Spotify is expanding its fitness features with Running Mode, which creates personalized playlists based on your desired speed and preferred music.
Running Mode uses 25 curated presets, and starts by asking you what type of workout you're planning: interval, steady, or pyramid. It then asks for the duration of your run, the tempo of the music you'd like in beats per minute, and the genre you want to listen to.
Spotify will then use AI-powered tools to build a playlist, selecting songs with the right tempo and ensuring it's long enough to cover your entire run. Presumably, Running Mode uses your likes and dislikes learned from your Spotify listening history, but the brand hasn't confirmed this.
If you want an extra push, Running Mode also comes with audio cues designed to act like “a supportive friend running alongside you<" which add timely motivation “without getting in the way of your music," Spotify says. The feature is exclusive to iOS at launch and available to Premium subscribers in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK, and the US. To find it, head to the **Fitness Hub **in your iOS app and look for Running Mode near the top. The rollout is staggered, so it might not appear immediately.
If you're a longtime Spotify subscriber, you may remember Running, which was available from 2015 until its shutdown in 2018. This worked by monitoring your device to determine your running tempo and deliver a customized playlist at that pace. Arguably, that feature was more advanced as it monitored your current performance rather than asking for your predicted route and pace. Spotify is now making a big push into fitness content, introducing over 1,400 Peloton classes to the platform back in April. In its press release, Spotify refers to Running Mode as “the next step” in its fitness expansion, strongly suggesting it plans to add further features at a later date.