Track your run with the best running apps on iOS, including workout trackers, route builders, specialty biometric trackers, and unique music apps. If you’re a serious runner, you’ll want these running apps on your iPhone.
Basic Workout Tracking: Runkeeper
Runkeeper is a great run tracking application for most runners. Serious runners might miss more advanced features, but the app strikes the right balance between power and usability.
Easy-to-use app interface for run tracking
Capture the essentials with minimal setup
Optional auto-tracking logs all your workouts
Serious runners will miss more detailed training options
Limited inclusion of detailed data like heart rate and breathing rate
No route building or tracking features
Track workouts with pace, distance, and GPS mapping; live voice feedback with multiple voices provides updates on distance and speed. Goals, social challenges, and race training options help you reach your running goals, and a well-designed interface keeps things from getting cluttered.
Route Creator and Tracker: Map My Run
Map My Run’s workout tracking includes all the basics like pace, time, distance, and mapping, as well as social sharing and live tracking of in progress workouts. However, the best feature is route discovery and creation. The paid tier can autogenerate routes with Route Genius, and any user can find and run nearby routes.
Route discovery feature provides fresh courses
Route Genius generates new routes with AI
Voice tracking provides live updates on pace, distance, and route
Most useful features are locked behind a paywall
Free version is ad-supported, with banner and interstitial ads.
A Commuinty of Athletes: Strava
With Strava, you can track your duration, pace, and distance, as well as attach photos and share workouts with your friends and family. Create your own routes on Strava.com, then run them with audio guidance from the app. The best feature is the Strava community, a large and earnest group of professional competitors and serious amateurs training side-by-side.
Relative effort tracking helps compare workouts
Route building and tracking available with Strava.com
Substantial social network of serious athletes
Limited audio feedback options
No live coaching options
Run to the Beat of Your Heart: Zones
Most runners track their pace based on minutes per mile, but that’s not the only way. If you track your pace based on heart rate and oxygen capacity, you can more precisely target specific fitness goals. Zones tracks your heart rate and provides audio feedback to meet your running goals based on pre-designed exertion curves.
Provides high-caliber training methodology to all runners
Deep, precise insights into physical performance
Zone training helps stretch your limits by finding and exceeding them
Requires a heart rate monitor to be useful
Doesn’t integrate with other training programs
Statistics and graphs are locked to the paid version
Train for Your Next Race: Nike Run Club
Nike Run Club is a workout tracker that helps you get pumped up, with features like end-of-workout encouragement from athletes and voice coaching from famous entertainers. Guided runs provide audio feedback for specific run types, and coaching generates workouts to help you reach your goals.
Audio encouragement makes a big difference in run motivation
Live workout publishing so your friends can cheer you on
Audio coaching from pro athletes and runners
Database of local clubs for major global cities
Personal information is archived by Nike indefinitely
Tracking can sometimes crash
Real Coaches For Real Improvement: Runcoach
Runcoach provides real coaching services with modern technology, producing meaningful coaching routines with human coaches. It incorporates past workouts to formulate a weekly plan that improves fitness, distance, or speed.
Real human coaches are far better than AI coaches
Incorporates past workout data and current goals to produce customized plans
Weekly workout plans are detailed and robust
Requires a disciplined commitment in order to get the most benefit
Human coach communication only available in paid version
You’re connected with a real human expert who creates your training plan for you with Runcoach’s tools. The paid service includes a free two-week trial, during which you can test out the service to make sure the coaching is up to snuff.
Run to the Beat: Weav Run
“Running to music is awesome, but running to the beat is magic.” That’s Weav Run’s apt description of itself. The app matches music to your current running cadence by detecting your pace and matching the music by digitally tweaking the tempo or changing tracks. The free service is limited, so full-time users will need to pay for a subscription.
Music for nearly every running pace
Quickly detects and seamlessly adapts to pace changes
Integrates with Strava to track workouts
Music choices lean heavily on electronica, EDM, and hip-hop
No ability to include custom tracks or music
Plan Your Route: Footpath Route Planner
With Footpath Root Planner, you can create running and hiking routes by dragging on a map of an area. Snap to roads and trails for quick mileage calculations, or manually draw your route. With turn-by-turn directions, you’ll get live navigation updates that keep you on track, which are crucial if you’re off the beaten path.
Drag-based path building is intuitive and capable
Accurate route-snapping requires only basic doodling skills
Turn-by-turn audio directions keep you on track without looking at your phone’s screen
Route planning in detailed areas can be tedious
Topographic maps require monthly subscription fees
Get Faster: Intervals
Interval training, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT), is a way of structuring intense and closely timed workouts, alternating brief and intense periods of activity with short periods of rest. With Intervals, you can build structured timers to track custom workouts. With the paid version of the app, you can use interval templates built specifically for runners.
Capable user interface for building and editing timers
Interval workout templates specifically for running
Customizable audio prompts for tracking workouts
Paid version of the app is required to set custom timers
Essentially a supercharged stopwatch
Stay Safe Out There: ROAD iD
ROAD iD makes sure you don’t go missing while running. It sends digital tracking information, called “eCrumbs” to friends or family. With this, they can see your current location and help find you if you get lost. If you run late at night or in dangerous or remote areas, ROAD iD is a good hedge against becoming a statistic.
Friends and family can find an overdue runner or track location live with timed eCrumbs
Medical information can be saved within the app
First responders aren’t likely to check your phone’s apps for medical information if you need rescue
Tracking only works so long as your phone has a GPS and data connection
Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day
