track may be helpful for some. But the value is in its simplicity, which makes it much more likely that you will use it.

Be aware that you may see some warnings about low memory when you first install. However, once I added some diary entries and restarted my iPhone (as the FAQ recommends), the app never had any issues.

If the many other fitness and health tracking applications are too complicated, or just more than you need, this app is probably for you. But I might hesitate before paying $1.99 until I see a little more flexibility and refinement, hopefully in the next revision.

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