Powerups have been a part of Zwift since early days, but they’ve evolved over the years as Zwift fine-tunes their usage and expands the list of powerups.
While many riders are still trying to figure out how to use all the powerups properly (see our Misused Powerups series), we thought it might be helpful to explain all the ways a powerup can be activated. Because what good is a powerup if you can’t use it?
#1: Spacebar
Long a favorite keyboard shortcut for Zwifters, the spacebar is one big powerup trigger. Just tap it and go.
On a related note: tying powerups to the spacebar means you can do fun things like implementing a wireless, handlebar-mounted Bluetooth button so you can activate powerups without taking your hands off the hoods. Brilliant!
#2: Companion App Tap
If you’ve got a powerup, it will show up on the home screen of your phone’s Zwift Companion app. Just tap it whenever you’d like to use it.
Watch out that you don’t let a drop of sweat or errant finger trigger the powerup accidentally. That mistake could really hurt if you’re holding an anvil!
#3: Play Button on AppleTV Remote
Here’s a little-known powerup activation method: the play button on the much-hated AppleTV remote! That’s right. If you’re holding a powerup and hit “Play” it will be immediately triggered.
And you thought that remote was good for nothing!
#4: Mouse Click
On a Mac or PC, but don’t have a keyboard nearby? You can click the powerup icon on screen to activate it.
#5: Tapping Your Screen
Zwifting from a touchscreen device like a phone or tablet? Tapping the screen will activate the powerup, just like a mouse click.
#6: Wahoo KICKR Bike Button
Wahoo KICKR Bike riders have a super-sweet powerup shortcut built into their handlebars. That’s right: if you ride a Wahoo KICKR Bike, the top-right hood button activates your powerup!
In order for this to work, you have to have the bike paired via Bluetooth in the “Controllable” box of the pairing screen.
Questions or Comments?
Post below!
thanks I did not know about the space bar one. It’s weird lately the powerups have not been showing up on screen, once I had to tell someone to activate my aero in the sprint and tell them exactly when to activate it which is not one you included!
In about 80% of the times I race in Zwift, the companion app doesn’t synchronize with my iPad. How can this be solved ?
(PS: I would like to continue using this combination, with the companion app on my iPhone as the remote control).
They both have to be logged into the same WiFi network. That bit me early on.
Sometimes entering an event the event doesn’t carry the power up over to the event. You have close and reopen the companion
Powerups are no longer carried over into events… that was an old function that Zwift disabled quite a while ago.
Whoa the play button on Apple TV? If I would have know that….After the new update where you need two swipes + 1 push it has cost me dearly in sprint finishes. Thanks for the awesome tip!
Anyone else having the issue of the bonus XP powerup, not showing up on the companion app to activate?
The bonus XP powerup is automatically “activated” as soon as you receive it. You get the bonus XP right away, and the powerup disappears.
Thanks Eric, I didn’t experience the issue in the latest crit race I did, however the previous one would not automatically activate the + powerup and I would have to manually clear it on my android device powering Zwift. The companion app would show that I had no powerup. Hopefully just a small glitch at the time.
Guess I am the odd one using voice recognition to activate the Power Up via a 3rd party application that has been tuned close to perfection (based on my voice and accent).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKC_8AhWFc0
Also on the Wahoo Kickr Bike the button on the handlebars will activate a power-up
Ah, true! Added it to the post above.
I always use voice activation 😆
If you do not know, your power-up can be activated by yelling “To infinity and beyond!” on all devices/apps 😉
Did not know about the mouse click. Now I know why my power ups disappear sometimes. Wiping sweat off the track pad almost definitely triggers a click some times.