Please give us a heads up the day before a required update. Tell us when the update will be pushed out so that we can have the option to download it prior to the start of a ride. I could have downloaded the update overnight or earlier this morning. Instead, the limited time I have to get a ride in is spent waiting for an update.
Here’s the user story you can use:
I’m on a work phone call, and I can tell it’s going to end in 10 minutes. I open up the Companion App to see what events are starting in 20 minutes or so and I select one. My call ends and I run to the bedroom to change into my bibs, grab the computer and head into the basement to setup in front of the bike. Launch Zwift with 4 minutes before my event starts, and… …Updating…
What makes this one worse - its Covid-19 season and everybody’s internets are moving very slow. I’m watching the update bar slide from 35 minutes to 1127 minutes to 480 minutes… I’m now back at my desk, sitting in my bibs with Chamois Creme keeping me unnecessarily cool while taking my next few calls. I wonder just how long this update will actually take?
That update must have just dropped, there was no update 2 hours ago when I rode. With all the different operating systems it is hard to know when they will be available, so I don’t think Zwift can give you the precise time for a update.
With only 10 minuites to get ready for a ride you are cutting it very fine. With The high volume of riders currently on Zwit, I would suggest being in the starting pen 6 minutes before the ride start. I think of it like a fire escape you don’t want to wait till the last to try to push thru the door to get out.
I updated a little over an hour ago. About five minutes later, I got this email:
I don’t recall ever having an email like that before, so it’s possible it’s new.
However, this arrived after I’d already updated (so not much use as an early warning).
It also seems to refer to an update required for double XP in the Tour of Watopia. But I’ve already got that update, and have had it for a month or so (I think it’s the same one with the Cape Epic mission).
So all in all, I don’t think it’s intended to be a heads up. And if it is, it’s a bit wonky. =)
Just as a heads up, Zwift seems to release updates at the end of each month and usually on the Friday (so if there is a bug don’t expect it to be fixed until after the weekend) so I was actually expecting one around this time.
A new game update v.1.0.48306 went out this morning (California time) for Windows / MacOS / Android. We expect Apple to release the update this afternoon for iOS and Apple TV.
The email went out to people two weeks ago for people who started Stage 1 of Tour of Watopia on an old game version. It went out today if you hadn’t updated to today’s game update for your system before logging in to the game.
Sorry about that - if you updated you can ignore this email.
If Zwift was a free service, I wouldn’t raise the issue. However, I’m paying for it. And not just $1 or $2/month. Also, it isn’t an optional update - I’m forced to download the update before I can use the service (is this not the case for everybody?). As such, I do expect a minimum Service Level Agreement (implied or otherwise) for my money. The simple 10 minutes that it would take for a Project Manager to write an email and push to the list of subscribers in advance of an update is NOT an unreasonable ask.
And I would agree with you, 10 minutes is cutting it fine. However, Zwift is by far the slowest loading application I have ever seen on a PC or Mac. Two minutes should be ample time - Zwift needs to work on their load times. But I understand that is one of the prioritization trade-offs of a new technology/application (improved features/functions vs. improved load times). Notifying the user base of a pending update is simple and easy. There are no excuses for not doing this.
Got the email after updating right away as well. (The update installation flow on Windows seems a bit odd as after downloading I have to click Log in to install the update, maybe that was counted as a login with the old version?)
If nothing else, it could at least be like those pesky Windows updates my work pushes out where I am given the option to defer twice (generally for a few hours each time), but then I have to install them. It would seem that Zwift could allow the user to defer, even if only once, so that they could jump on a ride if they are running late and then do the install afterward.
I mean, everyone’s using the Internet around here too, but I’ve noticed no impact on my connections. This update downloaded in seconds for me.
We’ve talked about this on the forum before though, and I think most people recognise that it’s not great user experience. There are multiple ways it could be made better. e.g. downloading in the background, even a day or two before it’s due to go live. It wouldn’t have to be the whole patch, just the larger assets for example. Then on patch day it’d just be a small patch or a flag change via the log in server to turn things on.
Since people have complained about it before, it’s not like Zwift aren’t aware of it. Maybe a better update experience is part of the new UI update that’s due (although who knows when it’ll land now).
You need to remember most updates, like today’s take 30-60 seconds. If you have a strained computer system then, yes, it will impact your ride time. But really today’s took me 5 seconds to download and another 25 to update. total time about 30 seconds. No warning needed for most of us.
Bug… the watts are not showing in the pen for me. It was a time trial event. I just revved it up and took off but the previous update had repaired that item. Nothing looks new…just a new bike or two and rowing courses??? Didn’t see any of the promised UI changes.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Zwift announces that certain planned changes had to be pushed back due to the pandemic and the restructuring that is going on. I noticed nothing new.
