What is a good way to detect walking or running vs car or plane movement in iOS?

Question

Is using the M7 in newer devices the only way to get accurate movement readings?

In older devices is there any way to track if a user is walking or running? I don't care about the distance travelled or the direction, just whether or not they are walking or running over time.

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can use the accelerometer here for this. I don't know of any preset values to use to determine it, but training wouldn't be too hard.

Set up an app to read the accelerometer data, then take it for many walks and runs etc and compare the data for consistent patterns. Amplitude and abrupt direction shifts come to mind. Once you have a reasonably large data set of walking vs running vs whatever samples, test it out by having somebody walk or run, then determining which one it is. If it is accurate enough for your standards, then Ship It™!