Strava Rolls Out Garmin Attribution Prior to Deadline

Almost exactly one year after Strava began a campaign to reel in 3rd party apps, the company itself had to comply with new rules placed upon it, as a direct result of that very campaign last year. Rarely has there been such a pristine example of the phrase “what comes around goes around”. Except of course, it ended way worse for Strava once you account for the lawsuit fiasco.

In any case, Strava began marking not just Garmin activities, but all activities with the data source. This was to comply with new rules that Garmin announced as of July 1st, 2025 in reaction to Strava’s 3rd-party app changes last fall. These updated Garmin API rules required most apps to comply by November 1st, 2025. Note that these rules only impact apps that have a direct connection to Garmin’s data synchronization service. They do not affect you as a consumer directly, or you simply upload your files elsewhere.

These new API rules were, according to Strava itself, the reason why they filed a lawsuit against Garmin 30 days ago for patent infringement, only to then ultimately drop the lawsuit last week. We’ll set aside the fact that they spent those 21 days becoming the laughingstock of the financial & investor world, sports tech world, and legal folks alike. Let alone what consumers thought, and the subscriber losses there.

Unquestionably, filing that lawsuit hardened Garmin’s November 1st API policy deadline for Strava, one that the company has previously said they were flexible on for other companies (if they showed they were working on it). Had Strava not complied with the updated API terms, Strava claimed Garmin would cut them off. That move would have meant no Garmin user data flowed to Strava automatically, nor things like Strava Routes back to Garmin. Effectively giving no reason for any Garmin user to pay Strava, and almost certainly would have caused Strava to have massive business difficulties in a matter of days.

In any case, Strava had to simply attribute any activities coming from the Garmin API as being Garmin-sourced. Despite Strava’s executives misunderstanding the one-page PDF document with illustrations, it did not require a Garmin logo.  It merely had to say the word ‘Garmin’ in cases where data was sourced. Note that previously Strava already listed the device type in a number of places. This just put it in more places.

Here’s an example of a screenshot I just happened to take two weeks ago of Shane’s seemingly dumpster fire of an activity (ok, maybe it’s a car, but either way, seems appropriate here), which notably does not show the device type. Whereas as of yesterday, you’ll now see the device listed (Garmin Edge 850), in the header:

(Before at left, after at right)

Beyond that, the device is still shown where it always was, once you open up a given activity, directly below the main block of stats. Here are some relevant examples, showing non-Garmin devices as well. Strava had stated they will be complying with not just Garmin’s requirements, but also adding in attribution for all data sources (ironically, it does seem to be missing in the headers from their also-orange friend, Zwift):

Additionally, attribution doesn’t seem to show on any other data pages, such as these data pages:

Apparently, Garmin & Strava came to some agreement there (temporary or otherwise), as the above is a bit different than the attribution examples Garmin has, which show it below most charts (example from their PDF below):

In talking to a number of smaller apps over the past few weeks, all of them have said that discussions with Garmin have been quite good and reasonably flexible. All of the ones that have talked to me have said the requirements, while not exactly something they wanted to put on their to-do lists, weren’t onerous, difficult, or a big ask.

That said, all of them (every single one of them) expressed the same concern, which is what happens when other companies start asking for attribution as well. For example, Garmin covers multi-sourced data charts, to a degree, here:

The problem comes, though, when you have an app that uses multiple data sources to provide unique insights. Does it become: “Insights derived in part from Garmin device data, Whoop device data, Apple device data”. And per Garmin’s API, that in theory means every single chart, which is just over the top ugly.

I fully get that Strava started this fiasco, and now everyone else has to live with the repercussions of it. All of which sets aside the fact that it’s ultimately the user’s data – not Strava, not Garmin, or anyone else. Sure, the apps are using that API connection, but I’m not convinced that long-term this is going to work, once other companies follow the lead (which they invariably will). It just becomes alphabet soup then.

In any case, until then, thanks for reading!