Running apps make things up. You can't tell which bits.
A recovery score with no visible inputs. A readiness number from nowhere. An AI summary that sounds sure about data it doesn't have. If you can't see what's measured and what's guessed, you can't trust any of it.
What you usually get
- One score, no working shown
- Gaps filled with something that looks right
- A plan written for you that you're expected to follow
What RunMode does
- Scores that open up into the parts that made them
- "—" when the inputs aren't good enough
- Your own plan, if you have one, next to what you actually ran
Closed apps are a black box. AI chat coaches fly blind. RunMode has your real data, explains every decision — and you can check the maths.
Three steps. No questionnaire.
Connect Apple Health
RunMode reads the runs, heart rate and sleep already on your phone and watch.
Add your race, and your plan if you have one
Date, distance, goal. Following a plan from a coach, a club or a book? Add it or import it. No plan is fine too. Everything gets anchored to the race you're actually training for.
Check the working
Tap a score to see what fed it. Ask the coach why. The answer points back at your data.
Real screens from the founder's phone. Not mockups.
A readiness score you can take apart
Built from real training load, resting heart rate, sleep and anything you've logged. Tap it and it breaks into the terms that produced it. Not enough data? You get "—", not a confident guess.
Above: sleep, load and symptoms shown separately, with where each one came from.
Pacing that accounts for the weather
Once race day is within 10 days, its forecast — temperature, humidity, dew point — is turned into an honest pace range for the conditions. A range, never a false-precision target.
Session forensics
Real elevation, pace splits, heart-rate zones, your route with segment detail, personal bests, your own notes and, if you follow a plan, the session it counted for. All from your data, in plain English.
Race prep, end to end
A goal estimate from your own recent runs, the pace your goal needs and how long you've held it, fuel guidance and course import. One tap sends your race to your Apple Watch. No generic plan: the numbers come from you.
Above: the goal shows as a range, next to the pace it needs and how long you've held it.
Your plan, next to what you ran
No plan imposed. Bring your own, and RunMode puts what you planned next to what you ran, from Apple Health. Add a plan of up to 24 weeks day by day, or import it from text, photos or a PDF and check every session before it's saved. No scores, no red marks, no “missed”: when Health has no workout for a day, it says so. RunMode never writes your plan or moves a session for you.
Imports are read by Google's Gemini if you've allowed the AI coach. If you haven't, an iPhone with Apple Intelligence reads them on the phone; otherwise you add sessions by hand.
Build a session, run it part by part
Start from a pace run, intervals, strides, hills, sprints or a long run with a fast finish, or from scratch. Set each part by distance or time, give it a pace, a heart-rate zone or just an effort, and add repeats and recoveries. Run it on your iPhone or send it to your Apple Watch, with spoken cues for each part.
The long view, not a single score
VO2 max, resting heart rate, how much your heart rate drifts on long runs, and your pace at an easy heart rate — trends you can watch build over weeks and months, not one number trying to sum you up.
On your wrist too
Set up a run on your iPhone, with a goal, your race or a session you built, and start it from your wrist. RunMode's Apple Watch app shows the run live, including your pace against the target, takes you through a session part by part, and lets you lap, pause or lock the screen without breaking stride. In the Ring layout, you choose whether it shows your pace right now, over your last kilometre, or your average. It saves the run to Apple Health when you finish, with splits that show in Apple Fitness. It comes with the iPhone app, not as a separate purchase.
On the App Store. Nothing here is inflated.
- Built and in active development by a solo founder, tested daily on his own real running data.
- Available on the App Store for iPhone with iOS 26.4 or later. RunMode's Apple Watch app comes with it and needs watchOS 26.
- Available in the UK only. There's no date for other countries.
Straight answers
Can I download it?
Yes. RunMode is available on the App Store in the UK, for iPhone with iOS 26.4 or later: RunMode on the App Store. Its Apple Watch app comes with it, not as a separate purchase.
Can I get it outside the UK?
Not at the moment. RunMode is available on the App Store in the UK only. There's no date for other countries, and we'd rather say that than make one up.
What does it cost?
Nothing. RunMode is free on the App Store, with no adverts, subscriptions or in-app purchases.
Do I need an Apple Watch?
RunMode reads Apple Health, so it works with whatever writes there. A watch gives it heart rate and sleep to work with. Without those, the numbers that need them show "—" until there's real data behind them.
Does it work with Garmin, Coros or other watches?
Only through Apple Health. If your watch's app syncs runs into Apple Health, RunMode can read them. That hasn't been tested across brands yet, so we won't promise it.
Will it give me a training plan?
No, on purpose. RunMode never writes a plan. If you already follow one, from a coach, a club or a book, add it to the Training calendar, and RunMode puts what you planned next to what you ran, from Apple Health: “Planned 10 km · Ran 7.4 km · Matched by date”. There are no scores and no “missed” marks. If Apple Health has no workout for a day, it says “No workout found”. You can move, swap or skip sessions, but RunMode never changes your plan by itself. The AI coach sees your plan only if you choose to share it with the coach.
Can I import a plan I already have?
Yes. Paste it, pick up to 6 photos or screenshots, or choose a PDF of up to 10 pages. If you've allowed the AI coach, Google's Gemini reads it: what you chose goes to Google, photos without their location or other details, and nothing else is sent. If you haven't, an iPhone with Apple Intelligence reads it on the phone itself, and on other iPhones you add the sessions by hand. Either way, you check every session before anything is saved, and RunMode keeps only the sessions, not the photos, file or text. Plans can run up to 24 weeks. They're kept on your iPhone and in its backups, so export a plan as a file if you want your own copy.
What leaves my phone?
When you use the coach, the training context it needs and your messages go to Google's Gemini API to write the reply. If you've allowed the coach and you import a training plan, the text, photos or PDF pages you chose go to Gemini too, so it can read the sessions. Photos go without their location or other details, and nothing else is sent with them. Your location goes to Apple WeatherKit for forecasts (or a race venue's location, if you add one, and what you type to find the venue goes to Apple's place search). No analytics, ads or tracking. The privacy policy has the full list.
Who's building it?
One runner, through RunMode Ltd in the UK. Every feature gets tested on his own runs first.
Check the working on your own runs
Available on the App Store in the UK, for iPhone, with its Apple Watch app included.
Download from the App Store →