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Strava's new app directory puts cool third-party integrations front and center

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Ever since Strava, the self-coined social network for athletes, let third-party developers access its data, the number of Strava-enabled apps has gone up exponentially. As of June, nearly 18,000 apps and products take advantage of Strava’s application program interface (API) and more are on the way. That is why Strava’s introducing a way to keep track of them all: The Strava app directory.

Strava’s directory showcases Strava-enabled apps across categories like data importers, visualizers, prints, social motivation, charity, performance, training apps, and others. They run the gamut but some let you meet new running partners based on your pace and geography, turn your activity into 3D prints, overlay data on video clips, and more.

To celebrate the app directory’s launch, Strava is highlighting a few of the best on its blog.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Tapiriik, a “data importer,” synchronizes fitness activities between a variety of sources including Strava, Garmin Connect, TrainingPeaks, Dropbox, and several more. Earn Your Name and Relive, two Strava “visualizers,” analyze your ride data and give you a nickname with a customized poster, and create 3D videos of your runs and rides.

Other Strava-enabled apps include Xert (“training”), which adjusts workout plans to suit your needs, and Everyday Hero (“charity”), which uses Strava to track your miles logged for fundraising. Nice Trails, one of the directory’s more creative listings, turns your adventures into 3D sculptures.

“In the past few years, we’ve seen an explosion in the number of cool apps being developed by members of our community using Strava’s API,” Mateo Ortega, Strava’s head of integration, said in a statement. “We created this directory to help our athletes find fun, useful, and interesting ways to get more out of their Strava data, as well as shine a light on these creative developers who are using Strava as a platform.”

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Strava is free to use, but the Premium tier ($60) adds daily schedule and riding advice, plus plans tailored to take into account the time you have to ride and the date you want to achieve your goal. You get leaderboard filters (by age and weight), a workout effectiveness ranking (Suffer Score), a real-time emergency monitoring feature, the ability to download third-party routes, and more.

Strava’s app directory is another peg in the company’s impressive ladder of achievements. More than 1 million athletes join the network every 40 days, Strava said, and its users upload 16 activities every second and 10 million every week.

It’s not the only improvement Strava has made recently. In August, it gained Beacon, a feature that lets users share distance, caloric expenditure, and speed in real time.  In March, it added Live Segments, a cyclist-focused feature that serves up real-time audio and visual cues.

Kyle Wiggers
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
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