Apple may have changed fitness forever in 2020 with the launch of Fitness Plus, the Apple Watch based service. This is a brand new service, but already includes a wide variety of workouts and cool downs, all placed to current music and featuring several different instructors. What makes Apple’s Fitness Plus different from other online exercise services is that it integrates with the Apple Watch to provide on-screen heart rate and calorie burn information throughout the workout.
Apple intensified its focus on fitness with the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015. Apple Activity and Workout apps have been refined, expanded, and improved over the years to provide automatic recognition of many types of workouts, automatic pause and resume, statistical tracking of heart rate, how many steps are taken, distance traveled, calories burned, workout duration, and even sleep patterns. Of course, much has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, which limits the types of exercise that are available. More people are keeping fit from home, meaning online fitness services are in high demand.
Apple Fitness Plus arrived just in time to help meet those new year’s resolutions, when everyone is looking to get a fresh start and with more people than ever needing to strengthen their immune systems and increase their fitness while staying at home. The service offers a unique ability to integrate with the Apple Watch and, in fact, one is required to sign up for the service. Since Fitness Plus knows the heart rate of the Apple Watch wearer, it can provide on-screen motivation to increase pace and achieve the best workout possible. If age, height, and weight have been added to the health app, that data can also be used to tailor the recommendations. Apple is just getting started with Fitness Plus and it will interesting to see how the service grows. At present, workout categories include HIIT, core, strength, dance, yoga, and mindful cool-down. For those with exercise equipment, there are also classes for cycling, treadmill running, treadmill walking, and rowing. Apple may add more categories in the future and this is already a wide selection — and wide enough to inspire exploration.
Apple Fitness Plus Price & Restrictions
Apple is offering a free three month trial of Fitness Plus for anyone who purchased an Apple Watch after September 15, 2020. For those who bought before that date, the free trial period lasts just one month. After the trial ends, the regular subscription cost is $9.99 per month, or $79.99 per year, saving about $40 by committing to a longer period. Either option is a great deal that will only get better as more workouts will be added every week, expanding the library that subscribers can choose from. While Apple includes 11 workout categories, the only subcategories are by length of the session, the trainer, and the type of music. That may be a bit disappointing for anyone used to online classes that offer different degrees of intensity. Another issue for some will be the music selection. It is quite varied, but each class has a fixed music list and there is no option to listen to the instructor’s voice only or to choose your own playlist. So, there is room for improvement.
An Apple Watch is required to subscribe to the service, but anyone can participate by watching the Apple TV, iPad, or iPhone of a subscriber. It just means their heart rate, calories, and other stats will not be shown on-screen. Family sharing allows up to six members to enjoy Fitness Plus with a single subscription. Sound from Fitness Plus can be cast to a HomePod or HomePod mini using AirPlay, but for some reason, Apple doesn’t allow using a Mac to view Fitness Plus. This may change but, at the moment, those that want a screen larger than an iPhone need an Apple TV or an iPad. For anyone looking to begin exercising more or anyone that owns an Apple Watch, Fitness Plus is a refreshing change to exercise that may alter how workouts are done forever.
