Peloton launches three new app tiers as part of company rebrand

Peloton, best known for its exercise bikes, is undergoing a major rebrand and doubling its software efforts by launching three membership tiers to its mobile app.

The fitness brand now wants to focus more on providing “fitness offerings” that anybody can do at their home or at the gym without having to purchase the company's expensive hardware. Looking at the official trailer, it appears all you need is yourself, a mobile device, and maybe some weights. The app's three new tiers are Peloton App Free, App One, and App Plus; all of which vary in terms of price and what they offer.

As the name suggests, Peloton App Free won’t cost you anything to use. It offers access to over “50 classes curated across 12 of Peloton’s” exercise types. This includes strength training, cardio workouts, and meditation plans. Some classes will be part of a rotating set that’ll change on an “ongoing basis” to keep things interesting. It's unknown, though, how often they will update. A company representative told us “an update cadence has yet to be fully decided”.

Premium tiers

Peloton App One is the first of the paid tiers. For $ 12.99 a month (about £10 and $ 20 AUD) or $ 129 annually (about £100 and $ 200 AUD), you get “unlimited access to thousands of classes across” all sixteen of the brand’s exercise types. This includes everything under the Free tier as well as exclusive content like Yoga classes. Members “can also take up to three equipment-based [classes]” covering indoor bikes, treadmills, and rowers. And to top it all off, App One offers on-demand, live classes nearly every day of the week.

App Plus, as you probably already guessed, is the highest tier. For $ 24 a month (about £20 and $ 36 AUD) or $ 240 annually (about £200 and $ 360 AUD), users gain unlimited access to everything in “Peloton’s vast library”; except for two: Lanebreak and Scenic classes, both of which require specific equipment. App Plus even has exclusive “specialty content” in the form of Challenges, Programs, and Collections.

Beyond the app update, the company is also rolling out Peloton Gym to all five of its exercise tiers. This feature consists of written workout plans aimed at helping you build your strength with an accompanying video to help guide you. According to the post, you can perform those workouts at your own pace so no need to rush through them.

Availability

In a recent report by The Verge, Peloton spokesperson Ben Boyd states current Peloton subscribers will be “automatically upgraded to App Plus Membership without a change in price until December 5th, 2023.” After that day, users can choose to pay an “increased price or move [down] to a cheaper tier.” The representative from earlier confirmed this with TechRadar.

The three tiers are currently rolling out to the Peloton app in “all of the brand’s five global markets.” The other two tiers, Peloton Guide and Peloton All-Access, will stay at their current price points.

It'll be interesting to see if Peloton’s gamble pays off. Moving away from the indoor bikes that made them famous is certainly a risky move. However, considering the fact Peloton recently recalled over two million exercise bikes over safety concerns, maybe it’s a good idea to begin diversifying a bit.

Whether you’re planning on exercising more or are already exercising frequently, we recommend buying a fitness tracker to keep tabs on your progress. Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best fitness tracker for 2023

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New Spotify beta adds looping videos to music discovery as part of major updates

Spotify has announced two major updates: a slew of new features coming to its Car Thing device and the launch of Canvas looping videos on its mobile app. 

Both updates have begun rolling out to Spotify users. The Car Thing features will be limited to the U.S. and iOS users will get the update first. Android owners will get everything at a later date. 

Canvas has a greater reach as the videos will release in beta across the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada for the Spotify mobile app.

More hands-off control

Car Thing was designed as a more convenient way to control Spotify while you drive and that core functionality is being expanded. Owners will now be able to see incoming calls on their screen where they can either answer the call or dismiss it.

Another big change is “Add to queue” which Spotify claims is one of its most requested features. It’s essentially the same feature on the mobile app where you can add songs or podcasts to a tracklist, but now you can use your voice.

There’s also going to be a new “Add to queue” icon on the touchscreen to add the song to a playlist or you can press and hold the dial to do the same thing. Other features include the ability to use your voice to ask Spotify for a personalized playlist and to control other media.

Looping recommendations

Canvas videos appear to have been inspired by Tik-Tok as a way to help people discover new types of music. Every day, Spotify will recommend you 15 Canvas loops based on the music that you like. You can scroll through the personalized selection to hear a preview and the Canvas for each song.

If you like what you see and hear, you can add the song to a playlist or follow the artist straight from the Canvas loop. The feature will also allow you to post the Canvas onto a social media app and have it loop in the background of a Story.

Canvas will be right on the mobile app’s home screen and will be created by the artists themselves to offer a sneak peek into the creative process. The full list of artists that will be in the Canvas section is unknown, but Spotify did reveal singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo as one of them.

Spotify didn’t say how long Canvas videos will be; whether it’s a 30-second loop or up to a 3-minute stream like TikTok.

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New Spotify beta adds looping videos to music discovery as part of major updates

Spotify has announced two major updates: a slew of new features coming to its Car Thing device and the launch of Canvas looping videos on its mobile app. 

Both updates have begun rolling out to Spotify users. The Car Thing features will be limited to the U.S. and iOS users will get the update first. Android owners will get everything at a later date. 

Canvas has a greater reach as the videos will release in beta across the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada for the Spotify mobile app.

More hands-off control

Car Thing was designed as a more convenient way to control Spotify while you drive and that core functionality is being expanded. Owners will now be able to see incoming calls on their screen where they can either answer the call or dismiss it.

Another big change is “Add to queue” which Spotify claims is one of its most requested features. It’s essentially the same feature on the mobile app where you can add songs or podcasts to a tracklist, but now you can use your voice.

There’s also going to be a new “Add to queue” icon on the touchscreen to add the song to a playlist or you can press and hold the dial to do the same thing. Other features include the ability to use your voice to ask Spotify for a personalized playlist and to control other media.

Looping recommendations

Canvas videos appear to have been inspired by Tik-Tok as a way to help people discover new types of music. Every day, Spotify will recommend you 15 Canvas loops based on the music that you like. You can scroll through the personalized selection to hear a preview and the Canvas for each song.

If you like what you see and hear, you can add the song to a playlist or follow the artist straight from the Canvas loop. The feature will also allow you to post the Canvas onto a social media app and have it loop in the background of a Story.

Canvas will be right on the mobile app’s home screen and will be created by the artists themselves to offer a sneak peek into the creative process. The full list of artists that will be in the Canvas section is unknown, but Spotify did reveal singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo as one of them.

Spotify didn’t say how long Canvas videos will be; whether it’s a 30-second loop or up to a 3-minute stream like TikTok.

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