Apple Fitness Plus review

I’ve cycled, danced, squatted and mindful cooldown-ed with Apple Fitness Plus, all in an effort to close my Apple Watch rings. Honestly, I close my rings most days, but exercising chiefly to satisfy the activity push-notification gods might seem like an odd experience.

Apple Fitness Plus, which costs $9.99 per month, feels more complete than it did when it first launched. It’s always appeared as polished-looking as the ads — but some key gaps made it less mandatory for Apple’s legions of users than, say, Apple Music or even Apple TV Plus. 

It added Time to Walk and Time to Run features, plus Audio Meditation in the Apple Watch's Mindfulness app. We've tried them all out, and found they help justify the monthly membership fee.

So if you’re already enthusiastic about closing your rings every day, you’ll appreciate Fitness Plus’s pursuits and the suave instructors inside Apple’s So-Cal studios. It’s also an enhancement to your Amazon-ordered treadmill or exercise bike. But there are some caveats we note in this Apple Fitness Plus review, so read on to find out if it's right for you.

Apple Fitness Plus review: Price, availability and compatibility

Announced alongside the Apple Watch 6 and Apple Watch SE, Apple Fitness Plus is positioned as a wrist-based program, but works with iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs to stream workout classes. It's compatible with the newer Apple Watch 7, of course, and will presumably work with the rumored Apple Watch 8.

Apple Fitness Plus costs $9.99 per month, or $79.99 per year (the latter is more cost-effective, clearly.) Those who buy any of the best Apple Watch models will get 3 months free, though. Otherwise first-time users get one month free before being charged the monthly or annual membership fee.

Of course, Apple Fitness Plus is also included in an Apple One bundle. The Premier tier, which costs $29.95 per month, offers Fitness Plus in addition to Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple News Plus and 2TB of iCloud storage. If you already use some of Apple’s services, it could be worth packaging them under a single monthly charge.

Apple Fitness Plus review: Set up and equipment

Before you read another word of this Apple Fitness Plus review, know that you must own an Apple Watch Series 3 or later to use this fitness program. Which means you’ll need to own an iPhone, too. 

If you're itching to use Apple Fitness Plus but lack the hardware to match, check out the best Apple Watch deals. Me? I had my Apple Watch Series 6 ready to go.

Also, Apple Fitness Plus is mostly a video-based program, so you'll likely want a screen for watching classes, unless you're using Time to Walk or Time to Run. An iPhone is fine, but you might be able to follow along better if you use an iPad or Apple TV 4K. I used all three and found the iPad Air useful for cycling workouts, while my 55-inch TV display is better for HIIT, dancing and yoga.

That’s not all — there's equipment you might need depending on the kind of workouts you favor. At the very least, one of the best yoga mats is useful for floor-based exercise. If you have any of the best treadmills or best exercise bikes, you can take advantage of more classes, too.

I wrote a guide on how to set up Apple Fitness Plus, but here’s the short version: Make sure your watchOS and iOS software is up to date, then open the Fitness Plus tab in your Fitness app. Follow the on-screen prompts, watch the introduction video and you should be ready to get started with workouts.

Apple Fitness Plus review: Class selection

There are about over 1000 classes on Apple Fitness Plus at this point, with new classes uploaded throughout the week. Unlike the Peloton App, which costs $12.99 per month, there are no live classes on Apple Fitness Plus. Peloton also has a greater backlog of on-demand classes thanks to its having been around longer; it also has an outdoor running coach.

Besides Time to Walk and Time to Run, Apple Fitness Plus classes are all indoors (in stunning Hollywood-quality studios, might I mention), and span 10 different types of workouts with built-in soundtracks that absolutely rival Peloton’s coveted playlists. Better yet, classes are categorized by music genre, so you can strength train with angsty rock or stretch to slow pop. There are even artist-themed classes.

Classes are labeled by instructor and time, too. A useful filter tool lets you search options ranging from 5 to 45 minutes, although most classes are 10, 20, or 30 minutes. This is fairly standard among at-home workout programs nowadays, giving users the chance to squeeze in a sweat session even during a busy day.

But there’s a labeling catch that speaks to a greater point of weakness in Apple Fitness Plus: Classes aren’t rated by difficulty or experience level. While trailers offer a unique sneak peak at the workout to come, it’s not enough to tell a user whether a workout is right for them.

Luckily, during most classes there are several coaches on-screen taking cues from a so-called lead coach. One of those additional coaches usually offers a modification, which I needed for a 20-minute yoga practice that was too difficult for me. Although I practice once a week, yoga is one of those workout types that’s labeled for skill level by design, so I think adding ratings should definitely be on Apple’s short list of Fitness Plus updates.

Apple Fitness Plus review: What are the workouts like?

Since I’m already an active person with a diverse workout regimen, the only thing I’m doing now that I didn’t do before Fitness Plus is cardio dancing. And I’ll tell you, grooving with LaShawn is a blast.

I’m a big fan of the cycling classes, too. Sherica, Kym and Tyrell rival the Peloton instructor’s infectious energy, but give cues in a way that’s inclusive to all exercise bike models. That said, if I didn’t understand cycling form or terminology, I don’t think Apple Fitness Plus’s classes would be the best options for me or other beginners. I also wished the service offered warm-up and cool-down rides.

As for HIIT and strength training, Bakari and Betina know how to break a sweat. I opted for these styles of training when I only had 10 or 20 minutes to workout that day. Sometimes I coupled a core workout, and I swear my abs felt stronger for it, even if I’ll never actually see them. 

Mid-workout, Apple Fitness Plus always showed me my ring progress. “Close your rings,” is the service’s not-so-subtle mantra, as evident by the real-time ring progression plastered on the screen. When I workout with other Apple Health-compatible programs, I won’t see my rings move until the activity is over. With Apple Fitness Plus, my Move and Exercise rings inched closed as my class progressed.

I could imagine this getting addictive for people who must close their rings to sleep easy at night, but that’s not me. I’m not a sociopath. I’m obviously satisfied when I earn a new badge or my triumvirate of daily goals, but it’s not my motivating factor for workouts.

I appreciate how Fitness Plus kept a detailed log of all my past classes, complete with the time I exercised, how many active calories I burned, my heart rate chart and other conditions based on where I worked out. In addition, there’s a Burn Bar feature that shows you how many calories you burned compared to other users who took the same class. If a layer of competition isn’t your thing, this metric is optional. It also doesn’t apply to Mindful Cooldown classes, where the goal is to find namaste instead of sweat.

Apple Fitness Plus review: Verdict

If I’ve learned anything from my chronicles of at-home fitness, there’s no perfect app or platform that everyone enjoys. Apple Fitness Plus Is a good choice for the dedicated Apple Watch wearer, and at $9.99, it's actually more affordable than the memberships associated with workout machines. If you have a TV, iPhone, iPad and an Apple Watch, that's theoretically all you need.

Can't afford a Peloton? Get a $400 bike on Amazon and cycle with Sherica, I promise you won’t be disappointed. I’ll make the same vow to Apple Watch owners who must close their rings, or want entry to ring-closing cult. Seriously, it’s rare to find HIIT classes that won’t make you hate working out.

Still, until Apple Fitness Plus adds difficulty ratings, I’m not entirely convinced. I’m not cancelling my membership, though.