Quick Start
Welcome to CrewNerd - the "on the water" training tool designed for rowing and paddling! CrewNerd is a great tool for everything from recreational outings to training for world-class competition. In this article, we'll give you just enough information to get ready for your first session on the water.
To get prepared, we recommend looking at the following articles (links available at the end of this article).
- Phone protection and mounting - learn about best practices for mounting and waterproofing
- Sport settings - select your activity type and units of measure. Note: setting your activity correctly is critical for detecting strokes and for making the timer's "auto start" feature work well.
CrewNerd's user interface is made up of five primary tabs (or screens):
- Row/Paddle - the default screen, providing feedback during your workouts
- Workouts - use this screen to select workouts or create new ones
- History - shows your recorded practice data for viewing or exporting
- Settings - use this screen to change app settings, access our documentation, or contact customer support
- Tracking - for managing the Live Tracking feature
Note: Be sure to give CrewNerd permission to access your location so it can measure your speed and distance. If you plan to use a heart rate monitor or other Bluetooth accessory, you'll need to grant permission for that as well.
On the Row/Paddle screen you'll see:
- The status bar (with a red background) containing control buttons on the left and right, and the workout name in the middle.
- Data fields in a default configuration.
To start your workout, press the start button 
. The status bar background will change from red to yellow to indicate that the timer is ready, but paused. When you begin rowing or paddling, the bar will change from yellow to green to indicate that the timer is running. When you stop rowing or paddling, the timer will automatically stop and the status bar will turn yellow again.
By default, the "auto start/stop" feature is enabled. If you disable this (on the settings page), then the status bar will turn green as soon as you press the "Start" button.
At the end of your workout, press "Stop" 
, or just go to the history page (which will also stop the timer). On the history page, you'll see an entry for the practice you just completed. Select it to view a summary of your outing. You can also enter notes about the practice, or record the name of the boat you used, or the other athletes you were with.
Now that you've completed a practice, you will probably want to customize the appearance of the Row/Paddle screen. CrewNerd's display settings allow you to see more or fewer data fields, and select the data shown in each field. If the display was difficult to read, you may want to switch to the high-contrast sunlight mode.
See the related articles below to learn how to fine-tune CrewNerd for your needs, and don't hesitate to reach out to our customer support if you have any questions!
Row/Paddle screen buttons
The top left button is either "start" or "stop".
The screen settings button is always available on the top right.
Depending on the context, the other button on the top right will be "Skip", "Repeat", or "Reset".
