Strava’s Beacon Safety Feature Is Now Free To Use

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One of Strava’s most useful premium features, which allows you to share your live location with up to three people, has just become free.

The feature, Beacon, is a great safety tool because your contacts can keep tabs on where you are during activities like outdoor runs, hikes and bike rides, and hopefully spot if you come a cropper and provide you with assistance.

Beacon is free only on the smartphone app. It remains restricted to Strava Premium users if you want to use it independently of your phone on smartwatches like an Apple Watch or a GPS bike computer.

To get set up in the smartphone app, first go to Settings, turn on Beacon for Mobile and allow Strava access to your contacts. Then pick your emergency contacts and edit the text of the message sent to them when you start a new activity. This text will automatically include a unique link to your activity with a map, so your contacts can track you as you exercise.

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Your contacts are also shown the details of your activity once you complete your workout, so they know you’ve finished it safely.

Along with being a very useful safety feature, Beacon also works as a handy race tracker. Your contacts will be able to see exactly where you are on the course so they’ll be ready to cheer as you pass and know when to meet you at the finish line.

Download Strava from App Store and Google Play | Free, premium £5.99 a month

Nick Harris-Fry
Senior writer

Nick Harris-Fry is a journalist who has been covering health and fitness since 2015. Nick is an avid runner, covering 70-110km a week, which gives him ample opportunity to test a wide range of running shoes and running gear. He is also the chief tester for fitness trackers and running watches, treadmills and exercise bikes, and workout headphones.