Support

The app cannot play any music

RowBeat needs both an active Apple Music subscription and your permission to use it. Check Settings › Privacy & Security › Media & Apple Music and make sure RowBeat is switched on. If you subscribed recently, opening the Apple Music app once and playing anything will settle the subscription on your device.

My RowERG does not appear when I scan

Almost always one of three things:

• The monitor is asleep. A PM5 only advertises itself over Bluetooth for a short window. Press a button to wake it, or pull a stroke, then scan again straight away.
• It is on the wrong screen. Put the PM5 on its Connect screen before you scan.
• Another app already has it. A PM5 talks to one app at a time. Close any other rowing app, including Concept2's own, and try again.

Scanning always starts from a tap and stops on its own after a short while, deliberately: this preserves your phone's battery and avoids fighting other apps for the monitor.

Why does the app say tempo matching is limited?

RowBeat matches songs to your stroke rate using tempo data from an external music analysis service. That service does not have every recording in its catalog. When too few of the songs found for your search have known tempos, RowBeat tells you so and falls back to Apple Music's own ordering rather than pretending the match is good. Trying a different genre, era or search usually helps.

The music does not match my stroke rate exactly

This is by design. A song at 100 beats per minute is a perfectly good match for 25 strokes per minute, because you take one stroke every four beats. RowBeat treats these musical multiples as valid matches, which is what makes it possible to find good music at rowing stroke rates in the first place.

Can I use the app in landscape?

Yes, during a workout. The player screen follows your phone when you rotate it, which suits a phone sitting in a cradle. Every other screen stays in portrait.

Does it keep working when my phone locks?

Yes. Music keeps playing and, if a rowing machine is connected, its metrics keep updating with the screen off. Lock screen and headphone controls work as they do for any music app.

Can RowBeat save a playlist to my Apple Music library?

No, and this is a deliberate trade. RowBeat authorizes playback entirely on your device, which means there is no sign-in that can expire in the middle of a workout. The cost is that the app has no ability to write to your library.