ANT+ support appears to be missing on Android? I have a Nokia 8 with built-in ANT+ support, which doesn’t appear as an option for pairing devices. I use the ANT+ support with wireless smart scales, for example, without any issues.
Also, unlike most apps, the back button doesn’t exit out of the app.
Most Android phones don’t support Ant+. All support Bluetooth, so they’ve gone with Bluetooth only. The same approach as with Apple phones.
I always think that this sort of approach shows of cost cutting or a lack of understanding of users needs.
It is pretty standard to support ant+ and Bluetooth where hardware allows.
Well maybe not, as they would have expend a lot of resource to get ant+ working for a tiny percentage of users who can use ant+ on their phone when that functionality is being phased out globally anyway, and so they might do better spending that time developing more features that service everyone, like history, exporting outside rides to headunits etc. Bluetooth is, in any event, a more responsive connection protocol for intervals anyway.
Yes some of us have older peripherals like HRMs, cadence counters etc where it would be great to use ant+ on one’s phone to save having to buy new peripherals. But most people also have a laptop where they can plug in an ant+ dongle anyway.
I guess that it has taken Wahoo buying it has given them the extra cash to invest in android.
The code is already out there so it wouldn’t take much investment to implement but I guess they have their priorities.
It is not only a development issue, but a technical support issue.
As the software evolves, it can often make greater demands on the hardware, and the older protocols may become flaky, or not work at all.
That being said, Bluetooth is not really a great protocol either.
Given the lack of a global standard wireless alternative though…
ANT+ support is there but in order to enable it on most Android devices it means installing external programs AND downgrading system security. You are unique in that your phone supports the protocol ‘out of the box’. But if you ever upgrade your phone, that support will be lost. Newer phones only support BTLE 4.0. Wahoo wisely decided not to support ANT+ on any mobile device (IOS dropped ANT+ support a long time ago).
I shouldn’t need to buy new hardware when ANT+ works perfectly fine.
None of the Android devices I have bought or used supported ANT+ out of the box. I had to obtain external programs AND downgrade my devices security. Only a small number of Andriod devices supported ANT+ internally and most of them are no longer around or repairable.
Its reasonably cheap to buy a new BT HRM. I’m also super adverse to replacing perfectly functional hardware just because it is starting to become obsolete. So I understand
where you are coming from. Sustainability is a big driver for me…also why I am eeking every last hour of use out of my headunit rather than replacing it.
The reality is, this issue affects a small minority, at some point you’ll need to replace hardware anyway, and it would cost an absolute fortune for Wahoo to support every possible device/wireless protocol out there including increasingly obsolete options. Sure they can do it…probably if we significantly increase our subscription cost… again, cheaper to buy a new HRM than pay a significantly increased subscription fee.
What bike hardware are you running that is ant+ only? Speed and cadence and HRM? Replace them surely? Most trainers are BT capable but appreciate some are ant+ only and astronomically expensive to replace, and that’s without getting into the whole disposable lifestyle landfill side of things. I believe Strava is going BT only as well, if you’re using your phone for recording outdoor rides.
Tough one I know.
I use ANT+ on my phone daily.
And my training bike’s powermeter only works over ANT+, I didn’t know BTLE was broken, as I never had a need to use it.
Dang, power meters aren’t cheap to replace either. Easiest and cheapest then is probably an existing laptop with an ant+ dongle. Bigger screen is better too! 
Interesting. My s20+ 5g supports ant+ out of the box, no downgrades (android 11 with Nov. 2021 security updates), Still supported. 
That said all my sensors are dual, both ant+ and btle.
You could get a 4iiii Viiiiva HRM ANT+ to BT Bridge, this is a heartrate strap and ANT+ bridge. You connect your other ANT+ devices to this and the strap resends them over BT.
Or you get the NPE Cable to convert all what is ANT+ to BT (should support more then the Viiiiva):
Interesting device but it has no Android app. iOS only.
Then only the Viiiiva remains
I’ve read that any of the ANT+ to BTLE ‘bridges’ have communications issues. However, I will check with my wireless vendor’s web site to see if they offer that particular phone. I know that several of the ‘S’ models have the ANT+ receiver hardware built-in. I don’t know if the Operating System includes appropriate modules to support the protocol though. I know that I had to get four separate programs to get full function. None of the hardware device support nor any of the bridging software was included with the Android builds on any of the three smartphones I owned. The last is a Samsung A10e.
Phones don’t seem to have the bridging function, I looked for apps a while back that could do this on my Android phone as I also have an ANT+ only power meter and a Polar watch that only does Bluetooth. Couldn’t find any apps that did such a thing, settled for the Viiiiva HRM for now.
The bridging function is hardware only. There’s a ‘dongle’ that does ANT+ to BTLE and the aforementioned heart rate device.