If you’re new to the world of fitness apps, you may well come across MapMyRun or MapMyRide as one of the most popular apps around. Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because more people have downloaded it, it must be better than the alternatives. As someone who has used this service, the following summarises my reasons for moving away from it, apart from the obvious – there are much better alternatives out there!
1. Ads
The website hassles you with ads when you want to create routes, forcing you to wait, or click past them. No big deal perhaps, but others like ridewithgps.com and strava don’t hassle their users in this way. It’s just a deliberate strategy to annoy people into paying for the premium product.
2. Whose data is it anyway?
This is my biggest gripe. When you upload your gpx files to mapmyride, you can view a map and the stats just like on any other similar site. BUT – if you ever want to export the data again, it will not include any time data, only the route itself. This means you’ll get no stats, no recognition of any segments in Strava, nothing. The decision to restrict data export in this way is a silly attempt to keep their users, but ironically will be one of the main reasons that people will leave.
3. Your phone
In terms of recording your rides, it’s a smartphone app, so the chances are that the battery life will be awful when compared to a dedicated GPS unit like a Garmin. Check out 10 reasons to ditch phone apps and get a proper GPS for your bike . The app doesn’t run well on lower spec android phones, and crashed on me a few times. If you have to use a phone to record your GPS tracks, use something lighter like MyTracks instead.
4. The unsocial network
Their attempt at socialising the experience fails miserably. Yes, you can look at other people’s routes, but in a world of shiny Strava segments, mapmyride can only seem to offer lame leaderboards which don’t display anything other than your username and how long the route took you. Let’s be honest, Strava has it nailed.
5. Can you believe it?
They just brought out MapMyDogWalk.
No shit.
Well, probably lots – better take some baggies.
Thumbnail image used under creative commons license.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielamadeus/5737268275/
what MMR doesnt have is a world full of idiots chasing 200m 0.00004% downhill KOM sections and then using digital epo to boost them.
started off great, now its full of ex golfers…..
Haha, oh dear. Is it that bad in some areas? Can’t say it’s an issue with my local Stravarati
I agree it sucks! Constant crashes
Strava parses the data from you watch and alters it. I am just about ready to give up on Strava. They admit in their own forums that they use their own algorhythms to determine distance, pace, and time. Mapmyride or run seems to match my watch with seconds and the KMs are usually accurate. I agree the social side sucks, though.
Strava isn’t all that great either. It’s better but not the “one app to end all bike apps” that it could be.
For one thing, it’s pretty awful as a bike computer. Maymyride iis actually better as a bike computer. The screen stays on and it displays useful stats. But maymyride falls short as a route navigation tool, this is where Strava is better, if only the screen stayed on. Neither have voice prompts for navigation.
I’m still looking for the proper bike computer which would have this features:
– useable cycle computer. Similar to the dedicated ones, like Cateye. After all, if my phone is mounted on my handle bar, why do i need a cateye?
– Tracking my rides properly. Mapmyride often has gaps when signal is lost. It’s not that hard to figure out the speed and distance between signal loss and signal reacquisition.
– Route navigation. I can create a route, or use one from maymyride or strava or anything else. Then when I head out, i can load the route and it’ll guide me via voice and on screen if need be.
– Camera light: Blink the LED to catch attention. Doesn’t replace a real bike light but it can be effective on dark trails.
– Bluetooth and ant+ sensors as usual.
– Media controller: so i can control music, podcasts, audiobooks etc.
The best cycle computer I’ve found is called URBAN BIKER. But it doesn’t have the routes, mapping, tracking that mapmyride or strava does.
Try runnerup instead.
Well I think I’m late to the party. But I have to say something about the Authors conflict of interest in this article. 5 reasons you suck at pointing out why an app sucks.
1. Everyone is different no two people are alike. Therefore their will always be multiple apps to decided from. Competition is what makes us better! And I don’t mind the ads at all for the free part of the Map My ride program. Getting ready to sink some money in for the yearly subscription as this app in my opinion works just fine for me. All my gear so far has synced right up, cadence, speed, iphone, Denon blue tooth head phones…etc.
2. It’s their program, it’s their information read their agreement! Everyone has one and you must read the fine writing. And if you owned this app would you want the ability of this information being swapped between competitors? You used my lawn mower to mow your lawn? Go get your own maggot! ;)
3. My phone has never died using this app playing my music over bluetooth and syncing all my gear through bluetooth at the a same time. I’v e gone on 4 hr bike rides with half charged phone left by the time I get home. And the app still operates when my screen is turned off. (It seems to me you have not used this app much?!)
4. Who likes a bragger anyway, maybe I’m a private person but what I do in my private time is my business. But I my daughter also has MMR app and we added each other to the friends list. It sounds off when one of us starts a workout and then sounds off again we one of us finishes a workout and we can live track each other if we are not riding together. So socially I believe it is just right. (Still seems like your missing some main parts on this app)
5. Who cares about what other apps they come out with? You started out with why a certain one sucks why jump to another program? Stay on task, you moving on to cry about a totally different fun and funny app just proves you don’t have 5 reasons why the main app you were talking about sucks!
And did you know that you burn more calories and relieve more stress by walking you dog than walking alone!? No shit sherlock!
What he said LOL
I don’t know anything about cycling or GPS based cycling apps but MapMyRide works just fine for me. It works perfectly on my Motorola Moto G 3rd gen 2015 budget smartphone and during workouts it automatically loads a cycle computer display to my Pebble smartwatches – I couldn’t be any happier.
Yes it totally sucks. Constant crashing and losing data part way through rides. I got rid of the ads by paying a couple of quid for a plus version (not the extortionate monthly fee MVP) but it still crashes. Recent rides always have straight line section where it couldn’t cope, or the whole thing gets lost when I try to sync. This has changed! A year ago I used it to map lots of day rides across England and Spain and it worked well. Same phone (iPhone 4). I agree with Alan that my dedicated Garmin works much better, but not all my buddies have got them so we can’t share. Might have a go at MyTracks.
I have used map my ride since last April and it has been pretty reliable…but I took a ride today, and while I believe that the mileage is correct, the corresponding map isn’t even close to what I rode. It’s missing about half the route, and added a loop I didn’t do. It looks like it just grabbed the map from an old ride and used it.
I used Map My Ride since the app launched and finally quit altogether about a month ago and only use Strava now. Let me be clear Map My Ride SUCKS! It would crash and loose all my data often (from a 5+ hour ride this is a major bummer!), the leader boards are idiotic; best times are not always at the top, it really doesn’t make sense, and it will list people who have the best time for the month that haven’t ridden in many months, again doesn’t make sense.
There are so many shitty things about Map My Ride. Save yourself the trouble and avoid this app.
It appears that Strava is really where it is at.
I Have used map my ride for several years. If I had written this comment two years ago (2014) it would be full of praise. Now I find myself deserting this app due to its unpredictability. I log every Sunday ride. This app worked fantastic for years, then six months ago, random stops in the data. At first I assumed it was caused by the phone switching off. So I installed a secondary battery on the phone. Still it would stop tracking at random intervals. The last time I used this app, it managed to log one mile from a 110 mile ride. Out of the last 20 rides it has switched off 17 times….. This makes this app un-usable. I had hoped each update over the last six months would fix this problem, alas no.
Norman, I’ve found the exact same thing. It takes ages to load, then when you’re right in the middle of something the screen goes black, and the reload still takes ages. My last three times of use it hasn’t recorded the whole ride which is bloody infuriating. I’m not sure if they’ve had an upgrade, but somethings not working.
Anyway it’s gone now, Strava for me.
“…a smartphone app, so the chances are that the battery life will be awful when compared to a dedicated GPS unit like a Garmin”
Of course, but between shelling out $200+ on a dedicated device that I’ll have to lug around for rides and using my already available computer (a smartphone, remember ? ) I’ll gladly use my phone and what the hell ?, just put it on the charger when you are back home.
I have installed on my trike a bag/pouch that fits the phone (a huge Note 4) and it has space for a 10000 mAh battery pack if I want to ride for 3 or so.
I agree with you 100%
I have just paid $30 to print cue sheets, and all I can print is a map. What a waste of money!
LOL. Per point #1, it was ironic that as I was trying to read it, your website popped up an ad right across the text. Thanks for that…
#3, Google’s MyTracks has been dead for about a year (I know, long after you wrote this). I liked it a lot for what I do (and yes, most of that was “Map My Dog Walk!).
ANd I agree with the poster who asks why he’d shell out as much for a dedicated GPS as he already did for his smartphone. If you can’t manage to keep your phone running for the whole ride, there are far cheaper solutions than going with a dedicated GPS. Plus everybody I know with a GPS is always complaining about their maps being out of date. Last time I was in a car being navigated by GPS it tried to drop us in a quarry. Google knew better.
But J.Kro, you’re wrong–it’s their program, yes, but it’s NOT their information. I did the work, I recorded it, I hold the copyright. I don’t accept that anybody has a right to tell me what I can or cannot do with MY data, and mostly the laws agree with me, in that I generally have a legal right to download my data from any server where it is stored.
Haha, now I have popup guilt!
Here’s my two cents:. I’ve using MapMyRide for a few months now and love it. It works perfectly for what its intended, or better said, It does what I expected to do, this is track my bike rides, basic metrics included, such as Distance, duration, calories burnt and speed. I don’t care about printing or sharing it on social media, (I don’t have a Facebook, or Twitter or Instagram or any of that crap). I just love riding my bike and keep track of my workouts.
I agree that MMR sucks, but it’s a trade-off of features. The smartphone apps are the biggest problem. Riders who eschew dedicated GPS bike computers are missing out and haven’t YET paid the price for their misplaced loyalty.
I have been using a Garmin Edge 800 for the last 3 years mountain biking and have never lost a second of data over 1500+ miles of rides. Every turn of the pedals, rotation of the rear wheel, mile of trail, and beat of my heart was logged and the last 180 hours or so remains in my 800. The final straw for the smartphone app was the day I was on a long ride at the fringe of cell signal where, because of the extreme battery drain with weak cell signal, my phone battery died and left me without ride data or emergency communication. I don’t know how long the battery will last on my Garmin, but I’ve gone several days of rides (about 12 hours total) without recharging it. Even if it dies, my phone is still safe, dry, and fully charged in my bag. I plan routes online and upload them to the Edge by USB (it’s old and the new ones use WiFi) for basic route guidance. It’s light weight and small with a stable mounting method. If it is broken in a crash, I’m out maybe $350 and still have my phone to call for help. Oh, one final note, I have both a Strava and a MMR account and both accounts sync data directly from my Garmin Connect account for analysis and reporting. I use Strava to do the best that free Strava offers and use MMR to do the best that free MMR offers and don’t have either app on my phone.
Get a dedicated GPS bike computer instead of using an app. Hopefully one that syncs to your favorite analysis site. Your life could literally hang the decision.
Thanks Jim, for such a thoughtful comment.
heh, I`ve just switched from strava to MMR, I didn`t like the design of strava. MMR shows everything during the ride, strava just few items (maybe it can be set up, but MMR worked out of the box).
I HATE mapmyride. When a ride uses a MapMyride link to view the map, it is pretty much useless. The course profiles are not detailed enough and the categorization of climbs is horrible,
The RideWithGPS website is infinitely better as you can easily download routes, zoom in and view fine details, You can also create your own routes. What’s more you get all of that for FREE.
If you subscribe you get even more really cool benefits. But as I said, if you use the free version you’ll get most of what you need.
I am a new recruit to the cycling world and have been using MMR since the start, I like it and have yet to suffer any data loss. I also have Strava installed on my I-phone 7+ but have not felt the need to try it as MMR is stable and gives me all the data that I need. The only thing that I have noticed is that if I ride out with a buddy, when we get to the end of a ride we don’t have the same distance logged even though we have taken exactly the same route together..?
I can’t agree less.
I happen to think Strava Sucks. Way too expensive, The support is horrible.
Oh did I say expensive? I should say very expensive. 8 bucks a month or $60 a year.
BTW, with all the complaints I read here, all I saw is the word FREE FREE FREE. Maybe you think MMR sucks is because you are cheaping out and not buying it. I have never had an issue and it works great with three Ant+ Sensors. And MMR has worked so well that I finally decided to remove my Sigma 16.12 and got rid of all the wires.
Like MMR Strava has a free version. I have been using the free version for years and its better than MMR.
MMR consistently records more distance than strava for my rides and I have to upload my tcx on MMR to strava to get accurate rides. I think it might be to do with Strava’s auto pause. I sometimes lose a speed achievement over what Strava’s recorded as I actually went farther than they had in and maybe that’s where they measured shorter than I actually went, not sure but it NEVER records the same as my distance on the MMR app. Their correct distance doesn’t work for me either. I don’t pay for the upgraded one and I only run both in case one crashes and stops. I have never had the problem of MMR running my battery down and I love i can use it off line and it announces every mile my overall distance, speed avg and split speed for the mile. Keeps me knowing where I am at while I ride.