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Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

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Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#61

Post by wott »

lincolnq wrote: post #22
lykahb wrote: post #11

Their front page tells nearly nothing about the app. Instead, one half of it solicits registration. This tells me all I need to know about their respect to the users.

With Strava, you record your workouts (run, bike etc) and it will show you where you went, how far and how fast. Then it finds commonly-run “segments” within your ride, and ranks you on those segments against your friends and the world, so you can see yourself improving over time and compare your speed to others.

> you can see yourself improving over time

I should ask a refund, this feature doesn't work for me! ;-)

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#62

Post by moufestaphio »

chihuahua wrote: post #31

Over the past 5 years, Strava has aquired the reputation of not fixing any bugs and not adding any useful features. Instead there was just a little bit of churn in the UI, annoying most users. A better way forward might have been to keep existing features for everyone, but add a number of useful new features for paying subscribers.

> A better way forward might have been to keep existing features for everyone, but add a number of useful new features for paying subscribers.

I completely agree here. I think removing features to paid will always leave many users upset.

If you don't have a good monetization plan from the beginning, then I think the safer approach is to put new features under paid and make that the value add.

But making your product worse, and making users pay to just get back to what it was? ugh.

Also I think this will hurt them more than the expect, as they kind of are a social media platform and removing the free 'social' part will drive away a lot of users that might have considered paying at some point.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#63

Post by kingosticks »

fredley wrote: post #26
markus92 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Afaik Strava is more used by cyclists which is a more expensive sport. Everyone who is sort of serious uses it.

Here in the UK at least it's very popular with the running community, although I remember a few years ago it was definitely cycling-first. Would be interesting to know what the breakdown is by activities, users' primary activity type.

I can't give you that stat but there are some great numbers showing a trend away from single-sport users at https://blog.strava.com/press/strava-releases-2019-year-in-s... (download the zipped report at the top)

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#64

Post by kingosticks »

monkmartinez wrote: post #42

Garmin Connect could win here.

Do you think they would change to accept data from competitor devices? I suppose they could accept the data but make the analysis/experience much worse to make Garmin devices more appealing.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#65

Post by ValentineC »

andromeduck wrote: post #13

Strava integration with apple watch and apple health is so poor I stopped using it directly, relying instead of stuff like health fit. Having tried Summit I honestly don't understand why anyone would pay for such a lackluster experience especially for swimming. If the Activity app would allow for a bit more detailed workout sharing and basic social like likes and comments I'd be done with it entirely.

> Strava integration with apple watch and apple health is so poor I stopped using it directly, relying instead of stuff like health fit.

Heh Strava gave me so much trouble when I switched Apple Watches. I think I had to delete and reinstall the app a couple of times before the app realised that I was using a different Apple Watch, and offered to pair with a new one.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#66

Post by KurtMueller »

fredley wrote: post #15

I think this is fair. Strava summit is a cheap subscription, and running a very cheap sport to participate in. Segments in my experience appeal to spreadsheet heads who get a kick out of meaningless drilling down into data[0]. I imagine most casual runners are not that. In many ways I can see this making Strava more appealing to casual runners, as for people starting out on a fitness journey, the last thing you want…

Cycling on the other hand - an activity I really enjoy - can get suuuper expensive.

I enjoyed challenging my friends to Strava segments, even if I was mostly slower than any of them.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#67

Post by chihuahua »

alteria wrote: post #23
fredley wrote: post #15

I think this is fair. Strava summit is a cheap subscription, and running a very cheap sport to participate in. Segments in my experience appeal to spreadsheet heads who get a kick out of meaningless drilling down into data[0]. I imagine most casual runners are not that. In many ways I can see this making Strava more appealing to casual runners, as for people starting out on a fitness journey, the last thing you want…

Interesting take, and it does track with my experience as a data nerd. Also, my first time looking at myself on the leaderboards was throughly depressing

Leaderboards in popular areas are likely to be depressing. I've found some joy in tracking down Strava (cycling) segments in more out-of-the-way places and trying to post good times there. On one occasion I drove 90 minutes to the start of a 1-hour segment just to ride it and get the KOM.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#68

Post by kingosticks »

ssorc wrote: post #54
chihuahua wrote: post #31

Over the past 5 years, Strava has aquired the reputation of not fixing any bugs and not adding any useful features. Instead there was just a little bit of churn in the UI, annoying most users. A better way forward might have been to keep existing features for everyone, but add a number of useful new features for paying subscribers.

To be fair on Strava, they have made some effort to addressing this over the last few months: https://www.strava.com/subscription/whats-new

But now it's kinda obvious they only did this as ammo in preparation for today's announcement. I sincerely do hope they continue to add new features, there is a huge stack of requests and ideas still waiting in their support forums.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#69

Post by freehunter »

lykahb wrote: post #27
freehunter wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m looking at their front page right now and I see “ Connecting the world's athletes” which sounds like a social network for athletes? Scrolling the tiniest bit but still without changing pages pages, I see “If you're active, Strava was made for you. We're the social network for those who strive” and it shows a map and details of someone’s workout. That tells me everything I need to know. It’s a social media app to…

The only text the front page displays is "The #1 app for runners and cyclists", on top of a screenshot and registration dividing the screen in two. Might be A/B testing going on.

You're right... the difference is I first checked on mobile (which shows a ton of info). Their desktop site is decidedly more spartan.

However, I would still argue that "The #1 app for runners any cyclists" alongside a picture showing a map and charts with a watch showing time and distance should tell you everything you need to know. It's an app for runners and cyclists that tracks your time and distance. Not exactly the same as "a social network for runners and cyclists" but both statements are correct.

Re: Strava cuts off leaderboard for free users, reduces third party apps

#70

Post by johannes1234321 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7
nsteel wrote: post #2

Giving zero days notice to your 3rd-party developers is one way to anger a relatively powerful bunch of your users. Many people will find today that their hobby/side-project is now dead in the water. I hope nobody was relying on any income from software using these APIs. But the 'best' bit: "We realize these changes could be especially challenging for some of you, so they’ll be non-breaking for 30 days, returning emp…

> Giving zero days notice to your 3rd-party developers is one way to anger a relatively powerful bunch of your users. I understand the frustration, but I also understand Strava's desire to rip the band-aid off and just shut it down. When it comes to free APIs, a sunsetting period gives a lot of people the idea that they can change the company's mind if they complain loudly enough, make enough noise on social media, o…

> When it comes to free APIs, a sunsetting period gives a lot of people the idea that they can change the company's mind

Also it gives bad actors the idea to extract all the data they can get, before access is gone, leading to many uncontrolled pools of personal data.

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