Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

dcrainmaker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 114 posts

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#21

Post by mulmen »

verisimi wrote: post #8
exabrial wrote: post #2

All of the (Garmin, Strava, Apple, and Google [who is trying really hard but failing]) want a monopoly on your health data. Garmin is the only one I actually trust currently, as they've shown 0 willingness to monetize your health information. The Strava/Garmin relationship is an interesting one: Strava has the social network, Garmin has the best devices [for serious Athletes, not casual users]. Garmin Connect is pret…

I'm still shocked and amazed that anyone would willingly share their health data with corporations. Why? What could go right? I say that acknowledging your point that this is possibly one of the better corporations out there. > Garmin is the only one I actually trust currently, as they've shown 0 willingness to monetize your health information. What about the concern that the company is bought out in the future? Or t…

I prefer the corporations not have the data at all. The problem is Apple is simultaneously the best and also pretty bad at stewarding such an ecosystem. In theory all my actual health data would live on a device I own, encrypted, and accessible only by the apps I approve. In reality Apple can't or won't provide those mechanisms. Every other corporation wants to collect and sell my data.

Apple had a chance to make on-premise data storage a thing. They had AirPort, which combined with a Mac Mini could provide full iCloud functionality from the home. iCloud itself could have simply been an encrypted offsite backup, like Tarsnap with no options.

Instead Apple built a system that still puts clear user data within their reach.

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#22

Post by adam-_- »

mdoms wrote: post #11

Garmin Connect is so much better than Strava it's not even close. The only reason I could possibly imagine preferring Strava is if I desperately need my social circle to be aware of my every workout. For those of us who do this for ourselves and not the approval of our peers Strava is miles behind.

Maybe it’s just what you know but every time I’ve used Garmin Connect it’s felt like a dumpster fire compared to Strava.

Even for route planning (years ago) which I would not say Strava is fantastic at, it still seemed worse.

YMMV

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#23

Post by dc-programmer »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #15
whimsicalism wrote: post #7

Sad to see this happen to Apple, a strong crusader for open standards across competing systems.

Honest question, is that comment meant at face value, or is it sarcastic? My impression of Apple has been that it's a mixed-bag for privacy, etc., so I'm actually not sure.

Apple’s garden (orchard?) is famously walled. This just means they intentionally make their hardware incompatible with other hardware/software. Presumable so you have to buy more Apple stuff

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#24

Post by mulmen »

notacoward wrote: post #18

The weird thing is that they claim it's to avoid duplicate activities, but they totally know how to recognize duplicates already. Every so often, there's some sort of glitch in one of my activities getting from Garmin to Strava. If I'm feeling impatient, I download the .fit file from Garmin and upload it to Strava myself, and I never get a duplicate that way . Happened for the first time in a while just last week. Cl…

Millions of activities is approximately zero activities. That's an inconsequential amount of data.

Even if it is a couple orders of magnitude larger than I think geographic partitioning can keep the volume small enough to easily fit in RAM.

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#25

Post by usrusr »

oneplane wrote: post #6
exabrial wrote: post #2

All of the (Garmin, Strava, Apple, and Google [who is trying really hard but failing]) want a monopoly on your health data. Garmin is the only one I actually trust currently, as they've shown 0 willingness to monetize your health information. The Strava/Garmin relationship is an interesting one: Strava has the social network, Garmin has the best devices [for serious Athletes, not casual users]. Garmin Connect is pret…

Strava isn't cut off from Apple. Instead, Garmin/Fitbit etc. would send their data to Strava, which then would forward it to Apple for them. The part where Strava takes the data from non-Strava apps is the one that got disabled (presumably by strava and not by garmin, but either could have).

Really surprising to see Strava actively avoiding the central switchboard role that would be such a powerful retention feature. I wouldn't be surprised to see it come back very soon, with some low level UX polisher receiving that talk about power and responsibility.

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#26

Post by s1mon »

Gigachad wrote: post #4

I wonder what is going on at Strava. It feels like peak Strava was some time around 2018. Since then, it seems like features have only been getting disabled, hidden behind opt in flags, or moved to the paid plans. I completely understand the decision to move things to paid since their service does cost a lot to run and the subscription isn't expensive, but where are all the new and cool features that should have come…

Strava is extremely frustrating. I've been a paid user for 10+ years. They do add features from time to time, but it's amazing how slowly it happens. There's a forum on their web site for user feedback and suggestions, but it seems like they pay little attention to the users. So many of their users that I know feel like a run or bike ride didn't happen if they don't record it on Strava. It's a super addictive and sticky product, yet Strava seems to squander this loyalty by ignoring their customers.

Route building and personal heatmaps are some of my favorite features, but there's so much that could be added (like a simple search). To some degree their customers are spread out over so many market segments beyond the original biking and running that they started with. Each segment has their own needs and wants. Then there's all the hardware (watches, power meters, trainers, etc..) that needs to be integrated and supported.

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#28

Post by sulam »

oneplane wrote: post #6
exabrial wrote: post #2

All of the (Garmin, Strava, Apple, and Google [who is trying really hard but failing]) want a monopoly on your health data. Garmin is the only one I actually trust currently, as they've shown 0 willingness to monetize your health information. The Strava/Garmin relationship is an interesting one: Strava has the social network, Garmin has the best devices [for serious Athletes, not casual users]. Garmin Connect is pret…

Strava isn't cut off from Apple. Instead, Garmin/Fitbit etc. would send their data to Strava, which then would forward it to Apple for them. The part where Strava takes the data from non-Strava apps is the one that got disabled (presumably by strava and not by garmin, but either could have).

Garmin couldn't directly disable this, once Strava has your data they can do with it whatever they want, licensing permitting. Which is a segue into - while I have no specific knowledge of this case, I do think it's somewhat tricky to take data from a third party and then hand it on to another third party. Presumably all of this was mediated by the user, and user's desires should be paramount here, but it's an example of why I believe OAuth is fairly broken and what we should all be giving permission to is capabilities, not access.

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#29

Post by notacoward »

mdoms wrote: post #11

Garmin Connect is so much better than Strava it's not even close. The only reason I could possibly imagine preferring Strava is if I desperately need my social circle to be aware of my every workout. For those of us who do this for ourselves and not the approval of our peers Strava is miles behind.

That's a very negative view of why people want to share on Strava. It's not all about ego. Sometimes it's about motivation, in two ways. I try to track my own times on various segments to see how well my training is going, and sometimes challenge myself to beat those times, because that helps me increase route variety and that helps me keep going. (I don't actually like running so much as I like having run BTW.) Garmin Connect's equivalent of segments is a barely populated wasteland by comparison (though I do like the pace-color-coded display more than Strava's so I usually look at both).

Even more importantly, Strava is a platform where friends can encourage each other, and celebrate each other's accomplishments. I greatly appreciate the "kudos" I get from others, and that was especially true after I had a setback some years ago. I have a friend right now who had an even more serious setback, and I'm glad I have a way to support him as he logs his rehab activities. It's the only forum where we're connected (he's not very online the way I am) and it enriches both of our lives.

I know a lot of people think Strava is just about getting KoMs to satisfy ego. I submit that it's often projection or bitterness from people who don't get what they want out of it. Seems like a miserable way to be.

Re: Strava abruptly ends 3rd party data sync to Apple Health

#30

Post by mdoms »

mulmen wrote: post #24
notacoward wrote: post #18

The weird thing is that they claim it's to avoid duplicate activities, but they totally know how to recognize duplicates already. Every so often, there's some sort of glitch in one of my activities getting from Garmin to Strava. If I'm feeling impatient, I download the .fit file from Garmin and upload it to Strava myself, and I never get a duplicate that way . Happened for the first time in a while just last week. Cl…

Millions of activities is approximately zero activities. That's an inconsequential amount of data. Even if it is a couple orders of magnitude larger than I think geographic partitioning can keep the volume small enough to easily fit in RAM.

Incredibly ignorant statement. An activity can have thousands of data points across dozens of metrics. A record of your route to 1 meter or smaller precision for a 5 hour bike ride is alone thousands of data points. Along with hundreds or thousands of time series points for heart rate, elevation, cadence, power, respiration, etc etc... Millions of activities means tracking tens of billions of data points and perhaps an order of magnitude more than that.
Post reply on HN