Two of the biggest names in fitness tech are fighting, and there could be serious repercussions for users of both Garmin watches and the Strava fitness app.
Strava has sued Garmin over what it claims are infringements of patents relating to the app’s heatmaps and segments features, and demanded that Garmin stops selling devices that include related features.
This would amount to more or less every Garmin watch and bike computer being taken off sale, which would be a pretty dramatic turn of events. It would only be a little less dramatic if Garmin and Strava stopped working together, since the majority of the activities on Strava are uploaded from Garmin devices.
Is any of that going to happen soon? Probably not, but this does seem like a dispute with potential fallout for Garmin and Strava users in the future if the relationship between the two companies doesn’t improve.
What are segments and heatmaps?
Within the Strava app segments are short sections of routes that users can compete to be the fastest over, while heatmaps display the most popular routes taken by users of the app, which can be a great way to see where other runners and cyclists like to go.
As DC Rainmaker first reported, Strava claims Garmin has infringed on patents relating to these features with its own versions of segments and heatmaps, and also broken a Master Cooperation Agreement between the two companies from 2015 in developing these features.
These are old features on both platforms — over 10 years old in fact — and Garmin can argue it actually had its own version of popularity routing or heatmaps before Strava.
Why is Strava suing now?
The reason behind Strava’s decision to sue now could be related to Garmin’s new developer guidelines, which require its API partners to show the Garmin logo on data from its app and devices.
Given these are older features, the reason behind Strava’s decision to sue now could be related to Garmin’s new developer guidelines, which require its API partners to show the Garmin logo on data from its app and devices. This would mean a lot of Garmin logos showing on data in the Strava app.
Strava Chief Product Officer Matt Salazar posted on Reddit yesterday complaining about this, and it would seem to be a motivating factor in the increased hostility between the two brands.
Garmin focusing more on software development with its Garmin Connect+ subscription might also be a factor here, since it makes the app more of a competitor with Strava and its Premium subscription.
What does this mean for users?
For now, nothing is likely to happen. Garmin won’t stop selling watches and your Garmin data will sync to Strava as normal. It’s in neither company’s interest to disrupt user data going from Garmin to Strava, given the popularity of both.
However, I’d say that Strava in particular needs to tread carefully. Garmin has a long history of winning patent disputes and it is Garmin data that makes up the bulk of the content on the Strava app.
If the connection between the two apps breaks down, there will be a lot of users who already have a Garmin watch who are unlikely to buy another smartwatch just because it shares its data with Strava.
They’re more likely to cancel their Strava Premium membership and move to another app, I’d wager, and the reaction to Salazar's post on Reddit suggests this is a move that could backfire for Strava.
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