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Best Sports Apps | Report & Table – Winners & Losers of 2020

17 January 2021
the5krunner

Best Sports Apps | Report & Table – Winners & Losers of 2020

2020 saw big changes in my annual sports ranking tables. Unsurprisingly, the best sports app winners from 2020 include Zwift and Tacx/Garmin. Some of the other winners include Samsung, Huawei, Peloton, Relive, Google FIT and several Couch-to-5K apps. The most notable loser was UA Endomondo…which was 4th in the table last year and now ceases to exist.

What I Do

The specific measures that I look at are the NUMBER of reviews and AVERAGE RATING. I think these are a good proxy to assess both the magnitude and quality of the interaction that we have with our apps-of-choice. Historically I looked at Google Play and recently added in some of Apple’s app store data, starting in Jan 2020.

Headline Differences & Trends

What stands out the most to me is that Apple App Store apps invariably have significantly higher ratings than their Android counterpart. Either the iOS apps are better engineered or the average iPhone user is a more forgiving, positive person.

Clearly, the biggest trends of 2021 should reflect an increase in indoor equipment training with the likes of Peloton, Tacx and Wahoo plus an increase in outdoor activity being recorded on generic sports apps like Nike RC that do not necessarily require a GPS sports watch.

Biggest Movers & Shakers

  • Android: Samsung Health storms up the Android charts to take the #1 slot, leaping over adidas and Nike RC. Huawei is up 5 with Relive & Polar Beat both up 4. From a low base, Zwift rocks up 10 places.
  • iOS: adidas, Wahoo Fitness, RwGPS and Google FIT all take a hit in their positions table, whilst everyone still loves Nike RC, Peloton and Alltrails.

Watch Out: Almost every app grew Android reviews by over 20%. Those that did NOT achieve that growth rate include Asics Runkeeper and Trainer Road. Alongside that are those who have low review ratings like Fitbit, Suunto, Tacx, Rouvy & Stages. In the past, low reviews have foretold bad things that came later. Of the iOS apps, Suunto is growing notably less than all the others.

Crème de la Sweat

Apps deserving a thumbs up because of stellar approval ratings include on Android: adidas/Runtastic, Garmin Connect, UA Map my Walk/Ride, Relive, Komoot, Osmand, Final Surge and Pumatrac. On iOS: adidas Runtastic, Nike RC, Strava, Asics Runkeeper, UA Map My Run/Walk, Zepp and several others.

Android Results

App Name Reviews +/- % Rating Rank
Samsung Health 1,137,750 131% 3.9 1
adidas Running by Runtastic 1,062,551 112% 4.6 2
Nike Run Club 1,003,340 110% 4.5 3
Fitbit 746,995 128% 3.7 4
Strava Running & Cycling GPS 641,956 124% 4.4 5
Garmin Connect 623,170 138% 4.6 6
Asics Runkeeper 567,669 105% 4.3 7
Huawei Health 426,639 285% 4.2 8
Google Fit 413,616 123% 3.9 9
UA Map my Run 301,035 134% 4.4 10
Zepp (Amazfit) 248,587 167% 4.1 11
UA Map my Walk 246,848 132% 4.6 12
Sports Tracker 222,090 103% 4.3 13
ReLive 189,326 245% 4.7 14
Komoot 175,594 163% 4.6 15
Polar Flow 126,408 127% 4.2 17
Suunto App 25,333 138% 3.3 31
Zwift 7,902 1154% 4.3 42
Wahoo Fitness 16,893 202% 4.4 35
TrainingPeaks 19,967 124% 4.6 33

iOS Results

App Name Reviews +/- % Rating Rank
AllTrails 516,000 172% 4.9 1
Peloton 429,600 – 4.9 2
Nike Run Club 370,800 126% 4.8 3
One You Couch to 5k 236,000 – 4.8 4
UA Map my Run 132,400 204% 4.8 5
Strava Running & Cycling GPS 90,100 138% 4.7 6
Garmin Connect 81,000 192% 4.3 7
Asics Runkeeper 51,900 161% 4.8 9
Polar Flow 15,500 139% 4.6 13
Suunto App 1,000 109% 4.1 33
Zwift 4,900 – 4.6 24
TrainingPeaks 2,500 133% 4.7 28

Source: the5krunner.com, iOS/Android app stores

Notes, What’s In and What’s Changed?

  • Samsung’s growth appears to be due to a reported surge in sales of its equipment due to political restrictions placed on Huawei by the USA.
  • The demise of Endomondo shows that many of these apps are simply not profitable despite vast numbers of downloads & reviews.
  • adidas Running (by Runtastic) has 1,062,551 reviews and this will correspond to Android downloads of over 50 million.
  • Garmin Connect has well over 10 million Android installs and Polar Flow is now just over 1,000,000 installs. Garmin has at least 10x the devices of Polar — probably a lot more.
  • Strava has 641,956 reviews and “over” 10 million downloads. Strava claims to have 73m registered athletes (Q3.2020), increasing at 2million/month with 21.5m uploads per week. The majority of Strava accounts are inactive it seems.
  • Suunto is still migrating from Movescount & Sports Tracker apps to the Suunto app.

Predictions for 2021

  • Impossible for new apps to get anywhere near the upper end of this table in the space of a year.
  • The trend for sports apps to innovate first on iOS will continue.
  • Double-digit growth expected across the board.
  • I also suspect that some apps will wither and die soon but maybe not in 2021.

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Last Updated on 28 May 2026 by the5krunner

My favourite kit and nutrition

  • Maurten — the race nutrition trusted by elite athletes. Gels and drink mix engineered to be easy on the stomach.
  • Garmin 90-degree charging adapter — the small adapter that keeps your charging cable tidy at the stem. Essential for race day.
  • Garmin charging puck — the fastest and most reliable way to top up your Garmin before a session.
  • Ravemen FR300 — front light that mounts directly under your Garmin or Wahoo head unit. Keeps your bars clean and your beam pointed where it matters.
  • Garmin Varia RTL515 — radar rear light that alerts you to vehicles approaching from behind. Pairs with your Edge or Garmin watch.
  • Stryd — the footpod that brings running power to your Garmin. The single most useful running upgrade I have made.
  • Favero Assioma Pro RS2 — the power meter pedals most serious cyclists end up choosing. Accurate, easy to move between bikes.

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9 thoughts on “Best Sports Apps | Report & Table – Winners & Losers of 2020”

  1. I’m still trying to find a good app that can give insights about my recovery and training ( not only for running but also for strength training) ,based only on my chest strap that is not sportwatch dependant. Something like oura ring

    1. that’s a good question with a complex and unsatisfying answer. Question for you: how do you expect a chest strap to quantify your efforts in the gym? perhaps, for example, your HR gets up to 110-bpm when doing a few calf raises. Yet your hr could be 170bpm over an entire 5k. But you intuitively know that those calf raises must affect your recovery for running.

      1. I would like to have an app similar to apple health that can aggregate data from mulțime sources and give you insights about your performance and recovery. For recovery hrv changes during the night could be useful. All brands offer a solution but keep you trapped inside their ecosystems.
        All the platforms already available are more tailored to runners and cyclist. For other categories like strength training and cardio there isn’t any useful metric ?

        1. hi you cant aggregate the cumulative impact of strength training. You can perhaps see the effects later with something like Elite HRV.
          a ring could be a good one-off early morning measurement device.

  3. Hi there, thanks for the great work! Feels like Running Heroes should feature in this list. Running Heroes has a strong user base in France, UK and Australia and has recently become available in Brazil and Romania. Cheers!

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