Strava first launched its premium location sharing feature called Beacon back in 2016 with standalone Apple Watch support arriving in 2019. Now the feature is available to all users, not just paid subscribers.
Strava shared details about the useful update in a press release:
To better support athletes’ safety and peace of mind, we’ve decided to make Beacon accessible to everyone, whether they subscribe to Strava or not. Starting today, any athlete in the world can use Beacon for free when they record on their phone.
However, to use Beacon with smartwatches like Apple Watch (without iPhone) Strava will still require a paid subscription.
Here’s how the feature will now work:
• Everyone in the Strava community can use Beacon for free in the Strava mobile app.
• Beacon sharing from connected devices like Garmin bike computers or Apple Watch will continue to be a paid feature due to the added complexity of supporting those integrations.
• You can share your live location with up to three people, and they’ll be able to keep track of where you are until you finish your activity.
• Athletes choose how they want to share. Controls let you add Strava safety contacts who will be automatically notified every time you record in the app, or manually text a link to anyone you like.
Strava is a free download from the App Store for iPhone and Apple Watch.
Author: Michael Potuck
Source: 9TO5Google
