Oct 28, 2025

Ask Later, Run Now: The TunedRun Approach to Permissions

At TunedRun, we’re the kind of people who are hard to reach. Unless you’ve been granted VIP status on our devices (think Spouse, Mother, Brother), your message won’t buzz, ping, or flash across our screens. We choose when to read and respond — and honestly, it’s been great for our mental health.

We’re rarely interrupted, unless it’s something truly important — like a family emergency — and that peace of mind is something we treasure. It’s also something we want to extend to our users.

At TunedRun, we won’t pester, annoy, or chase “engagement” for its own sake. We love running — that’s it. Nothing kills a good run faster than your phone lighting up mid-stride with a “so-and-so just texted you.” Turn that 💩 off!

With that in mind, we recommend creating a “Fitness Focus” or “Do Not Disturb” mode that automatically activates whenever you start a run workout.

The Problem: Too Many Prompts, Too Soon

You know the drill — you open a new app, start signing up, and before you’ve even logged in, you’re hit with a barrage of pop-ups:

“Allow notifications?”
“Share your location?”
“Grant access to your photos?”

It’s like showing up at a theme park and being handed a stack of NDAs and waivers before you’ve even bought your ticket. Frustrating, right? Kind of leaves you with “1 star review” feelings at the start no?

So why do so many apps do this? We can only guess, but we suspect two main reasons:

They’re chasing engagement metrics. A quick “Allow notifications” prompt feels like an easy win.
They misinterpret Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines — reading “You need permission before sending notifications” as “Ask for permission immediately.” 🫠

Our Approach: Respect First, Notifications Later

At TunedRun, we take a different approach.

We’re not interested in keeping you in the app — we’d rather keep you on your run. Our main screen says it all:

“You’re all set, go run.”

We took Apple’s advice to heart — not just the “get permission” part, but the line that follows:

“People appreciate receiving a notification for something they care about.”

That’s our north star. 💫

When you sign up for TunedRun, we only ask for what’s essential — like access to your music provider so we can build playlists.

Once your playlist is ready, then we’ll offer a clear, simple “Notify Me” button. Tap it, and we’ll send a push notification when your playlist is done or if there’s a hiccup.

And when you come back to the app? We automatically unregister that permission. You’ll never get pinged again unless you explicitly ask to!

It’s simple: we notify you when you care, about what you care about.
No noise. No nonsense. Just running.