How do I share a ride live, and follow one?

Turn it on

Whoever owns the event or ride turns it on: the organiser of a tour, race or club ride, or you on your own “Just for me” ride.

• On the web: when you create the event, tick Live tracking. For an existing event, go to Settings → Live tracking.
• In the iPhone app: Live tracking in the event’s settings (the gear in the event’s editor).

This gives you one live link for the event. Copy it from the event’s page in the dashboard, or from Settings. Share it in the group chat, pin it, or send it to your family.

Start it on the day: iPhone app only

Live tracking only works from the Windline iPhone app. On the day:

1. Open the event or ride in the app.
2. Tap Start live tracking on the day.
3. Ride.

Opening the ride in a web browser, on any phone, doesn’t send your position, so it isn’t tracking.

For a group that rides together, one phone is enough: the lead rider’s or the support vehicle’s, signed in to the organiser’s account. Pause and Stop are on the same screen, and the Lock Screen shows it’s on. Tracking also stops by itself at the finish, or 3 hours after the planned finish.

In the iPhone app

• Sending: turning it on, the 30-minute reminder, the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, no signal, and stopping. See live tracking from the iPhone app.
• Following: live links open in the app on an iPhone with Windline installed, and Happening now is at the top of your club. See following live in the iPhone app.

What followers see

Anyone with the link can follow, on any phone or computer, with no app or account needed:

• Where the rider is: the dot on a satellite map, gliding along the road between updates.
• The line ridden so far, in violet.
• Distance done and still to go, the speed, and the climbing left.
• The weather right now where the rider is: the wind against them, gusts, temperature and rain.
• What’s ahead: for example “Headwind from km 112, about 13:40”, plus rain and strong gusts, and a finish time that updates as they ride.

At the top of the card, the status shows:

• Live: a position in the last 2 minutes.
• Delayed: “Last seen 6 min ago”.
• No signal: rural roads lose phone signal. The map then shows a faint marker labelled “Probably about here (estimate)”, worked out from the average speed. The real track fills in when the phone gets signal again.
• Paused or Finished.

Before the rider starts, the page says live tracking hasn’t started yet and shows the planned start time. It updates by itself.

On your club or organiser page

While one of your events is being tracked, your club or organiser page shows a Happening now card at the top: the event, the distance so far and Follow live. It appears only once Windline has actually received a position in the last 30 minutes, so nobody taps it and finds an empty map.

Pin your club page in the group chat once, and every weekend supporters can find the ride there.

Who can watch, and privacy

• Who can watch: anyone with the live link, which is the default, or only you. Change it in Settings → Live tracking.
• A new link: Make a new link stops the old one working straight away.
• Hidden near home: on private “Just for me” rides, your position isn’t shown within 1 km of the start or finish.
• What’s kept: the positions your phone sends are deleted 7 days after the ride. The line you rode is kept, so you can share how the ride went.
• Positions are never used for anything else. See what Windline keeps.

It’s free

Follow live is free for everyone: organisers, clubs and riders.