Charge Running
By Debbie Gorrell,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Live remote runs encourage fitness; best used indoors.
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Charge Running
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Based on 1 parent review
Continues to focus on teens
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What’s It About?
CHARGE RUNNING is very straightforward: Users create a profile, which can simply include a first name. There's also the option to add a city and state, a profile photo, and a link to social media. A calendar icon shows the upcoming schedule for live runs. Here, kids can tap on a run to view a brief description, see how many people are signed up for the run, and sign up if they wish. When it's time to start the run, kids tap Start and are prompted to choose Indoors, Outdoors, or Observer. Then a trainer greets people as they join and leads the run with music and words of encouragement. There is also a leaderboard on the screen so kids can see where they rank within the group. If location access is turned on, kids (and trainers) can view pace and total distance traveled. Additional features include the ability to view trainer profiles and track heart rate during runs with the use of a smartwatch.
Is It Any Good?
The concept of live virtual runs is innovative and can be a fun way for kids to stay active, but there are some privacy and safety concerns. When trainers talk with runners by name, it personalizes the experience, and kids likely will feel that they're part of a fitness group. However, kids should never share their location or other personal information with strangers, so Charge Running only works for kids if they opt out of location sharing and only provide the bare minimum in their profiles. Also, there's a lot of opportunity for distraction, so it's safest if kids use it indoors so they don't have to be as aware of their surroundings. So long as kids can use the app responsibly, it would be a nice addition to a fitness routine or a great way for kids to get into running.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about staying safe when running with a live group while using Charge Running. Make sure kids keep their profiles as generic as possible, and let them know that they should run indoors on a treadmill instead of outside.
Work with kids to set fitness goals. Start with one run per week and increase to two or three within a few months. Talk about the importance of healthy eating as part of any fitness goal.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone , iPod Touch
- Subjects: Hobbies : sports
- Skills: Self-Direction : achieving goals, motivation, Health & Fitness : exercise, movement
- Pricing structure: Free to try (free two week trial then $9.99/year)
- Release date: May 4, 2017
- Category: Education
- Publisher: Zwiffer
- Version: 1.1.1
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 10.0 or later
- Last updated: March 12, 2019
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