Filed under: iPod Family, Software, iPhone
SynchStep: musical speedometer
Here's an iPhone app with some potential. Greg Elliott of Poke has released SynchStep, an app for iPhones and iPod touches that chooses songs based on your walking pace. The project began before the iPhone, conceived as a self-contained MP3 player with the necessary hardware. Upon the advent of the accelerometer-toting iPhone/touch, it became more feasible to bring the idea to the masses.
The app has a simple, good-looking interface. I couldn't get it to work very well, though, after about 20 minutes of building and analyzing playlists followed by many carefully paced steps. Quite a few people witnessed me walking quickly by, only to see me pass a while later at a much slower pace, repeated ad nauseum nauseam with an increasingly frustrated look on my face.
I love the concept, though. I want it to work and I'm hoping I'm just doing something wrong. Maybe you should give it a try. I've always wanted a real-time, personal soundtrack. Coincidentally, the previous name for the project was PersonalSoundtrack, which I mention only because I like the former moniker slightly better for its more intimate connotations. Now, back to walking around like I'm in a Monty Python sketch.
Update: After working a little with the Greg (the very helpful developer), I'm happy to report that I do actually have a personal soundtrack now. I had initially assumed that SynchStep would round to the nearest available BPM match, but it's pretty fine-grained. The more songs you have at different BPMs, the more likely you are to get great results. The documentation has been updated to reflect this. Give it a shot, it's impressive.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Quine said 8:29PM on 5-16-2008
I have the counterpart to that embedded in my brain :P I just sync my steps to my music most of the time.
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dswift said 9:56PM on 5-16-2008
Helpful note intended for the entire world: it's spelled "ad nauseam."
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Brett Terpstra said 10:15PM on 5-16-2008
Argh, I *knew* that. Thanks :).
JeffZ said 11:40PM on 5-16-2008
Maybe it has to do with where you wear your iPhone? Not sure if it's intened to be in an armband or on your waist, perhaps. I'd love it if this works -- it'd be a great motivator to pick up the pace on the treadmill.
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Brett Terpstra said 5:14AM on 5-17-2008
As detailed in the site's instructions, I had my iPod touch in the front pocket of my pants. However, I am quickly coming to believe that something may be wrong with the accelerometer in my touch...
Rick said 1:10AM on 5-17-2008
wow. another pointless 3rd party app that drains my battery.
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Allister said 3:23AM on 5-17-2008
This is an Apple site, right? Why is no-one mentioning a Mac-friendly BPM solution then? All I saw on the site was a Windows one.
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Brett Terpstra said 5:12AM on 5-17-2008
Where exactly are you looking? beaTunes (a mac program) is the recommended BPM generator and the only download link I see provided...
Allister said 5:18AM on 5-17-2008
So, I checked, using my Mac just now. Last night I spotted the app on Installer and visited the page from my iPod Touch - try it!
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Brett Terpstra said 5:30AM on 5-17-2008
You're right. That's kind of funny.
w00t said 6:07AM on 5-17-2008
Haha I automatically do the opposite, I adjust my walking pace to the music I'm listening to without even thinking about it!
Except when it goes over 150bpm, because I'd look ridiculous!
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Frank said 11:39AM on 5-17-2008
if it'll make me walk like john cleese in that sketch, i'm in.
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greg elliott said 6:00PM on 5-18-2008
hey all,
first, beaTunes is mac/win friendly. my site detects your browser and offers you the correct version.
second, brett, i'm sorry you're having issues with synchstep. let's see if we can figure it out. this app has worked well for a lot of folks during private beta testing, so i'm confident we can solve it.
are you hearing a metronome at any point during your walking? it should kick in 5-6 seconds after the start up chime finishes playing.
wanna email me so we can sort this thing out? my email is gelliott followed by the atsign then the word gmail then a dot and a com.
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