Moving time is useful because it strips out dead time. It can also make a session look cleaner than it felt.
Ride to a park, wait at three crossings, refill a bottle, then finish with a hard climb. The moving-time number may describe the active work well. The elapsed-time number describes the full session you actually had to fit into your day.
Both clocks are telling the truth. They are answering different questions.
Strava's help docs separate them clearly: elapsed time is start-to-finish time, while moving time estimates the active portion from signals such as GPS, distance, and speed. Strava usually prioritizes moving time for running and cycling, but uses elapsed time for races, segments, and best efforts because the stops belong to the result.
Auto-pause adds another layer. Strava can pause when it detects rest, and if auto-pause is off it may calculate resting time after upload. Garmin's Edge 850 manual lets riders pause the timer automatically when stopped or below a set speed, and notes that activity history is not recorded while the timer is paused.
That setting can be exactly right.
If a traffic light interrupts a city ride, moving time may be the fairest way to read the work. If a group walk includes long pauses, elapsed time may better reflect the shape of the session. If an interval workout includes planned recoveries, you want the rests visible somewhere, because they are part of how the session was designed.
The problem starts when you compare two workouts without knowing which clock you are reading. One app may show the polished active time. Another may show the whole appointment. Your average pace, speed, and perceived effort can look inconsistent even when your fitness has not changed.
Before judging the number, check the recording behaviour. Was auto-pause on? Did you pause manually? Did the app recalculate moving time later? Were the stops accidental, practical, or part of the work?
This is one small reason MOTRA keeps coming back to context: a workout record should explain effort, not just flatter the headline stat.
A cleaner number is not always a truer record. Use moving time when the question is active work. Use elapsed time when the waiting changed the session.