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Apple Fitness+ will be officially launched in selected countries (not in Germany) this evening. The first test reports have now been made available online - this is what the press says.
Apple Fitness+ will launch later this evening on iOS 14.3, iPadOS 14.3, tvOS 14.3, and watchOS 7.2 in the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and Australia. The brand new service is an Apple Watch-focused home workout program that guides users through various workouts and complements the fitness-focused features of the Apple Watch. The service provides workouts that are suitable for every user. During the workout, the Apple Watch monitors the individual metrics. Of course, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV are also part of the new service. The first test reports have now been published.
Apple Fitness+: About 180 training sessions in 10 categories
Loud CNET The motivating factor is the way the Apple Watch displays values on the screen during training:
The tasks were pretty simple and after a while it started to get repetitive. What really kept me engaged was seeing my heart rate go up and down on the screen in real time. I felt like it gave me an honest assessment of how much effort I was putting into each movement and that I was pushing myself harder than I otherwise would have.
Loud input With the launch of Apple Fitness+, around 180 workouts in 10 categories are available:
There's a lot to do at launch. I counted about 180 workouts across the various activities (HIIT, yoga, core, strength, treadmill, cycling, rowing, dance, and cooldown). Apple says more will be added over time. How many more and with what frequency is unclear, but there's a "New this week" section within the app to highlight the latest.
Apple Fitness+: Compared to Peloton
The report by CNBC focuses heavily on cycling and comparing it to Peloton, especially in terms of instructor diversity and commitment:
But after taking about eight cycling classes through Fitness+, I started to get used to and enjoy the different Apple Fitness+ instructors. My favorites so far are cycling instructors Emily Fayette, Bakari Williams, and Tyrell Desean, although I have yet to take a class with all 20 instructors for a variety of workouts. There is a wide range of classes to choose from including high-intensity interval training (HIIT), spinning, yoga, treadmill, rowing, strength, and dance.
Interestingly, the trainers for cycling training such as bicycle training do not offer any specific cadence or resistance values. These can be freely selected.
Apple Fitness+ does a great job of encouraging all fitness levels. During each workout, there are additional coaches that show you recommended tweaks or changes you can make if you're not in perfect shape like the coaches. In the cycling workouts, I was encouraged to push myself but not to set a specific resistance or cadence level, which I liked better than Peloton, where at first I felt like I wasn't working as hard if I couldn't maintain the harder resistance levels.
New service requires Apple Watch
Testers concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic was the perfect time for a debut. Tight integration with Apple Watch, a variety of instructors, and class options for all skill levels help make the program an intimidating fitness solution for all users. However, they criticized the fact that Apple Fitness+ lacks many of the social features that Peloton offers. For example, there is no public leaderboard, no live classes, and no real-time feedback from instructors. In addition, the service requires an Apple Watch. It is currently unknown when the new subscription will be available in this country. (Image: Apple)
