As promised earlier this year at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), the company today confirmed it’s broadening access to its Apple Fitness+ service to users beyond Apple Watch owners alone. At its iPhone 14 event today, Apple indicated that, later this fall, Apple Fitness+ would be available to all iPhone users regardless of whether or not they owned an Apple Watch.
In a press release, Apple said the Fitness+ would arrive in all 21 countries where the service is offered.
Previously, Fitness+ was designed to cater to Watch owners who wanted to access workouts from their wrist-worn wearable, offering a variety of different workout types ranging from yoga to strength training to HIIT to even wellness-focused sessions involving guided mediations. Through the Fitness app, users can view things like real-time metrics, such as their heart rate, directly on the Watch’s screen. Since it’s a subscription, the service also promises regular weekly updates with new workouts.
The expansion will bring the Fitness app to all iPhone users, where it can track things like walking info and other fitness metrics. Plus, when detailing the new iPhone 14 this afternoon, Apple noted the Fitness app would also now include an enhanced workout summary as part of its feature set.
The company also says iOS 16 users will be able to earn awards for personal records, streaks, or major milestones — like completing a Fitness+ workout or meditation.
The app itself will ship to iPhone users with the release of iOS 16, which is arriving on Monday, September 12.
The Fitness app will also offer iPhone users access to the existing service’s 3,000 studio-style workouts and meditations.
Image Credits: Apple
The company didn’t offer much more about the iPhone version of the Fitness app during its presentation, indicating the release is not necessarily about giving the app itself a big upgrade, but rather about bringing a potential revenue-generator to more Apple consumers.
Plenty of Apple owners are in the market for a workout app, as the App Store’s top charts show, but until this expansion, they didn’t have the option of a first-party version.
With iOS 16’s release on Monday, Fitness+ will also get its latest release of new workouts, with an updated fourth “season” of its walking companion audio feature, Time to Walk. This season will include guests like actor Regina Hall, Latin Grammy winner Nicky Jam, Emmy Award-winning performer Leslie Jordan, actor Constance Wu, and singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor.
The audio companion Time to Run, meanwhile, will add new episodes featuring popular running routes in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming; Mexico City; Anchorage, Alaska; Monterey, California; Seattle; and Queenstown, New Zealand.
Image Credits: Apple
This update will also include the latest Artist Spotlight series with workouts featuring the music of Mary J. Blige, The Rolling Stones, and The Weeknd, as well as a new “Pilates for More than Your Core” workout collection, and the addition of a new yoga trainer, Dice Iida-Klein (pictured above).
The Fitness+ subscription costs $9.99 per month, or $79.99 per year, and typically offers a 1-month trial. It can also be bundled with the $29.95 per month Apple One subscription which offers up to 6 Apple services in one payment.
And if you do end up purchasing an Apple Watch, you’ll get 3 free months of the Fitness+ subscription to get started. On watchOS 9, Apple noted the Fitness+ subscription will include additional onscreen guidance and trainer coaching for the following workouts: Intensity for HIIT, Cycling, Rowing, and Treadmill; Strokes per Minute (SPM) for Rowing; Revolutions per Minute (RPM) for Cycling; and Incline for walkers and runners in Treadmill.
Apple’s Fitness+ subscription is coming to iPhone with iOS 16 by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch
