Danie van der Merwe

Strava killed its free API, so I built my own fitness platform with Endurain and FitPub instead

2026-06-26 12:25:38

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Strava killed its free API, so I built my own fitness platform with Endurain and FitPub instead

“Strava has been a big part of my fitness workflow for one big reason. I don't really care about leaderboards or social features, but it acts as a great hub between devices, apps, and services. I use an Apple Watch and I also use a Garmin, and Strava lets me bridge all of these together. That setup has become a lot harder to maintain after Strava removed access to its free API tier for most consumer use cases. Since I also dabble in a range of other wearables that don't really sync directly, this has understandably made it harder than I expected to get my fitness data synced to a common place. That pushed me to look for alternatives.”

Strava has been incredibly useful to so many athletes, but that reason is because there is a mass of users using it (ever tried getting someone to leave Facebook for Nostr?) and it has a good API allowing more crowdsourcing of data from other apps.

But we are all on borrowed time with Strava as it is a proprietary platform and is apparently filing for an IPO soon (remember when Facebook had open APIs to embrace all the 3rd party networks, and then starting shutting that access down?).

So we don't know the full implications of this yet, but Strava will become more restrictive as things go forward.

As the linked article points out, you could self-host Endurain for similar stats for yourself, but if you are into sharing exercise stats, wanting to see similar stats, and following friends, then FitPub does look pretty good (see https://fitpub.social/timeline). But, of course, like with Facebook, your own friends won't be on it! If they are anywhere on the Fediverse though, which uses ActivityPub protocol, then they can still follow you.

The challenge is to get your exercise data in easily (no complicated file syncing etc). From what I see on Pebble watches you could use an app called GadgetBridge, Garmin users are best off as Endurain natively syncs with that service, Polar uses could sync to intervals.icu and there are hooks to then pull into FitPub. Apple users may be able to use Ride Journal which can sync to FitPub.

The post mentioning the Strava API changes is at https://forum.intervals.icu/t/strava-api-update-new-terms-subs-required-for-api-access/130240.

See Strava killed its free API, so I built my own fitness platform with Endurain and FitPub instead

After Strava's API lockdown, I discovered Endurain and FitPub do what Strava won't — let you own your fitness data

#technology #health #exercise #opensource #openstandards

technology opensource health exercise

Hacking BLE to Liberate your Exercise Equipment eg for the Domyos EL500 elliptical trainer

2024-01-05 14:30:36

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

It’s a story we’ve heard many times before: if you want to get your data from the Domyos EL500 elliptical trainer, you need to use a proprietary smartphone application that talks to the device over Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE). To add insult to injury, the only way the software will export your workout information is by producing a JPG image of a graph. This just won’t do, so Juan Carlos Jiménez gives us yet another extensive write-up, which provides an excellent introduction to practical BLE hacking.

Yes, the process may seem like a bit more effort, but it could have three major potential advantages:
* If the supplier decides to no longer support the app or device, or goes out of business, this won't affect the hack.
* It looks like some additional data may even be able to be extracted.
* Your data need not be captured and read by the app any longer, meaning increased privacy.

The project is not yet completed though, as it seems the data capture and analysis is still being worked on. Looks like a project well worth keeping an eye on.

The unpacking and analysis of how the BLE GATT comms works is also very interesting.

See Hacking BLE To Liberate Your Exercise Equipment

It’s a story we’ve heard many times before: if you want to get your data from the Domyos EL500 elliptical trainer, you need to use a proprietary smartphone application that talks to the…

#technology #hacking #BLE #exercise

technology hacking BLE exercise

'Walk The Distance' app makes exercise fun, with a social element, for those who’d rather be hiking

2022-07-23 17:24:56

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Walk The Distance is the type of app that’ll motivate a very specific type of person to get off the couch and get some exercise. Instead of having you walk to escape zombies or catch Pokémon, it lets you virtually walk long-distance routes like the Appalachian Trail (AT) and Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) — perfect for those of us who don’t mind our local walking paths but wish for something a little more scenic.

Walk The Distance is not necessarily a nice-looking app. In fact, it’s honestly a little ugly. If you can look past that, though, the app’s functionality is pretty solid — you can see where you are on the trail in relation to other users virtually hiking it, browse through your walking history to see how many miles you logged each day, and revisit points of interest you’ve already passed. There’s a whole backpack’s worth of settings, too, that let you customize a lot of the experience.

In addition to all the users that publicly broadcast their progress, you can also add friends to walk the trail with, and the app has a mode that just shows you where you and your friends are on the trail.

See Walk The Distance makes exercise fun for those who’d rather be hiking

#technology #hiking #walking #exercise

Turn your walk to the store into a hike to Maine.

technology walking exercise hiking

You Can See Way Better Fitness Stats on Your Apple Watch - You Can Configure What Displays, or Not, During an Exercise

2021-08-19 19:40:36

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

In some cases, like for hiking type exercise, there are quite a few additional options you can choose to rather display. But you also can opt to reduce what is seen to simplify the display.

See You Can See Way Better Fitness Stats on Your Apple Watch

#technology #exercise #AppleWatch