How can Strava expect its users to turn their brains off on a run when thoughts like ‘do I turn left here?’ or ‘have I seen every single minute on a clock?’ keep straying across their minds? The latest beta from the running, cycling, and hiking app can help with at least one of those after it added full route navigation to the Apple Watch app.
For the love of Strava
The feature, which is seemingly still in beta, adds the ability for Apple Watch owners to record a walk, run, or ride with one of their saved Strava routes leading the way, no smartphone required. One user sporting an Apple Watch Ultra 2, however, reported that the feature had arrived on their device, despite the lack of a beta account.
That suggests the company might have jumped the gun, and that a more official rollout is on the way. Whether it’ll be reserved for Strava’s paying members remains to be seen, though it seems that’s not the case for now. Strava has yet to comment on the feature’s rollout, leaving Android watch-wearers a teensy bit nervous.
Read More: Strava adds adaptive Instant Workouts but you’ll need to subscribe to access them
Strava’s implementation of on-watch maps is still far from elegant. As TechRadar notes, the feature pales in comparison to Garmin’s solution, which offers automatic rerouting should your legs stray as far as your mind during a run. It’s also “missing” breadcrumb trails and instead sticks to a simple but static route overlay.
The original Reddit poster who alerted everyone to the feature’s arrival in beta reported back with a few caveats, too. High battery consumption (“15% for a 35-min trail run”) and slow refresh rates top the list of things that need fixing. Perhaps those will come alongside a similarly themed release for Android smartwatches, yeah?
