Strava announced a slew of new features and updates Thursday at its annual Camp Strava event. The San Francisco-based company is redoubling its efforts to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to make its social fitness app more user-friendly for both free and premium subscribers. central role.
One of the constant complaints from the Strava community is that users sometimes cheat to gain high leaderboard positions on the app. Leaderboards are one of Strava's core features and are designed to stimulate competition by allowing users to challenge each other on predefined routes called “segments.” For example, cheating may include using a bike instead of a pedal bike to set a record.
Strava already has several mechanisms in place that allow users to manually flag suspicious activity on leaderboards, and last year the company updated its algorithm to “improve the reliability of leaderboards.” did. This includes suspending activities that may have been incorrectly labeled (for example, a user tags a run as a bike ride) or activities that may be affected by faulty GPS data. It is included.
Strava now says it plans to use more advanced machine learning to detect “suspicious” activity uploaded to its platform and automatically remove it. The company says it accomplishes this by training its algorithms on millions of past activities to better understand what “normal” activity looks like.
Apparently, this is one of Strava's most requested features, and a quick look at its enthusiastic online community reveals a variety of ideas on how to address the so-called “digital doping” problem.
Strava: AI-powered leaderboard integrity Image credit: Strava
When asked for a more detailed explanation of how this works and exactly how it differs from existing automated leaderboard integrity tools, Chief Product Officer Matt Salazar said that this Strava’s AI, machine learning, and other technologies to “bridge the gap.”
“Last year, the team implemented new logic rules to our existing auto-flag tool, and now we are leveraging new technology to deliver one of the most requested features by our athletes. '' Salazar said in a statement to TechCrunch.
In a similar vein, Strava on Thursday announced a private beta of a feature it calls “Athlete Intelligence.” This amounts to generative AI that analyzes user data to create summaries and guidance for performance and fitness goals. This is only available to premium subscribers.
Strava did not say whether the underlying engine is one of OpenAI's GPT-X models or something else, but Salazar said the company is currently using He said he is experimenting with different technologies.
“We are looking at several models and tools and are currently applying a working model in beta,” Salazar said. “We continue to evaluate what will provide the best outcome for our community.”
Strava's “Athlete Intelligence” Image Credit: Strava
Strava is also introducing dark mode. According to Strava Community Hub data, this mode is his second most desired feature in the app by number of votes.
Certainly compared to other popular apps, this one took a long time. Just last week, WhatsApp went so far as to launch an even “darker” Dark Mode.
Still, better late than never. Strava says it plans to introduce dark mode “later this summer,” with the ability to keep the app permanently in dark mode or set it to match your device settings. This will be available to both premium and free users upon release.
Strava's new dark mode Image credit: Strava
It's (not strictly) a family affair
Like other online subscription services such as Spotify, Strava is currently focusing on so-called “family plans” to encourage bulk registration through subscription discounts and encourage more people to use the platform. Masu. Up to 4 people, including the subscriber, can join one family plan.
However, the expression “family plan” here is actually a misnomer, as it does not have to include actual family members or people living at the same address. It can be anyone who lives in the same country.
“This provides even more opportunities for Strava athletes to continue finding and experiencing motivation, and is also cost-effective,” Salazar said. “The great thing about this new annual subscription is that you can choose who joins your family plan: friends, running crew, teammates, and more.”
Given that families don't consume Strava in the same way they consume Netflix or Spotify, it makes sense to be liberal with the definition of “family” in this context. However, the name of the plan may confuse some users about who is covered. Perhaps something like “group subscription plan” would make more sense.
Strava Family Plan Image Credit: Strava
In any case, Strava has provided more details, including how much this bulk discount will be (discounts reportedly vary by country), how to share subscriptions, and what happens in that case. It's still a little vague. Implications for the “family” — for example, could one of the group members' girlfriends easily keep her own accounts and data?
The new plan will launch in “select countries” this summer, starting with Australia and Canada, with a broader international rollout planned for later this year.
These announcements come at a turbulent time for Strava. Co-founder Michael Hovrath recently stepped down as CEO for the second time, and was replaced in January by former YouTube executive Michael Martin. The company also sourced a new chief technology officer last month, with Salazar leaving Epic Games to join Strava as chief product officer.
The news also comes a year after Strava introduced a new premium pricing structure that drew considerable criticism for its lack of transparency.
But it's clear that Strava is looking to borrow proven tricks from the broader social networking space to strengthen its value proposition for users. The importance of Strava's social positioning cannot be underestimated in terms of differentiating it from other data-centric fitness tracking services such as Apple Fitness and Garmin. This is why Strava introduced in-app messaging last year, to foster a community that resides entirely within Strava, without relying on third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp to organize events and outings. was aimed at.
These new updates build on this, combining free features available to everyone with premium features for power users.
Demographics
One way Strava attracts new users is by broadening its appeal to different demographics. The company is doing just that with an upcoming new feature that builds on its existing global heatmap feature to highlight the most-trodden running, riding, and walking routes.
Going a step further, the Night Heat Map, which launches later this year, will focus specifically on activities that take place between sunset and sunrise, encouraging people to go for walks or jogs in low-traffic areas. It may be helpful for those who are concerned. region. Strava hopes this will encourage more women to start using the platform, but it may actually be appealing to those who want to avoid the quiet early morning hours.
“Research shows that women of all ages participate in sports at much lower rates than men, and overall, despite wanting to be active, they have less time to devote to an active lifestyle. ,” Strava said in a blog post accompanying the announcement. “We continue our mission of motivating people to live their best active lives, and building for women on our platform ultimately benefits everyone in the Strava community. It will be.”
Additionally, not everyone wants to share all their activity data with everyone all the time. Strava has announced the launch of a new “Quick Edit” feature that will allow users to more easily hide certain metrics from their workout stats, the type of activity they've done, their location, and more.
“Quick Edit” is free, but Strava says nightly heatmaps will be a premium feature. That means anyone who wants to see the safest route after dark will have to pony up $12 a month or $80 a year to access it.
Strava did not say how many of its 125 million members are active users or what gender they are. However, the company previously reported that women are “23% less likely than men to record any type of activity before sunrise and 8% less likely to record it after sunset.”
But Salazar said certain demographics are showing signs of growth on the platform.
“While we do not provide exact details about the Strava community as a whole, we can share that both globally and in the U.S., our Gen Z female user base has seen significant growth and is twice as large as before. “It was around this time last year,” he said.