What's the deal about Strava and reported bugs

[fastupslowdown]

For the past week their strava website hasn't functioned properly. It's not possible to switch from the "i'm following" view of the activity feeds to "my rides" or clubs that i'm following. i reported the error, they were nice enough to acknowledge , inform me they are aware of it and know its impacting their user base, but now it's almost a week. Shouldn't a software company be able to either fix a bug or back out the software to the last known version that worked? -Mike G

[Matthew Strongin]

Shouldn't a software company be able to either fix a bug or back out the software to the last known version that worked? -Mike G

The answer is yes, no, and maybe all at once. It really depends on a number of factors, including what dev methodology they use or the nature of the change that caused the bug. That was my diplomatic professional answer.

My personal answer is that bugs are annoying, especially bugs that prevent basic site functions from working.

[j44ke]

For the past week their strava website hasn't functioned properly. It's not possible to switch from the "i'm following" view of the activity feeds to "my rides" or clubs that i'm following. i reported the error, they were nice enough to acknowledge , inform me they are aware of it and know its impacting their user base, but now it's almost a week. Shouldn't a software company be able to either fix a bug or back out the software to the last known version that worked? -Mike G

Bug fixes are a mystery. I figure that if they didn't get caught in final review, they are either features that aren't a priority, features that are scheduled for a full change upcoming or features that aren't getting used a lot. Or there is some interdependence on other features that make them difficult to fix once they appear, so they go onto a to-do list to be handled in turn.

[fastupslowdown]

The answer is yes, no, and maybe all at once. It really depends on a number of factors, including what dev methodology they use or the nature of the change that caused the bug. That was my diplomatic professional answer.

My personal answer is that bugs are annoying, especially bugs that prevent basic site functions from working.

annoying is right, i prefer the web page over the mobile ap as it has better functionality. maybe their customer base all use the ap now.

[j44ke]

annoying is right, i prefer the web page over the mobile ap as it has better functionality. maybe their customer base all use the ap now.

I think that's right. Now that a lot of the GPS units upload through the phone, even people who don't use the app to track their ride probably don't look at the website much unless they are training or just totally obsessed.

And in terms of training, seems like there might be a steady switch to sites like Training Peaks for the data logging.

[bigbill]

Now I'm curious, I've got a Garmin 800 from 2012. I've been happy that it's lasted this long and still has a good battery life, but I'm looking at an 820 or 520 this winter because so far this year, the 800 has blanked out on several rides, failing to produce data with the exception of distance and time. Does linking it to the phone riding in my jersey pocket automatically upload to Garmin or whatever app I use? Can you set it to store the rides until I select to upload? I like the convenience of not having to plug in to download rides, I could leave the unit on the bike until it needed charging.

[Matthew Strongin]

If linked to the Garmin Connect phone app, the 520/820 will upload the ride when you finish and save it on the unit. I can't think of any reason not to just do it at the end of the ride, though. The workflow is very natural and transparent. But, you can disable Auto Upload in the app and then manually open the app to sync with the unit when you feel like it. Between the two, I strongly favor the 520 over the 820 unless you want/need more robust mapping capabilities. I have and use both and the 820 touchscreen, though decent, is less user friendly than the buttons on the 520. But, the 820 maps are much better than the 520s so I keep both and use the 820 when I travel.

[j44ke]

With Garmin and Wahoo, the unit uploads through the phone using the respective app for the device - Garmin to Garmin Connect and Wahoo to Wahoo Fitness - onto the app's online service. The Wahoo can also upload directly to Wahoo Fitness online by WIFI connection, but as far as I can tell, it can manage only one WIFI connection, which usually ends up being the one in your home & entered during setup. Either way, after the upload goes to the online service (GC or WF,) it is then sent to any number of "linked" services - Strava, Training Peaks, Ride By GPS, so forth. So the upload can be set to "automatic" but it is really a two-step upload - first to the online service and then to the linked service. That also means your ride is saved in at least three places - your device, its home online service and the linked service. Originally the process could be pretty frustrating, but the automatic aspect has gotten more dependable, even with the two steps.

[j44ke]

So here is what Strava was up to. They have evidently just fully implemented the change so that now you will see what Strava's algorithm says are the most interesting rides in your feed, not all your contacts rides in chronological order. There is no way to switch this back to chronological order. As you can see in the now-closed comment section, no one likes this much.

https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/...Feed-announced

Here is their blog announcement.

https://blog.strava.com/see-the-best...u-visit-13128/

And here is the survey where you can tell them what you think.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NewStravaFeed

In short, they've made it more personal by reordering your feed for you which basically makes it less personal. In fact, it makes it NOT personal at all.

[fastupslowdown]

So here is what Strava was up to. They have evidently just fully implemented the change so that now you will see what Strava's algorithm says are the most interesting rides in your feed, not all your contacts rides in chronological order. There is no way to switch this back to chronological order. As you can see in the now-closed comment section, no one likes this much.

https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/...Feed-announced

Here is their blog announcement.

https://blog.strava.com/see-the-best...u-visit-13128/

And here is the survey where you can tell them what you think.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NewStravaFeed

In short, they've made it more personal by reordering your feed for you which basically makes it less personal. In fact, it makes it NOT personal at all.

strava is going out of their way to make me want to stop using their site. I have no interest in virtual rides, i don't want to see them or see their impact on any stats. chronological order make the most sense to me.

[mjbabcock]

It’s times like this I’m glad I have no friends!
This social media bullshit manipulation is scarry. Seems innocuous at first, but you end up not even knowing the decisions that are being made for you.
The modifications they make to try and manipulate our attention, and our priorities, is weird. I read that blog post about “not getting recognized” and “not recognizing” achievements; they left out the “not giving a fuck” alternative...

[fastupslowdown]

i still can't figure out why i suddenly get friends or people following me that live half way around the world, and then i click on them and they've biked 1,000 miles all year and follow 2,000 cyclists

[Toddykins]

I was part of the 'lucky' group that got switched to the algo feed ages ago. Having thought about this, why I am annoyed with Strava is that I pay for this, whereas I do not for Facebook/Instagram. I will cancel my premium membership and am more than happy to switch to another platform at this point. However, I find Strava's route builder, heat maps and library of rides and segments extremely useful for planning rides in unfamiliar places. Do any of the competing platforms have comparable route building capabilities? The heat maps overlayed on the route builder, in particular, are essential.

[dogrange]

I was part of the 'lucky' group that got switched to the algo feed ages ago. Having thought about this, why I am annoyed with Strava is that I pay for this, whereas I do not for Facebook/Instagram. I will cancel my premium membership and am more than happy to switch to another platform at this point. However, I find Strava's route builder, heat maps and library of rides and segments extremely useful for planning rides in unfamiliar places. Do any of the competing platforms have comparable route building capabilities? The heat maps overlayed on the route builder, in particular, are essential.

+1, agreed and all that!

[mjbabcock]

Just open a free account woth zero friends.

[j44ke]

I was part of the 'lucky' group that got switched to the algo feed ages ago. Having thought about this, why I am annoyed with Strava is that I pay for this, whereas I do not for Facebook/Instagram. I will cancel my premium membership and am more than happy to switch to another platform at this point. However, I find Strava's route builder, heat maps and library of rides and segments extremely useful for planning rides in unfamiliar places. Do any of the competing platforms have comparable route building capabilities? The heat maps overlayed on the route builder, in particular, are essential.

I think Ride By GPS is 100% better as ride building software, especially since the rides go straight into my Wahoo computer. No heat maps, but automatic turn by turn and importation of maps from a lot of other sources.

[StR]

uiii uiii uiii I can see world wide strava users sitting with kleenex in front of their desc ... ;()))

[Bewheels]

You guys hit the nail on the head - Strava is a social media play at its core. After all, what do you think 'strava segments' are all about? The product decisions they make are with this in mind. Evidently they feel that this is how they build engagement and stickiness. I know several riders who do in-fact use the tool this way. These same people are also active with other social media platforms. They also happen to be much younger than I am...

Because I am not interested in Strava (or any other social media, short of this forum) for this purpose, this is a swing-and-a-miss for me. However, I (we) may not be their main demographic.

Overall Strava has been a very cool idea and product. They have done a really good job building out their product and the business.

[htwoopup]

Agree with Jorn, I prefer Ride with GPS. No heat maps but I just like it better and found it easier.

Plus, I stopped using Strava when they recently changed their privacy policy and I read it. Having been in their business, I found it a highly offensive and one sided data privacy screw the user type of thing. It was particularly troubling because like Brian said they are at the heart a "social platform" that they are going to try to monetize more but as was also said...I paid for this so that should have kept my data more private. They also copped an attitude when I demanded they destroy the data they had previously harvested from me.

I have gone to Ridewithgps and never looked back.

[teleguy57]

Agree with Jorn, I prefer Ride with GPS. No heat maps but I just like it better and found it easier.

Plus, I stopped using Strava when they recently changed their privacy policy and I read it. Having been in their business, I found it a highly offensive and one sided data privacy screw the user type of thing. It was particularly troubling because like Brian said they are at the heart a "social platform" that they are going to try to monetize more but as was also said...I paid for this so that should have kept my data more private. They also copped an attitude when I demanded they destroy the data they had previously harvested from me.

I have gone to Ridewithgps and never looked back.

I set up a Strava account a while back, but almost never used it. This thread has motivating me to log on and deactivate my account. So I'm not long "on" Strava -- although I never really was. They have minimal, if any data harvested from me so I am not concerned about that.

Following/followed, meh. But privacy going forward, that concerns me. Strava is no longer getting any data from me.