Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question not covered here, please see the forum or send a message to rubiTrack support.

• Part 1: General, Devices, Import
• Part 2: Trial, Licensing, Updates and Upgrades
• Part 3: Upgrading to rubiTrack 2
• Part 4: Why are rubiTrack's measurements different from my device's measurements?

General Questions

Which devices are supported?

rubiTrack supports many kinds of devices via direct sync which imports activities directly from the device connected to your Mac. In addition rubiTrack supports activity file import for other devices that do not support direct sync.

• Garmin Forerunner 310XT (direct sync) (new)
• Garmin Edge 500 (direct sync) (new)
• iPhone 3G (with rubiTrack for iPhone)
• Garmin Forerunner 405/405CX (direct sync)
• Garmin Forerunner 305 (direct sync)
• Garmin Forerunner 50 (direct sync)
• Garmin Forerunner 301 (direct sync)
• Garmin Forerunner 205 (direct sync)
• Garmin Edge 205 (direct sync)
• Garmin Edge 305 (direct sync)
• Garmin Edge 605 (direct sync)
• Garmin Edge 705 (direct sync)
• Garmin Oregon (direct sync)
• Garmin Dakota (direct sync)
• Garmin eTrex Vista (direct sync)
• WinTec WBT201 (G-Rays2) (direct sync)
• Nike+iPod (direct sync requires active disk mode)
• Amod AGL3080 GPS Tracker (direct sync)
• Garmin Colorado (via file import)
• Polar S610 / S610i / S625X (via file import) (new)
• Polar S710 / S710i / S720i / S725 / S725X (via file import) (new)
• Polar S810 / S810i (via file import) (new)
• Polar CS600 (via file import) (new)
• Polar E600, AXN500, AXN700 (via file import) (new)
• Polar Sport Tester, Vantage XL, Vantage NV, Accurex Plus, XTrainer Plus, Coach (via file import) (new)
• Polar HRM (via file import) (new)
• Suunto T6, Suunto X6 (via file import) (new)
• Suunto X9 (via file import)
• Suunto X10 (via file import)
• Compatible devices and files

Which file formats are supported?

rubiTrack directly imports GPX files, TCX (Garmin Training Center) files, Sporttracks Fitlog files, Nike+iPod XML files, NMEA GPS Log files and Suunto SDF files. GPX is a widely accepted standard format for exchanging GPS data which can be generated by a large number of applications.

rubiTrack also exports GPX files on an activity basis.

If you have a file format you would like to see supported by rubiTrack (either import or export) please let us know and email us.

Which additional devices are supported?

rubiTrack uses GPSBabel to read activity data directly from a USB device. We don't have all devices available for testing. If you have successfully used direct synching with any GPS device, we'd love to hear your success story. Please do let us know and send a message to rubiTrack support.

Additionally, if your device software can export GPX or TCX files, you can import those files into rubiTrack.

Can I import activities I have stored in SportTracks?

Yes! You can export existing activities from SportTracks to the FITLOG format which you can then import into rubiTrack.

Can I import activities I have stored in Ascent?

Yes! You can export existing activities from Ascent to TCX format which you can then import into rubiTrack.

Can I import more than one activity into rubiTrack at a time?

Yes! Just drag all activities you would like to import into the document or use the "File > Import" menu.

What if I find a bug?

If you find a problem please do not hesitate to let us know and email us. We appreciate your feedback!

Trial and Licensing Questions

What are the trial limitations?

rubiTrack does not limit any functionality during the trial period. The trial version does limit the number of activities that can be saved. You can save documents with up to 5 activities. After the trial period expires saving will be disabled. However, you can still use rubiTrack to view saved documents and import activities from devices.

When does the trial version expire?

The trial version expires 14 days after the first use.

What rights does a license give me?

With a licensed version of rubiTrack you can save documents with an unlimited number of activities. The license does not expire and is yours forever. You may use your license on multiple computers for example on your Mac Pro at work and your MacBook at home. The license is for you and you only, you may not share the license with other users.

Do I get updates for free?

Yes, all updates to 2.x.x versions are free.

Do I get a discount on new major versions?

Yes, you will receive a discount for upgrading to a new release when it becomes available.

Upgrading to rubiTrack 2

What are the benefits?

Customers of rubiTrack v1 are entitled to a 50% upgrade discount when purchasing a license for rubiTrack 2.

Is there a free Upgrade?

If you purchased your rubiTrack v1 license on or after August 15 2009 you will receive a free upgrade. You should have received your v2 license. Please contact support if you did not receive it.

How does it work?

To get your upgrade discount coupon all you need is rubiTrack v1.7.1 with your current license installed. Follow these steps:

1. Make sure you are connected to the internet
2. Start rubiTrack v1.7.1 (it is important to start the old version!)
3. If the upgrade window does not show up automatically, choose "rubiTrack > Upgrade Information…" from the main menu
4. The screen displays your discount coupon in the lower-right corner.
5. You can go to the store at any time and use the coupon (*).
6. Alternatively you can click "Purchase…" to go to the store immediately.

(*) Note that the coupon is valid for one purchase.

Where can I download rubiTrack 1.7.1?

You can download rubiTrack 1.7.1 here.

Why are rubiTrack's measurements different from my device's measurements?

rubiTrack calculated measures are not necessarily wrong, they're just different from what the device shows you (which sometimes is definitely wrong).

Differences part 1: Calculation vs. Copying

Whenever possible rubiTrack calculates all values it displays based on the data the device reports for the workout. The data usually consists of a stream of GPS data and heart rate, cadence, power values, and so on.

Garmin Training Center (and others) use the device-calculated averages and absolute values (like distance, duration and average heart rate) unverified. This often leads to a displayed distance that does not agree with the GPS data.

We plan to add an option to use the device calculated measures instead of having rubiTrack calculate them in a future release.

Differences part 2: Calculation errors

In many cases the distance the device calculates is slightly different from what rubiTrack calculates. rubiTrack uses a high-precision algorithm that works very reliably, more reliable than what a device could possibly calculate given its very limited computing power. Also, in some cases the distance can differ significantly because - like any other computer - GPS devices have bugs. And those cause rather big errors in distance calculations on the device from time to time.

In both cases a difference in calculated distance will cause a - possibly significant - discrepancy in average speed, pace and other values.

Differences part 3: Different Algorithms

There are also other reasons for values being different. Those are not necessarily errors in calculations, instead they are caused by different methods of how they are calculated.

One example is maximum speed. Largely because of the very coarse time base GPS coordinates are timestamped with, calculating a maximum speed value between 2 points only leads to incorrect results. Values calculated this way would be unrealistically high if the timestamp induced error is large enough - which tests show they are.

This is why we use a running average over a couple of points to calculate the maximum speed. Garmin also does this on the device. You can verify this by watching the speed measure on the device when you stop. You will notice that the speed reported by the device will not jump to zero instantly, instead speed will drop to zero gradually. This is because it's an average over the last couple of points recorded by the device.

The reason why the values differ between rubiTrack and your device is that the way these running averages are build differ. They are calculated in different ways, both are correct.

Differences part 4: Too many unknowns

One other popular example is the calorie calculation. If you are using a heart rate monitor, chances are that the number rubiTrack calculates is different from the number your device calculated. Again, this is because the device uses a different algorithm than rubiTrack in order to calculate the calories burned. Unlike in the above maximum speed example though, there is a very high probability that both rubiTrack and the device got it wrong. This is because it's incredibly difficult to calculate burned calories with only a handful of data that is available for the calculation. Regardless of where the value is coming from, always know that this is only an estimation and it's very likely not what the real calorie expenditure was.

So, while rubiTrack does not agree with the device on the burned calorie value, neither of the calculations give you an accurate number, both are estimations.