Noiserunner is a simple application designed to control the playback of local music files based on the speed reported by the device’s GPS.
Its primary purpose is to create and play songs in playlists such that effects are applied to the songs when the user’s speed changes. For example, songs can be set up such that they speed up when running and slow down when walking.
When first starting the application, you’ll be prompted to set your walking and running speeds. This process is designed to make it easy to use the application to differentiate between walking and running, but you may ultimately set these speeds to whatever you wish. Location (GPS) access is recommended, which is why the app prompts you for it upon startup, but is not strictly required.
If using the GPS, you’ll want to be outdoors so that the app can get a solid fix on your speed.
Walk about 50 steps or so in one direction and the app will record the fastest speed the GPS reported over that time.
Average walking speed is about 3 mph or 5 km/h, and average running speed is 6 mph or 10 km/h.
If you skip this setup, you may return at any time by selecting “Reset walk/run speeds” in the Settings tab.
To create a playlist, press the + button.
To create rules for your first song, press the + button. You will be prompted to select a song to apply these rules to.
If you’re in Simple mode, the application uses the walking and running speed you provided in the initial setup.
There are four settings available to you: the effect you want to apply, what the effect should be when you’re running, if there should be an effect applied when you’re not running, and if the effect should apply immediately once you’re at or past your running speed or if it should apply gradually.
Note that the step size (adjustable in settings) is the smallest adjustment the application will make.
If you find that the rule is “hunting” between speeds too much in gradual mode, try increasing this value.
For example, if you want the song to speed up when you reach running speed, the configuration is as follows.
Press the Test Song button to show the controls, and use the control bar at the bottom to test how the song will sound when you’re walking and running.
If you’re in Advanced mode, you must manually create each rule. To create a new rule, press the + button.
There are five settings available to you: the effect you want to apply, the start speed and the strength of the effect that should be applied at that speed, and the end speed and the strength of the effect that should be applied at the end speed.
All rules created in this mode apply gradually (like they would by selecting the corresponding setting in Simple Mode).
If you want to create one that applies all at once, set the start speed equal to the end speed.
Rules cannot overlap- if you specify a speed range between 0 and 10 mph, for example, you won’t be able to create another rule that starts or ends within that range.
Press the Test Song button to show the controls, and use the control bar at the bottom to test how the song will sound at different speeds. (If you have no rules, you can’t edit the speed.)
To re-order or delete playlist entries, press the Edit button in the Playlist view.
To play a playlist, press the Play button. Playlists cannot be edited while they’re playing; to edit a playlist, press the Stop button.
The playlist will continue to play in sequence (or randomly, if specified) until all songs have been played. If Repeat 1 has been selected, the song currently playing will repeat forever; if Repeat All has been selected, the playlist will repeat forever.
When Repeat All and Shuffle are both selected, the app will still make sure that all songs in the playlist will be played before the playlist repeats.
The Control Bar, present at the bottom of the screen when playing or editing a song, has a variety of functions depending on what the app has been given permission to access.
This bar changes dependent on the functionality granted to the app and the kind of operation being performed. If editing a song, the player will be locked to Manual mode; if playing a playlist, and GPS is enabled, the player will default to Automatic mode.
In Automatic mode, the app will use your current speed and will apply the provided audio manipulation rules to whichever song is playing at the time. The highlighted word- Walk or Run (in Simple mode) or the current speed (in Advanced mode) shows the speed data the app has received from the GPS; you can override this and enter Manual mode by tapping this section.
In Manual mode, the app will not automatically change speeds unless specified by you. To change the speed, touch the desired speed in the Walk/Run box (Simple) or drag the slider (Advanced). Pressing the active speed mode (or the speedometer) will re-enable Automatic mode if playing a playlist.
To play or pause the current song, or to skip the current song, press the appropriate button on the right of the bar.
If you delete a song from your device, the playlist entries that reference that song in this app won’t be automatically deleted. However, since the data is no longer there, the song can no longer be played (signified by an exclamation mark and “No song selected” in the playlist view). This may also occur if you remove and re-add the song.
Missing files will be automatically skipped when playing a playlist.
To aid in recovery, the app will remember what the name and artist of the provided song was when it was last saved by the app so that you can re-select it (or pick a different song) by pressing the Change Song button.
If you change the units of measure, it won’t convert the existing saved items. For example, switching the units from km/h to mph will mean that a rule with 0-10 km/h will be interpreted as 0-10 mph.
This application does not transmit any data in the course of its operations. Data (references to song data, playlist rules, etc.) is stored only on the local device, and all calculations are performed on the local device.
When permitted, this app uses location data. This data is not logged or transmitted, and is only used to monitor speed as a consequence of normal operation.