Strava announced API changes that will limit what third-party platforms can do with a user’s data. What is the expected impact on Athletica? For example, will importing Zwift activities via Strava no longer be possible?
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I foresee a lot of manual file uploading for us in the near future…
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I only had a free Strava account, and never really used it, and certainly not in a chain of comms between fitness apps. DCRainmaker had a good review of the implications - clearly Strava think they can forbid processing of our data (when uploaded to from Strava to another site) by AI LLM or similar technologies.
Anyway, I deleted my Strava account.
There’s something to be said for manual uploading - it provides an opportunity to review data and add commentary.
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My account is connected to my Garmin one anyway so not too fussed about Strava, don’t really know how it affects me if at all.
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It sounds like a fairly big lift for the dev team to set up connections to Polar, Coros, Suunto, etc., so manual uploading or finding a great Black Friday deal on a Garmin are probably the safest bets right now.
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What training device/platform do you use?
- Garmin
- Polar
- Suunto
- Strava (recording through the app)
- Apple
- Samsung
- Other
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voters
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Was waiting on this topic to hit the forum since I’m in so many fitness tech groups/forums and the news rocked that world this week. I’ve been on two group runs with local clubs in the last two days and it came up both times with multiple angered members cancelling their Strava subscriptions. I guess we shouldn’t underestimate how much fitness folks like their data analysis apps/sites and the potential impact. One point that came up again and again is whether this would stand legally…I mean the data originates from YOUR activity on YOUR own watch/device and Strava is just a point further downstream. Having Strava claim ownership of the data and what can/can’t be done with it at a further point down the road seems like a bit of a reach. Another thought is that some other player may step in as middle site for fitness data, like a training peaks (but would likely have their own interests) or something like intervals.icu (which is open source). Interesting times, but we’ll always find a workaround. I can give virtual thumbs up (no longer using “kudos!”) on ANY site and will always gravitate to what works best for all.
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My “other” is Concept 2, Hammerhead Karoo and Zwift. I have a Garmin watch which I use to record walks and other activities, but I’m not part of the Garmin ecosystem for my main endurance stuff.
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Remember those Terms of Service that 99.89% of people click through without reading? Strava probably has language that cover them for this, and potentially forces all mediation to be heard by a panel of intelligent dolphins.
The only real legal angle would be if they were charging apps for API use and made this kind of a change, in which case there would be commercial harm. But I think the API was free?
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“Garmin because I was tired of manually entering Athletica workouts to my Coros” was not an option, so I just chose Garmin. 
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This survey doesn’t work for me cause I actually use 3:
- Garmin for outdoor cycling
- Zwift for indoor training
- Strava for occasional runs.
but all of my stuff is routed to Strava, which is why the Strava integration is so handy for me.
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Though of that as well that we all likely agreed to the TOS which states something like that. However, the same intelligent dolphins are probably the ones that decided this change was a good idea.
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Garmin Connect is our main integration so your runs should be automatically imported to Athletica as long as you have authorized your Garmin connect in your settings 
Problem solved
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I’m pretty the dolphins are smarter than that.
Can’t you run your indoor training through a garmin as well?
I upload everything through GarminConnect(GC). I have the free version of Strava connected as well. I have Strava only for the rankings and achievements with other teams/clubs I train with. I had a trial of the pay version and didn’t see any added value compared to what GC was already providing. I have no issues with uploading into GC for any of my Athletica workouts. One of the downsides of Strava is that once it’s uploaded to their site. I cannot correct the data. For example indoor treadmill running distance, is under calculated from the Garmin Forerunner compared to what the treadmill displays. I can go into GC, manually correct the distance, and this will be correctly uploaded to Athletica.
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Another solution might be the app RunGap. They have a lot of files they can import and export to many platforms. I once contacted them about athletics and I think their response was that it depends on the requests.
So maybe @MarkB can reach out to them or we could all contact them directly to request athletica to be added.
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Surely. It’s just that I’ve used Strava as my central repository for all things training for years and years now - I’ve been routing everything to Strava, and then just needed Strava to Athletica.
Having to deal with this and the prospect of needing to export any runs I do from Strava to load into Athletica in the future just annoys me - I pay for my Strava account, they shouldn’t be making my life harder. I let them know my thoughts, but I don’t expect it’ll make any difference.
Remi.
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It looks like Strava has qualified their initial statement from earlier this week. Athletica has not received any notification from Strava on this (yet).
However we think it is prudent to start planning alternatives to ensure continuity and even an expanded selection of direct connections for our current and future users.
Many of you will have received an email poll yesterday asking about preferred platforms. With over 250 responses so far, Garmin is still the overwhelming majority, but there are some interesting second-level devices platforms.
We are working hard on providing a good long-term solution and will keep you posted on the forum when we have an update. Thanks!
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I’m surprised COROS isn’t higher up, since they’ve quickly been taking away some Garmin share from a running perspective.
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