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Spotify Launches Running Mode to Build Tempo‑Matched Workout Playlists

The iOS-only Premium tool maps songs to workout phases using Spotify’s personalization and includes optional English audio coaching.

Overview

  • Spotify began rolling out Running Mode in its Fitness Hub for Premium iOS users in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden starting this week.
  • The feature offers 25 curated presets that users can customize by workout type, duration, target beats per minute, and music genre to generate tempo‑matched playlists.
  • Running Mode sequences music across warmup, work intervals, recovery, and cooldown so the soundtrack follows the planned workout rather than reacting to live pace.
  • Optional English audio cues provide coaching-style prompts but reviewers found the coach is pre-scripted to the workout plan and does not respond to real‑time sensors or pace data.
  • The launch builds on Spotify’s Prompted Playlists and broader Fitness Hub strategy and may partly replace lost in-app control after Strava removed its Spotify integration, though Android support and real‑time tempo syncing are not available yet.