Last week, Spotify announced a fancy new feature that uses your smartphone sensors to determine your running pace in real time. Spotify Running then pulls up songs whose beats per minute match your footfall, basically making you feel like a marathon superstar. It’s hard to see how anything else in the market will measure up, but here is our roundup of similar apps.
Spotify
In addition to pulling up music to match your running pace, Spotify Running has enlisted DJs like Tiesto to do original compositions. It’s also pioneering a new file type that speeds up or slows down a song based on your pace. This feature is available on both the free and paid version that costs $9.99 a month. Available on iOS and Android.
Great for: Those who need a lot of motivation and have great data packages
Pace DJ
You enter your workout style and effort level and then Pace DJ recommends a beat per minute range and picks out suitable songs from your music library. It also accommodates interval workouts so you can slow down and speed up over and over without changing your playlist. There is a free lite version or you can upgrade to the ad-free version for $3.98.
Great for: Those who already have a great music library to pull stuff from
Rock My Run
This app lets you download mixes across music genres like hip hop, house, rock, and pop. And, it also lets you customize the length of the mixes and the beats per minute. There’s a free version and a paid version with longer mixes (up to four hours long) for $5.98 a month. Available on iOS and will be available on Android soon.
Great for: Those who are organized enough to download their running mixes in advance
Jog.fm
As with Pace DJ, you pick a pace and the app goes through your music library and picks out suitable songs. There’s also an option to add warm up or cool down songs. The downside is, it’s only available on iOS and costs $3.98.
Great for: Those with iPhones and extensive music libraries—though the app takes a while to scan through everything.
Tempo Run
This app categorizes your entire music library (which again, FYI, is far from instantaneous) into tempo levels, from one to ten with one being a walk and 10 being a sprint. You have to go in and pick different lists when you’re ready to speed up or slow down, but on the bright side, there’s also a function that lets you tap out a tempo for full control of the how fast you want the song to be. This app will cost you $2.58 and is only available on iOS.
Great for: Those who stop to fiddle with their phones when they’re running
