the program keeps stopping in the middle of my hike
- worked before an update
Captured on . See reviews on the App Store
StravaReported repeatedly
People lose the activity they were in the middle of recording
4 people raised this across 4 weeks, on iOS.
iPhone users in the United States, across four app versions.
In their own words
Neither app store gives a review a permanent public link, so each entry is a snapshot taken on the date shown and the link goes to the app's review listing.
Strava keeps freezing up and when closing the app and reopening it is stuck at the Strava logo startup page
- described a workaround
Captured on . See reviews on the App Store
every time I wanted to give kudos it would freeze and crash
- worked before an update
Captured on . See reviews on the App Store
the app does not load. It is just a black screen and an error message that says please try again
- said they were leaving
- about billing
Captured on . See reviews on the App Store
What people do instead
- uninstall and reinstall the app
- restart the phone
What you could do with this
These four are written from the reviews above. Everything else on this page is quoted or counted.
written
BUILD IT
A recorder that writes each location fix to disk as it arrives.
See how3 points
- Append points to a local file rather than holding a session in memory
- Offer the partial track back after a crash instead of discarding it
- Start with the mid-activity stop reviewers describe
Why it might not workContinuous disk writes cost battery, which is the other thing these reviews complain about.
written
START IT
A recorder whose only job is not to stop.
See how2 points
- Records and exports, and syncs to whatever the person already uses
- Sold to people whose activity cannot be repeated
Why it might not workThe phone's own health platform already records this, for free, at the system level.
written
STUDY IT
How often does a consumer tracker lose part of a session?
See how2 points
- Run paired devices over the same route and compare recovered tracks
- Check whether loss clusters on long sessions or on specific releases
Why it might not workReproducing a crash that depends on hours of movement is slow and expensive.
written
WRITE IT
The run that did not happen because the app stopped.
See how2 points
- Follow someone whose training log has a hole in it
- Quote the reviews describing a stop mid-hike
Why it might not workFitness-app grumbling is common; the story is what a lost record costs someone in training.
Related challenges
Strava
People are charged for a year the moment they try it
Every day I get at least 10 notifications asking to sign up for the premium version
Build itState the charge date and the amount on the screen that starts the trial.
Start itA watcher for trials a person has started and forgotten.
Study itDoes trial framing change whether people cancel in time?
Write itThe free trial that was never free.
Reported repeatedly
Duolingo
People lose a daily streak when the lesson will not load
it also won't load kana or other character / writing lessons
Build itA lesson that is fully on the device before it starts.
Start itOffline-first practice for people with unreliable connections.
Study itDoes an outage break a learning habit, or only pause it?
Write itGamified learning that punishes you for its own outage.
Reported repeatedly
Venmo
People cannot reach their own money when a transfer fails
I can't pay someone I have paid in the past.
Build itAn error that names which step failed and what happens next.
Start itA status layer for transfers that are neither sent nor returned.
Study itWhat do people do in the hour after a payment fails?
Write itThe error message that means nothing and holds your money.
Reported repeatedly