In April, the Apple Watch will turn ten, firmly on its way to becoming mature, as technology products go. But maturity hasn’t meant stagnation, and a piece of tech that is built largely around keeping you moving hasn’t stood still: even in the latest WatchOS 11 update, the Watch received a host of more advanced fitness features, including the option to give yourself rest days from your activity rings and to better track training load over time.
Over those ten years, Apple’s approach to the Watch has evolved dramatically too. From the start, Fitness features were a core part of the Apple Watch. But that became even more true over time, as Apple retreated from some of its earlier communications tools and refined its thinking about using the Watch as a way to keep people moving and monitor their health.
At the same time, Apple’s own view of the Watch has evolved, says Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of fitness technologies. Many of the fundamental ideas of the Watch are the same as they were when the Watch was first launched in April 2014: a focus on Fitness, a sense that it would be incredibly personal since people would wear it on their body at all times, and the ways that it could be used to keep more active. But over those 10 years, as the capabilities of the Watch as well as what people use it for has changed, Apple has re-thought some of the ways it works, Blahnik tells The Independent.
“Over the years, we’ve added so many different features, and the idea behind that is that we know different things motivate different people, and so we’ve always been excited about making sure that when we add features, we’re thinking about the broadest set of users possible,” he says. “That includes everything from things like activity sharing, so that you could keep up to date with your closest friends on what they’re doing, in terms of their fitness awards, limited edition Awards, giving you insight on your trends, celebrations, monthly challenges.
“With the launch of Apple Watch Ultra we completely redesigned the workout app to push even further for our pro users that were looking to push the Apple Watch even further. We added brand metrics and views and experiences for people that spend more time in the workout app, and really wanted to get some of those pro features to push them further in their marathon training, or if they were training for an Ironman. And those features have been incredibly well received, and we keep pushing the limit on what the workout app can do.”
That has happened all over again in the past year. Apple launched new hardware for the Watch – including new colours for that Ultra – as well as software updates to its health offerings. Those included long-requests tools such as the option to see training load over time and to pause its addictive activity rings to avoid being told off for taking a break during an injury, for instance.
Blahnik is talking ahead of the release of a host of new Fitness+ updates, including new workouts for pickleball and artist spotlights on musicians including Kendrick Lamar. Fitness+ has received regular updates with new workouts and programme changes in the years since it was originally launched at the end of December 2020. (The timing meant that it was perfectly placed to take advantage of the move to work out at home because of the pandemic, though Apple has always been clear that work had started long before anyone knew that was coming.)
Apple’s New Year update comes at a busy time for the app and for fitness platforms generally, and Blahnik acknowledges that many people will be finding their way into it amid commitments to stay more active in 2025. With each update, however, the platform gets not only more fully featured but also potentially more complicated. How does Apple avoid turning off those people who might be overwhelmed by the array of options?
“I think one of the things I love about Apple Watch, the fitness ecosystem and Apple Fitness+, is that we work really deeply, not only with our software teams to build the features, but with our design teams to make sure that everything we build is easy to use, even if it’s your first time trying it. So whether you’re starting your first workout or whether you’re spending your first week closing your activity rings, we want to make it as simple as possible to get going. And so even though there is a lot there, we feel really strongly that most people who find their way in find it really easy to get going, and then they’re able to build on the features that they love.”
He points to a “for you”page in the app that offers new workouts and learns from what people do to suggest more things that they might like, for instance. Even expert exercisers might be a beginner to some things, he notes, and the app will also offer new ways to work out that people might not have tried before. “I think what we pride ourselves on is making sure that no matter what level you’re at, the watch the fitness app and Fitness+ really do meet you where you’re at and make it easy to onboard.”
There is always the danger, however, that being too inclusive could make it hard for people to really level up. Some of them might even have begun their fitness career with the Apple Watch and Fitness+ years ago, for instance, but be looking for something more challenging. Many of the new workouts are focused on those people, such as a new yoga “peak poses” series that helps people work on more challenging positions; the Watch also packs in advanced features but puts them within menus, so that they’re ready for when people feel the need to push themselves or focus their training, says Blahnik.
Blahnik and Apple generally often focus on the ways that their fitness offerings get people moving: he often speaks about “helping people be more active” and encouraging them to “live a better day by including more fitness in their life”. But perhaps unusually many of Apple’s recent updates are about moderation: the new rest days and training load features are ways for people to also take a break without getting told off by their Apple Watch. They grow in part from feedback from professionals who are using Apple’s devices and need ways to ensure that they are controlling their efforts properly, but also from daily users who might find themselves ramping up too quickly. Apple has been working to ensure that the watch offers a holistic tool for everyone from the fastest athletes to those just trying to keep fit, in part from a recognition that those might sometimes be the same person.
That is perhaps the biggest finding of the 10 years since the Apple Watch was released, Blahnik suggests when asked about what he has realised over that decade of putting millions of Watches on millions of people’s wrists. “In the beginning, we may have thought that people who were less sporty might be focused on their day, and that people who were more spot would be focused on the workout,” he says.
“What we’ve been delighted to see is that for every athlete that loves their workout, they’ve become really conscious of having a more active day as well. And for every person that might have said that they don’t really focus on workouts, we hear from someone that says that getting exercise credit and filling rings was the thing that made me start tracking my walks – and then I decided to run, and then I went to the gym. So we’ve been delighted to see that the activity app and the workout app have really motivated the super elite to make their days healthier, and also those beginners to get more fit over time. That’s been lovely to see.”
