- Strava has released a new feature for the Apple Watch that allows you to view and follow a pre-generated route map
- This allows you to see a map on your wrist and follow a route, ensuring you run a precise distance and don’t get lost
- This is a feature that other apps like AllTrails and other watches like Garmin have had for years
As Techradar’s Senior Fitness & Wearables Editor, I test smartwatches of all kinds. But in my daily life, I’m generally a Garmin wearer. There are a few reasons for this, but a big one is that I’m a regular runner, and Garmin has one of the most comprehensive suites of running features out of all the different wearables categories. Notably, many of the best Garmin watches allow you to generate routes in the Garmin Connect app, sync them to your watch, and follow a full-color map on your wrist.
Users of even the best Apple Watches can’t do this, at least not in Apple’s own Workout app. You must switch apps from Workout to Maps, run Workout in the background, and have a destination or route preloaded in the Maps app. It’s frustrating and annoying.
Alternatively, the easier option is to download a third-party app, such as WorkOutdoors, Footpath or AllTrails (if you hike), all of which allow you to follow maps of a pre-planned route while recording a workout.
Strava has just released its own version of this feature. Spot via Gadgets & Wearables Users can now select from their saved Strava routes when recording a workout, such as a Walk, Run or Ride in Strava’s Apple Watch app, and it displays a route overlay on a Dark Mode map.
Unfortunately, there’s reportedly no Garmin-style breadcrumb trail or rerouting if you stray from the trail, but I hope that’s added in a future update, as it’s dead-on. During marathon training in busy London, the Garmin’s instant rerouting when I exited the course helped me focus on keeping pace during my long runs.
Since most regular runners and riders are likely to be Strava users anyway (even if they may not be Premium members), this is a valuable integration that allows users to cut a few apps out of their stack. If you use WorkOutdoors, sync it to Apple Fitness and then upload to Strava from there, doesn’t it make more sense to record directly on Strava?
I’m sticking with Garmin for now due to a combination of Garmin’s superior routing capabilities and a desire to keep everything under Garmin’s unique ecosystem, including fitness metrics, routes and training plans. However, Strava’s acquisition of mapping software company FATMAP and AI-powered coaching platform Runna indicate that Strava also seeks to become a one-stop-shop fitness umbrella platform to compete with Garmin Connect.
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