An alternative to the Wahoo app for your ELEMNT

Is there an alternative to the Wahoo app?

Wahoo makes two phone apps: the Wahoo app for the ACE, BOLT 3 and ROAM 3, and the ELEMNT app (ELEMNT Companion in the stores) for the BOLT 1 and 2 and ROAM 1 and 2. Most other apps that work with an ELEMNT reach it through your Wahoo account: Komoot, Ride with GPS or Strava put a route in the account, and the unit picks it up from there.

BikeOtter works differently. It speaks the unit's own Bluetooth protocol, so a route goes from your phone to the ELEMNT with no upload and no Wahoo account in the path, and a finished ride comes back the same way. It runs on Android and iOS, and it is built by one developer in Germany. It is not made by Wahoo and not endorsed by them.

What do you still need the Wahoo app for?

Keep the Wahoo app (or the ELEMNT app on an older unit) installed. These stay there:

• Setting up a new unit the first time
• Firmware updates
• Data pages and workout profiles
• Pairing sensors to the ELEMNT
• Komoot route sync and SYSTM training plans

A Bluetooth unit like the ELEMNT talks to one phone app at a time. When you want the Wahoo app back, tap Disconnect everything in BikeOtter (on the Devices screen or the lock-screen notification). It lets go of the unit and stops reconnecting until you open it again.

What does BikeOtter add to an ELEMNT?

Routes

• A route planner in the app and in the browser: tap points on the map, see distance, climbing and surface, save. Import GPX and FIT files, your Ride with GPS library, or turn a past ride back into a route.
• Send routes with stops over Bluetooth. Water, food, café and viewpoint markers arrive with the route and show on the unit's map, on all three generations. No cloud step, so it works without signal.
• Stops along the whole route, with opening hours at the time you'll get there, added as a via-point or a detour that rejoins.
• Turn cues your way: send them all, thin them out, or strip them.

Rides

• Download rides off the unit over Bluetooth, one at a time or all at once, without the cloud.
• Strava upload on its own if you switch it on, oldest ride first, picking up again after a dead spot or a restart.

On the road

• Weather along the route at the time you'll be there, with rain radar, and warnings sent to the ELEMNT ahead of rain, headwind or a storm.
• Rules and alerts on the unit: drink and eat reminders, heart-rate warnings, a sunscreen reminder based on UV. On a fast descent they wait until the road levels out.
• Offline maps of a route and the stops along it, on the phone, for when there is no signal.
• Bike radar in your headphones from a Garmin Varia or Bryton Gardia.

With friends

• Live tracking: a link friends open without an app, with your planned route and an arrival time that knows the climbs. With Plus, followers can send a message to your ELEMNT's screen.
• Group rides on one map. Riders on a Wahoo and riders on a Garmin Edge can ride in the same group, and on a first or second generation BOLT or ROAM your group-mates show on the unit's own map.

The feature book has every feature with screenshots.

How does it compare with the Wahoo app?

What you want to do	BikeOtter	Wahoo app
Set up a new unit	No	Yes
Firmware updates	No	Yes
Data pages, profiles, sensor pairing	No	Yes
Komoot route sync, SYSTM plans	No	Yes
Phone notifications on the unitBikeOtter lets you pick the apps (Android)	Yes	Yes
Import GPX and FIT routes	Yes	Yes
Send a route without the cloudWahoo: a route already in the app, third gen only	Yes	In part
Your own stops on the unit's mapwater, food, cafés, on every generation	Yes	No
Plan a route in the app	Yes	No
Control the turn cuessend all, thin or strip	Yes	No
Get a ride's .fit fileBikeOtter: straight off the unit over Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
Automatic Strava upload	Yes	Yes
Your own messages on the ELEMNT screenweather ahead, heart-rate zones, UV	Yes	No
Weather warnings and rain radar along the route	Yes	No
Live tracking linkBikeOtter adds arrival time and messages to the unit	Yes	Yes
Group rides on one mapWahoo and Garmin riders together	Yes	No
Offline maps on the phone	Yes	No

Compared against the Wahoo app and ELEMNT firmware as they ship today. Wahoo has announced waypoint support for some third-generation units; whether it works depends on the unit, the firmware and where the route came from. The full list on the ELEMNT page has more rows.

Which ELEMNT models work?

The BOLT, ROAM and ACE, across the three generations. The ELEMNT protocol isn't published, so the model table on the ELEMNT page keeps two things apart: what has run on real hardware, and what is expected to work but hasn't been tried on that exact unit. Riders who run the app's self-test on their own unit are how the table grows.

What does it cost?

Everything that gets a route onto the unit and a ride back off it is free: pairing, the route planner, sending routes, downloading rides, Strava upload, live tracking and joining a group ride. BikeOtter Plus adds the tools that build things to send, like the stop finder, the weather layer, your own rules, offline maps and hosting a group ride. It costs €19.99 a year (with a 14-day free trial), €2.49 a month, or €49.99 once for life. Each Plus feature has a few free goes first, so you can try it on your own route. Details on the pricing page.

Do I need an account?

Not for most things. Pairing, planning, sending a route, downloading rides and the alerts work without any account, BikeOtter or Wahoo. Your routes and rides are kept on your phone. Live tracking and group rides ask you to sign in once with an email link, because the link your friends open has to live somewhere. Strava upload uses your Strava login.

What other options do riders use?

• A route service linked to the Wahoo app. Komoot, Ride with GPS and Strava routes sync to the unit through your Wahoo account. For a big library and Wi-Fi at home, that is the least work. The routes not syncing guide covers what to check when they don't arrive.
• The ELEMNT app on a first or second generation unit, which does the same job as the Wahoo app for those models.
• A USB cable. Every generation shows up as a media device, so you can copy a GPX file into its routes folder from a computer. On a third-generation unit, turn USB access on in the Wahoo app first.
• The Wahoo app's own export. It can export a ride's .fit file, see downloading a FIT file.

None of these rule each other out. Plenty of riders keep Komoot sync for their library and use BikeOtter for the route a friend sends at the start line, or the stops they want on a long day. The guides give the official way first for each job.

How do I try it?

Install BikeOtter, open the Devices screen and scan. If the Wahoo app is connected to the unit, release it there first. You can also run the app in your browser without a unit. Questions go to support.