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news
Strava app icon in iPhone (Focal Foto on Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)Strava users can no longer publicly share activity data on third-party apps, as company aims to crack down on fitness syncing ecosystem
In a development that has allegedly blindsided thousands of third-party apps, Strava has announced changes to its API Agreement that won’t allow other platforms to display users’ data publicly, meaning cyclists won’t be able to use apps like VeloViewer or coaching platforms like Intervals.icu to share their ride or other activity data with anyone else.
The popular fitness tracking and sharing app is used by more than 125 million users, with a large majority of athletes using it as a data hub to track their activities using fitness tracking devices like smartwatches and power meters, and then export that data using third-party apps which focus on specific disciplines like cycling, running, hiking and more. In fact, there are tens of thousands of such apps, according to Strava itself.
However, the new changes in its API Agreement could mean a death blow to the entire fitness syncing ecosystem, with users already warning that Strava is “shooting themselves, users, and third-party apps in the foot with this move.”
Besides the change dictating how user data is shared on these countless other platforms, the California-based company has also announced that third-party apps won’t be able to use any data parsed from its app to perform analytics using artificial intelligence models.
So, what does this mean for you? The first thing to note is that if you use a device — such as a GPS computer — to record your rides and then upload that data to Strava, this change won't affect that, because users can still access the data generated from their devices; however, apps pulling data from Strava will no longer be allowed to perform any data processing, nor share it with other users on that platform, making leaderboards and segments redundant.
And finally, in a move to “safeguard Strava’s experience”, other apps and platforms will have to maintain a distinct user interface that doesn’t feel too similar to Strava’s own.
Interestingly, Strava wrote that these changes have come into effect from 11 November, despite its blog post detailing the announcement being made four days ago. Here’s the full list of changes announced by Strava:
Effective November 11, the updated API agreement introduces three key changes that provide Strava users with greater control, security, and a consistent experience:
Stronger Privacy Standards: Third-party apps may now only display a user’s Strava activity data to that specific user. Users will continue to have access to their personal Strava data across apps connected to our platform, though there may be differences in how this data appears.
Data Use Limitations: Our terms now explicitly prohibit third parties from using any data obtained via Strava’s API in artificial intelligence models or similar applications.
Protecting the Strava Experience: Additional terms have been added to protect Strava’s unique look and feel and functionality, helping users easily distinguish between Strava and third-party platforms.
More surprisingly, the blog post ends with the note: “Per our Community Guidelines and Guidelines to Ideas, posts requesting or attempting to have Strava revert business decisions will not be permitted.”
Since making the post, Strava has attempted to clarify its position by providing additional context. According to the company, the changes were made to enhance privacy and user control and prevent third-party platforms from utilising their user’s data to train AI models and misuse via generative AI, claiming that “innovation in this space must be handled responsibly and with a firm focus on user control”.
Strava said: “We want to thoughtfully address situations where users connect to a third-party app and are unaware that their data is being surfaced not just for their own use and visibility, but also to other users (for example, in a public feed or heatmap). The latest API changes address this scenario and provide a more consistent framework for Strava user data.”
It added: “Third-party developers may not take such a deliberate approach to training AI models and as a result, we believe the best decision for the platform and for users is to prohibit the use of data extracted from Strava users in this manner. Our previous terms already disallowed the use of Strava user data in model training and development but we’ve made this more explicit in light of the increasing activity in this space.”
This was perhaps not evident in the original post, in which it claimed that it is “proactively refining our terms to stay ahead of advancements in data technology”.
The company launched a beta version of its ‘Athlete Intelligence’ feature last month, allowing subscribers to analyse and interpret workout data into personalised insights and guidance, providing “smarter insights across pace, heart rate, elevation, power and Relative Effort”, as well as aggregating data trends from workouts logged over the past 30 days.
Additionally, Strava believes that these changes will have “no impact to most developers”, anticipating that “only a small fraction (less than 0.1 per cent) of the applications on the Strava platform” will be affected, with “the overwhelming majority of existing use cases are still allowed, including coaching platforms focused on providing feedback to users and tools that help users understand their data and performance.”
However, the popular training and coaching platform Intervals.icu already posted that this breaks all coaching features for them related to Strava data – requiring them to hide not only new user data going forward, but all historical data for coaches.
Nate Pearson, CEO of TrainerRoad, an app that provides users with “Effective, Science-Backed Workouts” based on access to data from Strava, wrote: “This was crazy news to us, too. We’re still understanding the full implications.”
Ray Maker on the website DCRainmaker said: “They [Strava] don’t seem all that committed to “working closely with partners”. As every single partner I’ve talked to over the last 24 hours has been completely broadsided by this change. They all received a generic e-mail Friday night, with a mere 30 days of notice to completely re-work their entire applications. Mind you, a 30-day period that includes the holidays (most companies would give at least 6 months of notice for something like this).
“I suspect we’ll see a lot of companies just shut off the API entirely, and perhaps that’s Strava’s goal. Though, I fail to see how that benefits paying Strava subscribers, and thus Strava’s bottom line. Strava seems to be working very hard to kill off the community of tens of thousands of apps that arguably made it so popular.”
Chris Snook, Director of PR and Communications at Zwift, told road.cc: “The changes do not impact Zwift customers, so we aren’t in a position to provide any commentary.”
Garmin, Wahoo, and Hammerhead have also been approached for comment.
How is this change going to affect your usage of Strava for your rides and other activities going forward? Let us know in the comments…
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
Latest Comments
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I'm not really clear the relevance of plastering tips in this context.
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As per the DC Rainmaker article, GDPR means the data stays in the users' ownership, where GDPR applies (EU & UK). How Strava the enhance it is...
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Or completely give up.... and buy a emtb, which will break within 12 months, so you can lounge on the sofa guilt free 👍
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29 comments
Sounds like a great opportunity for some tech-startup to do the exact opposite of Strava. That is make an open-exchange app that will act as both a social network and an activity data exchange platform. Activities could have simple toggle switches specifing which metrics are shareable . It's not hard to imagine it just needs someone, I lack the skills, to do it and people to ditch Strava and take it up. Build it and the people will come.
Seems an odd choice to me, since Strava depends on user data. It seems like this should be a good incentive for the third party services/apps to build .FIT file processing. I know all Garmins (maybe also Wahoo?) spit out a .FIT file by default containing all the information. I understand that there's a cost to developing that functionality, but it would bypass strava for the vast majority of applications.
I wonder, what would happen is say, Garmin, Wahoo, and Hammerhead decided to cut their ties and stop sharing their data with Strava? Maybe making it so you could only use their gps head units on their own apps?
Strava has to remember they are only as good as the people uploading data to it. Where it has been revolutionary in the uptake of cycling and many other sports where people can post their workouts, its a very flimsy business when you rely purely on customer input to exist.
And when you record a ride with, lets say a garmin, Strava dont own that data, The GPX was made by Garmin. The code is used by Garmin. Strava is just a database with flashy graphics and maps.
Sounds like a few companies should get together to build their own "upload" service. If the band together they could create a genric API they could all use to upload and download the data and skip Strava completly.
It would only work if a lot of companies chip in to make a central database outside of the Strava universe.
You dont need to, You have thge ability to give it to a 3rd party without Strava. You may have to manually upload it or link it to Garmin Connect or similar but Strava can be taken out this loop entirely. Which is what makes this situation so self defeating.
Second some tech staff from Garmin, Wahoo and Hammerhead, put them in a room together and Strava won't have much of a business left.
Is Strava annoyed with the Telegraph "52mph" article and decided to do something about it?
Looks like they just want to do stupid things every few years. In 2019, they decided that connecting to heart rate monitors (or any other Ant+/Bluetooth device) was annoying, and dropped it. So I dropped my subscription. Then a year or so after they realized how incredibly stupid that was, but I had moved on, so I didn't really care.
At some point I got a proper bike computer and I was considering resubscribing, as I'm using Strava as a hub between other services, so I already have all my rides there. Well, that will have stop, and resubscribing is never going to happen now.
Even if they cancel this stupid move, I know they are likely to do something equally boneheaded at some point. Morons.
Stupid things like make their business profitable you mean?
You have to paywall premium features to fund your platform and you can't have an open garden access policy to api's sucking "your" data metrics to other competing platforms, where surprise surprise the premium features are also paywalled.
Strava want people to pay Strava money for data analysis, not see their users use Strava and then pay other competitors to analyse the Strava data.
The reality is you still have the raw activity data, all you have to do is synch it yourself with the non Strava apps, and not expect Strava to do it for you.
False argument. The App tier of the API is paid for by the 3rd parties. They are as much Strava customers as subscribers are.
If Strava dont want to act as a helpful middleman - which is part of what I pay them for - then I'll take my subscription elsewhere.
"you can't have an open garden access policy to api's sucking "your" data metrics"
Exactly! Who's data? Its not Stravas. the data on your ride, from the gpx track, your heart rate, power output, cadence, speed, elevation isnt Stravas as all. It belongs to YOU, and maybe the creator. In most cases thats the collection device ie Garmin or Wahoo etc. Strava store YOUR data on a platform. It is not nor has it ever been Stravas.
I agree that the data doesn't belong to Strava, though I think the uploader gives them certain rights to use it how they want (no, I haven't read their terms and conditions). However, I can't see how Garmin has any right to the data collected unless you upload it them as well and thus allow them to do stuff with it too.
Typically, the person doing the measuring is the "owner" of the data and not the device used to measure it (e.g. think of how a tape measure works).
If I create a ride usinga garmin. I upload it to Garmin Connect and they pass it to Strava and other apps I choose such as Komoot. If Garmin wants to they can stop you passing the file to Strava, ITs thier CODE. The raw data is yours but the code to transfer it is their propriety intellectual property.
You ought to start reading the T&C for most things on yer modern interweb. If you store it on their system, it's their's. In most cases.
The point is, they can say all they like in the T&C, they didnt create it, so you can give it to whomever you please either via Strava or by yourself. If I link any 3rd party apps to Garmin Connect then its already gone, no matter what Strava says I do with my data as I please.
Strava is a middle man in the process of data from Garmin to 3rd parties. Since Strava in this situation are 3rd party themselves. Garmin recoreded it. Garmin owns the code in which the data is created/stored. Garmin could just say, no data shall be transferred from Garmin Connect to Strava or any other 3rd party application. The only place you can view your ride is on Garmin Connect. That would be stupid, so why are Strava being so?
The Only data exclusive to Strava in any of this is the segements and leaderboards. That is their only unique input. But any other app can make their own, in fact Garmin do but its just not as functional. Strava made this data more visible that is all. They created a place where peole share their rides openly and compete against other times on no descript patches of road. Its nothing more than that. That other functions are done better in other apps like trainer road if you care more about performance goals and stats
As per the DC Rainmaker article, GDPR means the data stays in the users' ownership, where GDPR applies (EU & UK). How Strava the enhance it is theirs. T&Cs can say what they want, but local laws hold precedence
Their AI sumamries after each ride fall into that category.
It's always been a source of frustration that I cannot connect apps such as VeloViewer or Headwind directly to Garmin, that I have had to use a 3rd party intermediary... Strava.
Hopefully, Garmin will now lift whatever block it imposes on these apps and my reliance on Strava can end.
To hold my breath or not ...
Why would Garmin do that ? It's a feature you value, so it clearly has a monetary value, and so Garmin can monetise access to it.
It's up to Headwind or Veloviewer to then pay for that direct access if they think it's worth doing for their user base, which is what Strava does.
No - the best decision for users is to allow them to make that decision, about what is their data, for themselves, on a service-by-service basis.
If I squint I can see that this change was made in the interests of users to stop their data being harvested by 3rd parties - but the way its been done is clumsy at best and suspicious monetisation at worst.
We used to say "if it ain't on strava it didn't happen", now we'll say "it ain't on strava because I've closed my account".
This is hugely arrogant behaviour from the big power in the field that built up a service based upon certain behaviours, then changes that with almost zero notice in order to exert power over the multiple smaller players that helped create Strava's position. The data they're claiming as theirs comes from third parties anyway - Garmin and Apple presumably the biggest sources. Their analytics have always been poor, but that's not a problem as others are better at this. There's nowhere to discuss this as they've censored their own forums. I've just cancelled my 10 year premium subscription with the following feedback:
"Your third party API access decision has reduced the value I get from Strava hugely. I want Strava to be my fitness data hub, and to use Veloviewer, xert, intervals, Sauce and others to use my data. I'm going to cancel my 10 year+ Strava subscription. I'm sorry about this, I've always tried to support Strava, but this is a terrible move that impacts users and third parties terribly. Remember whose data this is!"
It would be funny (not that funny) if a much bigger player such as Garmin for fun decided to switch off parts of their API and prevented activities recorded on Garmin devices syncing with Strava. Strava would lose over half of "their" data collection overnight.
I'm waiting to see what happens with VeloViewer, that's a great service, but of course relies on Strava as a data source.
Except Strava licenses that access to Garmin, so why would Garmin cut them off ?
The arrangement suits both of them and they both make money from doing it.
Oh I'm sorry you thought gigantic tech corporations provide worldwide access to IT infrastructure and data analysis for free.
Errm, no I don't.
You seem to be Strava's official spokesperson.
But you're getting short shrift here.
I think thats the nuclear option but its certainly one to keep on the table and think about at the end of the week as this plays out....
I'd predict they do some form of back track, saying "oh we're not going to stop those types of 3rd parties", but I think they've got their eyes on certain people who exist and do things well (intervals.icu apparently received a differently worded warning from some other services), and reserve the right to pull the plug on anyone at any time. That's not a way to treat people who built valuable services based upon good use of data (doing things Strava has never seriously doen itself). I get also that they're trying to stop some of the larger scale use of population data via the mention of poorly defined terms like AI and processing, but this is a backwards, protectionist step over the use of our data until they've defined the motive and impact an awful lot better.
My current subscription runs until next September, and I can assess the situation closer to then.