I’ve got a Sony Smartwatch. It’s good, but about 3 years old and it seems that’s too old for Strava to care about it.

The watch has a standalone GPS. I use it to track my rides without draining my phone battery. Originally I used the Strava app on the watch, but 2 years ago this stopped working (it wouldn’t load initially, now it won’t sync- it’s a known issue).

Someone on here suggested Ghostracer as a replacement, which has been good. I track a ride with it, then it syncs it with Strava. Now, however, Strava have changed how they work and Ghostracer won’t sync to it.

I’m after an app that I can use on my watch that will automatically upload the ride to Strava. I’ve looked into Endomondo and Mapmyride, but it looks like I’d have to manually sync each ride. Which I don’t want to do. Anyone got any ideas?

even my garmin watch i have to sync automatically if i want it anytime soon?

i think wahoo used to sync automatically. Don’t really use it now though

Garmin connect does that – not sure if the app works with none Garmin devices.

I stop my bike, hit ‘stop’ on the garmin, then as long as there is phone signal. by the time I’ve caught my breath, Garmin has sent it via bluetooth to garmin connect, garmin connect has sync’ed with Strava, and Strava pings me a new notificaton to tell my my latest ride has been published and is ready to view.

even my garmin watch i have to sync automatically if i want it anytime soon?

Garmin Connect works for me too. Stop the ride, stop the watch and in seconds two messages from Garmin about my new ride/activity being available to view.

I have a Sony SW3 – they are fantastic watches. Unfortunately they have been abandoned by Sony and so they basically have no support. This means they can’t run Android wear 2 and so almost all apps are now unsupported. Ghostracer was almost the last chance saloon. I think they can run endomondo still but thats about it.

I gave up on mine and bought a Garmin Vivoactive which isn’t as good but at least it auto uploads to strava

I think you’ll find that it isn’t the GPS which is draining your phone battery, it’s the phone signal and data connection.
Put your phone in airplane mode, and the battery will last for a lot longer, whilst still recording your ride via Strava.

Bear in mind that you won’t be able to receive calls, whilst doing this, but that’s one of the reason to go riding, isn’t it?
(Temporarily turn airplane mode off, during riding breaks, if you really have to stay in contact with civilization)

If you need mapping, during your ride, then try to find an app that will let you download the maps for your riding area beforehand, thereby removing the need for a data connection. (Viewranger is good for this)

Could try IpBike. It says it supports the Sony Smartwatch, and can upload to Strava etc.

Getting the “watch” to be Strava compatible is harder than having a watch platform be Strava-compatible.

Smart watches are the third platform of consideration for Strava and Strava only cares about two experiences. Strava is “phone first; api second (partner apps); … the rest third”. So going down the smart watch route is the least likely work well and the least likely to have ongoing support. Instead go with a platform where the watch is the company’s main product and their platform synchronises.

DC Rainmaker is the resource of authority for this stuff – even if he is a bit Garmin-centric.

I used tapiriik a while ago to get Garmin online to talk to Strava. Garmin and Strava now play nicely natively so it’s not necessary any more but it worked well when I had it. I don’t know if it’ll help but check it out.

It looks as though you can sync from Endomondo –> Strava so if you can get your ride onto Endomondo it should all work. Good luck.