Strava app stops supporting Bluetooth and ANT+ device pairing, and people aren't happy

Won't someone think of the people suffering with blue teeth?

I've never paired any Bluetooth devices with Strava, but then if I go for a run, I use a Garmin watch with their own HRM and a tiny hand-held MP3 player that I can easily change tracks on - my phone is too much of a lump to run with.

For me, I'd be happy if they could keep the app constant - current iteration doesn't seem to allow me to select the bike when I store a ride and I have to go into the website and edit the activity

Use https://www.endomondo.com/ app, and let https://tapiriik.com/ autosync your rides to Strava.

Tapiirik can push/pull from Garmin/RunKeeper/RidewithGPFS and loads of others too ...

Good trolling effort but now slightly tired angle. To move your trolling forward in 2020 i think your work needs a new tack.

MapMyRide / MapMyRun or Wahoo Fitness apps support both their own brand (MMR is now owned by UnderArmor) and 3rd party devices.

I've personally preferred Mapmyride over Strava any way, but use Strava as well as mates do.

IIRC the Wahoo app can upload to Strava and MMR as well.

Not that this affects me much as I have a couple of Garmin bike computers so only use phone apps to log when ive forgotten the Garmin or its battery has died.

I have never heard anyone use the term "lame" to describe a disabled person, either respectfully or pejoratively. An animal, yes. A person, no.

How far do you want to go? Hamstrung, hobbled, crippled - all words which would be considered ableist according to your rulebook, but all used almost exclusively to describe things other than people.

This is ableist language

"Lame decision by @Strava(link is external) today to drop support of Bluetooth devices."

I'm assuming you wouldn't publish tweets with homophobic, sexist or racist language.

For the first time in about 10 years, I actually went for a run the weekend before last. I looked to pair my HRM with Strava (I think I'd tried out pairing ANT sensors from my bike a long time ago, which worked fine), and found I couldn't. What an embarrasment for Strava - I've been a fee paying user for 5 or 6 years, as I felt that although the extra benefits weren't hugely significant, they were a company I thought was providing a great service.

That was 5 years ago, but what has been introduced since then that has improved things? The app's functionality is very poor (I can't see my power curve, the analysis tab is a bit of a joke, they show the distance travelled this month including virtual rides, but not the week, all of which are opposite to the web site), and now has been further downgraded with the loss of sensor connectivity. The fitness monitoring is crap, and is far worse than provided by the Elevate (former stravistix) browser plugin. Veloviewer does hugely more interesting and novel things with the data than Strava seems able to be arsed with. Features such as gear monitoring and logging are abandoned when they show a bit of promise. The focus is now all on kudos, ads for commercial events, companies and sponsored challenges. I have never wanted to gift anyone a Strava subscription, but the button is there at the top right of every Strava page.

They have lost their way, and are likely to lose my paid subscription next year. I still use it daily, but it has atrophied. About the only thing they have going for them above a dozen similar products is a huge user base and segments. There is a gap in the market for something better than what Strava has become!

Strikes me that their explanation could simply be code for ... we no longer want to dedicate the resources required to maintain this particular functionality at a time when other apps offer it, freeing up our developers to concentrate on other things. 

Whether that is a good or bad call on their part, time will tell. 

I would say this decision makes sense so that it filters out the users that want a free ride and reduce the strava operation costs.

Who spends money on watches/computers is more likely to support Strava directly. The people behind the app actualy need to make a living... 

 At this point in history, there's one heck of a collection of random iPhone and Android, Bluetooth and Ant devices floating around.  Each according to revision level, software patch and manufacturer/vendor whim, with their own 'special' hardware and software capabilities and bugs. It's the type of dev matrix that'd chew through vast amounts of devs and money, and is still never going to work flawlessly.

For Strava to support everything it claimed to support and to do it to the satisfaction of its users is nigh on impossible and very, very expensive. They will be acutely aware of this and the trends (particularly with regards to increasing usage of devices like the Apple watch).

As far as I can tell, Strava is trying to stay in business while doing something that approximates to the "right thing" (tm) while not having a significant cash cow that they can milk to do it. I can see that for some people it's going to be annoying until wearables etc fill the gap. But personally, I'd rather they pruned out Bluetooth and Ant support if it means that Strava can keep going and avoid turning into yet another ad-slinger, privacy invading, personal data hole.

Strava have made some rather strange product decisions recently. I suspect they think they are too big to fail, but there's a slim chance they are in for a surprise.

Running and MTB are two clear use cases for me - where recording via a phone straight to Strava with HR data is ideal.

If running I have the phone for music and for MTB in case I have (yet another) big crash.  In both cases capturing HR data is beneficial for tracking pace, stress and progression, plus helps ID when I might be getting ill.

I can use a bike computer for both but it isn't ideal (especially running) plus have a phone on me anyhow.  I don't need super accuracy on GPS for either, running pace is slow and smothing tends to muddle end data a little and with MTB I am usually in the woods with intermittent GPS.

Is there another app that can record the data including HRM (using a phone with ANT+ preferably) and send it to Strava?

While road.cc is obviously cycling oriented the (obvious) comments about buying a cycle computer misses the point entirely.  STRAVA is a huge running app because people run with phones on them and often use it for music, and a lot of runners like to use a heart rate monitor.  Dropping that compatibility is a massive fail for STRAVA.  

For cycling anything like this that pushes users off STRAVA is a big loss for them, not just the personal user level, but their business in selling data for transport planning.

I was using the ANT+ with HR in the app to avoid (a) having to get a running watch and (b) having to have a wahoo mount and bring my wahoo round on my rusty commuter heap.

Just binning it seems like a strange workaround. Surely the developers could have added a Bluetooth/ANT+ mode switched off by default. Then if you want to use it you can risk it, and it doesn't crash the app for people who don't need it.

this just seems bizarre. Personally I've never had any issues with the app connecting regularly to HR and power via BLE and ANT+ so to switch it off for everyone seems disproportionate. I've just been checking to see whether maintaining summit membership is worth it and i dont think it is, so i'll be cancelling unless something changes. The website will remain very useful both for the social aspects and the connections with 3rd party apps like Stravini (for all the analysis capabilities) and veloviewer (likewise) so being able to use it would still be important. 

Would be useful to know what the alternatives are that can track an activity, including sensor (at least HR) data, and then still upload to strava?

All those people should stop crying and just use a decent bike computer and upload the ride if they're that serious about their training.