What changed
Strava’s press release lists four updates “rolling out today”:
- Search. The release calls it “More Intuitive Search”: in the Maps tab you can search for route names or points of interest for a run, walk, hike or ride, and describe places “in your own words”.
- More routes. “Expanded and better-curated routes”, with no numbers given.
- Route cards. Redesigned, with photos and activity data from Strava users.
- Offline. With no signal, your saved routes appear on the Strava app’s home screen, and you can start and save a workout that uploads when service returns. Following routes offline is for subscribers (below).
Offline routes aren’t new: Strava announced them for subscribers with its hiking update in June. The release calls this one “a revamped offline experience”.
Who gets what offline
Strava’s offline help article, updated in October, sets it out:
- Free: record an activity with no signal; it uploads when you’re back online.
- Subscribers: download routes and follow them offline. Saving a route in the app downloads it, with “Download for offline use” on by default; routes saved on the website aren’t downloaded automatically. Downloads keep working if the subscription ends.
The steps are the same on iPhone and Android. Offline routes and maps don’t work on the Strava Apple Watch app or other connected devices.
Some of the route features were already for subscribers before this update: generating suggested routes (per the community routes article) and seeing photos on routes (per the route photos article). The photos come from public activities; to keep yours off them, that article points to Privacy Controls, “Public Photos on Routes”.
Turn-by-turn audio, and what else is coming
Per the release, still to come, none of it dated:
- Spoken directions. “Subscribers will be able to hear turn-by-turn audio directions when following a route on their hikes, walks, and runs.” Rides aren’t named. Today Strava’s audio announcements cover segments, run splits and start, pause and stop only.
- Route details from the community: tags and descriptions, such as waterfalls or wildlife along the way.
- Browsing routes on the web. Subscribers can already build and manage routes on strava.com; discovering them there is the new part.
Two apps in the directory describe spoken turn-by-turn directions today: RunGo, for runs, and Ride with GPS, on its paid plans. Others that follow routes are on the route apps page.
What’s still unknown
- Dates for any of the coming-soon features.
- Whether the improved search and the extra routes need a subscription, and whether the new route cards change what free accounts see.
- Whether spoken directions will come to rides, the Apple Watch app or other devices.
- Whether the rollout reaches every country, and both iPhone and Android, at once.
Sources
- Strava press: Route discovery update (October 22, 2026), New features for hiking (June 11, 2026)
- Strava support: How do I use Strava offline?, Audio announcements, Community routes, Public photos on routes, Routes on the Strava website
