Español The Polar V800 has good hardware specifications to be a useful clock for use in the mountains. Compass, altimeter and a low power GPS mode give it a range of up to 50 hours. But the Polar Flow is quite frustrating, because it doesn't allow us to load our own routes (at least for the moment), and we can only navigate a route we have already done and add it to a favorite.
Therefore this navigation function loses all initial interest, because... why do we want navigation instructions on a route that we already know and have already done? Yes, it is possible that we have discovered that route with a friend and want to repeat it, or it was too long a route to remember all the details. But wouldn't it be more practical to be able to import a route from one of the many free services, such as Wikiloc?
Well, while we wait for Polar to "get it together", we don't pod to stop training. So thanks to the Android app SyncMyTracks and to its new update (that I have had the opportunity to access in beta mode to help polishing and that at the moment is not yet in Play Store, it is necessary to wait a couple of days), it is already possible to import routes that others have made, although with some previous steps that we must make. A small price to pay to be able to incorporate this function that Polar has not yet added officially.
What do we need?
The list is not very extensive, but I detail it:
- Android device (yours or a friend's)
- Application SyncMyTracks
- A free account in Runtastic or Endomondo (for this tutorial I will use Endomondo, but Runtastic would also be useful)
- A free account at Wikiloc (or having the GPX file of the path in question)
- 2 minutes time before departure
Import GPX routes to the Polar V800
Obviously the first step we have to take is to find the route that interests us in Wikiloc (or have a friend send us the route on GPX, or through any other website) I have been looking for a mountain bike route, and I have decided on a circular route to the Embalse de la Concepcion and pass through the Castaño Santo, in Marbella.
You must click on "Download" to download the route. Select the GPX file with the original track, to have all the points and not have it reduced.
We have our route downloaded and ready to import into Polar FlowDon't you remember that Polar doesn't allow it yet? Well, it's time to make a detour first. You go to Endomondo, and click on "Add practice", that blue button on the right of the navigation menu.
On the next page, we must select the last option, "Import from file".
Select the file you just downloaded and press next.
Before you save, make a note of the date that appears, then look for the activity on the calendar, and you don't want to have to browse through all the activities until you find it...
We already have the activity saved in Endomondo, as if it were an activity we have done. Go to the calendar to the date previously noted (in this case, February 20, 2014) and click on edit.
Now we'll make the adjustments. Put the name you want on the route, and change the date that appears to put today's date. The date is important, because now we're going to synchronize it and it's best that it's the last one, for greater convenience.
Remember I said at the beginning that the main drawback of navigation with the Polar V800 is that you have to make a route before you can navigate it? Well, you already have a route made, which you haven't. So let's transfer it to Polar FlowAnd to do that, we use SyncMyTracks and its "Export and import" function. You export from Endomondo by selecting today's date, with the address to Polar Flow.
And we've got our problem solved! Our own route made that we haven't made, straight into Polar Flow.
So, because you like the route, you add it to your favorites and name it whatever you want to identify it with. And you have your favorite route, ready to send to the clock.
All that's left is to synchronize the clock to get our favorites.
And we have our route ready to sail!
At this point you can go back and delete the activity in both Endomondo and Flow. Don't worry, even if the activity is deleted, the route will still be in the favorites.
What if you have an iphone? How do you sync it up? Since it's not in synmytracks in the app store...
Hello Gaizka
SyncMyTracks unfortunately is not available for iOS. I have an application on the iPhone which is RunGap, with similar features, but it does not support Polar Flow, only Polar Personal Trainer.
In principle, Polar has prepared the update to move the data from Polar Personal Trainer to Flow for November (I suppose together with the pool metrics update), and it is possible that the GPX file upload will be enabled publicly directly, although there is no data to support this.
At the moment, all you can do is ask a friend for an Android device and wait to see if the November update allows it, or at least RunGap allows it through Polar Personal Trainer.
Despite importing correctly from endomondo, and connecting correctly cin polar flow, when you put import, it says that you couldn't import activity 1... so you don't import correctly. Is there something you are doing wrong? A greeting!
Sometimes it has failed me in a similar way, but trying one or two hours later it has synchronized correctly. I suppose it is some occasional server failure.
Thank you very much for your prompt response! I'll be telling you!
I finally managed to get it up to polar, but after bookmarking it, I get a message saying, it won't sync up with your training device. Did something like this happen to you?
Greetings
I have just tested it now and added my last route, done with a Garmin Fenix 2 with GPS at one second and 21km, to my favourites, so it's quite long. It didn't give me any problems.
Maybe the route up has some problem with the points... In the tests I just did I don't see that Polar has made any changes in Flow.
Hello everyone, I have followed Eduardo's steps and the same thing happens to me as Jose Luis Jmnz. I get the error "podido has not imported the activity 1". Do you know why?
Polar has made some changes in Flow today, I don't know if they have modified something or if it's a failure in SyncMyTracks. I'm checking the log generated by the program and in principle it doesn't complain about connection failure, but about a missing file.
I'll look into it, and when I have an answer I'll tell you.
Exactly. No complaints about connection. Thank you, Eduardo.
But there is something new after today's update of Polar Flow. Last night I synchronized my cross-platform training as usual and the Fenix 2 archive was synchronized without any problems.
Hi all. Eduardo, thanks for this great, practical and simple blog. I'm trying to synchronize an uploaded route to Endomondo with Polar Flow through SyncMyTracks, and I get an import error. We know if it's not possible anymore? thanks!
Hi, Dani.
I just did a test (in this case with Garmin Connect, not Endomondo), exporting my training from yesterday, and the import to Polar Flow was done without problems.
Today they have been making changes to the platform to allow rhythmic training and adapt it to the new Android application. It is possible that the error could be due to these changes.
Thanks Eduardo, it's very funny, because it took 3 days to try and there's no way. I just tried it and there's no way.
Could it be something from the archive coming from endomondo?
Yes, it could be due to the route, maybe it's too heavy or has some inconsistency. I just tried again, this time exporting from Endomondo and importing to Flow, and again no problem.
Hi, Eduardo. This must be the path, because I've already got it. The thing is, the path didn't come from Wikiloc, but I created it directly on Endomondo. I created one on Wikiloc and it uploaded perfectly. Thanks again for your help.
I'm glad you've podried to fix it 😉.
Honestly, although the mechanism is simple, the best thing to do is to sell the V800 and buy Gamin's Fenix3 or better yet the Epix, and pass on all this nonsense (I mean flow, not the article's proposal). Flow is a beta that will start to be useful in a couple of years and is constantly changing, which implies that the synchronization will fail, a lot... the poor developers of SyncMyTracks will go crazy...
Hello good morning. First of all thank you very much for sharing this useful information ! And as a doubt I have to ask: could this operation be performed on the m400 polar clock?
Thank you
Good morning Rocío
No, the M400 has no ability to display navigation routes, so this is a feature exclusive to the V800.
Greetings
Okay. Thank you very much in that case I'll take the v800
In the test section you can find the one for the V800, with all the details of the watch. I'm sure it will help you with your decision.
Is it possible to do this from the iphone today? I would like to import routes from wikiloc and other platforms to my v800.
Hi Carlos
No, at the moment SyncMyTracks is only available for Android.
I know that Tapiriik is working on the integration of Polar Flow, but they haven't done it yet.
If you don't have an Android device that you can borrow, you can always install an emulator on your computer, but it's a bit more complicated... You can look at AndY and BlueStacks
Hi, with the android emulator Droid4X it works perfectly. In my case I have the Mac version.
Thanks for the post.
First of all thank Eduardo for teaching us this
method to get more out of the polar, it has helped me a lot, now
I don't get lost in the mountains, well I get lost less, hehehe.
The thing is that it has stopped working for me to pass the routes to runtastic and I found this other way, I think it's a little shorter and all.
To the mess: I have the samsung s3
- Download the route from wikiloc with your mobile.
(if it downloads but there is nothing, download it with Chrome) (note the date).
- You go to My files->All files->Download->There has to be the path
( if she's not there, I don't know what to say, look for her )
-Select it-> Copy
- Now you get a lot of folders, look for: SyncMyTracks, open and Paste here.
---------first step done---------
Now let's go to the SyncMyTracks app
Export from -> File directory
In import to -> Polar Flow
Fill in your details and START.
When it's over.
You go to polar flow -> Agenda->Today,
- Now look up on the address bar http://www.... put today's date, change it to the date it said on wikiloc and it takes you to that day where you will have the route recorded.
- From here, follow in the footsteps of Eduardo.
U.n greeting
Porras there is a bug, where I put: You go to Polar flow, you have to do that on the computer. Sorry.
Thank you, Felix.
Yes, I've actually done that on occasion, but there are phones that don't have a file management application like Samsung, so you'd have to download an application to do it first.
But effectively, this would save you a trip to Endomondo.
Thanks for sharing!
It works. Thank you very much.
Hi, I have created a gpx file with a waipoint to use it as a POI in my v800 but it doesn't support me when I upload it with syncmytrak. A route file with only one point does, but then it doesn't let me add it to favorites. Any idea? The option to follow new destination point is very short since you can only indicate POIs that you have created during the route you are doing. Also these points are lost when you pass them to the flow : (
Vicente, a poder solution might be to create a "route" with two points within 50 meters of each other. That way maybe you can create it as the point of interest you want to use and when you navigate to that point, it will give you directions to poder back to the route. Of course, it won't be a route as such, but you'll poder have it saved that way.
Thank you, yes in that way, although I don't know if it's possible with that little margin, I've tried it by changing the lat. But you won't deny me that they force us to make a mess with how easy they could solve it. By the way, if you point to a route, the compass points to the beginning or the nearest waipoint of that route?
Yes, it seems that navigation is at the bottom of Polar's scheduled updates...
If I remember correctly, the first thing it marks is the start. And if you have already started the route, the nearest waypoint. But if my memory serves me correctly, there was no possibility of navigating from the middle of the route.
is it good for the m400?
No, the Polar M400 does not support navigation.
So what's the m400 favorites option worth?
It's where you'll find the training you prepare
Hello!
In the V800, you can see a route you're taking through the bush and in case you get lost, follow it back to the starting point?
Yes, if you synchronize it previously with the method you have seen here, you can follow it without any problem. The return to the start can be activated at any time, whether there is a scheduled route or not.
Thanks for the answer, Eduardo.
But I mean, for example if I go to the mountain to look for mushrooms (without putting any wikiloc route) I usually walk from pine forest to pine forest for hours and when it is time to return it is a bit difficult to orientate, can I see the route to return to the starting point? I can only see the orientation arrow and the distance to the starting point.
Greetings
Indeed, if you are not making a route as such, you do not get a route to follow, only the orientation arrow
For the v650, I could use all this grease.
I have not tested it directly on the V650, but it should not be a problem. This method is used to "put" someone else's training as your own in Polar Flow and then mark it as a favorite.
Thank you, Eduardo.
I would like to ask the following questions about the v800. If I am in the mountains doing a route, for example, podria will mark points of interest and tell the device to return to them at a given time. Thank you very much.
Yes, you can mark points anywhere on your route and then retrace your steps to that point.
Yes, you can mark points anywhere on your route and then retrace your steps to that point.
Hi! Today they have released the possibility to connect the v650 with routes. I'm trying to do the steps you say, but it doesn't let me. I canvio the track route (gpx from wikiloc) and when I import it tells me that it is from today January 28, but when I export it tells me that it is from May 12, 2012 and not just inport the route and closes the app to transfer. What should I do?
I just tried it again and had no problem importing any path downloaded from Wikiloc. It was created on the same date
Hi Eduardo, when I get to the final step of import/export in syncmytrack it tells me that the mail or password is incorrect and does not let me follow.
As it has happened to others, it says that you can't import activity 1, is there something wrong with it?
There I can't tell you anymore, you'd better contact the app developer
I've managed to fix yesterday's problems, but just when I'm about to import/export and it ends up jumping message in red, the file of activity 1 is not valid, please help me that I'm getting desperate
I can't tell you what's wrong with you. I just tried importing an activity into Polar Flow and I didn't make any mistakes.
Hello, I have been given the Polar 800 and I would like to know your opinion about this watch because I was thinking of using it for swimming in the pool and for running and sometimes for tennis/padel. Can you give me your opinion and if not advise me another watch for mainly these 3 activities. Thank you! How does the Polar 800 measure heart rate and distance in the pool? Happy new year!!!!
Here are all the details: https://www.correrunamaraton.com/prueba-polar-v800/