Milestone App User Update

So I assume firmware will be updated by Zwift. And any other app that read the standard BT protocol will work.

Hey @Gregg,

  1. There isn’t another app (that we’re aware of) with this functionality. Runpods are Bluetooth enabled, so the best outdoor feature would be to pair it with your Strava app via your phone. You will need to have your phone on you during your run.

  2. Firmware updates will be delivered via the Zwift app for Zwift app use. There won’t be updates for outdoor-related issues.

  3. The Zwift mobile app does not support the advanced stats the Milestone app contained, and there hasn’t been any talk about retaining the metrics for the Zwift app. At this time, we will only record speed, cadence, & distance.

I’ve reviewed the questions and answers so far, but still I’m not clear: will Zwift continue to support outdoor running, or will this support go away when the Milestone app goes away?

That’s very disappointing. It’s the reason I bought my MilestonePod in the first place. Long before Zwift even did running. I’ve got a Stryd Live for Zwift.

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The outdoor running portion will go away once the Milestone app stops working with your phone. This can be in two months or two years, we’re not sure when the app will completely stop functioning with your pod.

You are still able to use the runpod on compatible Bluetooth apps such as Strava or Garmin for real-time recording, but you will need to have your phone with you for this to work.

This is true.

It doesn’t really give anything that a watch gives though, does it? I mean, my Vivoactive gives me cadence, distance, route and speed.

The most useful parts of the MilestonePod are the metrics such as impact, leg swing, contact time, stride length. Without access to those things, it’s a relatively useless lump of plastic.

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Obviously this is disappointing and a big missed opportunity for Zwift to have an indoor and outdoor solution.

My suggestion is to think about releasing some sort of library or documentation in an open source way so that enthusiasts could maintain some sort of app. That would turn round a pretty questionable shelving of a product (not going to overstate that but come on!) into a possible long term big win for a whole bunch of people.

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I agree 100%. I downloaded Zwift yesterday hopeful it offered the same functionality as the Milestone app, discovered it was a video game with none of the Milestone app benefits, and deleted it an hour later.

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I totally understand. The data and functionality were why it was a pretty popular device, especially with that price point. After lots of internal discussions, our business priorities have changed in regards to the Milestone app. At this moment of time in Zwift, we’re pulling our resources for an improved in-game experience.

We appreciate the feedback and suggestions. This is a concern we also share at Zwift. We agree Zwift could benefit from both an outdoor and an indoor model. At this moment in time, our priorities are focused on how to best improve our in-game running product. As we progress, I’m hoping we can continue to capitalize on the data along with the outside capabilities, but we won’t know until we cross that bridge. It’s not in the foreseeable future.

Sure, I understand business priorities don’t always align with user preferences.

Maybe one day they’ll come back into the picture. I’d have thought those metrics would still be useful to people running on a treadmill as a way to improve their running - although I get that a treadmill isn’t the same as running on solid ground.

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I am with everyone else. I don’t want a video game! I want the data. I want to know the mileage on each pair of running shoes (Yes, I have a few and include my son’s shoes). Once the Milestone app is no longer functional I guess all 4 pods will go in the trash. I just can’t see spending the money on a Garmin or Polar pods. Zwift, please put all the information which was on the Milestone app on your platform.

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So you’re converting the pod from a useful aid for those who want to improve their running technique, into a device for playing a video game.

Will you offer money back to those who bought the pod to help improve their running technique and have no interest in playing the video game? I have an iPhone SE with a 4" screen which is too small to play Zwift on.

OK… so, basically I have multiple pods on different pairs of shoes. I run without watch and then sync the run data to the Milestone app which i export to strava to get dumped back into my apple health and then pushed out through Healthfit into a cloud spreadsheet. This is over? So, to track any runs, I’ll need to use another product and platform? A little disappointed about the shoe tracking aspect that will be lost as well. Anyone have ideas about collecting pace and distance data without a watch, other than a map and a stopwatch?

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As so many have already said, I have no use for treadmill running and will not be using it. I love the data provided by Milestone for my OUTDOOR runs. Why bother buying a company to end it? Milestone provided a great service to runners - done simply and well. What a waste.

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Sadly, this happens all the time. It’s what big business does to shut out competition.

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Maybe Zwift could open specifications for the protocol so running metrics and offline data can be extracted from the pod?

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To my knowledge, the pod uses BLE

The BLE specification is wide open, and easy to implement. Heck, I did it using an old ESP-32 Arduino.

I can supply source code if ya want.