User limit increase request

Strava doesn’t offer useful explanations. You could outline the workings of your app in this forum if you are comfortable with it. Then we could take a guess, what could be the problem.

Absolutely.

I am a marathon runner and been dealing with injuries for sometime. I use to log the rpe and other notes in description but could never find a way to really synthesize the information unless I open each run so I decided to create an app  called Smart Gauge that can do that. It is like a personal workout journal. 

Smart Gauge is a companion application for Strava focused on post-activity recovery check-ins.

Strava provides the objective activity information—such as activity type, distance, duration, pace. Smart Gauge allows the athlete to add a separate layer of private, self-reported information after the activity, including: Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), Pain or injury issues, Mood, and personal notes.

The goal is to give athletes a simple way to review both what they did and how they felt afterward.

For example, an athlete may see that several recent runs felt unusually difficult, that discomfort was repeatedly reported in the same location, or that perceived effort was higher during hotter conditions.

How Strava Is Used

After a user explicitly selects “Connect with Strava,” Smart Gauge imports recent activity information associated only with that authenticated user.

The activity provides the context for the recovery check-in. Instead of requiring the athlete to manually enter the activity date, duration, distance, sport type, and other information, Smart Gauge associates the user's check-in with the corresponding Strava activity.

The workflow is essentially:

Complete activity in Strava → Smart Gauge receives the activity → Athlete completes recovery check-in → Smart Gauge displays recovery trends and history.

Smart Gauge does not attempt to replace Strava's activity history, social features, training analysis, or activity tracking.

Data Retention and Privacy

Smart Gauge intentionally minimizes how long Strava activity information is retained.

Imported Strava activity records are automatically deleted after seven days by a scheduled backend cleanup process.

The longer-term information retained by Smart Gauge is primarily the recovery information that the user entered directly into Smart Gauge.

Users can also:

• Log out without deleting their information

• Delete their stored activity/recovery data

• Permanently delete their Smart Gauge account

Account deletion removes stored data and deauthorizes the application from Strava.

Webhooks and API Usage

I am using Strava webhooks rather than continuously polling the API.

The backend receives notifications when an activity is created, updated, or deleted and processes only the affected activity.

Contact

The app provide the feedback/contact us modal that user can fillout for any feedback or issues.

Why I Requested the Athlete Limit Increase

I requested an increased athlete limit so I can test the application with a larger group of endurance athletes, gather feedback, improve the UI/UX, and validate whether the recovery check-in workflow is useful at a larger scale.

I am not trying to recreate Strava or build another activity-tracking platform. The core value proposition is:

Strava tells an athlete what they did. Smart Gauge helps the athlete record how they felt after doing it.

If that make sense please let me know or have any further questions.

I would appreciate any feedback so I can address the concerns before submitting another request.

Thank you.

There are some points where Strava could think that existing Strava features are replicated. They have a perceived exertion and private notes, both are even reported in the API. I cannot know of course if it would change anything for the admittance if you use those Strava values instead of letting athletes type them in in your app. We are all very unsatisfied with the lack of concrete details when an app is denied.