Strava rolls out device attribution following Garmin lawsuit withdrawal.

Yesterday, 27 October 2025, Strava started its rollout of device attribution, the ‘price’ it has had to pay for its fallout with Garmin.

Device Attribution – Blatant Advertising?

The Strava-Garmin legal spat is an odd story. A very odd story. Thankfully, phase 1 seems to be over. Let’s dive into the oddness so far.

Oddness on one level

On one level, Strava’s CPO (Salazar) went on record to say that the company only really had one issue with Garmin, and that was device attribution. Meaning that Strava did not want to display the source of its data. It is considered that adding a phrase like the one shown above, “Garmin Forerunner 970“, amounts to “blatant advertising“.

I won’t rehash the full details of Strava’s supposed misunderstanding of Garmin’s requirements. However, I do have a modicum of sympathy with Strava. Having to display the source, in this case a product name, IS advertising. Strava is right. But at the same time, Garmin’s requirement is reasonable, just as it is reasonable for scientists to cite their sources.

Oddness on another level

The second level of oddness is that device attribution has no bearing on the legal case that Strava started against Garmin.

Besides bad PR, why has the case been dropped?

There is probably a bit of merit somewhere in the depths of Strava’s case (e.g. for Breach of contract – I won’t litigate that on this site). But why on Earth would you sue a company on an unrelated issue to your major gripe? Is it showing off? Is it wielding a big stick? Is it a threat? It’s just odd that a company would start legal action against a massively financially secure organisation (Garmin) on half-spurious grounds.

Further oddness

I wrote an opinion piece about further coincidental oddness.

Strava’s CEO just so happened to interview with FT.com at about the same time as the lawsuit was filed.

Coincidence? Or part of an odd strategy to support its widely rumoured 2026 IPO?

Device Attribution – the Details

Previously, if you clicked through to the details of any workout, you would see the same type of recording device used, whether Garmin, Polar, Suunto, Wahoo or whatever. That is unchanged.

What has been added is the device name for every workout in your feed, which includes the devices that others use in their activities.

There appear to be two exceptions.

1. As shown in the example at the top of this article, workouts recorded on Wahoo SYSTEM appear to be attributed to the workout description rather than its header. That’s the only exception I could find among many other brands. Perhaps this is an omission at Wahoo’s end? Either way, it’s still attributed, just differently.
2. When you have a group ride of two or more people, neither person’s device is attributed in the feed summary. This seems like a mistake; no doubt it will eventually be dealt with.

 

Take Out

Thus Phase 1 seems to be over.

Garmin’s requirements are met, Strava’s case is dropped, and Strava may well still be planning its IPO in 2026.

The (Strava) listing could happen as soon as early 2026 [Reuters, Sep 19, 2025]

I suspect more is to come.

If this was a PR stunt all along, will there be more to follow? If Strava wanted column inches regardless of the messages in them, it has 100% achieved its goal. Even my partner is now aware of Strava!

Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(i), Plaintiff Strava, Inc., by and through its undersigned counsel, voluntarily dismisses the above-captioned action, without prejudice.

Might future stunts be to take on Komoot or Ride with GPS with similar lawsuits to the one dropped against Garmin? The Garmin case was dropped ‘Without Prejudice’, which means that it was simply dropped with no admission to the merits of the case or otherwise.

 

Via: @Will, thank you for the heads up.

 

 

Last Updated on 30 January 2026 by the5krunner