Request: Enhanced Live Tracking
Answered
I know this has been raised before, but figured I'd ask it again.
Is there any plan to enhance the livetracking? I would love to see functionality a'la garmin or strave where an automatic email or text can be sent to a contact on start of a ride, and that the beacon includes a track for that activity.
That was definitely a feature that I relied on. Now when I go for a ride, I have to find my link, remember to send it to my key contacts, and hope that they understand that it just shows my point in time. It's not a huge thing to do, but it's one more thing to keep in mind to check off before going for a ride, and seems like it should be an easy win for HH to implement.
-
+1 this should be a priority. TBH i have no idea how important Suunto integration is to the K2 ecosystem and user base, but personally reliable and external user friendly live tracking is far more important to me, as I don't own any Suunto devices and that "big" update is irrelevant to me.
-
Right. There are two main components here:
- Automatically sending a notification to contacts that a ride has started. On Garmin and Wahoo this is totally seamless. You start a ride, a link goes out without any further intervention.
- Route Progress - this is far more helpful than just a dot on a map. If you're 5 miles out on a 20 mile ride after an hour, something's probably wrong. Without displaying map progress, there's no way for a contact to know that you've stopped five miles out because of a problem, or if you're five miles from home on the way back and all's well.
Combining these two brings a lot of peace of mind on big rides, especially.
-
I just placed the order for the device and now I read that a feature as simple as automatically sharing the location when starting a ride is not implemented, after months and months of user complaints.
I think this is a fundamental measure as has already been said and should be prioritized over any other functionality.
I will try the device, but it certainly doesn't look good and I will more than likely end up returning it within the return period.
-
Can I ask the Karoo team why this is back-burnered? I know this is only a handful of comments, but certain things like "always-on climber" are nice, but my thinking would be for you to focus on at least feature-parity with competitors rather than different/new things, especially when it's considered as a safety concern.
It's a little disappointing to see the team acknowledge that they are aware of it, but don't consider it worth the effort.
-
@johnny my reference was to latest update being about Suunto, and how it doesn’t seem that relevant to many K2 users, at least those who are vocal on here and Reddit.
However back to the actual point of this thread, updated and user friendly Live tracking is frequently requested feature and it keeps getting putting on the back burner.
-
I reached out via E-Mail to HH Support and the reply is kind of strange. It goes like this: "yeah, we know that there is feedback about the live tracking. No, it is not currently under development and there's no timeline for this if and when it will be implemented."
Battery life and "small" but important features like this is the major letdown of the Karoo 2. On the other hand I activated Suunto heatmap and it is completely useless (in my region) and a feature which leave me puzzled.
When asked from fellow bikers if I would recomment the Karoo 2 at the moment: Nope! Wahoo seems to be the better choice at the moment... -
+1
Desde que compre el Hammerhead en octubre del 2021, es lo que más hecho en falta.
Lo he pedido en distintas ocasiones y como yo, un montón de usuarios. Pero por lo que veo, los tecnicos de Hamerhead no de lan importancia y se centran en modificas temas estéticos y no lo que pedimos los usuarios.
Yo estoy cansado de que no hagan caso a los usuarios y he puesto a la venta mi Hammerhead para volver al Garmin.
Es la ultima vez que opino sobre este tema.
-
@ali Thank you for the response. I would really echo what others have said. Now it's pretty much useless as a feature. I would say go all in or remove it. Especially with the fact that I already have a data SIM in it, it is already a fully connected device.I look at this as a safety feature almost on par with the varia radar. If I'm out on a long ride and something happens to me, this is what people rely on to locate me.
Garmin was much worse, but, absent this one feature, I may have to get back into their ecosystem.
-
Yeah. At this point I'm pretty happy with the Karoo 2 overall, but if I do end up returning it in the 45 day period, the way the live tracking works will be a significant factor.
The extra bit of security both for the cyclist and their family in knowing exactly where you are in a ride and how far along a route is a really big deal.
-
@Robert Dredge, this is something completely different. Google Maps location sharing is showing the real time position for shared contacts (as long as the device has internet connection and gps) but not the taken route or/and the route following.
The "live tracking" or "beacon" function on Garmin devices or Strava apps (also the ANGi function in the Specialized Ride app etc.) is sending status updates to the desired security contacts (XYZ started a ride, follow his ride, emergency updates etc.) as soon as I'm starting the activity.
The Karoo 2 feature is at the moment just a basic "Google Maps" type and showing the position of the last GPS point transfered to the server. There's no additional content or security beacon funcationality.
-
My personal frustration is that HH doesn't seem to really react to feedback here. I've not seen threads requesting Sunnto integration, but we got it. On this, we get a one-time reply of "we don't think it's important" and that's it. Disappointing that the company that lauded itself as being agile and responsive to needs of the community seem to be doing the opposite when push comes to shove.
That said, I know people always say "well if you don't like it, go elsewhere" which is, of course true. But I just wish that I didn't have to choose because of things like this which are addressable.
-
Interestingly (and this will be an issue for me if it's true) this thread seems to keep getting buried. I'd love to chalk it up to newer posts bumping it down (which is how the forum should work) but it seems to be getting moved well below posts with activity > 1 or 2 weeks ago.
Yep, my forum settings show newest activity first.
Just some added response would be nice. If HH is selectively moderating the forum that's an issue.
-
I don't want us to get too wrapped up in the value (or not) of the latest update--DCRainmaker reviewed the Suntoo thingy and thinks it's great.
But the point is that HH is rolling out interesting new features while ignoring a major request of its user base. That may not hurt them in the market, but it's sure not winning a lot of friends.
-
Is it ignoring or prioritising it's tasks. I wont use the Suunto heatmaps but can see why HH would see such a match up as valuable step forward.
Whilst I agree some would like the tracking improved and can provide brilliant reasons why and see it as a priority, it is by no means all and there are probably an equally sized or larger group who haven't used it and have no intention of using it and probably have their own list of priorities they would deem more important than this. -
I'm sure it wouldn't solve every scenario but if Hammerhead doesn't want to build this into the software maybe they could develop an app for IFTTT. If there was an trigger for "starting a ride" you could create an automation that when triggered it would send a message to someone with the live track link. Just a thought.
-
This (livetrack - no start notifications and doesnt work through phone bluetooth connection like garamin) in my view is the single biggest reason why I'm considering switching back to the garmin ecosystem. Safety is an absolutely non negotiable feature, and I'm aghast that the hammerhead team thinks this isnt worth prioritizing. This feature can make the difference between life and death in an extreme case - do they not appreciate how massive the potential impact is?!
-
Since they've marked it as answered and likely new posts/votes are going to be ignored , there needs to be some way newer upvotes bubble this thread to the top (there have been several upvotes since it was "answered", and hopefully the # of upvotes is a factor in prioritization). If the thread isnt bubbling up based on recent activity , the only way to get this reviewed periodically for prioritization by the hammerhead team would be for us to open new threads (with a link and highighting upvotes to this thread) asking them to reconsider prioritization for their upcoming updates.
-
Hi, I bought a Karoo one week ago and I saw that that doesn't have any functionality to send a START/STOP ride notification to a contact. For that i have developed this sideapp: https://github.com/oscarpenelo/hh-sms-notifications/releases
-
Hi. I have just received my HHK2 and I'm exploring possibilities. I'm wondering why there is no LT implementation using BT as there is clearly working protocol for pushing notifications from phone using companion app. Is there anything easier for HH developers to implement coordinates push to companion app and further to map view service? Why is this not still implemented? Is marketing team saving this "mega feature" for K3? What a shame.
-
Not to discount the use case for live tracking on any bike computer or wearable, but my personal experience using the Android/Google ecosystem is that my wife (a non-cyclist) finds it much easier to just open Google Maps, which she is already accustomed to using for driving navigation, and see where I'm at. She can then easily navigate to me if necessary. I realize this requires me having my phone on me and I'm not sure how it works with Apple or Waze or other apps, but from my wife's perspective, this is a lot easier for her.
-
The Sunnto heatmap feature seems to be a regional specific importance. In my region there's not that much action on Suunto devices and cycling.
So yes, it may be a relevant feature and I don't have anything against diversity in the Karoo ecosystem but it is very strange that Hammerhead thinks that a working live tracking is not really an important feature and it went quiet here in this thread. A little disappointing.
-
I'm going to guess since they marked this as answered, they don't look back any more. Over and done with in their minds. But it's OK. We will probably get some new random feature coming up that is completely random and unnecessary and they will be super proud of it and push out a nice e-mail advertising it to everyone.
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
42 comments