Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I should have known. I thought it would be easy.

The iPhone 4s has bluetooth.  The Scosche MyTrek works with the iPhone via bluetooth.  All good as Apple is known for it’s integration and ease of use it would work beautifully.

Alas no.

Failures of scosche mytrek - where to begin.  The Scosche MyTrek software does not integrate with other popular activity tracking software like runkeeper, endmondo pro, etc neither does it utilise the inbuilt GPS for mapping your running/cycling route. So what does it do ? Well you can record your heartbeat, excellent! Apart from it doesn’t.  On one occasion it never recorded a run, on another occasion whilst at rest it was recording erratic heart beats. I then compared it to a heart rate monitor with a chest strap, at times the Scosche was 20 beats out.  I think the issue is that the Scosche Mytrek needs to be in a certain position on your arm to make it work, however as you move the device moves so it is not always in the proper position to read your heartbeat correctly.  In other words it is flawed. I like the concept but only if it works as advertised.

I tried to return the Scosche MyTrek to Apple’s store in Chatswood, but apparently I would have needed to have returned it within 2 weeks of me purchasing it.  As it was a Christmas gift that wasn’t possible. However, Apple allow you to return items 2 weeks after Christmas but unfortunately I went away after Christmas and tried to return the unit at the end of January! OK this is pure rubbish!! If I had bought it from Myer or David Jones they would have allowed me to return it for a credit note or for an alternative.  Apple do not sell an alternative.  So a credit note would have been good.

In the mean time I bought a  Polar Wearlink+ Bluetooth as the iPhone comes with a Bluetooth stack, but alas Apple in their infinite wisdom cripple the bluetooth stack so that only some devices and some type of devices work with it.  On Android this works seamlessly.  There is nothing in the manual or the box to say it does not work with the iPhone only with compatible devices. Polar do not produce an ANT+ compatible heart rate monitor, but that seems to be the only way to talk to the iPhone.  However, to get ANT+ to work with the iPhone you need to use a dongle, whilst this works it is not a good solution.

Dear Apple it should not be this hard.