Apple, this is not what I meant when I said Fitness + Needs Goals

When Fitness + fell a few weeks ago, we were quite impressed with the launchbut the service is not perfect. One of our complaints was that you could only filter workouts by music, height, and trainer – those of us hoping to browse by goal (i.e., run a 5K, make your way to a pull-up, etc.) or the intensity were out of happiness. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the Fitness + app today to check out the new workouts that drop every Monday.

A video message from HIIT trainer Kim Ngo greeted me at the top of the app with a description that read: “Goal Setting Training and New Limited Edition Award.” My eyebrows flew into the stratosphere. Of course Fitness + is still being expanded, but this had to be done Listing speed for a fitness app that implements early user feedback. In the video, Kim – who is a cardio killing machine despite her bubbly personality – pointed to two workouts this week that are part of a “ set of goals. ” Oh, there is one new limited edition challenge for Apple Watch owners in the new year (approx.lose all three rings for seven days in a row sometime in January.)

I was thrilled. I did the two featured workouts: a 20 minute strength workout and a 10 minute HIIT workout. I got sweaty enough. What I didn’t realize is that what Apple meant by “goal setting” was not some kind of fitness program … so much as the instructors who encouraged me to get off to a good start with my fitness goals for the new year. Because did you hear it? Iapparently it’s a new year.

During the strength training trainer Gregg mainly spoke about how I should be notice what my weaknesses and strengths were, and that I needed to focus on which areas I wanted to get stronger in the coming year. Well. But getting pretty straightforward advice and pep talk wasn’t exactly what I meant when I said Fitness + should include targeted programs.

Other fitness apps often include a few programs that help you work your way up. In active apps, they are often structured lessons like a Couch up to 5K or improve your pace for a certain distance over the course of 8-32 weeks. In Aaptiv there are programs with a theme “To get stronger,“ that’s a collection of lessons that range from goals like ‘muscle growth,“ learn how to use kettlebells or perfect your push-up. While Fitness + has an Absolute Beginner program to help complete newbies through different types of workouts, that’s about it.

This doesn’t mean that Fitness + is bad – it just emphasizes that this platform was built around the idea of ​​taking you further into Apple’s ecosystem. A stupid part of my lizard brain was definitely going, “Ooh! Limited Edition badge that means nothing in the end? Sign me up! What a cool integration! “Do I feel more incentivized to do Fitness + workouts with every notification I get on my wrist that a friend has just completed a Fitness + workout? Unfortunately yes. I am a fitness lemming. Poking around Apple Music, sometime since launch there is now an Apple Fitness + Studio series: a group of playlists curated by the instructors for different genres and types of workouts. If you browse the accessories in Apple’s online store, you will find now links to the products the instructors use in the videos, including a $ 120 Manduka yoga mat.

What Apple is doing with Fitness + is basically taking a page out of Marvel’s playbook and building a universe of interconnected shapes products, services and personalities. It’s no different from what Platoon has but it does have a lower entry cost, because even if you bought an Apple Watch, iPad, and Apple TV, it’s still possible to get everything for less than the price of one Peloton bike. (But unlike Peloton, Fitness + needs at least some hardware – you can subscribe to the Peloton app without making money for a bike.)

Cynically, you could convincingly argue that Fitness + is first an Apple ad and second a fitness app. That’s a bit harsh, considering there are things that Fitness + does really well. The service is really thoughtfully designed and inclusive. But much of that thoughtfulness comes in the way it connects to Apple hardware and services. Just ask the dozens of people who complain on forums that Fitness + is not compatible with AirPlay 2 for beaming workouts to a bigger screen. It’s not something ever built to stand on its own or to play nice with other ecosystems. If it were, I don’t think I would be craving some missing features here, such as more targeted programs, options for varied equipment, a focus on intensity and difficulty, and the ability to transfer a workout from my phone to my apple.– free TV.