If you don’t already own a Peloton machine, you may be outta luck for awhile due to the company’s logistical issues. But regardless of whether you have a Bike or Tread in your home, you can still take advantage of the newest feature in the Peloton app. That is, if you own an iPhone or iPad.
Peloton’s rollout of new software features for users of its on-demand fitness classes and owners of its workout machines continues to perplex me, but the features themselves are actually good. Case in point: a beta scheduling feature rolling out in the Peloton iOS app today. Schedules is a long-requested tool that lets you set up a calendar of classes, either live or on-demand, two weeks out. For on-demand workouts, you’ll see a new Schedule button beneath the class description (where the Stacks button is on the Peloton website’s interface), and you can select a day and time. You’ll receive a notification when your class is about to begin. See below for screenshots of what the process entails.
This is great! So useful! Folks who use Peloton tend to be a little hardcore about creating an optimal workout routine, and this feature makes it easier for them to plan out weeks of classes. It’s a Type A person’s dream. But it’s also useful for those who need a little encouragement—committing to a time to take a class and inviting a friend to join in eliminates a few of the excuses we come up with to get out of exercising.
The social feature isn’t the same as Peloton’s first software beta attempt, another social feature called Sessions that allowed you and a friend to take a class at the exact same time. Instead, it’s more of a link-sharing exercise—you text a friend a link to the class using the iOS Share Sheet, which you could already do. But the invitation also includes the day and time you plan to take the class, and your friends can add it to their own schedules. (Sessions received great feedback in its beta but has since concluded. A Peloton spokesperson told me he could not confirm an official release date for a Sessions launch.)
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This brings me back to the way Peloton introduces new features. Listening to subscriber feedback is great, and I know from my Reddit deep dives that Peloton members really want a scheduling tool. But like the recent addition of Stacks, a feature that allows you to create a workout playlist of sorts but only on the Peloton website or on a Peloton machine, the Schedules tool is so limited. This seems like an easy feature to roll out widely, and it’s one that people have been clamoring for, so keeping it iOS only (even just for now) is unfortunate. And the fact that you can separately create Stacks and Schedules, but you can’t create a Schedule of Stacks, is bizarre! One cross-platform calendar tool would be ideal.
I haven’t yet tested Schedules out, but if it’s easier than bookmarking individual classes and struggling to remember what I wanted to take that week, I would venture to guess I’ll wholeheartedly be on board with this addition.
The beta feature is part of an app update dropping on the App Store today and is open to all Peloton subscribers.
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