Yesterday, Zwift released a Companion app update (version 3.51.0) with the most concise release notes ever:
- General bug fixes and stability improvements
That’s it. That’s all it said.
But here’s the odd thing: unlike most recent Companion app updates (which really have just included general bug fixes and stability improvements), yesterday’s included some really useful stuff!
Download Zwift Companion: iOS / Android
The new Companion app now includes a guest map calendar and route details. In the new “Explore” section on the homescreen you can see the three featured maps for the day. Tapping any map brings up a list of routes, and tapping a route brings up details including length, elevation, and timed segments which you can tap to see your historic performance on those segments.
Tapping the orange “Explore” bar lets you access a complete list of Zwift routes, which you can search by title, filter, or sort in various ways. There’s even a little calendar icon at the top-right which you can tap in order to see the guest map calendar!
(The routes lists and historic performance charts aren’t new features, but Zwift has redesigned them and put them front and center with more powerful searching/filtering, effectively turning their original “Leaderboards” feature into a World/Route browser.)
Here’s a quick walkthrough:
Giving Zwifters easy access to the map schedule and route details may make this the most significant Companion app update in years, so we’re not sure why Zwift didn’t announce it.
Whatever their reasons, we wanted to share it here, because we’re sure lots of Zwifters will find the new features useful!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the updated Companion app’s “Explore” section? Share your thoughts below!
thats sexier than you in a wig
I’m not sure what this means, but thank you.
it means I love it when things get shaken up. you and zwift have kept me very entertained with updates. thank you for all you do my brother
It’s a nice update for the reasons you mentioned. I wish they would add the route itself to the leaderboard, to see the number of times (and PRs) for the routes themselves. Thanks as always for the great content on this site.
Next step would be to be able to tap the event map to go to the route description and to search events on a route from the route description page.
Great improvement. How come it includes Crit City, but not Bologna? 🤷🏼♂️ PS. I’m still waiting for Zwift’s event web pages to show which route the event does… Could you give them a hint? Any time someone sends me a link to an event, I need to sign up and find it in the Companion app to figure out which route and how many laps it has. But even there I can’t really find the map and elevation profile for the full event.
Try zwifthacks event page, much better.
Yes, I often look up the race in zwiftpower or zwifthacks to find profile, signup lists, etc. But I don’t do that on my cell phone, since it requires a lot of “fiddling” looking up the event ID, copying that to a zwifthacks or zwiftpower event URL, etc. It should be super easy for zwift to just put the route/lap/elevation info on their event page. To be even more helpful, they could even place a link there to the the respective zwiftpower and zwifthacks URLs, and the zwiftinsider page for the relevant route, so we can get there easily from… Read more »
Indeed that has always been bugging me when searching for events to sign up. It is a bit absurd that one needs to rely on third party apps to see the full information. This is also a big barrier for beginners.
Looks promising! I usually google zwift insider if I need this kind of info while riding. Companion crashed every time I tried to use a browser and then switch back to companion today. All for the improvement though! =)
Just updated . Love the new look but When I open the Explore and choose a route , the app crashes . I’m using iPhone with IOS 17.0
I’m wondering if it’s an iOS 17 thing… I’m on 16 and it works fine, but I’ve heard from others who have it crashing in 17. I’m sure Zwift will get it sorted.
Crashes on 17.02 as well. Glad I am not alone on this issue
According to the Zwift forums “A fix has been identified and a patch for iOS in pending Apple review. We’ll try to get it out as soon as we can.” (September 28th)
This is a great update. I would love to have the garage and badges in the companion app in the future.
It would be nice to have an elevation profile included, but this update is excellent and very helpful.
Let’s hope it becomes stable while actually riding …. Fingers Crossed
I find the Explore section smack in the middle of the display to be more of an interference than helpful for day to day use. I’d prefer if they moved it to the bottom with Goals, or give users the option to turn sections on or off in the Settings.
What else from the homescreen should take its place, though? I don’t find anything useful on the homescreen, except for the events…
Fair point Eric. I never minded the Activities section, although having only the current first three is of limited use. I personally find the current execution too cluttered. Maybe I just need to get used to it.
It’s not a workout calendar, nor a custom workout builder, nor even a workout/plan browser, but I guess it’s not nothing.
I think this update has removed itself from Apple Watch. Went to do the TTT and no app on the watch 😬
Yes they announced that the Apple Watch app was being dropped in December 2021, and with this release it has disappeared. It’s unclear if this was an intentional change or not. Apple Watch users can install a 3rd party app such as Watch Link, HeartCast, or Echo to broadcast HR via Bluetooth.
Fantastic I like it 👌
Too bad the Climb Portal isnt there also. It gets harder and harder to keep track which one we did and did not.
So include it also or give us badges for completed climbs. Or both, that would be superb.
I also now get 32 xp per mile instead of 30!
Nice update , It Would also be nice if we could get off the result screen after a group ride or race via the companion app.
Fingers crossed searching and filtering workouts is in the near future….
Great update. ZwiftPower should be next on the list of Zwift sites that need a major uplift.
If they aren’t going to add average power and speed to the game on routes, something actually of interest to many people, maybe they could add it to the companion app.
I love this! I hope the next phase includes the climb portal and which climb is active, including that climb’s details. Putting more info in ZCA is awesome
Already bumped to 3.51.1
“Fixed a crash on iIO/iPadOS 17 when loading route details from Route Exploration”
Anyone knows when there will be the video capture in compainion?
And still no route elevation profile. Amazing.
With the most recent update it seems that many workouts such as the 10-12week FTP Plan which I was doing are missing??
They’re probably wandering around in different folders. You could sign up for the actual Training Plan and access them that way…?