If you’re a Strava user and own an Apple Watch, the two play nicely together.
The Strava app for Apple Watch is a solid performer for runs and cycles – but it’s pretty limited. And we’ve always found it annoying not to use the Workout app, which is packed with features, and is far better integrated into the Apple Watch experience.
Even in 2022 with watchOS 9, Apple has added a bunch of new running features to Workout, including running power, heart rate zones, running form stats such as ground contact time, stride length, and vertical oscillation, and even the ability to virtually race your PBs.
But you can have the best of both worlds.
Apple HealthKit integrates with Strava – and enables data to be passed between the two services. And that means you can do a workout with the Apple Workout app, and then upload the session to Strava afterward.
> Best running apps for Apple Watch
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Connect Apple Health and Strava
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First, you need to connect the two services:
Go to the Strava app and hit the settings icon. Now choose Applications, Services, and Devices and choose Apple Health.
Follow the instructions here, and get the two services paired.
A new update has also added the ability to have workouts automatically synced. Toggle Automatic Uploads to have your Apple Watch workouts sent straight to Strava (see below).
Upload your Workout to Strava
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If you need to manually add a workout, follow the steps below:
- Head to the Strava app
- Go to Settings
- Tap Applications, Services, and Devices and choose Apple Health
- Under the Services section, tap Health
- Under Workouts in Last 30 days tap Import next to the workout session you wish to import
- Head back to the Strava feed and refresh it to see your session
What information is synced?
The transfer of data is two-way. This means that Strava workouts will be sent to Apple Health, and vice versa.
But the transfer of detail isn’t even.
If you do a workout within the Apple Watch Workout app, it will populate in Strava with a full gamut of analysis and stats. It will appear as if you recorded the workout in Strava itself.
If you workout with Strava and sync it back to Apple Watch, you will see the session within Apple Health and the Fitness iPhone app. However, you won’t get rich data such as maps, routes, segments, splits, or advanced analysis – and you’ll also miss out on relevant badges.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.