![]() ![]() That was until the trick stopped working. As many Strava application developers will tell you, this API was far from perfect, but it did the trick. In the case of Strava, they’ve previously had what they refer to as v1 and v2 (version 1 and version 2) of their API. That’s simply recognition of the fact that other companies have software release cycles that may not be immediate (after all, quality software takes time). Depending on the size of the user base, this ranges from months to years (yes, years). When features are deprecated, companies tend to give significant notice as to allow other companies to update systems in time. Typically features are added over the course of a platform, but occasionally features are removed (deprecated is the fancy industry term for that). Over time API’s tend to evolve, like any other bit of technology. The degree to which API’s are offered varies from company to company. Virtually every technology platform on earth has API’s (or similar methods) to connect to them, be it Strava, Garmin, Apple, or Microsoft. Applications do this through what’s called an API (Application Programming Interface), or essentially a way to communicate with Strava as a site from a programming standpoint. For example, the ability for Wahoo Fitness to upload directly to Strava, or for various Android apps to upload to Strava. What are 3rd party apps? Simply put, they are ones developed by other companies to interact with Strava services. Strava decides 3rd party partners are no longer friends, kills app accessĮffective July 1st, Strava disabled access for 3rd party apps to connect to Strava data for the vast majority of 3rd party apps on the market. Let’s dive into what exactly this means for you. For example the heat maps and ride analytics coming from RaceShape that I posted about nearly a month ago.Įxcept, all that great work has pretty much come to a screeching halt for Strava users over the last two weeks with one sweeping change, and then a series of smaller changes over the proceeding months. ![]() It focuses on allowing you to upload from your own device (or the Strava app) to the site, where it shows you your performance against others within a given ‘segment’ – or basically a small chunk of a course or route.Īs we turn to look at Strava and the integration I talked about above, we’ve seen probably the most unique innovation coming out of these 3rd party companies leveraging Strava activities in the form of people taking ‘big data’ style approaches to analytics of data. Even some of the most isolated companies within the space have done that, for example, the walled garden of the Nike+ platform has opened up in the last year to allow more friendly operability.įor those not familiar with Strava, the hugely popular platform has been primarily targeted at cyclists, and enables analytics of your training and racing data. Hundreds – if not thousands – of applications have done that thus far across a wide range of platforms, resulting in amazingly innovative ideas across the sports technology genre. This means that they should offer 3rd party developers the ability to take that data with your permission (at your request) and effectively ‘do cool things’ with it. Device manufactures have gone to great lengths to largely standardize on just a few file format standards, and in turn, platforms have not only streamlined supporting those platforms, but allowing you to freely and easily move your data down the road.Īt the same time, I’ve also argued that sports technology companies should be as open and interoperable as possible. In the last few years I think the industry has made great progress in this area. In the case of sports technology, this means that if you upload data to a platform or application, then you own the right to export that data later down the road and interact with it as you please. If you created the data, you should own it. ![]() I’ve long argued for unfettered access to your data. While many changes/reverting came sooner in that six month gap since initial publishing of this post, it all became official above.) (2014 Update: Just as a heads up that on January 6th, 2014 Strava remedied many of the items I discussed here. ![]()
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