'Strava' Running and Cycling App Updated With Real-Time Safety Feature

[MacRumors]

The developers of popular running and cycling app Strava have announced a new safety feature for premium members that lets users broadcast their location in real time to friends and family.

The new feature, called Beacon, means runners and cyclists can now share their whereabouts with select contacts, who can then easily locate them if they don't return from their workout when expected or in the event of an emergency, for example.

"Let's say it's 3:30, you said you'd be home at 3:00 and you're not moving towards home," said Ethan Hollinshead, Senior Product Manager on Strava's blog. "That's a good indication that they should reach out to you and see what's up. Maybe you stopped for a coffee, or maybe you got a flat tire. Where it's really designed to help the cyclist or runner is in that peace of mind scenario - to keep people from unnecessarily worrying about you."

According to Strava, selected contacts don't need to be users of the app. Rather, the app sends a text message to the contacts that includes a secure web link showing the user's location on a map, allowing them to track the user's progress in real time.

Once premium users have updated the app, the Beacon feature will appear in the lower right of the New Run or Ride screen. A tap of the Beacon icon lets users choose up to three safety contacts who will receive their location when they confirm to send the text.

Strava Running and Cycling is a free download available for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link] A premium Strava membership costs $6 per month.

Article Link: 'Strava' Running and Cycling App Updated With Real-Time Safety Feature

 

[Col4bin]

Hopefully this type of technology goes a long way in helping victim's families and law enforcement to track loved ones much earlier in an unfortunate case of assault.

 

[fitshaced]

Partner: it's 3;30 and you said you'd be done running by 3 but your phone says you haven't moved
You: yeah, didn't get off the couch. Stop nagging me.

 

[Scottsoapbox]

At the point you are selecting and confirming who sees your location - you don't really need this feature.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Nice feature but Strava looks cynical for making it extra cost. At the least they should allow one free contact just for "good will."

 

[Born Again]

Nice feature but Strava looks cynical for making it extra cost. At the least they should allow one free contact just for "good will."

Strava premium is geared mostly to cyclists and triathletes who like to compete on segments. It's worth the pricing imo. Many of us our out riding for HOURS!

Many of us already have a Garmin device that comes with garmin live but honestly it doesn't work well. It often disconnects .


Good for strava

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I'm surprised nobody else has said this but...

Find My Friends?

It's completely free, and you're not limited to just 3 contacts. Either way it's an app on your iPhone that's using GPS to send your current location... the only real difference is that Find my Friends requires the person you're sharing your location with to have an iCloud account.

 

[Born Again]

I'm surprised nobody else has said this but...

Find My Friends?

It's completely free, and you're not limited to just 3 contacts. Either way it's an app on your iPhone that's using GPS to send your current location... the only real difference is that Find my Friends requires the person you're sharing your location with to have an iCloud account.

It's about convenience. Not many people use find my friends and not all cyclists use an iPhone.

 

[DogHouseDub]

Hopefully this type of technology goes a long way in helping victim's families and law enforcement to track loved ones much earlier in an unfortunate case of assault.

Damn dude, you've been listening to too much fear-mongering! Think mechanical malfunction on a bike ride, or a fall and injury on a trail run. Or the dreaded "return home after ride and realize iPhone fell out of your bag".

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Strava premium is geared mostly to cyclists and triathletes who like to compete on segments. It's worth the pricing imo. Many of us our out riding for HOURS!

Many of us already have a Garmin device that comes with garmin live but honestly it doesn't work well. It often disconnects .


Good for strava

Sure, but my point isn't that Strava Premium isn't worth the $ but that Strava looks greedy withholding a potential life saving features from non-premium users, at least to let users have one "free" contact. If the premium features are as worthwhile as you state then this tracking feature is just a bonus and not a primary reason to subscribe. If this was a performance feature then I would agree.

Also this is nothing like Garmin live, which just lets people track others movements. Strava sends out an SOS when a specific event doesn't occur.

 

[Col4bin]

Damn dude, you've been listening to too much fear-mongering! Think mechanical malfunction on a bike ride, or a fall and injury on a trail run. Or the dreaded "return home after ride and realize iPhone fell out of your bag".

Real nice response. So I cite one very valid, positive, potential lifesaving aspect of this technology and you have the gall to criticize me for it? Must be all sunshine, rainbows and kittens where you're from.

(Glad you're not looking out for my safety.)

 

[aarontsuru]

Strava premium is geared mostly to cyclists and triathletes who like to compete on segments. It's worth the pricing imo. Many of us our out riding for HOURS!

But you can do that on the free version.... I've been cycling & running for years on Strava and the few friends who've gone Premium said it's really not worth it.

 

[Born Again]

But you can do that on the free version.... I've been cycling & running for years on Strava and the few friends who've gone Premium said it's really not worth it.

You can't race segments on the free version . If you don't care for that then yes don't waste $

 

[Apple_Robert]

I like the idea of the new feature. However, I am not willing to pay $60.00 + a year just so I can be tracked in real time by those I care about, even though I am often out trail running for hours.

 

[quagski]

I've been a Strava Premium user for a handful of months now, and was on the free version for about a year prior. Outside of getting more data to chew on, Premium is not really worth it if you actually pay for it. They've partnered with New Balance where you can sync your two accounts and you collect "points" for each activity you complete. After a certain amount of points, you can trade up for a 12, 6, or 3-month Premium subscription for "free", pretty simple.

As for Beacon, it's just another welcome feature they've added to an already killer app for runners/cyclists. Yes, there are free versions for SOS notifications (Road ID), but it seems, Strava has thought of a few more things and integrated it nicely into an already smooth app. Only problem for me is that I don't bring my phone with me during my runs, but I'm sure it won't be long until they create a Garmin Connect IQ app like they did with Live Suffer Scores.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If Strava offered a stand-alone subscription for Beacon that I felt was a reasonable price, I would give it a try.

I tried premium for a few months and after my free trial, I didn't sign up.

 

[citi]

Hopefully this type of technology goes a long way in helping victim's families and law enforcement to track loved ones much earlier in an unfortunate case of assault.

It's not for assault. It for accidents on the road while riding great distances away for your home. I'm actually not sure how this would help an assaulted victim anyway. Kidnapping yes.

 

[aarontsuru]

It's not for assault. It for accidents on the road while riding great distances away for your home. I'm actually not sure how this would help an assaulted victim anyway. Kidnapping yes.

I guess, if you aren't home by a certain time, they can check and see that there was an interruption. Ignoring the joke of after an accident telling someone to "pause your strava" (old joke, but still), if you logged in and saw the phone stagnate or off course and stopped at a hospital, it would be handy.

But then again.... As someone said, find my friends probably does it too without running strava.

 

[citi]

I guess, if you aren't home by a certain time, they can check and see that there was an interruption. Ignoring the joke of after an accident telling someone to "pause your strava" (old joke, but still), if you logged in and saw the phone stagnate or off course and stopped at a hospital, it would be handy.

But then again.... As someone said, find my friends probably does it too without running strava.

To be honest. The location tracking on iphone is pretty damn good. Anytime I need to see where my 17 year old is, I just open up her messages and go to location. But the ability to automatically notify someone when you start riding is cool. Sometimes I leave early in the morning to ride to work and my wife freaks out when she wakes up.

 

[aarontsuru]

To be honest. The location tracking on iphone is pretty damn good. Anytime I need to see where my 17 year old is, I just open up her messages and go to location. But the ability to automatically notify someone when you start riding is cool. Sometimes I leave early in the morning to ride to work and my wife freaks out when she wakes up.

True, I could see Apple knocking off a feature like this in their watch or something. But, as far as leaving early, I'm the early bird in the family and I always fire off a text when I'm heading out. Though, on weekend rides & runs, I tend to get home before anyone's awake. I'm a reeeeeally early bird and they are definitely not. lol

 

[citi]

You can't race segments on the free version . If you don't care for that then yes don't waste $

Yes you can. The extra data that strava premium give you is being able to see trends in those segments, your historical data, heart rate, strengths etc. It's really cool but I stopped paying for premium. I've been using garmin connect and I have been "tolerating" it.