Strava being stupid again

the enshittification will continue until profits improve

the other way to look at this is – they’ve been far, far too generous for too long. How many other companies would allow a 3rd party, for-profit company, access to all their data, for nothing, forever?

There must obviously be some middle-ground whereby rather than just providing it all for free, or flat-out banning it, API access is available (for a fee) for said 3rd party companies, which is fair enough IMO.

 other way to look at this is – they’ve been far, far too generous for too long. How many other companies would allow a 3rd party, for-profit company, access to all their data, for nothing, forever?

2 problems with this firstly it’s not their data, I know you sign over rights but GDPR would suggest that they would be on shaky grounds trying to enforce that, and secondly they are doing this across the board as opposed to just for non-paying accounts.

There is no paid API option currently.

As a free loader who only really uses it to track coaching rides, I’ve downloaded my data and deleted my account. I get everything I need (and then some from the Garmin system as I record all my stuff on Garmin devices.
Other than the social side, Strava didn’t give me anything I wasn’t getting elsewhere…and the social stuff was giving kudos to a few people or adding ridiculously hilarious comments (never been confirmed!) on other people’s activities.
No loss to me and without doubt zero loss to Strava.
I don’t have many connected apps, so it isn’t a huge loss to me, but I suspect this is going to mean this data gets monetised – and I’m pretty certain I won’t be getting any payment for the data I’m syncing to Strava. I never used heatmaps or segment finders, so I’m not missing anything.
Hopefully those 3rd parties are able to connect to other sources like Garmin, wahoo, Lezyne, polar, suunto, etc so they can still prove very useful.

2 problems with this firstly it’s not their data,

its not your data they are preventing access to – you can still manually download it and forward it to whoever you like. It’s their API’s which are a bit like a delivery network for computers. And costs money to run. Pretty easy for a MBA to point at it on a spreadsheet and say ‘nah’.

I don’t think an argument that personal data isn’t personal data if accessed via a programmatic API is really going to fly. The sensible move for Stave would have been to start restricting API endpoints for free users, but it sounds like they’ve **** the bed instead. Veloviewer access is likely a non-negotiable for me as a Strava subscriber. I really don’t care enough about bespoke activity names or AI cheerleading or whatever other nonsense to keep my data on Strava if they’re going to start being officious about what I can do with it via their API endpoints.

I’ve put this on the other Strava thread but if anyone’s not seen it:

There’s an option using fitfiletools.com to hack any fit file to change the device type. Anyone so interested could mimic a Garmin Edge 540 (for instance) and then upload said fit file to Garmin to get all the Garmin stats they want.

It’s not automatic though so a PITA unless you’re dedicated…

firstly it’s not their data

It’s their data platform.

I expect the biggest cost Strava incur as a business is ensuring their APIs and underlying infrastructure are scaled to a point that allows them to service all the API requests they currently get.

So not only are they letting other companies profit from their data platform, they are spending a pretty big wad of cash to allow other companies to profit from their data platform.

While I think they way they have gone about it is poor, I am not at all surprised by this.

@vlad_the_invader Yeah not sure I cba to go through all that each time, the training load is only a passing interest as I use TP/WKO for that level of info.

Just that I had a nice chain going back several years (I know only 90 days really counts) and I’m in the process of switching from Zwift to TP so that will be broken.

Strava I’m caring less and less about, it’s just a way to stay in touch…

Is this going to bugger up Probikegarage which uses ride durations and lengths to provide servicing reminders?

They use Strava, so I push my Garmin data there so it can get through to the app.

I don’t think an argument that personal data isn’t personal data if accessed via a programmatic API is really going to fly

Thats not whats being said, its still your data, they just dont feel like its good business to be providing easy access to it for your friends.

If you pay a library to look after your books, they are still your books. Doesnt mean the library has to front the cost of copying your books and posting them to your friends. Kinda douchy if they have been doing so for years, but thats late state tech capitalism for you!

I can see a situation whereby Strava charge those 3rd party apps for using the API, and they in turn have to recoup the cost from their users. If they’d announced that was coming in a few months and given everyone a chance to react, that would have been sensible and equitable. However, they’ve just shit the bed completely. My VeloViewer subscription is due in a few weeks. It looks daft to renew it if there will be no data for it (and remember any use of historical data is forbidden too).

Never heard of velo viewer so just looked it up, if they are charging a fee to the user and essentially piggybacking off Strava for free then I don’t see a problem with what Strava are doing

Is this going to bugger up Probikegarage which uses ride durations and lengths to provide servicing reminders?

This question was asked in the PBG strava club chat and the developer doesn’t think it’s an issue.