A feature iOS users have had since late July has finally reached Android, nearly three weeks later. Spotify has announced that its AI-powered running playlist feature, Running Mode, is now officially available on Android in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden, closing the gap between the two platforms.
The setup mirrors the iOS version: users turn on the feature within Spotify's Fitness Hub, pick from 25 presets sorted by workout type and music style, then adjust the run duration to fit their needs. Runners chasing a specific pace can turn on beat matching to sync song tempo with their stride rate, and can also choose whether to hear voice prompts during the run.
Running Mode isn't a brand-new idea — Spotify ran a similar running experiment back in 2018. This latest version is more of a relaunch with expanded functionality, and it fits into the company's recent string of moves in the fitness space. Back in January, Spotify rolled out its AI-generated playlist feature, Prompted Playlists; in April, the company said fitness-focused playlists were among the most frequently requested features from users, around the same time it struck a partnership with Peloton. Running Mode can be seen as one product born out of that demand, though there's no word yet on whether more AI-meets-fitness features are on the way.
