Are you going on a solo hike or bike ride and don’t want your loved ones to worry about you. With Strava’s Beacon feature, you can share your real-time location with your emergency contacts.
Is Beacon Available on Strava’s Free Plan?
In a word, yes. You don’t have to pay for Strava Premium to use the Beacon feature as long as you use Strava on your phone.
However, if you want to leave your phone at home and connect your wearable device, you’ll have to pay for the Premium plan.According to Strava, the Beacon feature is supported on Apple Watches, Wear OS devices, and any Garmin devices that support Live Track.
However, your emergency contacts don’t need a Strava subscription to access your live location. They can do this with any browser, as long as they have a stable internet connection.
Of course, you canshare your live location on WhatsAppor another app, but having two apps accessing your device’s location simultaneously might drain your battery. And you might want to avoid this risk when on a solo trip.
How Strava’s Beacon Feature Works
First, you have to set up Strava Beacon to ensure everything works before going on your adventure. You can’t enable Beacon on Strava for the web. Instead, you’ll have to use the Strava mobile app.
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Once you launch the app, tap theSettingsicon in the top-right corner and go toBeacon. There, turn on the toggle next toBeacon For Mobile.
Alternatively, you can use theBeacon For Devicesoption if you have connected a compatible wearable device to your Strava account.
Then, tap on theAdd Safety Contactsbutton to add the people you want to share your location with. You can add up to three contacts. We recommend you edit their numbers and add the international code to ensure the text message will be delivered.
If you want to replace one of the emergency contacts, tap onEdit Safety Contactsand press theXicon next to the contact you want to replace. Alternatively, you’re able to tap on the contact you want to remove and confirm the action by selectingOK.
You can even edit the message that Strava will send to the emergency contacts. You can replace the default text with more relevant information such as the estimated time of arrival, if there will be any areas with no signal, and so on.
Once you’re done configuring the beacon, tapSavein the top-right corner.
How to Share Your Live Location on Strava
Even if you’ve added the emergency contacts, it doesn’t mean they will receive a text every time you open Strava or start recording an activity.
Once you pressRecordat the beginning of a new Strava activity, the app will display theSend BeaconTextbutton. If you start recording without sending the text, Strava will show a popup window asking you if you want to share your location.
Alternatively, you can send your location anytime during your activity by tapping theBeaconicon. There, selectSendTextorBeacon Settingsif you want to replace one of the emergency contacts or edit the message.
How Emergency Contacts Will See Your Live Location on Strava
Once you send the text, your contacts will receive a link they can access to view your location. We recommend you inform them about getting the text and even test if Strava’s Beacon works as desired. This way, they will know it’s a text message from you and not anSMS scam.
Do You Need an Active Internet Connection for Strava Beacon?
Because Strava has to transmit your location in real time, you need a reliable internet connection on your phone. If you enter an area with no signal, your emergency contacts will keep seeing the last position that Strava managed to transmit successfully.
Once you reach an area with cellular service, Strava will update your location.
Strava Beacon Adds an Extra Layer of Safety
Even if none of your friends want to join you, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go on that run, ride, or hike. But Strava’s Beacon feature means you can at least let someone know where you are at all times.
