Strava has added three key updates to the latest version (4.4) of its iPhone and Android smartphone apps: Strava Photos; My Recent Efforts; and redesigned leaderboards.
With the much longed-for auto Garmin Connect to Strava functionality coming in late last year – perhaps diminishing the attractiveness of the instant-upload mobile app for some – it looks like Strava is tempting users to keep phones in their pockets with added features.
You can get your fingertips on the new features by updating your app in the App Store or Google Play.
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Strava Photos
The new Strava Photos functionality allows you to instantly illustrate your activities with photo uploads direct from your camera app or phone's gallery. Strava says its users have shared over 10 million photos by linking Instagram accounts to recorded activities. Strava Photo smooths out this process, keeping it within the app to satisfy this appetite for posting photos immediately after bossing a climb.
My Recent Efforts
Unless you're vying for all the KOMs in your local area, you're probably most interested in comparing your new time over a segment to previous attempts. My Recent Efforts gives you just that – quickly and without a load of finger-tapping menus or having to wait until you're back home to use the full website.
Improved leaderboards
Of course, once you've secured a new record for yourself, you'll want to see how you stack up against your mates. The Strava app's new leaderboards also streamline this process, giving easier access to your segment rankings among followed riders, clubs and Strava as a whole. Strava Premium members (currently £3.99 / US$5.99 / AU$6.49 per month or £39.99 / US$59.99 / AU$64.99 a year) will also have access to personalised leaderboards, which allows you to filter by age and weight.
Going premium also gets you more advanced performance analysis, custom training plans designed by coaches and workout videos.