gpx files downloaded from websites don't display properly on mobile

[fearlessfreep]

I have made many routes of my own from scratch and they all look as I expect, regardless of device. But whenever I download a gpx for a race it doesn't look "correct" on the mobile app. By that I mean it looks as if it was created with a fraction of the resolution, a couple miles of the winding course represented by one long linear line segment.  I have found that if i select "edit" on the route it looks fine in the editor, but as soon as i select save it looks poor/incorrect. As i said this is only on mobile but obviously mobile is the one place i need it to work.

[Bruce]

Thanks for writing in! Unfortunately, this is happening due to the limitation that you are describing. You may see this issue on the mobile app for long routes that contain many switchbacks and tight turns. You should only see this on the route detail page. If you load the route by selecting the Start option on the routes detail page or Record screen, you will be able to utilize the route in full resolution. 

If you plan to use a route in an area where you may lose data connectivity, you may want to download the route for offline use. This will make sure that you are able to continue to use the route without interruption. 

Note that you may see this issue for routes that are manually created or those that are uploaded via .gpx, as the issue is tied to the number of waypoints required to display the route in full. 

[fearlessfreep]

unfortunately nothing changes when I start/record to use the route. if that had been the case I prob wouldnt have written in. It was precisely that which led to me making a few wrong turns and doubling back more than once, which led me to think "what the heck?"

Pretty severe limitation, at least for my purposes. 

and yes, i always download the routes

[Jane]

Hi @fearlessfreep 

Thanks for getting back to us with more details. I'm escalating this post to Strava Support, A Support Analyst will get in touch with you soon to troubleshoot further. 

[Jane]

Hi @fearlessfreep 

Thanks for your post. That long straight line usually means a lost GPS signal or large gaps between GPS points in the file. If I'm understanding correctly, you're using a GPX file to create a Strava route, is that correct? This has to be done on the Web as explained in this Help Article

Can you confirm that is the process you're following? You mention it only happens on Mobile so I'm a little confused. Thank you.

[fearlessfreep]

yes, the issue appears to happen only on mobile. 

Yes, all too aware that the gpx -> route must happen on web. And as long as i am looking at the route on the web, there does not appear to be a problem. But of course when I'm actually using the route it's on mobile, in which case, when I load the route for navigation, the route appears "low resolution", not sure how else to describe it. It's as if the route was made with only 20 pts, when it needed to be 1000. But as I said it looks fine on the web and also, if on mobile, i tap the 3 dots and select "edit route", then it also looks "normal"/accurate/as expected.

I went back through all my other routes and found this was the case with all routes that I had downloaded from race websites. Any route I created manually was fine. It's hard to imagine I would have missed this in past races so I wondered if something had changed/new bug/whatever.

these races are on the longer side of things, 50k-100k, so I wondered if there is some "max threshold" for the curve pts. something lower for mobile than web maybe. As a test I downloaded from the same website a 10k version of the course and it looks "ok".

I have used this (and other) gps software for years and have seen my share of gps "gaps" or "hiccups" and this is not that. This is simply the way the entire route looks. 

here is the route on web:

here is the route on mobile:

and a close up example of why it's a problem, and leads to me running around in confusion 😂