Topics
late
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Strava
Apps
Biotech & Health
mood
Image Credits:Strava
Cloud Computing
commercialism
Crypto
Strava: Leaderboard integrity powered by AIImage Credits:Strava
enterprisingness
EVs
Fintech
Strava’s “athlete intelligence.”Image Credits:Strava
Fundraising
widget
Gaming
Strava’s new dark mode.Image Credits:Strava
Government & Policy
Hardware
Strava family plan.Image Credits:Strava
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
shipping
speculation
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
video
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
One of the recurrent complaint emanating from the Strava community of interests is that userssometimes cheatto attain loftyleaderboardpositions on the app . Leaderboards are one of Strava ’s core feature , design to stir competition by allowing users to challenge each other over predefined road prognosticate “ segment . ” Cheating might involve something like using a minibike or tocopherol - bike rather than a pedal wheel to set a record , for instance .
Strava already has some mechanisms in placeto let user manually droop dubious leaderboard activity , and last yr , the ship’s company update its algorithmic rule to “ make leaderboards more credible . ” That included withholding activities that may have been falsely labeled ( for instance , users tagging a run as a bike ride ) , or where defective GPS information might be at play .
Now Strava says it will begin using more sophisticated machine learning to detect “ refutable ” activities when they ’re upload to the platform and automatically remove aver activities . The company says it is doing so by training its algorithmic program on millions of historical activities to better realize what “ normal ” activity wait like .
Apparently , this is one of Strava ’s most - requested features , with a quick glimpse at its fervent online community revealingvarious ideason how to handle with the “ digital doping ” problem .
When pushed to provide more particular on how this works , and how exactly it take issue from its existing automated leaderboard wholeness tooling , main product officerMatt Salazarmerely say that it ’s a “ step - change ” in how Strava is using AI , machine scholarship , and other engineering to “ near gaps . ”
“ Last yr , the squad follow up new logical system rules to exist auto - flagging tool , and now , we are leveraging young technologies to deliver one of our most requested features from jock , ” Salazar said in a financial statement supply to TechCrunch .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Strava would n’t confirm whether the underlying locomotive engine is one of OpenAI ’s GPT - X models or something else , but Salazar did say the party is currently experimenting with dissimilar technologies before of a large-minded rollout .
“ We have several manikin and prick that we have seem at and currently applied a model that works for the beta , ” Salazar read . “ We ’re continuing to evaluate what will supply the respectable result for our community of interests . ”
Strava is also introducing dark mode , which , according to data on the Strava Community Hub , is the app ’s second most desired feature by telephone number of votes .
This has been a long meter coming , certainlycompared to other pop apps — just last workweek , WhatsApp went so far as to launchan even “ darker ” obscure manner .
Still , better lately than never . Strava says it will introduce dark mode “ later this summertime , ” with the power to keep the app permanently in dismal way or configure it so that it matches the machine preferences . This will be usable to both insurance premium and barren user when it launches .
It’s (not strictly) a family affair
But “ kinsperson architectural plan ” is actually something of a misnomer here , as it does n’t have to include actual family members or even anyone living at the same address . It can be anyone who live in the same country .
“ It will produce more opportunities for Strava athletes to go on happen and experience motivation , and make it more cost - effective too , ” Salazar say . “ The great part of this new yearly subscription is that you select who is part of your family plan — it can be your friends , run gang or teammates . ”
Playing liberally with the definition of “ phratry ” in this circumstance does make sense , give that family wo n’t consume Strava in the same path as they might Netflix or Spotify . But the name of the architectural plan might confuse some users in full term of who qualifies for reporting . Perhaps “ group subscription programme ” or something to that effect might make more sense .
At any rate , Strava is still a little cagey on the details , include how much this bulk discount rate will amount to ( it does say the percentage savings will deviate by country ) , how one hold out about sharing their subscription , and what happens in the consequence of a “ family ” fallout — can one appendage of a group easily keep their own account statement and data , for model ?
The new design will kick off in “ select body politic ” this summer , starting with Australia and Canada , with a broader international rollout following later in the year .
These announcements come at a turbulent time for Strava . Co - founder Michael Horvath recentlystepped down from the CEO positionfor the 2nd time and wasreplaced in Januaryby former YouTube executiveMichael Martin . The company alsolast calendar month procured a newchief engineering officer ( CTO ) alongside Salazar , who left Epic Games to join Strava as master merchandise officer .
The tidings also follows a year after Strava introduced a fresh premium pricing structure thatdrew considerable criticismover its lack of transparency .
However , it ’s unmortgaged that Strava is seek to bolster its value proposition for user , borrowing some tried - and - true tricks from the wider societal networking celestial sphere . The importance of Strava ’s social positioning ca n’t be understated in terms of secern it from other datum - centric fitness tracking services such as Apple Fitness or Garmin . This is why Stravarolled out in - app messaginglast yr , intended to foster communities that exist exclusively within Strava without having to rely on third - party electronic messaging apps like WhatsApp to unionize event and excursion .
These newfangled update build on that , mix spare feature that everyone gets with agiotage features for big businessman drug user .
Demographics
One way Strava can entice new users is by branch out its ingathering to dissimilar demographics . It ’s doing just that with an upcoming unexampled feature that build on itsexisting global heatmaps feature of speech , which highlights the most well - trodden running , equitation , and walking route .
Taking things a stair further , “ night heatmaps , ” when it establish afterwards this year , will concentrate specifically on activeness that pass off between sunset and sunup , which might be useful for those concerned about go out for a walk or a lope in less - trafficked surface area . This , Strava hopes , will help encourage more fair sex to set off using the political platform , though in reality it will attract to anyone wishing to avoid quieter places in the wee hours .
“ Studies show that women of all age enter in sports at a far low charge per unit than man , and overall , despite wanting to be active , obtain less time to dedicate to an participating lifestyle , ” Strava wrote in a web log post accompanying the declaration . “ As the companionship continues on its mission to actuate people to live their best combat-ready lives , building for woman on the political platform will at long last serve everyone in the Strava biotic community . ”
On top of that , not everyone want to share all their activity data with everyone all the time . Thus , Strava articulate it will launch a new “ quick edit ” feature that lease users more easily conceal sure prosody from their exercising stats , the type of activity they did , their location , and more .
While “ quick edit ” will be gratis , Strava says that Nox heatmaps will be a premium feature of speech , meaning that anyone want to see what the safest routes are after darkness will have to pony up $ 12 / month or $ 80 / year to get at this .
Strava would n’t support how many of its 125 million member are active substance abuser , or what the gender split is . But the companypreviously reportedthat women are “ 23 % less likely than human race to enter any type of activity pre - sunrise , and 8 % less probable to do so post - sundown . ”
But Salazar said that sealed demographic are showing signs of growth on the platform .
“ Whilst we do n’t furnish precise details on the Strava community of interests as a whole , what we can share is that globally and in the U.S. , our user - demographic of Gen Z women has experienced dandy growth , taking it to twice that of what it was at this time last class , ” he say .
