Wednesday, March 5, 2014

REVIEW: RoadID App

One of my first purchases as a runner was my RoadID. I even blogged about it here back in March of 2012 TWO YEARS AGO (just a few weeks after actually hitting the roads). It helped me, my hubby, and even my mom feel more comfortable with me running on my own {although I do always try my hardest to run where it is light, with lots of other runners, wearing visible gear, etc}.

I got the Wrist ID Sport (in pink). I try and wear it on every run or bike ride (sometimes if I go with Ryan I tend to forget it, but when I am out on my own I try to make sure it is one of the first things I put on) - I even wear it during races. I liked the Sport version because it was Velcro. My wrists are pretty tiny and I have trouble finding bracelets that will fit (unless they are children sizes), so that option worked perfectly for me.

I had a close call back in August. I was hit by a car when I was out riding my bike. Although I wasn't hurt, I felt good knowing that I had my RoadID on and if I was unable to speak for myself that it would be able to do some of the talking. (My ID has my name, city we live in, hubby's number, parents' number, and the fact I am allergic to ibuprofen.)

After almost 8 years of living in California, Ryan and I have FINALLY updated our numbers from Michigan numbers to San Diego ones. Not only is changing your phone number a hassle because you have to let your contacts know the new info, but I realized that now my RoadID is not out-of-date. {I've been entering lots of the RoadID Giveaways lately, hoping I will win a new one, but if I'm not lucky soon I will just need to pony up and buy a new one :).}

Thankfully, RoadID has an APP! AND IT'S FREE!

I downloaded the app a few weeks ago (FYI - hubby and I have iPhones, I am NOT sure if they have an app for the Android market yet or not).

The app has two main features... And I was excited about BOTH!!

The first feature that I had to check out was the Lock Screen. Because my Wrist ID now has an old number for Ryan, I knew I needed something that had his updated information on it. Through this feature you are able to customize your lock screen to have important contact information that would be available for First Responders if you were in an accident of some sort.

Source

This is a picture of my Lock Screen (with some of the personal information blocked for security purposes, DUH!):


I really do love this feature. It was extremely easy to create the "picture" (really you are just making a picture and saving that as the lock screen image). I had an issue at first because Ryan's contact information was formatting funny (I am anal about things like that and the area code was saving as X(YZ ) instead of (XYZ)). I posted on Twitter about it, to see if anyone had any quick fixes, and the RoadID team tweeted me back right away. They suggested I take a screenshot of how it was appearing and send it to the technical support team. They were super responsive and efficient. I worked with them on the issue. Although they weren't sure what was causing the mis-formatting they had heard of it before. They recently released a new update with the app that corrected the formatting issue (but I was also able to correct the issue prior to that by creating a new contact entry for Ryan).

The one 'con' I have of this is that I often get quite a few notifications throughout the day (NO, I am not saying I am uber popular, just saying I have a lot of things that pop up on my screen throughout the day) - whether it is a text message, an Instagram notification, a score alert through ESPN or one of my many sports teams, etc. I have noticed that if there is a notification on the screen, that you are not able to see the lock screen UNTIL you put in your password. (Maybe there is a way around this, but the only thing I could think of was to put your phone on "Do Not Disturb" while working out so that I don't receive any of those pop-up notifications and therefore not block the important information on the lock screen.)

Obviously I hope someone NEVER has to look at my lock screen for my emergency contact information, but just in case they do, I want to make sure it is readily accessible. I am stoked that a company has come up with something that could be LIFE SAVING!

The other feature that is AWESOME is the "eCrumb". These are like electronic breadcrumbs - showing someone where you have been, just in case they have to come back to find you.

Source

As I am sure you know, I am currently training for my FIRST full marathon (EEKS, the race is in less than 75 days). Now that my long runs are getting higher in the miles, this was something that I was eager to check out.

Before I go any further, I should probably explain a little about ONE of the differences between Ryan and I. I am the type of person that wants to believe the best - always thinking things are rainbows and butterflies, where as Ryan is the one who is a worry wart and often allows his mind to run free with "what-ifs". He also watches a lot of scary movies (I have to close my eyes even during scary commercials, so obviously I don't), so I think some of that plays with his mind. He is worried that someone will grab me and he will have to go all Rambo to track me down (don't even get me started on those conversations that we have had MANY a times).

Well, with this feature, he can track my moves (not in a stalker type way) while I am out running or biking. When I set up the eCrumb notifications on my phone, it sends him a text giving him the heads up (you are able to select one of the short messages or create your own), as well as a link to a map there he can see IN REAL TIME where my phone is at.

This was a custom message from this morning's run

Ran 4 miles at the beach this morning.

Ryan was able to track me (the eCrumbs update every minute)

When you are finished you can select "Done" and it will notify them you have completed the workout

Another nifty feature is that there is a stationary alert - which means if your phone has not moved in more than 5 minutes (and you haven't turned off the countdown notification) that a LOUD alarm will go off. The eCrumb system will also send a notification to let the person (or people) tracking you know that you haven't moved in 5 minutes. Obviously, I hope this NEVER comes into play, but say you fall off the trail and knock yourself out (or heaven forbid someone is attacking you and you aren't able to make any noise), this alarm will notify others to come look.

You are able to set up email addresses as well as phone numbers to be sent the eCrumb alert (although I only have Ryan's cell phone currently set up to receive the text messages).

I was slightly worried that having this feature on would kill my battery, but it didn't seem to drain it too quickly. I keep my brightness on low (to conserve battery power) and used it during a 14 mile run this past Friday. I left and my battery life was around 95% and when I got home about two and a half hours later it was at about 75%. {Note, I do not use my phone for music or anything like that, normally I just use it for photos and for emergencies, but since it decided to downpour on Friday's run I did not take it out of my belt until I was back at home.}

I would DEFINITELY recommend you download this app (as well as pick up a physical RoadID if you don't already have one). I know none of us ever wants anything bad to happen, but just in case something ever does, I just want to make sure everyone is as prepared as possible.

Source
**UPDATE - I shared this review on Twitter and Facebook and the AMAZING folks at RoadID offered me a coupon code so that I could order a NEW ONE! And EVEN BETTER - if you order one before March 11th through this link you could save $1! I'm not even joking, if you don't have one, YOU NEED ONE... NOW!!**

No comments: