I've made the transition from a no longer supported Windows Phone platform, to Android. On my old phone I used a simple GPS Tracking app with a Strava plugin to upload to my account, but now I actually have options.

Is the official Strava app the best choice, or is there an alternative with Strava upload that is a better option? I am not a premium paid member, I use it mostly for YTD mileage across all bikes and monitoring fitness increases across a couple benchmark routes over a riding season.

It sounds like Strava will continue accomplish what you need. Stick with it and keep your ride history in once place.

I like Urban Biker because of the head's up dashboard sdisplay being most to my liking

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...banbiker&hl=en

It does all that other stuff you mentioned too except the auto uploading. It will track a route though.

I'm in the minority here. This is by far not the most popular app on these forums. But I love it.

Yeah, if you already use Strava, might as well keep it. I use it, begrudgingly, since my gps computer auto uploads to Strava. If not for that, I wouldn’t use Strava and would continue to use mapmyride. I loathe Strava’s focus on being a social network.


On a side note- I didn’t realize Windows phones were still around! They are the Bing of phones. Its always interesting to see what sticks and what fails in the marketplace.

Yeah they officially killed all support past security updates a few weeks ago. I like the base platform far better than iOS or Android, but the were too little, too late to the game, and as much as it didn't bother me, lack of app support meant it was never going to take off. Could have been a great system if they made a serious push to the corporate world, but it was always treated as an afterthought.

Just to be clear, I intend to keep Strava, just wondering if their app is the best choice or if there is a third party with upload plugin that is liked.

I use Cyclemeter. It's ~$10 for a year's subscription. It uploads to Strava as well as a bunch of other sites/tools, so you can keep using all of that, but it has more display features than the base Strava app.

I was going to suggest Cyclemeter since it is now available for the Android platform. What I like about Cyclemeter is that it is data intensive and will display your ride data in many different ways. Much better than any other cycling app I have tried. On the iOS platform, every ride is stored on the phone in a very efficient SQLite3 database. With all your rides on the phone, you don't need to go to another site or app to look at your rides. I have a little over 800 rides stored on my phone and the file size takes up about the same amount of space as two CD's worth of MP3 files.

Since you are now on Android, take a gander at IpBike. It's dang close to being a full up Garmin (without all that *that* entails) - without being a Garmin. It uploads directly to Strava at the end of your ride. The data it can collect (and display) is mesmerizing. If you happen to have a Samsung Galaxy phone, they have a built-in ANT+ receiver, so any of the sensors you might have (speed/cadence) that are ANT+ will work right out of the box. But with the 'Beta' version of the IpBike Sensor interface - BT is received as well. It takes some time getting used to the customization choices available for your display, and also the configuration of how you want the thing to work. But the 'investment' of your time is worth it in the end. The manual is pretty good at explaining all that. It's free to try out for a certain number of Wheel Revolutions (a pretty good amount for giving it a go), and then it's something like $5 to buy (total - not monthly). Hope this helps. And no, I am NOT the developer (I wish I was *that* creative) .

-Mikey

Ditto Cyclemeter. My premium subscription expired in November. Thought I wouldn't miss it but Cyclemeter records more data (including weather) and offers more programming options for training sessions.

And Cyclemeter is completely private if you prefer that. All data is stored on your phone by default. You have to choose to upload to any cloud storage, Strava, Facebook, etc.

I'd also gotten accustomed to Cyclemeter's customizable voice announcements, although Wahoo Fitness (completely free) has a similar feature.

Wahoo Fitness is pretty good too, with a highly visible display. It doesn't show much data within the app, but records a lot of data that will appear when shared to Strava or other apps.

Old-School Android Tracking:

Thanks all, I'll give Cyclemeter and IpBike a look as well. I don't mind paying for an app, but I am a bit hesitant about yearly subscriptions. Sounds like you get quite a bit of data though, maybe it is worthwhile.

No Ant+, it is a Moto G5S Plus.

I tried Wahoo before Cyclemeter... it's really good except for one thing: it doesn't have an autopause on the Android version of the app. I'd always forget to either pause it while at a red light, or (worse) restart it after I got going again.

That IpBike app looks pretty cool though. I'll definitely give it a try.

Depends on what you're trying to do -- if you simply want to record your rides and upload them to Strava, the Strava app is fine. You don't need the paid membership for most of the useful features. I know I've paired some of my sensors with my phone and they have worked with the Strava app -- but I think that depends on whether your sensors have smart bluetooth and also your phone.

Now I have a Wahoo Bolt which records everything, and the ELMENT app on my phone is set up to auto-sync with Strava (and RideWithGPS although I don't use that much).

If you want livetracking without paying for Strava Premium and you don't have a computer that does that -- the Glympse app is pretty good. It doesn't record your ride but it lets family members know where you are.

I see a couple of changes in the free version of Cyclemeter, compared with 2015 when I first tried it. These apply to iPhone -- I'm not sure about the Android version of Cyclemeter.

Back then auto-pause/resume was disabled in the free version. Now it's standard and, interestingly, auto-pause/resume is enabled by default and cannot be disabled. That's probably not a bad thing, unless the user is engaged in a specific type of activity for which continuous timing is preferred.

Still disabled in the free version:
Sharing to Strava and social media.
Voice announcements.
Customized workout routines.

All ride data is still recorded and stored on the phone. That data can be uploaded to Strava, etc., later after purchasing the premium version.

I'm seeing a lot more ads on the free version, including the types that block the entire display and banner types that can interfere with scrolling.

A request I made last year has still not been implemented -- a privacy zone, like Strava's, to obscure the user's starting/stopping points (typically residences and workplaces) from publicly accessible maps. Not a big deal if the Cyclemeter user uploads to Strava -- the free version of Strava includes privacy zones. But if I shared a Cyclemeter ride directly to Facebook it showed my precise starting/stopping point. This might be a concern to folks who do choose to share some data about their activities, but still prefer some privacy about their residences and work places.

I've tried the IpBike app over my last two commutes. I like it. I'd start with that one first to see how you feel about it (it's got full features for a limited time vs. cyclemeter which has very limited features in the free version).

The two apps are similar. What I like about IpBike is the following:
1. Can customize the screen layout more
2. Has an "auto start" feature that goes on after you ride a certain distance with the sensors on. This means I don't have to take my winter gloves off to start recording my ride.
3. The auto-pause is quicker to react.
4. Has the option to dim, but leave on, the screen after a while which saves battery.

[MENTION=406915]jefnvk[/MENTION],

Copy that on the no native ANT+ on your phone. If you want to use - or already have - sensors (e.g., Speed, Cadence, Power), with IpBike you have 2 options depending on your sensors (ANT+ or BTLE):

1) Acquire an ANT+ usb dongle (which is kind of a kludge) but it is a way outa "Dodge" for ANT+ Sensors,

- or -

2) sign up for the IpSensorMan "Beta" (free) which has BTLE capability (for Dual or BTLE Sensors).

I don't know if you have - or even want - sensors, but IpBike will do just fine without them.

Anyway - good luck on your quest!

-Mikey

Don't currently have any sensors. Mostly use it for YTD mileage across multiple bikes, exercise time on bike, and when touring the actual route taken.