Run: Running made easy

Hayford
Idea2Product
Published in
4 min readFeb 27, 2024

Imagine a world where adding sports and movement to your life feels not only doable but downright exhilarating. That’s where Run comes in. Designed with beginners in mind, this innovative app revolutionises the way people embrace physical activity. But here’s the kicker — its versatility caters to everyone, from novices to fitness aficionados.

Crafted by a solo developer with a passion for pushing boundaries, Run isn’t just another run-of-the-mill fitness app. It’s a game-changer, and we can’t wait to peel back the curtain and share the inspiring story behind its creation. Get ready to embark on a journey that will redefine the way you think about fitness!

Can you tell us about yourself in 3 sentences?

My name is Daria, I’m an iOS developer. I am currently working and creating my own applications for the development and implementation of my ideas. Right now, I am building an app to add sports and movement to my life and the lives of all its users.

Can you tell us a bit more about Run and what it does?

Run is my first project. When creating this application, I envisioned a tool for those who want to add sports to their lives without the stress and torment of when to start and where to start. I’ll tell you how Run does this below 😉.

Run screenshots
In app screenshots of Run

What motivated you to create Run?

During the pandemic, many people went remote, this affected their activity during the day and dare I say the overall mental state of the whole world. At that moment, I really wanted to do sports. But I sat for a long time and couldn’t find a workout to suit my mood. So I decided to run outside and listen to music/podcasts. No agony of choosing a workout, going to the gym. I got up and ran. At the same time, I wanted to control it and improve myself. So when I decided to create my own application, this idea came to mind. No need to prepare for a marathon, no need to suffer and get injured. Run analyses the weather, your experience and builds a training schedule. Run wants you to spend your thinking time on your life and business, and make running a way for you to rest and worry less. This is the idea which led to the birth of Run.

Now we know why you created Run, can you tell us a little more about how you created it?

The development began with interaction with maps. It was necessary to get a location, record workouts, pause, etc. Here I found problems with SwiftUI, on which this application is written. There was not enough functionality on it, even for the implementation of basic functionality. Therefore, the main blocks of working with maps are implemented on UIKit.

After the map was working, I decided to save all the workout data using CoreData on the device. This was chosen so that no network connection is required. As a bonus, it also means Run is GDPR compliant 😜.

Then it was necessary to generate a training schedule based on the weather and previous training sessions. This algorithm was created manually inside the application without third-party services. The open API of the Finnish Institute was chosen as the API. The main thing is not to exceed the number of requests from one device. The difficulty levels were written independently based on popular running training techniques and professional recommendations.

These were the main global steps in building the consciousness of the application, the rest are minor improvements and functionality.

System architecture:

SwiftUI — The UI of the application is made using SwiftUI

MapKit + UIKit — working with maps

CoreData — storing user data

WidgetKit — for widgets on the home screen

Alamofire — working with the network

Amplitude — analytics for application users

Seeking user permissions for location and notifications in Run
Seeking user permissions for location and notifications in Run

How did you implement it for end users? Were there any specific platforms or techniques that you used?

The application was presented to users on ProductHunt. On this site, you can find your first users from different countries so I felt it was a great place to launch. You also get to discuss your project on ProductHunt. I had many great ideas and opinions voiced for Run, which helped me map out a development plan for the future.

Any future plans for Run?

Definitely yes! I plan on creating workouts for various purposes (weight loss, marathon preparation, “cleansing the head after work”), building an apple watch version that is super convenient for running, writing articles with tips, improving the algorithm for selecting the next workout and much more in time.

In app guides and articles on Run
In app guides and articles on Run

Where can people find Run and contact you?

Run can be downloaded from the AppStore (link to the app: https://apps.apple.com/app/run-your-smart-tracker/id6471395904 ). You can contact us by mail support.run@icloud.com. Write! Ideas and suggestions are welcome.

From the Idea2Product team

Run is an especially interesting product because it takes something which has been around for a very long time (running and fitness) and brings an entirely new way for people to get into it. The app is easy to use and the way it builds a training schedule unique to you makes it feel all the more personal. We’re looking forward to seeing more to come from Daria & Run. Will you be giving Run a try? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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