Does anyone have experience running the new Android app on low or mid-range tablets?
I’m in the market for a new tablet that will only be used for TR and occasional media consumption. As every other device I have is Android or Windows I’m considering an Android tablet over an iPad.
I have narrowed it down to two Samsung tablets, but I haven’t been able to verify if these will run TR smoothly. I have added the most important spec below.
I’ve got a Samsung Tab A7 purchased a couple months ago to exclusively run TR.
It really appealed with the size, processing, screen, and the landscape orientated camera for group workouts (one day).
It’s been great apart from a few teething issues early on when the app was still getting better and better.
I am having a great experience now, except for one thing. It won’t lock into Landscape in TR. If I leave it in unlocked orientation it will at least so everything in landscape except the post workout surveys which are then on their side (as with the PL celebration thing). Both are then more awkward than they need to be trying to answer and move the screen that’s on it’s side.
I currently have a Lenovo Tab 4 10" tablet dedicated to my trainer. It doesn’t handle the “new” (ie, the major release earlier this) TR app well. It’s slow, the timer gets glitchy as workouts pass the 1 hour mark, and often crashes at the end of workouts. I didn’t have these issues with the old version of the app. I’m not sure what the critical shortcoming is (ram? cpu?), but as a floor, you’ll want better than this one.
It’s ok. I got a bit scared when it crashed on the first workout, but that has been the only one so far for 30+ workouts.
It’s defenitely struggling more than I would like, but for now it hasn’t affected my workouts. It’s mostly lagging when moving around in the app and when I press buttons, which means adjusting intencity is a hassel, but other than that it’s ok.
I would buy something more powerfull if I got the chance to buy again, so I don’t think I can reccomend it.
I’d love to say that I can help you out here but I havent used TR on the tablet for ages (mostly because I started watching things on the tablet and running TR through my phone), and then I stopped TR altogether (cause of other training requirements rather than falling out with TR for any reason) last year.
My A7 lite still works ok, but not more than that. A couple of crashes and over all a very slow experience this indoor season. Unsure what the spec is for the tablet you are considering, but the spec I listet for the A7 lite is not enough. I wouldn’t recommend anything below 4 GB ram.
I use a Galaxy Tab A 8.4" (2020) that I got because it has an ANT+ radio, so I can use it to run Zwift / TR Simultaneously if I want. Actually haven’t done that yet, I’ve just been running TR on it periodically. I found it new, sealed on ebay earlier this year. 32GB Storage, 3GB Ram.
The only issue I’ve had is sometimes I have to disconnect / reconnect my Trainer (TacX Neo) to get it to actually control trainer resistance at the beginning of a workout. A little bit of an annoyance, but that’s been the only thing, and it could be because it’s set up as ANT+ instead of Bluetooth.
You’re right, 32GB Storage, 3GB Ram. (Corrected) And, the reason I bought it is I couldn’t find any newer Tablet with the ANT+ radio.
With that said, it works more than fine. The best TR platform I’ve used is my 6 year old iPhone 8+ which has literally never had a hiccup, only downside for me was lack of ANT+. Not sure I’d get hung up on the RAM unless you’re doing other things on it too.
Then you are luckier than me. I only use my tablet for TR and I still have to take care to minimise memory usage and accept some shortcomings. The biggest issue for me is that I no longer can adjust intensity 1%. With the lagging it’s at least 3% before it stops adjusting after a short press on the adjust button. Also doing workouts over 3 hours often makes it unable to properly end the workout.
A couple things I’ve done because this is really dedicated to TR. Airplane mode, pretty much permanently. Bluetooth, Location, basically everything I don’t need off. Uninstall, force stop basically everything I don’t need, etc. etc. I did buy this as a new unit, and never really used it for anything else, so maybe that has something to do with it.
But, if you don’t need ANT - consider just buying an old iPhone. Seriously, mine is 6 years old and has not once ever missed a beat, had any lag, a single error or issue in the entire time I’ve used it. It never gets synced, backed up, and I just apply updates from time to time. I plug it in for 3+ hour trainer rides because of the battery now, but that’s it.