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marcb
Shkhara
Status: Gathering Kudos

It's 2022 and most apps have Dark Mode nowadays. It might be a bit weird to use Strava when not working out... But looking at the segments the night before to plan out the next run is a thing. Please make us literally lose less sleep when doing this, or when recording an activity in the evening.

This has consistently been the top request on reddit.com/r/strava

Reposted from features chat board to request board

Moderator Edit: Find the latest response on this topic from our Product Team here.

168 Comments
Serhiy
Mt. Kenya

Hello. I also tried different options, I was able to enable dark mode by installing an older version of the app, for example (com.strava_192.13-1217958_minAPI21(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a,x86,x86_64)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk). And provided that the mode is turned on on the smartion itself, the dark mode will appear in the program immediately upon launch! But if you update the application through the play market, then the light theme returns again. Don't update the same.

Timco
Strava
Strava

First, thank you, @marcb for kicking off one of the most popular threads in the Community Hub. 

To the dark mode fans, we see your passion and know how much this request means to you. Our Community Hub is a place for two-way discussion between our employees and community and we’re here to have that conversation. 

We appreciate your constructive comments about eye fatigue, improved battery life, and the need to use Strava at night to plan your next adventure @gugggen @Ethanwison @Cjl5158.

As of now, Dark Mode is not on our immediate roadmap. Implementing dark mode now would divert staffing away from other exciting initiatives that many of you care about.

We’re excited to bring you many features in 2023 and encourage you to continue to share your feedback on our Community Hub. 

Although Dark Mode is not on the immediate roadmap, we will monitor this thread and check in from time to time.


Tim
(He/Him)
STRAVA | Product Team
nhoover
Shkhara

Thank you very much @Timco for taking the time to reply here. It really makes a difference to the community to see that the Product Team is actually reading this and responding. As a long time software developer I can tell you that I would consider each post here equal to a vastly larger number of users thinking the same thing - most people wouldn't think of wasting time requesting a feature or even know that such a thing is possible. 

I know you guys want to remain leaders in the space and even if you are not a fan of dark mode yourself, you should recognize that many people are. Strava now sticks out like a sore thumb for me: it's 2023 and pretty much everything else I use is dark - with all the concrete advantages mentioned above. Please reconsider. 

If you're interested, take a look at my app I built on the Strava API. I wanted to separate out bike rides from unicycle rides and wanted more geographical breakdowns etc, so wrote this, in dark mode of course: https://nstrava.herokuapp.com/

SilverbackRacin
Shkhara

Besides my MySpace account, Strava is the last app I use that doesn't have dark mode. And to think it's not even your roadmap blows my mind. You must be busy filling up my feed with all the worthless Challenges friends join....that I don't care about for even a moment. Yet, I have to scroll, scroll, scroll to see a post that isn't a Challenge. 

Roadmap:
1 - Enable dark mode
2 - Allow me to turn off Challenges

marcb
Shkhara

Hi@Timco thanks for the reply. Really bummed out that this is the official stance on a feature that's clearly important to a large subset of the community.

I'll be cancelling my subscription until this is resolved or at least until it's on the roadmap. IMO, this is totally unacceptable and arguably a bit insulting to everyone who has been asking for this in different communities.

You're making it sound like a feature that's basic UX requirement for any modern app in 2023 is less important than functional requirements. I'm curious, you mention "other exciting initiatives that many of you care about"... can you specify what these are and more details about the approved roadmap? What makes them more important than basic accessibility and usability?

End result is less people overall will be using those fancy features because the basics aren't there. Or at least less people will be paying.

marcb
Shkhara

@j1mreevestechnically 2 of those 4 are activity type fixes, which I hope aren't that complex for Strava to deliver! Although if they're having a hard time adding Skateboard activities, I can understand how adding Dark Mode is a pipe dream!

marcb
Shkhara

@Timco @Soren you may want to consider responses on reddit re this contentious issue https://www.reddit.com/r/Strava/comments/107ry8o/stravas_official_response_on_dark_mode_not_on_our/

this is a basic accessibility thing that, like you admit, impacts battery (so not eco-friendly currently), users' health, etc which is why the team should definitely be looking into this years ago. Of course, that's impossible so the next best time is now.

ansel_berg
Mt. Kenya

I agree! This would be a great feature 

ansel_berg
Mt. Kenya

Let’s get a dark mode for the Strava app! It would be really nice to see a low visual intensity mode that matches other apps. The white app background can be hard on the eyes. It can’t be that hard. Let’s see that dark mode!

DARK-MODE
Mt. Kenya
 
RunForrestRun
Mt. Kenya

In an age of inclusivity and accessibility, it seems ill considered that one of the App Store’s most downloaded apps would lack the basic function which has been commonplace for nearly 5 years.  

Approximately one in seven people have a disability that affects the way they interact with the world and their devices.

Accessibility is not just about making information available to people with disabilities — it’s about making information available to everyone, regardless of their capabilities or situation.

Designing your app with accessibility in mind means prioritizing simplicity and perceivability and examining every design decision to ensure that it doesn’t exclude people who have different abilities or interact with their devices in different ways.

People can experience disabilities at any age, for any duration, and at varying levels of severity.

 

SilverbackRacin
Shkhara

For me, there are now very few reasons to use Strava. One is to track my and my friends activities, actual exercise activities, and to send a Beacon when I start a ride so people know where I am. It's a nice safety feature. 

When I raced I would see how I compared to others, but now that those days are done I have not much use for leaderboards and such. I realize I am probably not the typical user, or am I? I'm curious how many non-competitive people use it vs those who want to use the full capability of the platform.

Having said that, it seems there are less reasons to use Strava than to use it. From a personal stats point, I like Garmin Connect better. Then, all the Activity notifications (I know they're trying to make this a selling point to get you to use Strava more) continue to fill up my feed to the point I scroll and scroll and scroll past all the activities just to see my friends rides. It's a PITA. Now, dark mode will likely never be implemented. 

I just configured Garmin Connects Live Tracking function to send a SMS message and it works just fine. I now no longer need to pay for a subscription. My subscription will not be renewed.

Strava is **bleep**-bent on rolling out new functionality, without regard to what the userbase actually wants. While they may/may not actually lose customers, it makes me question what value they now add to my exercise life. And I may be sitting in some field by myself on all of this, but I suspect they don't really understand (nor care) about their customers. 

gugggen
Mt. Kenya

I somewhat agree with your last statement SilverBack, they are trying to cast the biggest blanket in an attempt to bring in as many new users as possible by adding all of these weird sports that don’t really seem to fit the strava use case. Their business model completely ignores the current users and aren’t focusing on actually improving the app for the better. Do people really record their workouts for stationary exercises like CrossFit, weight training, yoga, or even sports like golf and skateboarding?? How do you even quantify what work was done without manual entries?This shows they’re reaching hard, and they didn’t even add unicycling which I’ve seen so many request to do so. But adding dark mode is not a priority, because it doesn’t bring in the $$ like it does for all these “inclusive” sports that no one records with. Also fun fact, 42% of people forget to cancel subscription they no longer use, so theses subscription based companies rake in passive income forever.

Dark_Mode_When
Mt. Kenya

Dark mode when

george2106
Mt. Kenya

In case someone is interested, I created a browser extension that at least makes the web app in dark mode. It's for personal use, but if enough people want this I can publish it to the different browser stores, let me know!

Screen Shot 2023-01-11 at 12.51.56.png