Source: apple
For many people, the start of the new year is a natural time to focus on fitness as a goal for the year ahead. That’s certainly true of Apple, which just unveiled some additions to its Fitness+ service as we head into 2022.
The service, which launched in December 2020, has seen a few updates since then, but there’s still plenty of room for further Fitness+ improvements. Here’s how Apple can take Fitness+ to the next level in 2022.
Better training together
When SharePlay for Fitness+ was first announced, I was excited. My wife and I both wear an Apple Watch and up to this point when we worked out together we had to find and launch the same workout video (one on the Apple TV and the other on an iPad) at the same time. We both watched the workout on the Apple TV and muted the sound on the iPad, but it was the only way we both got credit for completing the Fitness+ session.
Source: apple
The downside was that it only showed one person’s Apple Watch rings on the big screen and we had the cumbersome and imprecise process of counting down from three to simultaneously pressing play. Not a magical Apple experience.
While SharePlay solves some of these problems and is an especially great tool for those who don’t want to work out together in the same room, it’s too complicated for families. What I really want to see is the Apple TV’s (or even iPad’s) fitness app allowing more than one user to join the same workout. When you first open the Fitness app on Apple TV, you can choose which Apple Watch you want to connect to for a workout, but for now you can only choose one. It should just let me select more than one at this point, run the workout on all of them, and show the rings for each device on the screen. This could even be capped at two to five devices to avoid cluttering up the UI.
Asynchronous Training
Source: iMore
For some people, training is a program and they hit the gym or hit the play button of a Fitness+ workout at the same time every day. For others, their exercise time is much more sporadic, spontaneous, or simply needs to adjust to other priorities in life. It can therefore be difficult to commit some people to working out with you via SharePlay at any given time, as Apple intends.
It’s not always possible to jump to a FaceTime call.
Instead, Apple could implement a shared training system that doesn’t require participants to attend at exactly the same time. Maybe I’m doing a HIIT workout in the morning and my training partner does the same workout later in the day. While it wouldn’t quite have the same effect as live, this way there’s still a social and motivating element to fitness + workouts without having to be ready to jump on a FaceTime call.
Since the Apple Watch has become an integral part of my life, I’ve had periods when I’ve felt really motivated by seeing my Apple Watch-wearing friends’ workouts, as well as periods when I’ve fully enjoyed the social features switched off after feeling overwhelmed. I think this asynchronous training feature needs a bit of nuance in order not to feel like a guilty whiner; something like the week-long activity competitions that you can set up ad hoc between friends. It could be a nice addition if you feel up to it.
Filter better
Fitness+ already allows for some filtering by allowing you to filter workouts by trainer, time, music, and required equipment. These are all useful and often necessary. However, Fitness+ now has over 2,000 workouts in its library, so advanced filtering is required to make finding the right workout even easier.
Tapping through each workout to find the right one is a real obstacle to hitting play.
The new Collections feature helps – and hopefully will continue to be updated regularly – but sometimes you want to be able to select your workouts based on other criteria, like difficulty or muscle group. For example, the day after a long outdoor run, I might not want to end up in a strength training session that involves multiple rounds of squats. Each workout episode description describes what the workout entails and how strenuous it should be for the most part, but tapping on each episode to find one you want is a real chore and a real hindrance to actually hitting play.
guest coach
Source: Lukas Filipowicz / iMore
Apple has already shown its willingness to use the power of celebrity to try to bring Fitness+ into the mainstream, tying the likes of Shawn Mendes, Naomi Campbell and Prince William to Time to Walk workouts. It has also highlighted specific musicians in workouts with its Artist Spotlight series.
One feature that flew a little under the radar is the Guest Trainer Series, which was announced back in June. Six months later, Jeanette Jenkins, the trainer who started the series, remains the only guest trainer.
Apple has shown its willingness to use the power of celebrities to bring Fitness+ into the mainstream.
I see the Guest Trainer Series as a great opportunity for Apple to bring in renowned fitness experts on a temporary basis while bringing their own audience with them. It’s great for users exploring a new coaching style or specific training knowledge, and probably good for Apple as the new trainer will put Fitness+ in the spotlight.
It’s not hard to imagine a run of people like Sweat founder Kayla Itsines, high-profile personal trainer Harley Pasternak, or popular British trainer Joe Wicks. Apple might even enlist current or former athletes for insightful coaching and celebrity appeal.
Iron out these mistakes
Source: Lukas Filipowicz / iMore
Last but not least, Apple Fitness+ still has some persistent bugs that have been around since its inception. It occasionally loses connection with Apple Watch and crashes. It’s not possible to pick up a workout where you left off, and it’s not even possible to manually scrub forward in a workout to get to the point where it crashed.
There’s also no way to start a workout on one machine and pick up where you left off on another. This is rarely a problem, but sometimes someone else might want to use the TV and point the exercise machine at the iPad in another room.
Witness the fitness
It’s clear that Apple intends to continue pushing its services into 2022, and I hope Fitness+ will be updated with new features, workouts, and collections throughout the year.
I know January is the time of year everyone hopes to snag some of the best Fitness+ gear and reignite their passion for fitness. Apple is making the right noise when it comes to Fitness+ continuing to improve in 2022 right now. Let’s hope he can keep his New Year’s resolution better than most of us.
Fancy fixations
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