bobwysiwyg

Not sure where else to put this. Wondering if anyone is experiencing Strava drop-outs recently? I began using it 5-6 years ago. Prior to this past week, only one problem ever about three years ago but attributed it being in a remote location with no cell coverage.

Fast forward to this past week, three instances of a Strava error that it was no longer connected and no longer recording. Ultimately had to restart my phone as Strava was locked up. When it came back I was usually able to get it to recover my ride, but generally with some lost data. Today, lots of lost data! Getting ready to chuck it in favor of an alternative.

Elvo

Use a standalone GPS for redundancy

bobwysiwyg

Found another thread that might explain my problems. Possibly related to power saving options. Looking into it.
My redundancy amounts to Cateye Padrone. At least bare minimum info is available for manual entry. I'm a bit of a data wonk.

t_e_r_r_y

i'm pretty rural and the strava app doesn't work so well using my phone on it's own, so i ended up picking up one of these bryton rider 10 gps computer thingies. it works super well, and has many features that a lot of computers that cost a lot more don't have. normally they're around $60, but they go on sale on amazon kinda often.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

themp

Had a lot of problems with Strava with an iPhone 6s and a weak battery. It exhibited what you are seeing and I was using Power Saving mode during a ride to make sure the battery lasted longer. I had the iPhone battery replaced and the problems went away. On long rides now I still use the Power Saving mode, but have not see a problem with dropped data using Strava with the Power Saving feature on.

bobwysiwyg

Pretty impressive. Never heard of it before, thanks.

bobwysiwyg

Thanks, I'll look into this as well. My battery is original, 4-5 years now, and not user replaceable.

canklecat

Yeah, GPS sync errors happen. Some apps handle it better than others. When I used Cyclemeter for iOS it was the best at recovering and guesstimating my likely route after GPS sync error. Back then, around 2016, Strava was terrible about GPS sync errors -- we'd get the dreaded straight line, across barbed wire fences, pastures, through buildings, etc. But Cyclemeter would estimate the probable actual route and it was remarkably accurate.

Wahoo Fitness was also 99.99% reliable until the spring 2019 update, when several of us noticed errors. But it seems to have been resolved. Wahoo Fitness is very low resource, so I get more battery runtime with my old iPhone 4s. I just upload to Strava later.

And that's what I do with my newer Android phone as well. I rarely record directly to Strava. Usually to Wahoo Fitness, along with my Tickr heart monitor, and upload to Strava later. Longer battery runtime, fewer lost logs.

bobwysiwyg

Crackle, also an interesting alternative. I'll consider this as well, thanks.

one4smoke

^This

Also, if you're using an iPhone and use Siri (for texting etc...) you risk Strava being dropped. Have experienced this several times before figuring out the common denominator.

canklecat

BTW, if you permit Google maps timeline tracking it'll record all of your movements -- bike rides, runs, walks, drives, everything. So you can recreate activity logs if Strava or other app fails. So far I've never seen Google maps timeline tracking fail even when GPS sync errors botched Strava and Wahoo Fitness.

The only time I've used Google maps timeline data to recreate a lost Strava log was for significant milestone rides -- a full century ride, etc. It usually omits some data needed to estimate speed/time on segments -- time stamps -- but it's good enough to create a log with the full distance and approximate time.

There may be privacy concerns but I don't worry about it. When I got a new Android phone in late 2017 I decided to enable Google maps timeline tracking by default for my own protection, in case I was found unconscious by the side of the road, etc. Turned out to be useful sooner than I'd expected. I was hit by a car in May 2018 and the Google data confirmed my version of events.

Coincidentally I'd also been running Strava since I was on a long bike ride when I was hit. But my iPhone and Android phones tend to cause Strava and other GPS apps to glitch and lose logs when I switch to snap photos or video. Sure enough, I lost my Strava log when I switched to video to record the intersection where I was hit, the positions and driver's face, etc. But Google maps timeline data was retained. It's very reliable.

I set it to private, which means it's strictly between me, Google, the NSA, and every hacker in China and Russia. It's "private" in the sense that Google doesn't publish every little errand I run, although I could choose to do that. But it's not private in the sense that Google prompts me to review every business I visit or simply pass near during bike rides and walks. And I suspect Google records everything by default, regardless of the privacy settings we choose. With data harvesting monsters like Google and Amazon, "privacy" works in the same sense that the pedestrian walk button works -- it gives us something to do while we're waiting for the light to change. If I was really worried about privacy I wouldn't carry any smartphone and if I needed a mobile phone I'd buy a bunch of old school burner phones. If I was still a journalist there would be occasions when I'd leave my phone at home or the office -- for example, if I was meeting a confidential informant for off-the-record, not-for-attribution info. Since I'm no longer a working journalist it's moot.

HarborBandS

Most cyclists I know use a standalone GPS head unit (with offerings by Wahoo and Garmin being most common), and then this syncs with Strava after the ride.

Like many things in cycling, they ain't cheap!

t_e_r_r_y

this is what i wanted, but i'm a broke mfer, so lots of research lead me to the bryton and i couldn't be happier with it. a fraction of the cost and nearly all of the features.

i kinda wish it had a map feature like some of the more expensive offerings, but i know most of my rides well enough that i don't need a map, and when i do i don't really mind pulling over and checking my phone (or checking it on the go on my more rural rides).