Workout to music and rest to podcasts with this dynamic audio app
Price: Free
Subscription: $30/£30 annually
Version: 3.1.0
Size: 54.7 MB
Seller: Jazzlab Tech AS
Platform: iPhone
Workout music is a tricky one – when you’re going full-throttle, it’s great to have motivational, high-energy music blasting through your AirPods. But when you’re just setting off on a long-distance run or resting between weightlifting sets, you might find yourself switching to something less intense – like a podcast. Shift is a free iOS app that aims to do this job for you by offering a dynamic audio companion for all your workouts.
Shift for iOS.
Shift is part workout manager, part audio app – although it’s the audio side that makes Shift a unique and impressive offering. The idea behind the app is simple: Shift is designed to play podcasts when you’re resting or warming up, and music when you’re working out.
Shift offers a range of custom and preconfigured exercise modes for running, strength training, and HIIT. It includes a built-in podcast library and encourages you to pick a favorite podcast to use. Shift also plugs into Apple Music, Spotify, or its own free radio source (dubbed Shift FM) to deliver workout tunes. As you’d expect, it’s possible to fine-tune the music you hear in the app by selecting playlists, artists, or albums.
Podcast mode.
When you begin training, the app begins in Podcast mode for an initial rest or warm-up period. For strength workouts, this is typically two minutes. Then, when it’s time to reach for those weights, the podcast shifts into a track from your music library and the lifting can begin!
Timings depends on your exercise – it’s possible to edit them, too. For a Basic Run, the default setup is a three-minute warm-up with your podcast, and a four-minute run. But you can extend your run-time, or even create an interval run by adding an advanced HIIT timer that alternates between run-rest-run-rest, and so on. This level of customization means that the possibilities in Shift are endless. It can likely be adjusted to fit your existing workouts.
Custom settings.
What you’ll really like about Shift, though, are the app’s extra features. For instance, it’s possible to add transitional audio cues between podcast and music – like timers that countdown how long until you need to start running again. You can tweak the podcast speed, or use a built-in notes feature to record information about your workout.
Impressively, Shift also offers the ability to automatically switch between podcast and music based on your heart-rate. For this, you’ll need to be wearing an Apple Watch (which picks up your pulse) and you’ll also need to select the Heart rate workout mode. When your pulse dips, the app will switch back to playing a podcast; when it increases, your power music will automatically play!
Hear rate workouts.
All in all, Shift is a great app – its design and functionality are spot-on. For anyone who listens to podcasts and music while exercising, Shift is definitely worth trialing. It’s available free of charge, with a $30/£30 annual subscription granting access to some of the app’s more advanced features – although a free seven-day trial is available.