What is RunSpan?
RunSpan is an interval training app for runners with a Wear OS watch, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch or Google Pixel Watch, or with an Apple Watch. Where most sports watch apps treat intervals as an afterthought, RunSpan is built around the structure of your workout: warm-up, repeats, recovery segments and cool-down, exactly the way you want them.
The app runs entirely on the watch. GPS, heart-rate monitoring and voice guidance live on your wrist; your phone can stay at home. Run-walk plans for beginners (couch to 5K style), pyramid workouts, tempo blocks or sprints up to a heart-rate threshold: you build it once and the watch guides you through it.
What it does
Distance, time or heart rate
Every block ends on distance, time or a heart-rate threshold, whichever comes first. “Run until HR 160, walk until HR 120” just works.
Repeats, even infinite
Loops with a fixed count or ∞ until you stop. Pyramids, run-walk, sprints: anything goes.
Voice coach
Spoken and haptic cues at every transition, in your own language. With water lock, always-on display and heart-rate zones.
Build wherever you like
On the watch itself, in the web planner, or describe your workout in plain language and we build it for you.
To your watch in 5 seconds
Open Sync on your watch, type the 4-character code in the planner, done. No cables, no hassle.
Runs & GPX
Every run shows up in the planner with route and heart rate. Download as GPX (with HR) for Strava and friends.
Build your own runs
A RunSpan workout is made of blocks: run, sprint, walk, rest, warm-up or cool-down. Each block gets one or more end conditions: a distance (say 1 km), a time (say 90 seconds) or a heart-rate limit (for example, recover until your heart rate drops below 120). As soon as one condition is met, the workout moves on to the next block.
Blocks go into repeats: 10× (run 1 km + walk 1 minute), or an infinite loop that continues until you stop it. Optionally give a block a target pace or heart-rate zone; the watch warns you when you are going too fast or too slow. You can build in three places: directly on the watch, in the free web planner on this site, or by simply describing your workout.
Describe your workout, we build it
In the web planner, type (or dictate) your workout in plain language and it appears ready-made in the editor. For example:
It also works with heart rate (“run until HR 165, walk until 120”), pace targets, and edits to an existing workout (“make the breaks shorter”). This is included with the app for free.
How it works
- Install RunSpan from Google Play on your Wear OS watch, or from the App Store on your iPhone and Apple Watch.
- Build a workout: on the watch, in the web planner or by describing it.
- Send it to your watch with the 4-character code (only needed for the web planner).
- Go run: voice and haptic cues guide you through every block, with your heart-rate zone live on screen.
- Review your run in the planner, with route and heart-rate graph, and export it as GPX.
Need more detail, from water lock to heart-rate zones? Read the full user guide.
RunSpan for iPhone and Apple Watch
RunSpan is also available for iPhone and Apple Watch (iOS 18 and watchOS 11 or newer). Take your iPhone along on your run and it shares its GPS with the watch; your runs are saved to Apple Health. In the iPhone app you describe a workout in your own words and it is ready to go, and you sign in with Apple, in the app and in the web planner.
On Apple, RunSpan is a subscription through the App Store: €0.99 a month or €9.99 a year, with the first week free. Without a subscription the free run, your run history and settings keep working; interval workouts, the builder, describing workouts and sync come with the subscription. RunSpan on the App Store.
Guides: heart rate intervals on Apple Watch, run-walk intervals on Apple Watch, interval training on Samsung Galaxy Watch, 8 interval workouts you can open right away and interval running apps compared.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my phone while running?
No. RunSpan runs entirely on the watch; GPS and heart-rate monitoring are on your wrist. The web planner is optional and meant for home use.
Which watches does RunSpan work on?
Watches running Wear OS 3 or newer, including the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and all newer models, and the Google Pixel Watch. And the Apple Watch with watchOS 11 or newer, together with an iPhone on iOS 18 or newer.
Is there a subscription?
On Android, no: you buy RunSpan once on Google Play (€4.99), with no subscription and no ads. On iPhone and Apple Watch, RunSpan is a subscription through the App Store: €0.99 a month or €9.99 a year, first week free. The free run, your run history and settings also work without it. The web planner, including describing workouts, is free for everyone.
Can I get my runs into Strava or other apps?
Yes. Every run can be downloaded as a GPX file, including heart-rate data, and imported into Strava and virtually any other sports app.
What about my privacy?
Your workouts and runs live on your own watch and, only if you sync, in your own account. Nobody else can access them and there is no ad tracking. See the privacy policy; you can delete your account here.