⁉Are you a fan of @Strava‘s new look? #poll @UKCycleChat @UkTriChat
— Yellow Jersey Ins. (@YellowJerseyUK) 18 October 2017
There have been big changes for Strava in the last few weeks, and a lot of users are unhappy about it.
We look at how cyclists have reacted, what you can do to put things back the way they were, and what the changes could tell us about Strava’s plans for the future.
The headline change to the Strava feed has been the introduction of non-activity related posts. Didn’t fancy a ride this morning? That’s fine, you can share a photo of your breakfast instead.
People responded the way they always do to change, by complaining on Twitter.
The major complaint seems to be if people wanted to use Facebook, they’d use Facebook. I’ve spent the last few years silently unfollowing friends and family on Facebook in an attempt to escape the barrage of animal videos and dodgy political articles, and I suspect a similar thing will begin to happen on my Strava feed moving forward. But why, people ask, have they done this?
The most likely next step for the Strava feed has to be advertising.
While companies can already sneak sponsored messages into Strava, there is no easy way of doing this other than striking up a partnership directly with the notoriously brand-hesitant tech company. Sports companies (including ourselves) are champing at the bit to get in front of Strava’s captive audience, so it was only a matter of time.
Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter give digital marketers tools to narrow down who sees an advert, but finding the right people for a product can still be hit or miss.
Facebook might know you like cycling, but Strava knows what bikes you own, how often and where you ride them, everyone you ride with, and even how good you are at it. In the Orwellian nightmare of online advertising, this would be incredibly valuable. If you own several expensive bikes and you ride them every day, you are exactly the sort of person we want to sell our products to and we’d love to know who your friends are.
Once people start sharing links to products and articles in their Strava feeds, it’s only a matter of time before sponsored posts start slipping into the mix, and Strava could provide Facebook Advertising syle tools to make this easy to do.
Design and Interface Changes
Other than a switch from a black background to white on the IOS app (lost on me as an android user, we’ve had white for years) the major complaint is that activities are now showing up the order they were posted rather than in chronological order.
I now hate @Strava. You chronological wankers. #strava @stravawankers #wankers #bringbackchronological. I’ve literally no idea what’s on my feed anymore. After 5 years time to find a new cycling app.
— K (@PlugusMaximus) 19 October 2017
Velo viewer has you covered if you are using Chrome on desktop, with a handy plugin that re-sorts activities into chronological order
I’ve added a Chronological sort button for the #Strava feed to my Chrome Extension: https://t.co/Pa9WMFSObE
My brain needs things in order! pic.twitter.com/tfeYFOm5Eb— VeloViewer (@VeloViewer) 21 October 2017
The usual caveats apply here. We aren’t connected to VeloViewer, we haven’t tested their plugin is safe, and anything you download to your computer you do it at your own risk.
Finally, Strava has decided to switch how it displays split times, so faster splits are displayed with longer bars rather than shorter bars. It seems to me that it’s something we’ll get used to fairly quickly since it shows the same information, but again, people aren’t happy.
Not sure I’m liking this @Strava, the format makes the fast splits look slow and the slow splits fast! #ukrunchat #stravaupdate pic.twitter.com/6X2pkDXogQ
— Stuart Dustan (@Runner_Stuart) 18 October 2017
Not all is lost however. If you are unhappy about any of the changes, there is a (very slim) chance of putting things back how there were.
Strava are running an online survey to get feedback on the changes they’ve made, and get user suggestions on how the site and app could be better. They are asking for feedback on the ‘non-activity content’ as well as how the new layout and design changes have affected your experience.