Apple on Tuesday introduced a new Fitness+ home workout service that offers guided training videos that can be watched on iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV and monitored with the Apple Watch.
Given that Fitness+ provides videos that are ideal for people who are unable to visit gyms and other facilities, it has been seen as a logical response to the ongoing health crisis, but Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams today told Reuters that it was planned long ago.
MacRumors in March discovered signs of the new Fitness+ service in a leaked version of iOS 14, confirming that Apple was working on it well before people began working and learning from home.
Work on Fitness+ started "quite a while ago" as a "natural extension goal of Apple Watch, which is to help people live a better day." Apple has long had a focus on encouraging people to be more active with the Apple Watch, offering an Activity app with daily movement goals.
"At least pre-Covid, if you could write one prescription for the world from physicians, it would have been to be more active. It's so powerful," Williams said in a press briefing. "So anything we do in that realm that helps people be more active is something we're excited about."
Fitness+ will offer workouts across a range of categories, including yoga, dance, treadmill walk and run, cycling, HIIT, rowing, core, strength, and mindful cooldown.
Apple films workout videos using a team of trainers in Los Angeles, with the exercises focusing on using little to no equipment.
Apple is planning to launch Fitness+ by the end of the year, with Apple charging $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. Those who buy a new Apple Watch Series 3 or later will get a free three month trial.
