Spotify is today debuting a new Running Mode for iPhone that’ll match aim to match the perfect playlist with the tempo you’ll need to get you through training runs and races.
In a new perk for Premium subscribers on iOS (initially), users will be able to select from 25 running playlists. Then it’ll be a case of personalising by selecting the type of workout – whether it’s a steady run or interval training – the planned length of the run, the target heart rate beats per minute to get in line with your cadence, and the genre you’d like to hear.
In a For The Record blog post, Spotify says it “matches beats to your selected tempo”, which is great and all, but when I first heard about this mode I was hoping it would be adaptive to whatever you were out there running.
I assumed Spotify would be in tune with the pace users were running at and automatically adapt to provide music of the appropriate tempo to match your stride pattern, or match using heart rate data from a linked wearable. This could, for example, be ideal for interval training where you’re increasing and decreasing the pace regularly. Considering Spotify does link up with Strava and could conceivably have access to your live running data, it’s disappointing this isn’t the case.
The closes Spotify gets to that is asking users to choose a target BPM and select a run type that’ll work around that. For intervals it’ll choose different songs to accommodate the push and recover sequence. For steady runs the playlist will stay on a pretty even keel. However, this does require the runner to have some knowledge of their regular heart rate to attempt to modify in this regard.
To help out, Spotify is also launching a new voice coach within Running Mode which it says is “like a supportive friend alongside you offering timely cues and motivation without getting in the way of your music.”
Running Mode is available in the Fitness hub Spotify launched in the spring, alongside the Peloton classes that are available. Right now users on the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden can access the feature. No word yet on when the feature may come to Android.
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