Thanks everyone for all the interesting feedback. I agree with most of you that trying to develop an app that focuses on stats and routing etc is pointless. Going up against the likes of the big hitters such as Strava is suicide!
However, as an eternal optimist (
) I always think there are gaps in any market, this is how we evolve and improve. At least that's my thinking. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say, "how come I didn't think of that", I'd probably be retired by now!
So the app that my colleagues and I have built focuses on the more social aspect of cycling, it doesn't involve stats or performance related data. There are 6 of us of and most of enjoy cycling and the reason for the app. The younger one of the group is semi-pro but he has young legs! Anyway I digress, the thinking behind it originally was that one of the team used to spend a fair amount of time herding his cycling buddies to arrange a ride at the weekend. The 2 main issues was that he'd use WhatsApp messaging, emails and other forms of communication and was constantly bouncing around texts and emails with his friends. The other issue being that when the the ride was finally arranged, everyone was coming from different directions and they would meet at different locations on the route.
So, we built an app that would allow for a quick way to share an event with friends. We built a friends list so that you can connect with your cycling buddies which requires accept and reject options when accepting someone into your friends circle. You can then create an event and invite specific friends. Details of the event include date/time, route if you have a GPX file and then an option to add custom markers along the route, such as where you might be stopping for coffee or a bite to eat and any meeting points, such as when you're meeting up with another friend coming from a different direction (only those invited to the event can see these markers). Once the event starts you can share your location in realtime with people you specify, preferably your cycling buddies who are attending, you can see their speed, direction of travel, whether they have network connection issues and it's a quick way to determine if one of your friends is running late or how far away they are. Many of us also share that with our wives/partners etc too so they have a rough idea as to when we might be arriving home.
This then developed into something more broad. Once we had everything working and the cyclists we tried this with (just a select few beta testers) found value in what we were trying to do. We started to develop it further but the focus was more on event organisers, how could they use this tool to create events with ease and keep track of everyone taking part in large events. Think of it like a dashboard for organisers. They could see if anyone was straying too far away from the route or whether there was some other issue that they might need help with so could determine their exact location.
We have an event happening this weekend in a place called Wargrave and they are using our app to power the event.
Now, I know what you're probably thinking...."if you already have an app, why are you asking for feedback?" - well the truth is, I really wanted to know whether there was something that we had missed. Was there something that cyclists would really like to see or find very valuable. We're really just a bunch of guys wanting to create something that we're passionate about, there's no ulterior motive just some down to earth guys putting their knowledge to use. We have no interest in selling data, keeping a record of cyclists movements, I have never agreed with any of that stuff. The only data we keep is the last known coordinate of a friend so we can display that on your friends maps. Once the event has finished or you decide to stop sharing, all data is wiped.
Anyway, I've been rambling for far too long and just wanted to give you some background and say thank you for the feedback and comments, it's very interesting and appreciate all your time.