There's no official app for RunKeeper (runkeeper.com) on Windows Phone, but Microsoft Band lets you have a connection with the popular service. Over 30 million people around the world use RunKeeper to track workouts. Do they play well together? Let's find out.
How to connect Microsoft Band with RunKeeper
Follow these steps to connect your Microsoft Band with RunKeeper:
- Tap the menu button on the top left corner
- Tap Connected Apps
- Tap Connect under RunKeeper.
After connecting them together, you get a nice email from RunKeeper that you now have a free month of RunKeeper Elite. It's a $9.99 per month service that adds advanced reports, insights, comparisons, and even live broadcasting of runs. It's a nice perk, but iPhone and Android users get the upper hand for actually having a RunKeeper app that take advantage of these extra features.
Windows Phone users can check their stats on the Microsoft Health app and the RunKeeper website. Data is automatically uploaded after your run. Here's how it looks like on RunKeeper:
Depending on your RunKeeper settings, your data will also be automatically shared on social networks. For example, here's a tweet from my account that went up a few minutes after my run:
"Just posted a 3.02 mi run with @RunKeeper. Check it out! https://runkeeper.com/user/markguim/activity/465413642?tripIdBase36=7p3fgq&channel=web.activity.shorturl&activityList=false& #RunKeeper"
Running with RunKeeper vs. running with Microsoft Band
The run data from the Microsoft Band that goes to RunKeeper includes distance, duration, average pace, calories burned, and average heart rate. It does not currently share the GPS map, elevation, and splits with RunKeeper. You can see those data within the Microsoft Health app.
RunKeeper doesn't just get data from your runs. I've checked my RunKeeper profile and see my sleep data, daily calories burned, and daily steps there too.
It's great that there's a connection between the Microsoft Band and RunKeeper, but it isn't perfect. There's no official RunKeeper app for Windows Phone yet and not all of your run data get transferred to RunKeeper. This is still a new product from Microsoft, so hopefully we'll see some updates with improvements and new features.
Do you use RunKeeper? Do you plan to connect it with the Microsoft Band? Let us know in the comments!
