Strava, the online network that allows you to track your rides and other athletic activity via GPS, has added routes to version 4.1 of its mobile app. The new feature allows you to import routes from www.strava.com into Strava’s mobile app and navigate your way around your ride.
The app also has a ‘Route Back To Start’ feature that automatically plots the most efficient path back to the beginning of your activity. That could come in handy if the weather turns against you, for example, or you have a mechanical issue and need to cut your ride short.
The Route Builder feature on www.strava.com allows you to plan rides. Strava say that it uses athlete data to recommend the roads and trails around the world that runners and cyclists use the most. The idea is that you’re getting the benefit of local knowledge wherever you happen to be. They say that millions of GPS-recorded activities uploaded to Strava inform Route Builder’s intelligence.
Once you've built a route, you can now follow it on the Strava mobile app (or any compatible GPS device).
It’s free to join Strava although they hope you’ll opt for Premium membership – which offers things like heart rate analysis of your rides and leaderboards that are filtered by age and weight – costing US$6 per month or $59 per year.
Version 4.1 of the Strava mobile app is available free from the App Store (iPhone, iPad and iPod touch version) and Google Play (Android version).
11 thoughts on “Strava adds routes to mobile app”
So, if you dont have a Garmin
So, if you dont have a Garmin 800 or above or a Mio 305, you can now use your phone as a ‘mapping navigation GPS’ and not just as a tracker?
Does anyone know if this new ‘route’ requires a data connection?
Or will it work offline so you won’t get hit with a massive data charge at the end of the month?
petertaylor123 wrote:So, if
On an iPhone it uses the GPS signal so no data. Don’t know about the rest though. (I tested it in flightsafe mode and it worked fine, so also saves battery life)
I noticed it gives an
I noticed it gives an estimated moving time once you create a route. Is this based on your Average ride speeds?
Richie Watkin wrote:I noticed
I get different estimated times from a slower friend for the same route so I believe so.
Richie: Yes, if you hover
Richie: Yes, if you hover over the estimated time on the route in the website it explicitly tells you its based on your average speed over the last 4 weeks.
Beginning of the end for
Beginning of the end for Garmin style devices? I think the ‘techy’ term is convergence, but probably presents some challenges to smartphone designers with all these functions merging onto one device….and, not forgetting, it still needs to make phonecalls. Can we also have a micro helmet cam that links into the phone so we can record our rides and, more importantly, have some video evidence if we get knocked off by a motorist.
Shades wrote:Beginning of the
I would say no, because I dont want to a) have an iphone on my bars / stem (too bulky) and b) I dont want my iphone to get damaged in a crash.
But then, I am happy to use a Garmin 200 and follow a thin black line…
As for an integrated micro-helmet cam – sounds plausible, just back to battery power I would think.
Sorry to be thick
Does this
Sorry to be thick
Does this mean that an iphone in flight save mode could be used successfully abroad too? If the route is pre saved and loaded on, can it just be followed as per a Garmin? I’m more interested in navigation on an upcoming European ride than stats-and if there are no data charges,surely a big part of the Garmin market will disappear?
Yep – it doesn’t use data,
Yep – it doesn’t use data, only the GPS.
The route planner doesn’t
The route planner doesn’t know that the Cambridge guided busway is there. That’s a bit disappointing – not to mention surprising, since it’s very popular with Strava types!
Turn by turn audio directions
Turn by turn audio directions would be a home run… I’m sure a few wrecks can be attributed to digging for a phone while on route. http://gexton.com/