I like the idea of what they’re going for here. Unfortunately, there are some tweaks that until implemented will continue to limit their reach. I use a TrueForm Runner for 99% of my training, so a permanent incline adjust option for treadmill runs would be very helpful since a 4% (actually 4.5%, but decimals not available) incline is required to accurately reflect my CP. Additionally, I need real time power/activity data to be able to be casted to a device other than the Apple Watch alone (iPad/iphone/smart TV). By holding up my watch to verify where I am in my CP band — the activity pauses. It’s just very cumbersome to get the most out of this great technology. Finally, I’ve seen a member of their leadership team frequently personally reply to consumers/customers and often come across as condescending or defensive which I can appreciate they’ve put their blood, sweat, and tears into this phenomenal product — but I think they’d be well served to understand their customers WANT to see them succeed, and their feedback is simply a collaborative effort to see them continue to grow as a tech leader in this space. Stryd all the way, don’t let another software company come in and take your market because we neglect the app UI/UE.

Honestly, does anyone design tech that lasts more than 5-6 years anymore? Planned obsolescence? I remember when I was one of the first to buy a Stryd pod and I asked, “will we need a subscription to use this in the future?” and I was assured that the answer was “No.” Fast forward 2-3 years and, voila, subscription required for premium features. I’d be fine with this if the device was cheaper but honestly, my Garmin watch and HRM-Pro log running power just fine. What’s the point of Stryd now that Corros and Garmin support running power natively?

When I was forced out of the office 13 months ago and told to work from home, I got the COVID crazies. I vowed to dedicate my former commute time to my own health. At first I couldn’t run a mile, so I just walked with a backpack. I added weight to the backpack as I lost weight. After I had lost 65 lbs and the backpack was getting heavy I started running. No plan no strategy, just sort Forest Gumped it. After getting stricken with the running bug I wanted an easy to use tool that told me how I was doing and planned out my runs for me without over exerting myself. A friend of mine told me all about his stryd pod so I thought I’d try it out. It took me a while to mentally transition from pace to power, but once I did the mileage started going up. If you told me a year ago That I could easily manage to run 60 MPW in a managed way that pushed my fitness further without injury I’d think you were crazy. I am now getting ready for my first fullMarathon and where prior to acquiring the stryd pod I stressed over strategy and pace, I now just let the pod tell me my strategy and I just need to execute on what it tells me I can do! Love it!

So the app is meant to support the $200 Stryd Footpod. The pod is a great piece of tech with outstanding accuracy even with its default calibration. The app is hot trash. Probably one of the most bizarre and frustrating design choices was only to display distance to the tenth. So you would not see 4.25 miles, you just see 4.2 miles. Anything from 4.20 to 4.29 is displayed as 4.2 miles. This nonsense aside, you can record a run and stop it when the app show 4.0 miles. The app will then somehow show this distance as 3.97 in history. In the Stryd Power Center, it’s companion web suite, it shows the distance as 3.97 and 3.95 depending on where you look. There is no support for a BT HRM which is another odd or rather a poor choice. When doing treadmill workouts you can input the incline, which makes sense. I find a treadmill run at 1.0 has near identical power reading as running on flat ground outside, which one would expect. But, that’s baked into the app, not a setting which is sent to the pod. So you can’t use the Stryd app to tell the pod to calculate your power based on 1.0 incline then go use a different app or a different device like a Garmin watch. This wouldn’t really even be a thing if the Stryd app wasn’t so poorly done. When I took my Stryd to the track for some speed work, I found that every press of the lap button made my music turn off. There were no audio cues enabled but it shut off my music with every press of the lap button. I had a Stryd back a few years ago when they first came out and the app was still in the same poor state it was then as now. I returned the pod then and will be doing the same now sadly.

It took a few weeks to nail the calibration down. After calibrating, my Stryd was very accurate on measured trails. That alone is worth the purchase of the stryd pod. I had never run with power before but was open minded to the change. The auto calculated power zones do seem to fit me. I have never been an even paced runner and this has helped me out a lot with being accurate and precise during easy/long runs and workouts. I don’t use the iPhone app much. Only to name each run and to get them uploaded from my Apple Watch. I mostly use the web platform because it has more information available from each run.The Apple Watch app is what I use as a display and it meets all my needs. I loved the Training Peaks workout download integration and used it extensively in the free trial. Since that ran out I just use the Stryd Apple Watch app. If I want to do workouts I’ll set the lap distance to what ever interval distance I want and set the power target to provide haptic response when I’m out of my power zone. Then I’ll use the manual lap function to begin a new interval after resting. The part that needs improvement is the audio feedback for the Apple Watch app. The chimes just aren’t that good. Stryd support is fantastic. They push updates frequently to get the bugs out. Battery life is also a huge plus for the stryd pod.

I’ve had Stryd for a few years. I use it about 4-5 times per week. The app on the Apple Watch Ultra is frustrating to say the least. If you pause the run, say you’re doing a run / row then it will typically crash out and you lose the data. Especially if you try to use another app to record the row portion. For just runs, the app doesn’t allow you to trim the run down, and isn’t smart enough to pause automatically. In the winter I do a lot of running on a treadmill. Turns out when I finish sprints I can’t really hit stop, it takes a minute or two. Then the mile times are longer because of the walking. If I stop running and forget to hit stop, I’ll get a ridiculous mile times. The worst part is after the run is completed it will not upload. I have to close the app, re open it. The second time you open it the app always freezes and then finally crashes. Reopen the app one more time, then it will finally upload the run. It’s been this way for a year or more. Fix the app, fix the simple auto pause or trim run, that will lead to 5 star reviews.