The recent release of CardioTrainer v2.4 was a particularly bumpy experience for our team, but we wanted to share a bit about what was going on the behind the scenes to help explain some of the problems and how we tackled the issues. Every day is a new adventure, especially these few days (May 17-21) because half of our engineering team was in New York while the other half was at the Google I/O conference in California. We are constantly learning about new ways to deal with problems and keep our users happy and informed, so a very special thank you to everyone for your patience and help. We can’t do it without you!

Very early Tuesday morning, after a long weekend of coding, testing, and reviewing, CardioTrainer v2.4 was uploaded to the Android Market. Since Mark and Artem had a 9AM flight to California for the 2010 Google I/O conference, the team was working under a tight deadline to have everything done before they had to leave for the airport. After the update was finally released around 1AM, there were reports of issues with Android 1.5 devices. Mark stayed up fixing the bugs and pushed out another update right before he and Artem took off for the airport at 7AM. When the rest of the WorkSmart Labs team arrived later that morning, the support email account was filled with messages from frustrated users who couldn’t open the application or find it on their phone, and others were reporting that the application’s size had ballooned to almost 10MB. There were still issues with the latest release, and the unexpected problems would require some immediate attention to figure out what was going wrong.

Armed with Skype and an in-flight WiFi connection at 30,000 feet in sky, the WorkSmart Labs engineering team held a virtual meeting to discuss the problems. With two engineers in New York and two in a plane en route to California, they discussed the issue and soon found that new copyright controls had been accidentally activated when the application was published. This had inflated the size of the application, removed the CardioTrainer heart logo, and changed the name to “com.wsl.CardioTrainer.BeforeBeginActivity.” For some people, it was impossible to open the app because it would keep force-closing. The copyright settings were adjusted on the Android Market, but this wouldn’t help those who had already downloaded version 2.4; getting it fixed for everyone else would require pushing another CardioTrainer update to the Market.

In general, developers try to be strategic about releasing updates to their application. Frequent updates can be frustrating for users, and can also go unnoticed if the Android Market doesn’t send out notifications about the newer versions. Sometimes unplanned updates are unavoidable, but the goal is to minimize these situations as much as possible. Luckily, we have lots of enthusiastic and dedicated users who are eager to help us debug CardioTrainer problems, and this allows us to test fixes without inconveniencing the majority. We commissioned help from some people who had reported problems, sent out test versions of the application, and waited for the feedback. Soon everyone reported back with good news: the new fixes had worked, but with one unfortunate side-effect: their workout history was gone. It turns out that if you updated from v2.4 to v2.4.1, the change in copyright settings forced the application to clear it’s user information, but updating from v.2.3.1 to v2.4.1 wouldn’t cause any problems.

If you’ve been exercising with CardioTrainer, you’ve probably had that satisfying feeling of accomplishment when looking at your workout history; it’s an awesome overview of how many calories you’ve burned and how active you’ve been over the past few days. You might have also had the frustrating experience of losing your entire workout history when switching to a new phone or resetting your device. While it’s possible to back up your tracks to your SD card, the ultimate goal is to have two-way sync between the CardioTrainer website and the mobile application. Our team hasn’t had the chance to fully develop this system yet, and it’s always painful for us to hear that workout histories are being lost. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any choice but to stomach the issue as an unforeseen and unavoidable circumstance for some users. The good news is that the CardioTrainer v2.4.1 update on Tuesday evening should have fixed most of the reported issues. Additionally, after more brainstorming and testing, a new version of Move Your Bot was also released on Wednesday to resolve the Facebook problems and added a couple more features. The whole process was a delicate balance of development, testing, fast research, tough decisions and cross-country communication.

Despite all of the work getting the unexpected bugs fixed, we’re really excited about everything included in the latest version of CardioTrainer. We’ve updated the home screen design and introduced the Move Your Bot game. Move Your Bot is designed help motivate everyone to exercise and use the rewards from that exercise inside the game. We have also added an Autostart feature that makes it even easier to record a workout: open CardioTrainer, click “Start Workout” and the application will automatically start counting down, eventually announcing “3, 2, 1, workout started!”

We are definitely aware of the many things that are still in need of improvement, but as always, we just ask that everyone be patient as we move forward with development. The feedback over the past few days has been incredibly helpful, and we can only hope that it continues as more features and improvements are released. Please continue to share your ideas, and be as specific as possible when reporting problems. All of this will continue to make it easier and more fun to exercise and be healthy, with a little help from CardioTrainer.

We get lots of messages from users asking for recommendations on how to carry their phone during their workouts. Many people are new to the idea of taking their phone with them when they exercise, but it’s an important part of the CardioTrainer experience. We’ve done research on what options are available, and also listened to feedback from our users on Facebook and in the CardioTrainer User Group. We would like to share our suggestions for what equipment is essential to have the best experience when working out with CardioTrainer.

Armbands: The biggest advantage to having your phone on your arm during workouts is that you’ll have easy access to CardioTrainer in case you have to pause or change a setting. You can still use the phone’s touch screen through the case’s plastic screen, which means you don’t have to keep taking it out and putting it back in again. Our favorite armband that we have tested so far has been this Tune Belt Sport Armband model that fits lots of different shapes and sizes of Android phones on the market now (HTC G1, Motorola Droid, Google Nexus; also note that any of the armbands designed for iPhones also work very well). Some people love using an armband, but others have reported that it’s uncomfortable, especially if it’s too tight, and that it can give you an uneven weight distribution. Also, as the weather gets nicer, you’ll have to watch out for that armband tan!

Around the waist: If you would rather not have the phone on your arm, we really like the iFitness Running Belt because it’s very comfortable, has room for keys and ID, and lets you snake out your headphones for listening to music. Using a Body Glove Snap-On Cover, which also folds into a stand, works well too. If you’re going to be moving around a lot, just make sure the belt clip is locked so it doesn’t swing freely. The big disadvantage to having your phone around your waist when working out is that the phone isn’t easy accessible. However, it gets the device out of your way and makes it easy to run your headphones under your shirt so the cord bounces around less.

In the pocket: Other users have just said that they leave their phone in their pocket. If you do mostly walking, this is a perfect solution because it’s simple and won’t cost anything extra.

A note on counting steps and GPS reception: As long as your phone is held somewhere on your body, whether it be arm, waist or pocket, you won’t have a problem getting GPS reception or counting your steps. Clothing won’t interfere with the GPS signal, so it is not necessary to wear thin clothing or hold the device in your hand. If you’re on the treadmill and using the pedometer to track your exercise, it’s important that the device is placed somewhere that lets the device get a conistent measure of where you’re going.

Headphones: Bluetooth headsets, such as the Altec Lansing Backbeat models, are great because they’re wireless, but they are more expensive than non-wireless models. If you’ve found that earbud style headphones don’t stay in when you are running or moving around, consider some behind the neck models like the Phillips Rich Bass Neckband Headphones. These are great because they cover your ear, rather than stick inside, and have a special design to prevent the cord from getting yanked from the ear pieces (they’re also first in this list!). With all of these models, if you’re going to be sweating during your exercise, make sure that doesn’t harm your equipment! IMPORTANT: Please make sure you’re still aware of your surroundings and watch for vehicles that you might not hear when you have headphones on.

When it rains: Wet weather is no excuse to stay inside and skip a workout, so if you’re going to be heading out when it’s raining, make sure you protect your phone. A simple plastic bag over the device while in it’s carrying case will help to make sure the rain doesn’t get to it. We can’t take responsibility if your phone gets wet—and definitely don’t want that to happen!—but just make sure you take care of your device if you are going out in nasty weather.

Water bottles: If your workouts are long enough that you’ll need hydration on-the-go, there are lots of different options for carrying fluids with you. The Amphipod RunLite 4 gives you four smaller water bottles—either 8 or 10 ounces—that can be positioned around your body in any direction and snap in and out for easy access. Another option is the handheld Ultimate Direction FastDraw Plus water bottle. The nozzle is designed to prevent any dripping, has a pouch for your ID’s and keys and a grip to make it easy to carry during your runs. Carrying water adds extra weight, but is a key part of training if you are exercising for longs periods of time or in hot weather.

What did we miss? We want to hear what has worked well for everyone else, so please share any other suggestions for essential equipment to use when exercising with CardioTrainer.

Mark poked around with the tongs as he carefully analyzed the salad. He saw some baby tomatoes and found a chunk of blue cheese underneath the lettuce. He knew that cheese would make a big difference, and factoring in the vinaigrette dressing, he made his guess: “110?” Shaking her head, Jane exclaimed, “Nope, only 75!” Salad was always tricky, but with all of this practice, he was much getting better at it.

Counting calories is a task that’s usually associated with people who obsessively keep track of everything they eat to shed a few more pounds. For the rest of us, we’re aware of calories, but we know very little about the calorie content in the food we eat. It’s no surprise that eating well and maintaining a healthy weight are two of the most important steps we can take to live longer, healthier lives. But knowing this, how does the vague notion of “eating well” actually translate into our day-to-day eating habits? What should we be eating, and where do our calories come from?

At every meal in the office during the week, we’ve been taking turns guessing how many calories are in a single serving of each dish. Our food is prepared by our talented chef, and each of her recipes is saved online with service called DailyBurn that automatically breaks down the number of calories per serving, as well as lots of information about the nutritional value about the dish. You can see a sample meal listed here: WorkSmart Labs lunch 2/2/10.

And just because we’re eating healthy food doesn’t mean that the meals aren’t delicious. Our chef has done a wonderful job filling every meal with color, variety and taste. Browse through the photos below to see what we’ve been eating.

As a company, our mission has always been to make wellness a seamlessly enjoyable part of everyday life. But if we expect our users to be eating healthy, then we had better put our money food where our mouth is. We sympathize with anyone who has found that recording everything they eat throughout the day is a difficult and frustrating task. However, counting calories is one of the best ways to start taking control of one’s eating habits, and that’s exactly why we’re doing it: we want to understand this challenge better so we can find ways to make it easier. Our little ”calorie guessing game” is just an example of how we approach these kinds of problems before trying to solve them. Whether it be nutrition or fitness, we want to exemplify the healthy lifestyle that we are promoting through our products and technology.