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Use these apps to tap into your phone's GPS, and use the resulting data to tap into your inner athlete.
Nike+ Running
Fire up this app and you're taken to a simple interface that tracks time, distance, and route via GPS—no Nike+ sensor required. Excellent integration with Twitter, Facebook, and Path keeps your friends updated on your progress, and the addition of Nike's Fuel measurement means you can compare workouts with all your friends wearing FuelBands, regardless of their sports.
WIRED Pleasingly minimalist design. Mixes in Nike athletes for motivation.
TIRED Not as feature-rich as some.
Free iOS | Free Android | Nike+ Running
RunKeeper
RunKeeper does all the basics well, tracking data like speed, distance, and pace and automatically syncing the info to a website so you can crunch the numbers. But the app is just a piece of a broader infrastructure. You can use RunKeeper with Bluetooth heart-rate monitors, and it will even work with the just-released Pebble watch.
WIRED Connects to perhaps the most vibrant run-tracking community to find routes and races.
TIRED Android app feels like an iPhone port rather than a native experience.
Free iOS | Free Android | RunKeeper
Golfshot: Golf GPS
It's a tale of two apps: the iPhone version is slick and feature- rich, while the Android version lags behind. They both provide live distances and maps for more than 38,000 golf courses, but only the iOS version lets you track individual club distances over time to figure out how far you really hit the ball.
WIRED Fast GPS performance. Much cheaper than dedicated golf GPS unit.
TIRED iPhone sometimes struggles to stay alive through a round. Android is stuck in the rough.
$29.99 iOS | $29.99 Android | GolfShot: Golf GPS
RunMeter
Unlike the rest of these apps, which connect to a website for data analysis, Runmeter is self-contained on your iPhone (although it can upload data to an iPad). It tracks time, distance, pace, and calories, which you can always glance at during your run, then lets you view data in graphs, maps, and calendars.
WIRED Auto-pauses when you stop running. Also works for cycling.
TIRED The wealth of options (you can set up to 25 configurable announcements) is a touch overwhelming.
$2.99 iOS | RunMeter
Strava Cycling
This tracking app offers an easy way to get ride data up onto Strava, the community site where everyone – from pro cyclists to weekend warriors – has been flocking to share their rides and compare their times on popular routes and user-generated "segments." It's Facebook with bragging rights.
WIRED Cleanly designed and elegantly conceived. Uses competition to motivate you to train harder.
TIRED Accuracy issues: Some rides show glitches in altitude and MPH.
Free iOS | Free Android | Strava Cycling
