I’m working on RideWatts: an app for doing your Intervals.icu workouts on a smart trainer. My goal is to have the fastest time between opening the app and doing your workout for the day. It’s free and currently supports iOS, macOS, and Android. I have a beta that could use some testing on more trainers and input from the community.
Intervals.icu integration includes OAuth login, showing your daily workouts, your full workout library, and pulling FTP, power zones, and heart rate zones. Completed workouts can optionally be uploaded to Intervals.icu. You can link multiple accounts to one device and quickly switch between them.
Both ERG and resistance modes are supported and I’ve tested with the Tacx Neo 2 and Elite Suito. I’m looking for folks to test on other trainers and provide feedback. It should support any trainer using Bluetooth FTMS, as well as Tacx trainers that speak FE-C over BLE. If you don’t know what that means, it most likely supports yours!
You can test it out via the TestFlight and Android links here:
Note: you need to use the same Google account as your phone, and it can take a few minutes after joining the group before the Google Play Store link works.
You’ll get a one time popup asking if you’re willing to send telemetry. This is very useful for development as it logs which trainer models work and if the app crashes. If you’re not comfortable with that, you can turn it off at any time.
If you can connect your trainer and HRM and do a short ride that helps out a lot! Happy to hear any feedback or issues on this thread.
Interesting however I don’t have a smart trainer but the Zwift subscription is one of my blocker to purchase one Just to make sure I understand correctly the app : I plan a virtual ride in Intervals using %FTP then with your app for free I can follow it on my smartphone screen on the bike and then once done it’s visible in Intervals for further analysis right? I’m currently comparing models and brands with likely to purchase beginning fall.
Yep, everything gets planned in Intervals.icu which has a nice text based way of doing it, you can also import workout files into Intervals.icu.
When you want to do your workout for thee day you just select it and the app will command the trainer’s ERG mode to force you to hold the correct power for each interval. When you’re done, HR and power data go back to Intervals.icu.
As for models, most newer smart trainers are going to be fine with most apps. Definitely get a direct drive trainer that replaces your rear wheel, the wheel-on friction trainers have a number of downsides (noise, power measurement, tire wear…).
If you want to simultaneously record on another device (e.g., a Garmin watch), pick something that supports multiple connections and/or ANT+ and Bluetooth. I do this so my Garmin keeps track of all their metrics (Training Status, Training Readiness, etc…) while letting my iPad actually control the trainer. Some cheaper trainers like the Van Rysel D100 only support a single connection. The other big differentiator between models will noise and maximum power (though that is not an issue for me )
I haven’t used Auuki specifically, but my understanding is that it uses Web Bluetooth which is not supported on iOS devices. RideWatts uses Flutter + Dart which makes it fully cross platform as a native app, though I have not set up Windows or Linux builds yet.
Also, I am unsure if Auuki reads your FTP, power zones, and HR zones from Intervals.icu. Having used multiple apps and devices, it was always annoying to make sure these are set up the same in each app. RideWatts loads all of this from Intervals.icu so you only need to set it once.
Sorry about that, Google Group should be fixed now.
It does take a while before Google lets you install though. Alternatively, DM me your Google account email and I can manually add you to the testing list which seems to be much faster.
Not sure why I’d need power zones in my playback app? The workout export from intervals Auuki contains everything I need: for each interval it has power, duration and rpm targets.
Im not in the Apple ecosystem, so I don’t know whether it works for their OS.
Edit: I only just read that it is free. Lowers the importance of my concerns a bit.
I like seeing the HR zones to know which one I’m in. Power zones are maybe less useful to if you’re just doing structured workouts, though I like them for non-ERG stuff.
Glad Auuki works for you, we have an iPad for the trainer so it looks like it’s not an option. This app is mostly a thing I built to address my gripes with various apps I’ve used… it started when ROUVY had a bug disconnecting my trainer which they could/would not diagnose
Interesting idea, would you want this to be a power adjustment in ERG mode? I’d have to see how usable that is on a trainer.
Trainers use a control loop (probably a PID loop) to adjust the resistance and match the target power. Adding another control loop on top for HR to power might be a bit wonky with the two loops fighting each other, but I could give it a try. Adjusting resistance directly probably won’t, because your cadence is another variable.
Would the goal be setting an HR target and just letting the trainer do the rest? I can see that being useful for keeping long Z2 rides in Z2.
Yes, exactly. I’d like to set a HR target (band is ok, doesn’t need to be an exact number) and have the app+trainer do the rest. And the intended use is to do a Z2 ride, yes.
Hey, I think it’s doable! I have never used Core and don’t have one, but it looks like they’ve published the Bluetooth LE spec for it: CoreBodyTemp (CoreBodyTemp) · GitHub
It looks like Intervals.icu supports this via FIT files. If you send me a FIT file (you can download one from an Intervals.icu activity) that would be helpful. DM me and we can work out how to send it.
I’m willing to try to implement it if you’re willing to test
I decided to give it a go today and it worked really well very impressed.
I have a JetBlack volt trainer and it also broadcasts my heart rate. In your app I had to pair both separately. It would be great if this could collect all data via the volt trainer.
also I noticed the workout paired nicely and wrote back to intervals.icu and was very easy to setup
The final activity it would be good if the activity could have laps recorded. I did over unders with a ramp warmup and cooldown.
Also if you do create an app for windows that would be good, I normally use a laptop and have a video playing and training software running the workout.
This looks nice and will test it out as soon as possible.
One question which is not obvious to me, can I get an export of the workout when I’m done so I can import into Garmin? This is basically what Aauki does as well. It also simulates that the workout was recorded on a Garmin Edge 1030 device so Garmin actually updates the training load and readiness and all that stuff…
Garmin is rather protective of who can upload data. My understanding is they have cracked down on apps spoofing this data. I took a look at Auuki’s source and they use the same Garmin Edge 1030 Unit ID number in every ride. Garmin can easily detect and ban that Unit ID.
My current solution is to just record on both Garmin and in the app. Some metrics seem to require this (body battery, maybe others). Not ideal, but removes the need for a manual upload.
Unfortunately I have not figured out how to de-duplicate Garmin’s recordings in Intervals.icu, so this will create a duplicate activity if you upload from RideWatts to Intervals.icu and have a Garmin activity synced to Intervals.icu. You can ether not upload from RideWatts (uncheck the upload box and use Garmin’s data only) or delete the duplicate in Intervals.icu. I am looking into a fix for the duplication issue.
One other potential solution could be allowing users to import a FIT file from their Garmin, then clone the device type and Unit ID for future workouts. Still requires the manual upload step though. Would that be useful to you?
Then you should definitely check out ictrainer.com.
It offers a huge number of features (workouts, real-world route videos, video chat, etc.) for very little money (2.50 USD per month).
Workouts from intervals.icu automatically appear on the home page and can be started with a single click.
Your workout results can then be uploaded just as easily to Garmin, for example. And all bike trainers, treadmills and virtual shifters are supported.
Just to make sure I understand correctly the app : I plan a virtual ride in Intervals using %FTP then with your app for free I can follow it on my smartphone screen on the bike and then once done it’s visible in Intervals for further analysis right? I’m currently comparing models and brands with likely to purchase beginning fall.
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