Important news concerning our digital services

[be1t0n]

As a household that owns 2 x Ambit3 watches the idea that there is to potentially be reduced functionality is a worry. Route planning is a big part of why we bought these models and is something Suunto still actively promotes whilst they remain selling them.

I have also recently ordered a Spartan Ultra. It would be interesting to know what the plan is relating to route planning etc within the Suunto app. Is it likely that they will be linked to the Sports Tracker site and will transfer over? Not a fan of the idea of route planning via a touchscreen.

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

@estevez What specific topic are you interested in?

[Zdeněk Hruška]

@be1t0n Hi I know I already wrote it somewhere in this forum before but you can plan the route in any other map service (https://myroutes.io/create) and then import it into your Spartan. You don’t need to do it in the app. I wouldn’t plan the route on a small display in the app as long as I have other choices:) I know it’s not an official Suunto solution but if you really need it (as do I) then there are ways how to do it.

[estevez]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos What has been discussing in this topic, i.e. decommission plan for Movescount platform, impacting some watches:

• no support for Ambit1/2
• significantly less functionalities for Ambit3
• no web platform for Suunto app
  etc.

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

@estevez We are at one week after the announcement so I dont have solid news for you.

I can reassure you that these subjects are now on the roadmap to provide an official Suunto reply that will come to you directly.

At the moment, if I could say it in plain words, Suunto is processing all the feedback here.

Apart from me doing reporting and quantifying data, there are also high level personnel looking here as well.

For the moment I dont have any further info but the moment I get I will be replying here.

[be1t0n]

@Zdeněk-Hruška How does this work with Suunto App though? I know you can import GPX files into movescount via the web interface but as there isn’t one for Suunto App, how is this likely to work?

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

@be1t0n you download the file from any other app, mobile or web, to your phone, then you open it with Suunto app and it’s there , editable and syncable to the watch

[be1t0n]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos Bit of a clunky way of doing it compared to the way things work in Movescount (plot route and tick a box to transfer) don’t you think?

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

@be1t0n it really depends on the user. For example I use GAIA app to get the route from the web (it has a web as well).

So plan on GAIA’s web
Open app
export route to SA

If I had to use MC (not for planning but for improrting a route) I would have:

• Plan on GAIA’s web
• Open or export GPX from them
• Open MC web
• Import on MC web
• Tick
• Open MC app (or sync with cable).

To be honest for people that don’t use MC for Planning I think it’s easier. For the people that only use MC for planning it’s more clunky as you said.

However, perhaps yesterdays example helps.

I went to a friend to go for a run in the Pyrenees. He had the route from Visorando (similar to wikiloc etc here in France). I asked him:

• Can you email me the route link ?

He did so.

I did:

• Open mail
• Go to link
• Download GPX
• Open with Suunto app.
• Synced.

I bet the above with only having my mobile with me, with MC would not have worked at all

[estevez]

@be1t0n I totally agree. When I was choosing sports watches, web / sw platform was for me very important. I choosed Suunto also because of Movescount platform. I do not want to use 3rd party sw. I paid for Movescount platform when I bought Suunto watches.

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

@estevez I agree with your words. I also replied to @be1t0n just for showing my workflow atm

[ColdBeer]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos Pal, this is a simply assertion. I agree mobile is useful for such kind of things, but it’s not so complicated on a desktop computer, and unlike on the phone, once you imported the GPX on movescount you could:

• study briefly the route (and check elevation changes)
• add POIs to the route, so you could know how to find emergency services, rescue zones and so on
• modify the route as you need

Repeating: I will totally agree (and I said it lot of times) with adding features to the mobile app, most we have, more juice we’ll squeeze from our watches. No discussion here. But it’s not mandatory to void desktop features for that.

[be1t0n]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos I agree with this. I just think it would be an odd choice to force people into using a 3rd party service for this rather than linking it to Sports Tracker or something else linked to Suunto App directly. I know that, personally, I would be keen to keep everything in one place where possible.

Being able to import directly in the app sounds like a nice addition to have for the scenario you mentioned, although I personally have never had need to do that.

[trukllimb]

I’m the happy owner of an Ambit2 which is perfectly functional. I’ve been using Movescount to download my records, but most importantly to change my watch settings and to preload satellites positions.

I don’t really care about transferring my moves history on another platform. What I do care about is just to keep the possibility to do what I did before. By the way, I also care about our planet and would be very disappointed by throwing away a nice piec of equipment when there is absolutely no reason to do so.

For sure, if Suunto don’t provide a decent solution for Ambit2 series, I will find another watch… from another company!

[Oktan]

@kimbotz said in Important news concerning our digital services:

groups and bring newer hikers

I bet those groups of hikers ask you regarding the movie “Wow, how did you do that?” and you showed your watch proudly…Its sad that Suunto will not get those credits anymore…

[Oktan]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos said in Important news concerning our digital services:

I bet the above with only having my mobile with me, with MC would not have worked at all

You can do it by opening your mobile browser and choosing from the 3 dots menu, “Desktop site”.
Then navigate to movescount.com (you will see the regular site, not the mobile version), import the GPX, mark to use in your watch and sync.

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

@Oktan yeah did that in the past. However to import and the layout breaks quite often. (Had to switch to landscape a couple of time to get this done correct).

[sartoric]

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos
Yep … because you can’t scroll route “window” while in protrait

[DmitryKo]

@Brad_Olwin said in Important news concerning our digital services:

So please show me where it says the old Suunto is gone.

I’m not sure why the etymology of ‘news’ is totally lost on you. Probably it’s because you are a loyal long-time customer and just cannot grasp the nature of change that’s coming.

OK, ‘I hate to be Captain Obvious, but…’

Suunto built its current success in sport watches on the free Movescount platform and its tight integration with T/M, Quest, and Ambit/Traverse series hardware. They have a loyal user base of hardcore athletes who love its advanced analysis features integrated with watch customization and workout planning, all in one single place on a big computer screen.

Unfortunately this model is deemed unsustainable by the Amer Sports management, as the costs of developing and supporting a large scale web platform probably require far better sales.

So here come the Suunto news (i.e. the ‘new Suunto’): Movescount is discontinued and its loyal (but small) community of advanced users is encouraged to stay with Suunto hardware but look elsewhere for advanced analysis through forthcoming ‘partner offers’. This is effectively the end of the current Suunto community (i.e. the ‘old Suunto’) which was built on the Movescount service.

Suunto’s digital service is being scaled down to only offer analysis services on the mobile app platform, which would be easier for them to implement and support. The future is the new Sports Tracker derivative Suunto App, dedicated to supporting specific hardware features of recent Suunto watches. This also offers better engagement with the Sports Tracker community as well as Suunto’s new prospective markets.

For those who need advanced tools on a web platform, Suunto offers a migration path from Movescount to the Suunto App / Sports Tracker, and then a simplified connection pipe to a partnering site of choice, with direct export of .FIT/.GPX files through the Sports Tracker cloud API. I’m sure many such sites will be happy to accommodate current Movescount users and offer one-click import of their training data.

This would however require all current Movescount users to migrate to the Suunto App / Sports Tracker and remain on this new Suunto platform for the lifetime of their current hardware, as there will be no other way to download their workout data and customize their watches.

As for the users of older watches with no support for the Suunto App, there will probably be upgrade incentives and/or trade-in offers to keep them within the Suunto ecosystem.

By the way, the decision to drop support for older watches might have been based on valid technical reasons. Not that the obstacles cannot be overcome, it’s just unlikely they still have enough resources and/or expertise. But it’s also a subconscious move that follows their chosen strategy of discontinuing the old Suunto model and moving the associated user community to the new platform.

These are the reasons why I keep saying that I do not expect this announcement to be reversed in any substantial part. They have a clear roadmap for the new support model. They knew this will do a lot of damage to their current community, the Movescount community, so this was probably not an easy decision. But nevertheless it was effected at least one year ago, and they cannot reverse it now even if they wanted to.

Feel free to expect miracles to happen in reaction to forum posts and vote polls, but the hard truth is that virtually nothing can be done about it at this point. The only thing you can do by now is vote with your money, however even ‘dollar voting’ against new Suunto products can only influence future product and service decisions, but it cannot really overturn the decision effected in the past and already implemented by now.

So please take your time to re-read the announcement with the above considerations in mind.

[gueze]

@trukllimb That’s exactly the point, all other features can be replaced, but accessing the Ambit2 and changing the settings is fundamental!
I agree with you and have to say: When that is the way, Suunto is dealing with their customers, I cannot trust Suunto any more.
I intended to buy a new Suunto soon, but under that circumstances I will not.