Apple’s ho-hum fitness service should be so much more than just workout videos.
Apple launched its hotly-anticipated new fitness service in December, but after the initial shine of a “new Apple thing” wore off, it has proven to be rather unremarkable. Fitness+ is just…okay. If you want to work out along with fitness videos, and you own an Apple Watch, it will let you do that. It’s a quality set of videos, well-produced with excellent instructors. But that’s really all it is. At its heart, Fitness+ is a nice set of well-made workout videos. The instructors are likable, energetic, and enthusiastic without acting like drill sergeants or cult leaders. That’s good, but it’s not enough. There are lots of services offering workout videos, and they don’t even require you to own an Apple Watch. Factor in the limited availability (you can only watch videos on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV—not on smart TVs, Macs, or in a web browser) and it’s hard to see what Apple really brings to the table other than nice production values. As a set of workout videos with limited device support, there’s not much to recommend Fitness+. A little overlay in the corner of your workout shows key data from your Apple Watch—Apple talks about this feature like it’s truly revolutionary, but it’s little more than a curiosity. It’s nice to have, and frankly an expected benefit of a service built in Apple’s tight ecosystem, but it doesn’t solve the biggest problems with working out.
