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Question

Strava PAINFULLY SLOW on Mac Desktop???

  • December 8, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 31 views

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PAINFULLY SLOW on Mac — but only recently.

I’ve been a paid subscriber for years and have never experienced this issue until yesterday. My Mac is also asking me to “Use the STRAVA app” in the search bar, and I’m getting an ad-blocker warning even though I’m using the paid version.

I’ve cleared the cache, cleared my browsing history, restarted my computer, and logged out and back in to Strava — and the problem is still happening. It works totally fine on my phone/mobile app.

This also seemed to coincide with a pop-up warning that I’ve opted out of allowing Strava to share my data/personal info. Coincidence?

3 replies

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  • Hub Explorer
  • December 8, 2025

I have had trouble accessing Strava via one of my Macs for months using Safari. On my desktop Mac, the Strava dashboard feed can be exceptionally slow to load, and some sections of club pages just don’t appear at all. And yet, I switch over to my laptop MBP and sigh, the feed is still a bit slow, but everything does load.

I've tried turning off all my adware blockers etc. on the desktop Mac, and no joy.

I have not seen any pop-up privacy warning, so IDK.


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Thanks RobertNYC -

I think this is the culprit: I recently notices that Strava has anicon suggestimng I “Use Strava App” that appears in my search bar when using the desktop version. I’m guessing Strava is throtteling the normal desktop speed to encoutrage the use of th app - evne on desktop...

  1. Suggesting PWA Installation: The icon can also be an "Install" button for the website as a PWA. A PWA allows the site to function much like a desktop application, with its own window and potentially some offline functionality, which the browser automatically suggests when you interact with the site enough to warrant an "app-like" experience. 

In the case of Strava, the website experience can sometimes be slow, and the app offers a more seamless performance for tracking and viewing activities. The icon is the browser's way of notifying you that a more integrated experience is available.  “


Jan_Mantau
Superuser
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  • Superuser
  • December 8, 2025

Maybe you have somehow forced Safari to use the mobile website instead of the desktop website. The desktop website does not show a request to use the app and a throttling is unknown.