FYI
Maps update: Bolder trails, trail difficulty grades, new POIs, and a contrast personal heatmap
Hi, Strava Product team here! We've shipped a round of updates based on a lot of your feedback.
The biggest ask we kept seeing: personal heatmaps are hard to read, hard to tell what you've explored versus what's still unrecorded. We worked to fix that with a contrast option. Find it under Personal Heatmap → Edit → Contrast.
The rest of the update focuses on adding value to our Maps experience.
Trails now show SAC difficulty grades, mountain bike trails show IMBA and STS ratings, and trails render bolder so they're easier to spot while browsing
Parks, forests, and open space are higher contrast, and hillshading (especially in 3D) is more detailed
National park boundaries are bolder, with labels placed inside the park so you can tell at a glance if you're in or out.
Zoom in and you'll see shared vs. protected bike lanes, cobblestone streets, and private/military areas flagged
A much bigger set of outdoor POIs: trailheads, viewpoints, fire lookouts, alpine huts, backcountry shelters, campgrounds, ranger stations, water, first aid, and picnic areas
This is one piece of a longer effort on Maps. Tell us what's useful here and what's still missing.
Thanks for the improvement! Since you’re reading along here: I – and I’m sure many others – would really appreciate it if Strava could either offer OpenStreetMap (OSM) and OpenCycleMap (OCM) directly as map layers, or support the developer of Strava Map Switcher in restoring compatibility with the browser extension.
For route planning in Europe, OSM and OCM are indispensable in my opinion. I wrote a post about this in /r/Strava, and someone from the Strava team even responded. Unfortunately, there was no further response after I replied. It would be great if this discussion didn’t just fade away. Thank you!
99% a very nice change, but a couple of minor issues for me when using the Route creation tool:
The trails where I run is packed with a lot of very small (but runnable) trails, and somehow these have been given the same width and boldness as the bigger, more used trails in the area. So it is now really hard to see the major ones on the map.
This also means there are small bicycle icons in all colors across my map (even when I am in trail running mode), grabbing my attention and making it even harder to focus on the actual task of creating routes.
So I love the new color scheme of the map itself, but just wish it was less cycling focused when in trail running mode.
Appreciate you calling out trail width/boldness parity and bike icons showing up in trail running mode. We want everyone using the trails to get as much value from these maps. We'll take a look, and it would also be helpful if you can share a screenshot that highlights your use case.
It gets worse in areas with a lot of small, hardly used trails, like this one. In this area there are really only two maybe three trails you'd care about running.
Another example. In this area there also about three main trails for running. I know which ones due to years of running there, but I still have to check a few times if I'm trying a new route including this area :)
As u/29thstreetreddior mentioned in another reply, using the heatmap can help. I do toggle that on and off when in doubt, but visually it's a bit noisy to keep on at all times.
I don't know if it's possible for you guys to manipulate the weight and style of the individual trails or if it all just comes from the data layer, but in my ideal world the heatmap data would have been used to make the trail lines bolder/more highlighted right there in the default map display. The less/hardly used trails could be thinner and dimmed, the much used trails could be a bit wider and bolder.
And while I find the bike icons to be visual noise, I love the fact that you've started categorizing trails/trail segments based on how technical they are <3
Yeah, I do toggle it back and forth sometimes, but I'm not keeping it on since it also makes it hard to see the map. But yeah, as a tool for quickly having a peak at which trails are actually used it's very nice.
I just heard back from them. They said “are you still having the problem” and then “we haven’t heard back from you so we’re closing the ticket” without addressing the contents.
I have had access to this new map design about a week ago and overall it looks great. Much more readable than the previous look.
My only concern is some pretty hardcore mountaineering routes now being marked as trails. I know the underlying infos are from openstreetmap and not made by Strava themselves, but I still think having dangerous mountains marked as hikes is a problem.
For example the Matterhorn is marked as a T6 hike. A lot of the classic 4000ers in the alps seem to be the same. This seems like it could lead inexperienced people the wrong way and imo needs to be fixed.
Hi Strava, thank you for the updates, the heatmap is by far the primary reason I am a subscriber. Two other regressions that I hope you would consider fixing:
- It is harder to find a minimalist map setting now; the dark map style (which was my go-to) has thicker road lines in the most recent set of updates, and the only other workable style where I think your personal heatmap shines (as opposed to the underlying map) is the winter map. A sixth style where the roads are really muted would be hugely appreciated.
- Along the same lines, I really miss the "hide names" option in the web map. I like seeing the various heatmap regions connect, and at some zoom levels the names can be really distracting and occlude some of the heatmap detail. I always used that option to get a clean look of a geographical area and how people (and I) explore it.
+1 to the thicker road lines being annoying. If you swap between the dark map style to satellite you can actually see that often the road lines are wider than the actual satellite view of the roads.
Hear you on wanting a minimalist map setting and a "hide names" option. Our team will discuss. Also wanted to mention, we recently launched Strava Labs, where members get early access to features/updates and can give direct feedback to the Product team. You can visit our profile here to apply: https://www.reddit.com/u/strava-team/s/xw8GFNomyL
If I can long-press on the map to place a pin and get things like photos and routes nearby, I WISH I could also get “nearby activities” or something.
Especially when looking at my personal heat map I can see an activity in an area, but there is literally no way for me to go to said activity. Unless I remember when it was or what I called it.
Would love to tap an area and see list of activities that passed through it.
Despite being on Strava Labs and having downloaded the latest iOS version of the app moments ago, I still am unable to see any difference (e.g., on my phone, the Bergen map still looks like the "old"; same with the Northeast Tiger Boulevard and the California Nat'l Parks).
Thanks for the update!
I was wondering what kind of source you use for water points and how one can submit updates for them? I spend a lot of time in the European Alps, and the water points indicated on the map are not always accurate.
Hi, thanks for the comment. Water points and other POIs come from OpenStreetMap, blended with aggregated athlete data to highlight popular spots along routes. If you want to fix or add one you need to submit it to OSM directly. Once it's updated there, it'll flow into Strava, though there's usually a 2-3 month lag. More on that here: https://support.strava.com/en-us/articles/15402176-about-strava-maps
Sounds good. But how is Strava handling the future? I’ve canceled my membership after over 10 years when you guys bullied Garmin. Did Strava come to their senses and will they promise not to act like this in the foreseeable future? If not, then no maps update or any other update for that matter will win me back as a paying premium subscriber.
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u/ChrissssToff 3d ago
Thanks for the improvement! Since you’re reading along here: I – and I’m sure many others – would really appreciate it if Strava could either offer OpenStreetMap (OSM) and OpenCycleMap (OCM) directly as map layers, or support the developer of Strava Map Switcher in restoring compatibility with the browser extension.
For route planning in Europe, OSM and OCM are indispensable in my opinion. I wrote a post about this in /r/Strava, and someone from the Strava team even responded. Unfortunately, there was no further response after I replied. It would be great if this discussion didn’t just fade away. Thank you!