Getting outside on a run, ride or walk is precious time away from the noise of our day-to-day. It’s meant to be fun. But having to worry about safety adds stress to the very thing we’re doing to relieve it. Strava has two safety features built to give you more peace of mind: Beacon (for during your activities) and tools to hide portions of your maps (for after your activities).
Beacon is Strava's live location sharing tool. It lets you select up to 3 trusted people – like a partner, parent or friend – as safety contacts, who will be able to track your activities whenever you choose. Your safety contacts will receive a unique URL via text message, allowing them to follow your activities in real time. Using Beacon from the Strava app is free, but please note that using it from a device (like your Garmin watch) is only available with a Strava subscription.
Strava's second spotlight is on map visibility settings. When you share an activity on Strava, you can decide how much (if any) others can see – either as a default setting through privacy controls, or on a per activity basis. There are 3 ways you can edit your map visibility:
Hide a specific address: Select this option if you want to protect a specific location, like your home address. Specify an address and a particular distance (up to a one mile radius), and Strava will conceal the area around your start and end points by that distance for all activities that occur there.
Hide all start / end points: Select this option for an easy, one-time setup that you won’t have to think about again. All start and end points, regardless of where you work out from, will be concealed by the distance you specify.
Hide your maps from others entirely: Select this option if you don’t want others to see your map at all. They’ll still be able to see the stats you choose to share, like distance and pace, but your map and location will only be visible to you.
If you have loved ones on Strava, make sure to send this post their way in case they don’t know about our safety features yet. Strava's priority is to give you the tools that give you more peace of mind while you’re out there and when you use our platform.
To learn more about Beacon and how to set it up, head here: https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/224357527
To learn more about editing your map visibility settings, head here: https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000173384-Edit-Map-Visibility
Have fun out there, and be safe!
