Comparison

Varia™ vs Staka

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Varia™

Enhance your cycling safety with real-time alerts for approaching vehicles. This app provides visual and auditory warnings, helping you stay aware of your surroundings. It also allows for video recording and incident detection when paired with compatible radar and camera devices.

Highlights
  • Vehicle proximity alerts
  • Color-coded traffic indicators
  • Tone and vibration notifications
  • Video recording and photo capture
  • Automatic incident recording
  • Headlight and tail light configuration
Read full description

When paired with a compatible Garmin Varia radar device¹, the Varia app has the tools you need to ride with confidence. Using the Varia app, you can: • Be alerted right on your phone when approaching vehicles are within 140 meters behind your bicycle. • View color-coded alerts based on surrounding traffic: Green means you’re all clear, yellow means a vehicle is approaching and red means a vehicle is coming at you quickly and you should take caution. • Receive tone and vibration alerts for approaching vehicles even when you’re not looking at your phone. With a compatible Garmin Varia Radar Camera Tail Light or Garmin Varia Vue Camera Headlight, you can: • Set the camera in the best position for capturing videos and photos. • Record videos or take photos and save them while riding with a simple button press on your phone. • Automatically record videos of incidents and save the video footage with the Incident Recording feature. With a Varia Vue Camera Headlight, you can: • Configure light mode configurations for your headlight. • Add an optional Vault subscription, which automatically backs up your Varia Vue videos and provides easy access in the Varia app for searching, filtering and sharing. By adding the Varia eRTL615 Radar Tail Light for eBikes, you can: • Configure and edit light mode configurations for your tail light. Easy to Use Pairing your Garmin Varia devices with the app is quick and easy. Once you set them up, the Varia app will automatically recognize your devices. Even if you already have a Varia device paired with a compatible Garmin device or head unit, the Varia app provides additional awareness and peace of mind while riding. ¹ Compatible devices are the Varia RearVue 820, Varia RVR315 Rearview Radar, Varia RTL515 Radar Tail Light, Varia RCT715 Radar Camera Tail Light, Varia eRTL615 Radar Tail Light for eBikes and Varia Vue Camera Headlight.

About

Staka

This app allows you to ski real trails on your SkiErg machine. Compete for top ranks, explore at your own pace, and follow guided workouts designed for nordic skiers. Track your power, pace, and heart rate to improve your performance.

Highlights
  • Virtual trail skiing
  • Competitive racing
  • Guided nordic workouts
  • Performance tracking
  • FTP testing
  • Free to use
Features
Read full description

But someone else may be faster than you. Compete for KOMs. Free ski. Race to improve your rank. FREE SKI Explore the trail network at your own pace, or chase the segment records. WORKOUTS The sessions nordic skiers actually do. Intensity 1, threshold intervals and sprints, guided on screen with power targets based on your FTP. Find yours with a 20-minute test. TRAIN Every session ends with the numbers. Power, pace, heart rate zones and your peak efforts. RACE About ten minutes per race. Run them back to back like intervals to improve your rank. Races go off every 15 mins. Staka is free. WHAT YOU NEED A SkiErg, and an iPhone or iPad. A heart rate strap is optional.

Screenshots

Varia™4 screens
Staka4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Staka at 100% against Varia™'s 51%. Staka also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Varia™'s advantage is ratings volume (321 vs 6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Staka holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Varia™ has 321 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of Varia™'s written reviews are positive against 100% of Staka's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Varia™ ships an update every 2 months, Staka fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Varia™ versus Staka: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVaria™Staka
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (321 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings321 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.117.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size160 MB256 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperGarminStaka, LLC

Customer experience

Varia™

All ratings319 ratings
Positive83.4%
Neutral5.3%
Negative11.3%
Written reviews222 reviews
Positive50.9%
Neutral16.7%
Negative32.4%

Staka

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Varia™

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Incompatibility with older Varia models
  • Screen burn-in issues on some phones
  • Unreliable video recording and playback

Requested features

4 requests
  • Apple Watch integration for alerts
  • Customizable alert sounds
  • Ability to control Varia light settings from app
  • More detailed vehicle information (speed, distance, etc.)

Staka

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Varia™

No in-app purchases

None

Staka

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Varia™ free?
Varia™ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Staka free?
Staka is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Varia™ or Staka?
Staka is rated higher. Varia™ averages 4.4 out of 5 from 321 ratings, while Staka averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Varia™ or Staka have ads?
Neither Varia™ nor Staka shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Varia™ or Staka?
Varia™ ships an update every 2 months, and Staka fortnightly. Most recently, Varia™ was updated on November 6, 2026 and Staka on November 5, 2026.

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