A little help.
Then back to your run.

An iPhone running iOS 26 or later for the current build. Use Precise Location for pace, distance and route. Headphones and a Bluetooth heart-rate monitor are needed for the guided fitness test. A free run can record time without a monitor.

Tap Just record for an unstructured run, or Pace me to choose a target pace and a time, distance or open finish. If GPS is not ready, choose to improve it or explicitly start without reliable GPS. Set the spoken countdown in You → Start countdown. Apple Health is optional and can be set up separately.

Open Workouts, then build or import a session. Set time, distance or manually ended stages, with pace, heart-rate or open-effort targets. Always review imported sessions before saving.

No. Save a route from a completed run, or choose a saved route from your library. A fitness test can reuse its saved loop and targets. Confirm loop length, direction and conditions before each test; a recorded route does not automatically prove that you followed the same loop.

Rename or archive a route in the route library. Archiving hides it from the active list and preserves its history. Deleting the run it came from does not delete the saved route. Selecting a route is optional for an ordinary run and does not give turn-by-turn navigation.

Choose Repeat from a previous workout. Use today applies edits to this run; Save changes updates the saved workout, and Save as new keeps a separate version. After your run, compare matching stages with earlier attempts using the same workout prescription. Pace, heart rate, effort and notes help put a result in context. Changed stages or targets may no longer be comparable.

Open Connections → Location. Allow While Using access and Precise Location, then move outdoors with a clear view of the sky. The screen shows whether access or signal quality needs attention. Distance and pace can be incomplete if you start before GPS is ready.

The main run screen shows live heart rate when your monitor is providing readings, plus GPS accuracy in metres. A smaller ± value means a more precise location estimate. If readings stop arriving, the app stops presenting the old value as live. Open Connections to investigate a missing signal before starting.

Wear or wake the monitor and open Connections → Connect a monitor. Allow Bluetooth access and select the device. Some monitors need an open or third-party connection mode. The Garmin HRM 600 needs Open mode; its pairing help is linked inside the app. Actual compatibility should be tested with your monitor.

No. Location supports pace and route; Bluetooth supplies live heart rate; Motion adds cadence. Health saving, history and daily context are separate choices. Spoken guidance does not need microphone access. A selected photo does not grant access to your whole photo library.

Open Health → your profile picture → Apps → Fitness Curve, then choose read and write access. iOS may not show a previously declined request again. Return to Fitness Curve to refresh its state. Empty imported history does not prove that access was granted.

This version has no Apple Watch companion app. Live coaching uses a Bluetooth monitor connected to the phone. A completed Watch workout can appear through Apple Health history if available and permitted.

Open Voice & reminders. Choose Essentials, Balanced or Detailed, then change individual report timers. Current, average and interval pace and heart rate, time and distance each have independent schedules. Corrections, upcoming stages, the final minute, interval results and distance milestones have separate controls.

Yes. Choose an installed voice, adjust speaking speed and cue volume, then hear a sample. Cue volume is relative to the phone's media volume. Download Enhanced or Premium voices in Settings → Accessibility → Read & Speak → Voices. Siri's own voices are separate.

• “Start a run with Fitness Curve”
• “Pause my Fitness Curve run” / “Resume my Fitness Curve run”
• “Next interval in Fitness Curve”
• “Run status in Fitness Curve” / “Repeat guidance in Fitness Curve”
• “Mute guidance in Fitness Curve” / “Unmute guidance in Fitness Curve”
• “End my Fitness Curve run”

Enable Siri in your device settings. Fitness test stages advance automatically; confirm targets and conditions in the app before starting a test.

Short cues briefly lower music volume. The app does not control your Spotify account or playlists. If headphones disconnect, speech stops; recording continues. A fitness test pauses so you do not miss the guidance. Phone speaker fallback is optional.

Voice reminders happen during a run. In You → Fitness test reminders, choose a 7, 14, 21 or 28-day interval. Notifications are optional: enable them to receive one local reminder at your chosen time. A new test updates the next date. No server or push service is needed, and an overdue test does not trigger repeated alerts.

On your phone first. Apple Health workout saving and route attachment have separate status messages. If Health saving fails or waits for unlock, the local recording remains and a retry is available.

Open the run → Export to Strava → Save FIT file. Open Strava upload, choose the file and confirm the upload. Paste your title and description and add the photo separately. This is a manual handoff, not automatic sync. Select real @mentions inside Strava.

Missing GPS or heart-rate readings are left missing. Pauses are excluded from active time. Charts let you compare channels on time or distance, with a data table for individual readings. Partial distance is labelled rather than presented as a complete route.

Use You → Privacy & data → Backup & restore. Choose a password of at least 12 characters and save the encrypted .fcbackup file. It includes runs, full routes, your saved route library, private notes, photos, test settings and saved sessions. Keep the password: it cannot be recovered. On the new phone, choose the file, unlock it and review before restoring. Existing runs and edits are preserved; runs previously deleted on that phone stay deleted. Restore does not upload workouts to Health. Regular FIT/TCX/GPX exports remain available for other apps but do not restore the complete app. Deleting all runs leaves the saved route library in place. Deleting local data does not delete copies in Health, Strava or Files.

Yes. Record the test without a saved route if you only want a result for today. It stays in history, but is excluded from the comparable fitness trend. For progress over time, save a loop once and reuse it with matching targets and equipment.

Matching targets, monitor, loop length, direction and stage order makes comparison more meaningful. Confirm comparable conditions before each test. The first three minutes of each effort are settling time; a usable effort needs enough continuous heart-rate and GPS data after that.

Your first test gives you a reference pace at each heart rate. Three comparable days form the first baseline. Six comparable test days across at least two weeks support a change assessment. At weekly intervals this takes about five weeks after the first test; fortnightly intervals take about ten weeks. A change must exceed repeat variation and the model's statistical check. Incomplete tests, pauses, changed equipment and unusual conditions can exclude a test. Tests remain in history even when they cannot support the trend.