Runner Watch - Delete activity

baldguyrunning

I would like to have an option to delete an activity from my watch. When I sync with my computer, I also sync with Strava. Sometimes I don't want an activity on MySports or Strava. I'm 71 and some runs just aren't worth broadcasting, and sometimes it's just a test or something.

tfarabaugh

baldguyrunning wrote:

I would like to have an option to delete an activity from my watch. When I sync with my computer, I also sync with Strava. Sometimes I don't want an activity on MySports or Strava. I'm 71 and some runs just aren't worth broadcasting, and sometimes it's just a test or something.

Unfortunately it is not possible and is not likely to be added 4 years into production. This has been requested since the beginning with no change so it is not likely to change now. You can always go into MySports and pause an upload before syncing the watch or simply delete it from Strava or MySports after uploading. since the workarounds are so easy I don't think they have much incentive to change it. They do monitor the forums and note these sort of requests, but TomTom will not comment on planned or future updates publicly (here or elsewhere) so we will just have to wait and see.

I hope this helped answer your question. If so, please mark it as a solution so others can look for it if they have the same question.

Aerdna

I also would have liked to be able to delete activities straight from the watch without being forced to upload my data to an online account.

I regret I did not do my research properly before buying my watch, as this would have put me off TomTom altogether. I spend enough time in front of the computer as it is, I hate online accounts because I always forget usernames & passwords, and one of the reasons I go for a jog or a cycle is to get away from computers.

And although I am used to having to share all kind of data when using freebies, I think it is a bit much being forced to upload data about all the activities I carried out with a product I paid for.

One question for tfarabough: When you say that 'you can always go into MySports and pause an upload before syncing the watch', does this mean I could prevent the data from being uploaded altogether, or would I still have to upload them at some later point? And how do I do this, log on to MySports before connecting my watch and then do what? Thanks in advance.

tfarabaugh

That will only work for upload to 3rd party sites, not MySports directly. You need to sync the watch to get GPS file updates and critical system updates and it syncs activities at that time. I am not sure I understand the issue. The watch holds hundreds of hours of activities, so you don't have to sync very often (although to have the latest GPS file you need to do it every 3 days) and you never have to look at the data on MySports, just act like it is not there. No one does anything with it from a marketing or sales perspective. One of the primary benefits of having a sports watch is the ability to track your progress online and see if you are making improvements over time and there are no watches that do not include a free upload service (contrary to your notion of having to upload, you are actually getting a free upload and website with the device, you paid for the device, the website is a freebie). if you don't want the activity on Strava you can pause the Strava upload under Apps & Exporting but you need to do it before you sync the watch. It is honestly easier to either not upload automatically and manually import into Strava for those you want or to upload them and just delete the ones you don't want. Your activities are automatically set to private on Strava, so much like MySports, if you aren't going to look at it, just ignore it (but then why upload to Strava at all?).

I hope this helped answer your question. If so, please mark it as a solution so others can look for it if they have the same question.

Aerdna

Thanks for getting back to me and clarifying this.

I suppose it is my age showing and what I want from a GPS watch is not what the majority want. I am really not into this trend of recording everything you do on some website and don't like the idea of having to upload my location and movements. I hope you are right about this info not being used for marketing purposes and won't be receiving any offers of weight loss and fitness products.

My last GPS was a Garmin which let me check my km splits from the watch and upload data to my computer off line - next time I have some money I will check whether this type of device still exists.

I would mark this answered, but don't know how to (maybe because I am not the original poster?), I think I ended up 'liking' your post instead.

tfarabaugh

Everyone's needs are different and I side more with you. I don't need to post to Facebook every time I exercise, but I do like having a depository of all my workouts that I can reference in the future. Plus it saves them off my computer so if my computer fails I do not lose all my history. I have been using TT devices for over 4 years and have never received a promotional email from them. They do not track your location and movements (your cell phone is actually the one doing that, for much more nefarious purposes), they are just recording your track and making a map for your reference, nothing more. All Garmin devices now go to Garmin Connect, their online data depository.

You are correct, as the original poster you cannot mark it (as it was not answering the question that started the thread).

Julian

Hi all,

Aerdna wrote:

I am really not into this trend of recording everything you do on some website and don't like the idea of having to upload my location and movements. I hope you are right about this info not being used for marketing purposes and won't be receiving any offers of weight loss and fitness products.

I just read this, and wanted you to know that we will not use your data for marketing or other purposes. If you have deselected the newsletter option, we will never send any marketing- or promotional messages to you. If you want to know what exactly you are uploading, and what we are doing with this data (and even more important, what not), feel free to check out the following website: https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/privacy/sports/

Please let us know if you have more questions and feedback.

Regards,

Julian

andy-g

This seems like a noisy thread, but one of the concerns was the public upload to Strava - which should be a very easy development fix.

The Strava API allows you to specify that the uploaded activity should be private:
https://strava.github.io/api/v3/uploads/#post-file

As you can see you are able to simply specify "private": 1, and that will upload the activity as private, allowing us to then review it and mark it as public if we choose too.

I too would love to be able to discard an activity on my watch if I don't want to save it, or delete an existing activity directly from my watch, but I realise that would all require more development on the watch firmware itself. The private strava upload option would largely solve my requirements and should be very simple for your developers to implement.

If you want to maintain the current functionality by default (public activity on strava after upload), then you could simply add a checkbox next to the strava integration for users to select whether they want to rather upload their activity as private.

I'm a developer & would be happy to assist in any way I can.

tfarabaugh

Activities all upload to Strava as Private by default (at least they do for me). I have to set them to public manually (which is fine, I prefer it that way as I don't want every activity public).