Broadcast Mode
Solo AI commentary that narrates your ride like a sporting event.
How It Works
Broadcast Mode is the foundation of Ride Director. It runs entirely on your iPhone — no internet connection required during the ride.
The AI analyzes your GPS data in real-time and compares it to your ride history on the same route. When something noteworthy happens, the commentator speaks through your AirPods.
Broadcast Categories
| Category | Example | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| History Compare | ”8 seconds faster than last week” | 5 |
| PR Tracking | ”On pace for a new PR” | 4 |
| New PR | ”New PR. 4:17.” | 3 |
| Heart Rate Zone | ”Red zone.” | 6 |
| Effort Change | ”Picked up the pace” | 6 |
Lower priority number = higher importance. Priority 1 (safety) always gets through.
The 4-Gate System
Every broadcast must pass all four gates:
- Confidence Gate — The condition must persist for a set duration (e.g., effort change must sustain for 20 seconds)
- Cooldown Gate — Minimum time between broadcasts of the same category
- Silence Budget — Maximum 6 broadcasts per 10-minute window
- Audio Priority — Queue holds max 2 items; lowest priority is discarded when full
Narrative Arc
Your ride has three phases with different broadcast densities:
- Departure (first 5 min) — Cooldown multiplied by 3x. Minimal speech.
- Body (main ride) — Normal cooldowns. Event-driven commentary.
- Finale (last 10%) — Cooldown at 0.6x. Denser commentary for the finish.
Route Learning
Ride Director uses a route fingerprinting system. When you ride the same route, the app recognizes it and can compare your current performance to previous rides.
The fingerprint works by simplifying GPS tracks (Douglas-Peucker, 50m tolerance), quantizing to a 100m grid, and hashing with SHA-256. Minor detours within the grid tolerance still match.