If you’ve played Spotify content on your Strava runs before, you remember the process wasn’t as smooth as it should be. You’d had to start recording your run, head to Spotify to start playing one of your playlists and return to Strava. And every time you want to skip a song or change the playlist, you’ll have to switch back and forth between these two apps.
However, those days are now gone—as you can play your best playlist without having to leave Strava. And the best part is that you don’t have to pay for a premium subscription.
How to Connect Spotify to Your Strava Account
First of all, you need to download both apps on your phone and set them up. Once you’ve created an account, connecting them takes just a few moments.
Launch Strava and select theRecordbutton. Then, tap on themusical noteicon. This should take you to Spotify’s authorization page. There, tap theOpen Spotify buttonto connect your Spotify account on Strava.
After connecting the service, the musical note should turn into Spotify’s icon, and you should see Spotify’s music player overlay at the bottom of the screen.
How to Use Spotify During Your Strava Runs
Strava has done a good job at integrating Spotify’s services, and you can control what you’re listening to without having to exit the app. Once you start your run, tap theSpotifyicon to play your favorite music or podcast.
You can use Spotify’s music player to skip and pause a track, switch to a different album, orlike a songso Spotify adds it to yourLiked Songsplaylist.
Spotify will also show you what you’ve recently played, the artists you like, or suggest new content. So, if you find something new that you like, you can add it to your playlist.
As you might expect, how much control you have over what you’re listening to depends on if you’re a free or paid Spotify member. On a free account, you can’t select which specific songs to play or play albums in a wanted order. Also, you might come across unskippable ads. So, if you don’t want ads to interrupt your Strava run,it might be worth choosing a new Spotify subscription plan.
In addition to this, you need a working internet connection as Strava doesn’t support Spotify’s ability to play offline music. If you’re on a limited data plan, it might be difficult to control your mobile phone’s data usage. Alternatively, you could usea portable mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.
Even if you’ve finished your run and closed Strava, Spotify will keep playing. If you want to keep listening to your playlists or choose a new track, you can use the Spotify app as usual.
How to Disconnect Spotify From Your Strava Account
If for whatever reason you don’t want to use Spotify during your Strava workout, you may easily disconnect it. At the time of writing, you can’t do this through the Strava or Spotify app. Instead, you have to access yourSpotify account page. There, go to theManage Appssection.
You’ll see every app that can access your Spotify account. ClickRemove Accessnext to Strava.
Get Running With Strava and Spotify
No matter your Strava activity, you can now make it even more enjoyable with your Spotify playlists. As long as you have a generous data plan, there’s nothing stopping you from getting the right soundtrack for your workouts.
Now that you’ve read this guide, you should find it much easier to optimize your music playback for those long and short-distance runs.
