Skip to main content
The cadence metronome plays a steady beat between 100 and 220 steps per minute so you can lock in a target turnover. Use it during form drills, easy runs where you want to stop overstriding, or inside a live NexRex GPS run without leaving the run screen. Your cadence and sound selection are remembered between sessions and sync to Apple Watch, so you can leave the phone in your pocket and drive the metronome from your wrist.

​
Open the metronome

The metronome lives with the other NexRex runner tools.
  1. Open the Tools screen.
  2. Select the Metronome tab.
You’ll see the current cadence in large type, a slider from 100 to 220 SPM, a row of cue-sound chips, and a Start metronome button.

​
Adjust cadence and sound

  • Cadence — drag the slider to set a target between 100 SPM and 220 SPM. The number above the slider updates as you drag, and a light haptic tick confirms each step.
  • Sound — pick one of five cues. Each has a different character so you can find one that stays audible on your route without being harsh.
Changes save immediately. If the metronome is already running, the tempo switches on the next beat without stopping playback.

​
Start and stop

Tap Start metronome to begin. The button flips to Stop metronome while it’s playing. Tap it again — or leave the Metronome tab — to stop.
The metronome is intentionally local to the screen or the active run. Leaving the tab or ending a run stops the beat so you never have a forgotten ticker running in your pocket.

​
Arm the metronome from the run prep screen

The manual GPS run prep screen has a Run settings row with three chips you can tap to set up your next run before you start it. The choices are remembered across runs, so you only have to configure them once.
  • Metronome — tap to arm it. The chip shows your saved cadence (for example 180) when armed and Off when not. The beat is silent while you’re still on the prep screen and starts with the run at that cadence, so you don’t have to open the run screen mid-session to turn it on. Change cadence and sound from the Metronome tab or from the in-run sheet as usual — arming just decides whether it plays when the run begins.
  • Auto-pause — off by default. When on, NexRex pauses your time and distance automatically when you stop (for a traffic light, a photo, a drink) and resumes on movement. GPS stays on the whole time so the resume is immediate. Manual Pause, Resume, and Stop always override auto-pause.
  • Auto-lap — Off, 1 km, or 1 mile. Tap to cycle. Defaults to 1 km, which matches the automatic kilometre splits NexRex has always recorded. Pick 1 mile if you want splits in miles, or Off if you only want manual laps.
Auto-pause and metronome arming are opt-in. Auto-lap defaults to 1 km so your splits keep working the same way as before — change it only if you want mile splits or no automatic laps at all.

​
Using the metronome inside a live run

You don’t have to leave your run to change tempo mid-session.
  1. Start a manual GPS run from the run screen.
  2. Tap the metronome icon in the run’s top bar (next to the map icon).
  3. The metronome opens as a compact sheet over the run. Adjust cadence, change the sound, or start and stop — the run keeps recording behind it.
  4. Swipe the sheet down to return to the run screen.
The cadence you set inside the run is the same value the standalone Metronome tab uses — set it once and it follows you everywhere.

​
Apple Watch sync

When you change the cadence or sound on your phone, NexRex pushes the new settings to your Apple Watch. The watch stores them locally so the metronome stays usable when the phone is out of range. See Cadence metronome on Apple Watch for the wrist controls and the per-beat visual pulse.

​
Troubleshooting

Check your ringer volume and make sure headphones or your speaker are connected. The metronome plays through the phone’s normal media output. If you’re on a phone call, audio playback pauses; the visible beat stays active so you can still keep time.
The Watch reads its cached cadence and sound from the last successful sync. Open NexRex on the phone once with the Watch nearby so the new settings can push, then reopen the run controls on the Watch.
That’s intentional. Leaving the Metronome tab, ending a manual run, or tapping Stop metronome all stop the beat so it can’t run silently in the background.