Zwift is now available on iOS

markhewitt1978

Zwift by Zwift, Inc
https://appsto.re/gb/azxOdb.i

jgsi

Cannot see it in App Store thoough

markhewitt1978

JGSI wrote:

Cannot see it in App Store thoough

Yes it's not appearing if you search perhaps because it's very new.

Either click the link above or choose the Zwift Mobile Link app then go to the Related tab

myideal

All I can say is AMAZING!

It simply works and with the cheaper smart trainer the tacx flow over Bluetooth. No issues and battery life is good on the iPad as well. Highly recommend to anyone who is debating if to make the move and get a trainer and zwift.

That's an additional sub from me that zwift has now earned.

neil h

That's good to hear, I've been waiting on this for a while.

nicklong

Tried it for a couple of hours today, really stable and worked well with my Kickr over BT.

myideal

I think we should get a group bike ride on the go with zwift.

markhewitt1978

Zwift are also allowing people to use running with Zwift on iOS. It's a hidden feature for now.

bobbydazzla

I rode past a Zwift runner today, I know they've been testing it but it's the first time I've actually seen one.

neil h

Well that's another new subscriber. Just gave it a quick spin and I'm hooked, the time on he trainer just flew by.

markhewitt1978

One important thing to note with subscribing to Zwift. Do NOT subscribe through the iOS app itself. That costs £9.49 per month. Whereas if you go direct to the zwift.com website it's £8 per month and you get all the same access.

fat daddy

bobbydazzla wrote:

I rode past a Zwift runner today, I know they've been testing it but it's the first time I've actually seen one.

I did a U-turn the first time I saw that .... had to go back and take a second look.

I cant wait till it goes mainstream and you get the z-power tradmills and people sprinting past you at 50mph likethey are the bionic man

markhewitt1978

fat daddy wrote:

bobbydazzla wrote:

I rode past a Zwift runner today, I know they've been testing it but it's the first time I've actually seen one.

I did a U-turn the first time I saw that .... had to go back and take a second look.

I cant wait till it goes mainstream and you get the z-power tradmills and people sprinting past you at 50mph likethey are the bionic man

If you have the iOS app and the appropriate sensors you can use running right now.

fat daddy

really .... I haven't tried the app seeing that the laptop works fine .... how do you choose to run ? ... or is it a case of withteh correct sensors it figures it out and puts you in the game as a runner ?

I kind of want to take up running on it

markhewitt1978

fat daddy wrote:

really .... I haven't tried the app seeing that the laptop works fine .... how do you choose to run ? ... or is it a case of withteh correct sensors it figures it out and puts you in the game as a runner ?

I kind of want to take up running on it

It's a pre-release hidden feature. On the iOS app if you tap the bottom left corner multiple times on the pairing screen it changes to running.

fat daddy

oooooh, that is so exciting (well for me it is)

I want them to release a boat so I use the Concept2 on it .... indoor rowing has become so tedious (more so) since zwift entered the scene

markhewitt1978

fat daddy wrote:

oooooh, that is so exciting (well for me it is)

I want them to release a boat so I use the Concept2 on it .... indoor rowing has become so tedious (more so) since zwift entered the scene

I remember seeing a video where someone had linked up a rowing machine to Zwift, obviously they appeared as a bike!

bobbydazzla

I wonder how they’ll manage the influx of riders and runners as the App starts to open up a much bigger user base.

There’s times when it feels too busy currently, especially if a number of event rides are on the road at the same time.

I suppose they’ll probably reach a critical mass then allow people to choose between Island / London / Richmond at log in. I know there’s a hack to do this now, but you lose out on the organised events.

And be good if racing took place on “closed” roads, it's confusing trying to race with loads of non-competing riders getting in the way.

There’s some possibilities for future development that seem fairly straightforward, but pretty exciting.

markhewitt1978

bobbydazzla wrote:

I wonder how they’ll manage the influx of riders and runners as the App starts to open up a much bigger user base.

There’s times when it feels too busy currently, especially if a number of event rides are on the road at the same time.

Well there's a new Watopia extension coming in a couple of weeks or so. Personally I think it only feels too busy if you stick to the 'flat course' as that is what nearly all the events seem to use. I guess they just need to add more 'flat' milage.

I suppose they’ll probably reach a critical mass then allow people to choose between Island / London / Richmond at log in. I know there’s a hack to do this now, but you lose out on the organised events.

There were some hints of that recently because they had to change the way the worlds load for the iOS app and there was mention of having two worlds available at once.

fat daddy

I like it busy ... true, if your group ride or race comes up on another group its complete carnage, and I have been dropped before by loosing my group and tagging on to another one. But I cant remember the last time I saw a blue bot riding .... now its all real people and guaranteed shenanigans/racing/meeting people every ride

unless you go up the mountain, then its 50/50 to if you end up riding with someone, I do find though the more people there are the better I ride, there is always someone far enough infront or behind you to make it worth pushing that bit harder to catch or escape

myideal

It's interesting as they could get into the gym market as well. You can see it coming as some gym will offer it as a usp.

I guess it's great they are growing, however let's hope they keep the rate of investment and development up. They probably need to create something like a velodrome as at the moment it's only Bkool that has that, but that iOS app only works with bkool trainers - again massive market to exploit or for bkool to address and get Bluetooth support for non bkool trainers.

bobbydazzla

I agree that riding on your own is better when it's busy, tagging along with people can keep it interesting and allows you to test yourself.

It's mainly the group rides / races that are frustrating when there's lots of others around who aren't part of the event but get in the way.

Hopefully a closed course race / group ride setting will be near the top of Zwift's to-do list.

myideal

I Guess it's just like real life you can meet anyone when out on the road. It's interesting how some people in group rides seem to attack when they meet a bunch of people , naturally creating a drop off and split.

Witnessed this yesterday morning as I was with 2 other people (who were just out on rides but we seemed to have similar pace) and then just as we started to catch the tail of one group ride, another merged on to it and within seconds along came some attack and it fractured into a total mess. That wasn't the fault of Zwift, that was some in that group ride wanting to create a break and probably thinking it's funny to attack at that point.

markhewitt1978

They are certainly going to keep the investment up as they've just raised $27 million in venture capital to grow the product and employ more staff.

I think the best analogy for Zwift is doing a sportive that you know everyone is out for the same ride and so don't mind getting in groups etc

myideal

I notice the latest GCN video goes behind the scenes at Zwift and shows the iOS version of Zwift. It also shows a Volcano that looks epic for a ride (not sure when this is coming) and also Zwift running ...Looks like they are going to branch out into a new market.

I wonder how many extra subs the ios has got them ..You get the feeling it's taken the package to the more casual market , especially with the Tacx sub £200 smart trainers that now exist as well.

jgsi

markhewitt1978 wrote:

They are certainly going to keep the investment up as they've just raised $27 million in venture capital to grow the product and employ more staff.

I think the best analogy for Zwift is doing a sportive that you know everyone is out for the same ride and so don't mind getting in groups etc

The racing is quite realistic in the sense that I have done enough races in my life that the adrenaline rush is very similar... excellent training to practise a NON existent sprint ability.
Other companies will catch on the bandwagon I dare say.

markhewitt1978

myideal wrote:

I notice the latest GCN video goes behind the scenes at Zwift and shows the iOS version of Zwift. It also shows a Volcano that looks epic for a ride (not sure when this is coming) and also Zwift running ...Looks like they are going to branch out into a new market.

It's coming before the end of the month. Last year we had an extension released on 30th December, so I'd expect around then.

I wonder how many extra subs the ios has got them ..You get the feeling it's taken the package to the more casual market ,
especially with the Tacx sub £200 smart trainers that now exist as well.

It's hard to say because it's also the onset of winter around the world but the number online has seemed to jump from being max around 800-1000 to more like 1500-1800.

I gave iPhone a try at the weekend for the first time and it does work very well, if this had been out a year ago I wouldn't have bothered buying a new PC. Although I'd still want to connect it to a TV as even the 7+ is a too small a screen.

bobbydazzla

I saw the volcano preview on the GCN vid, be great to have some new roads but personally I prefer the Zwift scenery that reflects "normal" environments, rather than riding through the middle of lava lake inside a volcano.

The reason I like the mountain on Zwift is because it looks like I'm riding up a real mountain. Whereas riding on wooden boards inside a London Underground station just looks weird.

fat daddy

I just want some more rolling terrain like the esses on Watopia .... the tunnel bores the bezeesus out of me at times, never get bored of sticking it in a big gear and hammering the esses and just getting out the saddle for 3 seconds to blast the crests of the mini hills

myideal

That's a fair increase what you have observed. I wonder how big it can grow before it becomes strained on the infrastructure they have?

The problem with growing is people will expect more. I suspect the demand for new roads and venues will increase.

The iPad and the cheaper smart trainers could really set about something. However it's definitely a seasonal business and maybe keeping people on it in the summer is the next challenge.

markhewitt1978

myideal wrote:

That's a fair increase what you have observed. I wonder how big it can grow before it becomes strained on the infrastructure they have?

The problem with growing is people will expect more. I suspect the demand for new roads and venues will increase.

The iPad and the cheaper smart trainers could really set about something. However it's definitely a seasonal business and maybe keeping people on it in the summer is the next challenge.

There's been a few hour long downtimes overnight recently where they've been doing planned maintenance which I assume is all about adding extra capacity. When they first launched they were talking about having participation in the tens of thousands, so I think they've built the infrastructure with scalability in mind.

Eric Min has said that Watopia is currently 10% of the maximum size it could be, so I think there's plenty of scope for expansion there plus they are taking on new staff to work on new 'worlds' so I think they're on the right track, even though I must say just the lack of road milage available has always been Zwift's weakness IMO.

As for the summer it's certainly true less people on then. But Zwift themselves have commented that it was a surprise over this last summer that it didn't go completely quiet and that for a lot of people Zwift isn't just a replacement for riding outside but a destination in it's own right; a lot of people like doing group rides and races on Zwift for their own sake, so it can sit alongside riding outside.