If you do not already have a file Platoon of machines, you may be lucky for a while because of logistical problems of the company. But no matter if you have a bike or a treadmill at home, you can still take advantage of it the newest feature of the Peloton app. That is, if you have an iPhone or an iPad.
The launch of new Peloton software features for users of their on-demand fitness classes and for owners of their training machines remains baffling, but the features themselves are really good. Case study: a beta programming feature that is deployed today in the Peloton app for iOS. Schedules are a long-standing tool that allows you to set up a class schedule, either live or on demand, two weeks out. For on-demand workouts, you’ll see a new schedule button below the class description (where the batteries button is located in the Peloton website interface) and you can select a day and time. You will receive a notification when the class is about to start. See below for screenshots of what the process entails.
This is fantastic! So useful! People who use Peloton are often a little difficult to create an optimal training routine, and this feature makes it easier for them to plan weeks of classes. It is the dream of a type A person. But it is also useful for those who need a little encouragement: committing to taking time to take a class and inviting a friend to participate eliminates some of the excuses that are ‘present us to get out of the exercise.
The social feature is not the same as Peloton’s first beta software attempt, another social feature called Sessions that allowed you and a friend to take classes at the same time. Instead, it’s more of a link-sharing exercise: send a text message to a friend with a link to the class using the IOS sharing sheet, which you could already do . But the invitation also includes the day and time you want to take the class, and your friends can add it to their own schedules. (Sessions received a big comment on its beta, but has since concluded. A Peloton spokesman told me it could not confirm an official release date for the release of Sessions.)
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This brings me back to the way Peloton introduces new features. Listening to subscriber feedback is fantastic and I know from my deep Reddit dives that Peloton members really want a programming tool. But like the recent addition of Piles, a feature that allows you to create a workout playlist, but only on the Peloton website or on a Peloton machine, the Scheduling tool is so limited. It seems like it’s an easy feature to deploy widely, and people have been complaining about it, so keeping it with iOS only (even for now) is unfortunate. And the fact that you can create stacks and schedules separately, but you can’t create one, is weird. A cross-platform calendar tool would be ideal.
I haven’t tried the schedules yet, but if it’s easier than marking individual classes and struggling to remember what I wanted to take that week, I would venture to assume that with this addition I will be there wholeheartedly.
The beta feature is part of an app update that appears today in the App Store and is open to all Peloton subscribers.