SensorCore in action: essential apps to download

Tracking where you’ve been, how many steps you walked or how many calories you burned just with your Lumia smartphone is now super-simple, thanks to SensorCore technology.

SensorCore is an internal low-powered chip that, with clever software, records many of your daily activities, without an inordinate drain on battery.

Currently available on the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 right out of the box, and the Lumia 930, Lumia Icon, and the Lumia 1520 after the Lumia Cyan update, many developers have already started utilising this great new technology.

Note: SensorCore is switched off by default. To activate it, head into Settings > Motion Data.

Let’s take a look at some of the results.

Geo Buzz – Free

Our phones are great for setting reminders, but they’re generally programmed to activate at a specific time.

If timing’s not your strength, use Geo Buzz to add a location-based reminder.

Simply load up the app, select where you want to be prompted and add your reminder. The next time you visit your desired whereabouts, your Lumia alert will spring into action.

Fit Buddy – Free

Tracking everyday activities like steps, distance, and calories burned, as well as activity times and goals are easy and fun with Fit Buddy.

Gain insights into your fitness trends and challenge your friends, then share your activity via your Facebook account.

Ciel Active – Free

This is a SensorCore-enabled app with a slight difference: it also uses photos.

Snap a shot of your running track, the forest you run through, or anything else related to your exercise and overlay that image with your SensorCore data.

Perfect for sharing to your social networks.

LEKI Trek and Ski – Free

LEKI is a maker of skiing, trekking, and Nordic walking products and it now has its own app.

With full pedometer support, LEKI Trek and Ski can track your sporting activities across many different activities, such as traditional hiking, walking, skiing and cross-country skiing.

Also included is an action photography feature for active sports, as well as the usual social sharing options for when you’ve completed your exercises.

Active Fitness – Free

With more than 500,000 users, Active Fitness is an all-in-one fitness app, covering running, cycling, walking, hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding and much more.

It can track your route when out walking or running, count the number of steps you’ve taken using the pedometer feature, and deliver weekly and monthly reports detailing your fitness levels.

Once you’ve tracked how many steps you’ve taken, or how far you’ve run, your own personal progress report consists of a number of stats, including the amount of calories you’ve burned.

These apps don’t require any additional hardware to work; they all use the SensorCore technology within the Lumia smartphone.

The only requirement is that you keep your phone with you – a normal habit for most of us.

These are just three apps that use SensorCore technology, but also be sure to check out Trip-o-matic, SPM, Bing Health & Fitness and Super Checkin.

For developers interested in using the SensorCore SDK, there are two Challenges on DVLUP.com that invite you to make the most of your Lumia; one for new apps using SensorCore and one for app updates.

Are you using any SensorCore apps in your Lumia?