RowingCoach vs PocketCox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RowingCoach
Track your rowing sessions on land or water with detailed metrics like stroke rate, distance, pace, and calories burned. Use your iPhone or Apple Watch independently or together for flexible workout recording and progress analysis. Syncs with iCloud and Apple Health, and exports to popular fitness platforms.
- Track stroke rate, distance, pace, pulse, and calories
- Use iPhone or Apple Watch for recording
- Siri integration for workout control
- Automatic stroke detection
- Workout display on map
- Export to Strava, TrainingPeaks, and more
- iCloud synchronization
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RowingCoach, available also for the Apple Watch, allows you to track your rowing sessions, compare your workouts and see your overall progress – whether you train on land or on water. == RowingCoach displays the following metrics: • Your current and overall stroke rate (SPM) • The distance covered • Your current and overall pace • Your pulse • Your calories burned == Use the app as suits you best: • Track your session on the iPhone • Only use your Apple Watch to record the training (and leave your iPhone onshore!) • Use the iPhone as display for your Apple Watch recording. Very useful for indoor rowing. == RowingCoach also offers these features: • Use Siri to start and stop your workout • Automatic Stroke detection • Get notified after a certain distance covered, strokes reached or time passed • Display your workout on a map • Speed/pulse shown in color-coding • Share your rowing track with iMessage • Weather conditions are recorded for outdoor workouts • iCloud synchronisation: Have your workouts on all your devices. • Apple Health App integration • Watch Complication: See your weekly progress at a glance • Use Force Touch in the Watch app to quickly start and stop a workout • Today Widget: See your weekly and monthly progress from the Today screen • Add notes (to remember who was cox for example) == Export and upload your workouts to other platforms: • Upload to Strava • Export to RowsAndAll • Upload to MapMyFitness • Upload to TrainingPeaks • Upload to Concept2 Logbook • Upload to Intervals.icu External bluetooth heart rate monitors are supported. If you want to export your workouts via e-mail or want to record more than 3 workouts - you can get to a subscription right in the app.
PocketCox
This app uses your Apple Watch to monitor on-water rowing performance, providing detailed metrics like stroke rate, speed, and heart rate. Analyze your sessions with graphs and share them across popular platforms. It's designed for rowers of all levels aiming to improve their training.
- On-water rowing workout tracking
- Comprehensive performance metrics
- Workout segmentation
- Automatic workout pause
- Detailed session analysis on iPhone
- Workout sharing to Strava and others
- Secure data storage in Apple Health
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PocketCox is the most advanced rowing performance monitor for your wrist. It leverages the high-end sensors in your Apple Watch to track your on-water rowing workouts, and delivers you with comprehensive data, helping you elevate your training without the need for a dedicated device. PocketCox is the perfect tool for both amateurs and professional rowers looking to improve their performance on the water. TRACKED METRICS • Stroke Rate • Speed / Split • Distance • Number of Strokes • Recovery-Drive Ratio • Heart Rate • Calories Burned FEATURES • Record rowing workouts with your Apple Watch. • Easy-to-read design optimized for legibility on the water. • Break down your workout into individual segments. • Workout gets automatically paused if you stop taking strokes. • Review and analyze your rowing sessions on your iPhone with detailed graphs showing split, stroke rate, ratio and hear rate. • Share your workouts effortlessly on Strava, Concept2 Logbook, Rowsandall.com, and Intervals.icu. • All data is stored securely and privately in Apple Health and iCloud. --- PocketCox requires an Apple Watch running watchOS 9.1 or later.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PocketCox at 86% against RowingCoach's 38%. PocketCox also leads on rating (4.9 vs 3.3) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). RowingCoach's advantage is ratings volume (117 vs 15). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. RowingCoach sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and PocketCox sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
PocketCox holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RowingCoach has 117 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of RowingCoach's written reviews are positive against 86% of PocketCox's.
RowingCoach ships an update every 2 months, PocketCox every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RowingCoach | PocketCox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (117 ratings) | 4.9 (15 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 38.4% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 117 — better | 15 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gunther Cronenberg | Nicolas Camenisch |
Customer experience
RowingCoach
PocketCox
Bugs and requests
RowingCoach
Reported bugs
20 issues- Distance resets to zero when workout is paused
- SPM not displaying in real-time during workouts
- App crashes when receiving phone calls
- GPS tracking stops working after iOS updates
- Stroke count significantly underreported (off by 30-50%)
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- Distance values wildly inaccurate (2-3x actual distance)
- Workouts not appearing in app history despite being tracked
- Subscription validation fails on Apple Watch
- App hangs on workout start
- Data not uploading to Apple Health
- Clock overlay blocking metrics on Apple Watch
- Display elements overlapping when phone is rotated
- SPM showing zero for entire workouts
- Metrics switching between metric and imperial units mid-workout
- App freezing when trying to save workouts
- PM5 connection showing as connected but not syncing data
- Strava export missing distance data for indoor rows
- Watch app not appearing after installation
- Contact/feedback link in app not functional
- Inconsistent heart rate detection
Requested features
18 requests- Calibration settings for different rowing machines
- Automatic pause/resume detection
- Customizable workout countdown timers
- Bluetooth connectivity for Concept2 PM5
- Improved calorie burn calculations
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- Watt power output calculations
- Distance per stroke efficiency metric
- Audible stroke rate announcements
- Always-on display support for Apple Watch
- Manual workout editing capabilities
- Automatic Strava uploads
- Detailed heart rate and pace graphs
- Training plan integration
- Ghost/challenge mode for self-competition
- Garmin Connect integration
- Multiple language support (French, German)
- Improved watch display optimization for larger screens
- Better contrast for outdoor visibility
PocketCox
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
RowingCoach
- Unltd. recs & export (1 Month)$0.99
- Unltd. recs & export (3 Months)$1.99
- Unltd. recs & export (1 Year)$4.99
PocketCox
- PocketCox Pro3 Days trial$1.991 Month
- PocketCox Pro14 Days trial$12.991 Year
Questions
Is RowingCoach free?
Is PocketCox free?
Which has better reviews, RowingCoach or PocketCox?
Do RowingCoach or PocketCox have ads?
Which is updated more often, RowingCoach or PocketCox?
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