Comparison

Rowing Workout vs Norwegian 4x4 Protocol

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Rowing Workout

Track your indoor rowing sessions with detailed stroke analysis and real-time progress monitoring. Compete with yourself and others on leaderboards, and seamlessly export your data to popular fitness platforms.

Highlights
  • Precise stroke and distance tracking
  • Real-time iPhone display of metrics
  • Automatic workout pause/resume
  • GameCenter leaderboards and challenges
  • Export to Strava & Concept2 Logbook
  • Bluetooth connectivity for rowers
  • Detailed performance analytics (subscription)
Features
Read full description

Elevate Your Rowing Experience with Rowing Workouts for your Apple Watch. Looking to take your rowing to new heights? The all-new Rowing Workouts app for your Apple Watch is finally here! This isn't just an app for recording your rows; it's a comprehensive tracker for every stroke you take. Features: Precise Tracking: Capture not only your rowing sessions but also track every individual rowing stroke. The measured force is used to estimate the distance covered, providing accurate insights into how many meters you've rowed daily or weekly. Personal Challenges: Challenge yourself by sharing your training data and competing against your own best performances. Witness your personal progress and draw inspiration from your own training. Seamless iPhone and Apple Watch Integration: While you're training on your Apple Watch, your iPhone reflects your current data, serving as a clear display for your progress. Monitor your activity rings, burned calories, heart rate, strokes per minute, speed, and more in real-time directly on your iPhone screen. Convenient Control: Start, pause, or stop your workout at any time directly from your iPhone. Take a short break - the workout will automatically pause and seamlessly resume when you're ready. All your workouts are, of course, stored in HealthKit for a comprehensive overview of your fitness. GameCenter Integration: Compete on leaderboards for the fastest 1000m and 2000m times, longest rowing distance over 14 days, and more. Challenge your friends and compete directly against their times and the global best. NEW! Export your workouts to Strava & Concept2 Logbook Take your training data with you wherever you go. You can now export your completed rowing workouts directly to Strava and the Concept2 Logbook—including distance, time, heart rate, and all essential metrics. Keep your progress synchronized across the platforms you love and stay motivated by tracking your achievements everywhere. Connect Your Concept2 PM5 Monitor or FTMS-Compatible Rowers via Bluetooth: Experience precise and comprehensive data tracking by connecting RowErg with PM5 to the app via Bluetooth. This integration allows you to monitor key metrics such as distance and stroke rate with incredible accuracy. Now, you can enjoy the full benefits of the app without needing an Apple Watch—only when a rowing machine is connected via Bluetooth. This makes the app accessible to more rowing enthusiasts. In addition to Concept2, the app now supports a wide range of rowing machines using the FTMS Bluetooth protocol, including: WaterRowers with ComModule Half Human Air Rowers Many First Degree Fitness Rowers Many Skandika Rowers And other FTMS-compatible rowing machines Introducing Optional Subscription Benefits: Detailed Analyses: Dive deep into your performance with graphs and statistics. Understand your progress with visualized data on strokes per minute, power exerted, and split times. Advanced Stats & Comparisons: Compare your training sessions and track your improvement over time. Gain insights into your performance and how you stack up with past workouts. Download it now and embark on your path to becoming a stronger, fitter version of yourself! Be aware: Rowing workouts require an Apple Watch to track your movements and training data unless you have connected a rowing machine via Bluetooth. Health App Integrations: Rowing Workouts uses your health data from the Health App (HealthKit) to display your energy burned, record your workouts, and display your current heart rate. Privacy policy: https://apps.gogolith.com/privacy Terms and Conditions: https://apps.gogolith.com/row-terms

About

Norwegian 4x4 Protocol

This app guides you through the Norwegian 4x4 interval training protocol to improve your VO2 max and cardiovascular fitness. It offers customizable warm-up and cooldown durations, voice guidance for intervals, and integrates with Apple Watch for heart rate and calorie tracking.

Highlights
  • Norwegian 4x4 workouts
  • Voice guidance for intervals
  • Apple Watch heart rate tracking
  • Calorie tracking
  • Save workouts to Health app
  • No sign-in required
Features
Read full description

Get started with Norwegian 4x4 interval training. Norwegian 4x4 Protocol: Boreas makes it easy to get started with the Norwegian 4x4 protocol. Just select warm-up and cooldown duration, and the app handles the rest. You can connect an Apple Watch to track your heart rate and calories. The app supports voice guidance to let you know when the interval is about to end and when the next interval starts. Features: • Perform Norwegian 4x4 workouts. • Know when the next interval starts while the app is in the background with voice guidance. • Get current heart rate, heart rate zone and calories from your Apple Watch. • Save your workouts to the Health app. • No sign-in is required. Norwegian 4x4 Protocol: Boreas is a HIIT interval timer for improving cardio, which is relevant if you're training for 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, improving VO2 max or general fitness. If you have a suggestion for how to improve Norwegian 4x4 Protocol: Boreas, feel free to contact the App Support email. Always consult with a healthcare provider before starting any new exercise program. Exercise can carry risks, especially for people who have certain medical conditions or who have not been physically active in a long time. It's important to understand that using this app does not replace a doctor's advice or treatment. Terms of use for Norwegian 4x4 Protocol: Boreas: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Rowing Workout4 screens
Norwegian 4x4 Protocol4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Rowing Workout at 214 against Norwegian 4x4 Protocol's 66. On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rowing Workout sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Norwegian 4x4 Protocol sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Rowing Workout against 4.7 for Norwegian 4x4 Protocol. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 214 and 66 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Rowing Workout's written reviews are positive against 75% of Norwegian 4x4 Protocol's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rowing Workout ships an update every 2 weeks, Norwegian 4x4 Protocol fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Rowing Workout versus Norwegian 4x4 Protocol: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRowing WorkoutNorwegian 4x4 Protocol
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (214 ratings)4.7 (66 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.7% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings214 — better66
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.016.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChristoph GogolinHavard Tryman

Customer experience

Rowing Workout

All ratings214 ratings
Positive89.7%
Neutral5.1%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive68.7%
Neutral10.4%
Negative20.9%

Norwegian 4x4 Protocol

All ratings61 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral3.3%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

Bugs and requests

Rowing Workout

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Bluetooth connection drops between app and PM5/rowers
  • Apple Watch connection failures and sync issues
  • Stroke detection unreliable at slow rowing speeds
  • Distance calculations significantly undercount actual distance
  • Phone app metrics lag behind watch display
Show 7 more
  • Workout auto-pausing mid-session
  • Incomplete stroke counting (missing 2-4 strokes per session)
  • FTMS mode instability - workouts fail to start or stop prematurely
  • Exercise rings not updating in real-time
  • Heart rate data not picked up from Apple Watch
  • App fails to detect when rowing starts on connected rower
  • Incorrect calorie calculations

Requested features

10 requests
  • Support for additional rower types beyond PM5 (FTMS protocol support)
  • Landscape orientation for iPhone app
  • Strava integration and syncing
  • Ability to edit distance in completed workouts
  • Custom heart rate zone configuration
Show 5 more
  • One-time purchase option instead of subscription
  • Family sharing for Pro subscription
  • FDF Console pairing support
  • Retroactive distance input after workout completion
  • Heart rate zone time tracking display

Norwegian 4x4 Protocol

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Rowing Workout

Subscriptions4
  • Pro - monthly$1.991 Month
  • All Pro features (monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Pro yearly7 Days trial$12.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • All Pro features (yearly)7 Days trial$19.991 Year
2 purchases

Norwegian 4x4 Protocol

Subscriptions2
  • Pro3 Days trial$8.997 Days
  • Pro$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Rowing Workout free?
Rowing Workout is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Norwegian 4x4 Protocol free?
Norwegian 4x4 Protocol is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Rowing Workout or Norwegian 4x4 Protocol?
Norwegian 4x4 Protocol is rated higher. Rowing Workout averages 4.6 out of 5 from 214 ratings, while Norwegian 4x4 Protocol averages 4.7 from 66 ratings.
Do Rowing Workout or Norwegian 4x4 Protocol have ads?
Neither Rowing Workout nor Norwegian 4x4 Protocol shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Rowing Workout or Norwegian 4x4 Protocol?
Rowing Workout ships an update every 2 weeks, and Norwegian 4x4 Protocol fortnightly. Most recently, Rowing Workout was updated on October 24, 2026 and Norwegian 4x4 Protocol on October 21, 2026.

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