GoDiary's central claim is that fitness tracking should require no user input at all. The app's Autonomous Fitness Detection Engine (AFDE) combines GPS with proprietary machine-learning algorithms and device sensors to identify the start and stop of a workout, so a run, walk, or ride is captured even if you never open the app or press a button. The company says it also works hard to keep battery drain low, and for people who want more precise start and stop points it offers a manual mode. If you turn the automatic detection off, GoDiary still behaves as a conventional fitness tracker where you start and stop activities by hand, with reduced battery use.
Once workouts are recorded, GoDiary turns them into analysis. Time-series graphs let you see how your performance has changed over time, with weekly, monthly, yearly, and all-time views. Goal tracking supports both distance-based and time-based targets, so you can set a weekly running distance or a monthly activity-time goal and watch progress accumulate. For iPhone users, workouts can be synced with Apple Health so your activity data stays consistent across the other fitness apps you use.
GoDiary is a mobile app rather than a web dashboard, and it is free to download and use. Because the auto-detection features rely on location, the app asks for "Always Allow" location permission — a trade-off worth knowing about, since continuous location access is what makes hands-free tracking possible.
