12 Of The Best Apple Watch Health & Fitness Apps According To User Reviews

If you wear your Apple Watch to the gym, a comprehensive app like Gymaholic will help you stick to your schedule. It lets you plan your sessions ahead of time, helping you determine which muscles you want to work and how hard you want to push yourself. Where the app really excels is in the little guided demonstrations it shows for every exercise in its catalog—and it has a lot. And during the day, Apple Watch counts pushes and identifies different stroke types to award the right amount of Move and Exercise credit.

Athlytic aims to be your own personal AI coach — one that knows you more intimately than any coach could — to save you money on a costly personal trainer. It takes all your fitness metrics (resting heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature, everything) and uses machine learning to transmute that data into bespoke workouts and recoveries. The Apple Watch continues to be one of Apple’s best products, even if its latest iterations (like the Apple Watch Series 10) are only marginal improvements. It’s a thoughtful health tool that inspires you to improve your lifestyle. It can do quite a lot without installing a single third-party app, but should you choose to, you’ll take your Apple Watch to the next level.

Streaks Workout

One of the few technical details Apple didn’t improve was battery life — the SE 3 still lasts around 18 hours per charge. In one of our tests, which included a cross-country flight and 48-minute mini golf session, the watch has 27 percent battery left after around 13 hours of use with no reliance on low power mode. Another option I like is the $179.99 Garmin Vivomove Sport, which actually dominated this category in the past few years. It’s hard to beat the price, especially since it gets you access to Garmin’s platform.

The app houses your entire fitness journey in one convenient location. When you need quick mindfulness moments throughout your day, having Headspace on your wrist makes mental wellness more accessible than ever. The science-backed content helps you develop skills to manage stress and anxiety. Some Apple Watch users prefer to run both the native Workout app and Nike Run Club simultaneously. If you want to try this approach, just start Nike Run Club first followed by the native app.

  • The hardware in both current-generation Galaxy smartwatches makes for a more future-proof purchase, but I found the AI health features to be hit-or-miss in practice.
  • (In testing, I got closer to eight to nine days as a power-user.) European users also get NFC payments.
  • The Oura Ring 4 isn’t functionally that much different from the previous Gen 3.
  • Just note that the watch case is large at 33.5 mm, just like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7.And if your watch is tainted, the warranty is two years.
  • Even with the best water bottle, staying hydrated is hard when you’re facing a busy schedule, so this app will notify you if you’ve gone a little too long without water.
  • When he’s not writing about training programs or gear, he can be seen at the gym or in the wild, putting them to the test.

Our experts know that a user-friendly interface is essential for any app that you’ll actually use consistently, and Apple Fitness+ delivers one that is simple. Testers said it was easy to find what they were looking for, and many liked the 60-second recap at the beginning of each week so you can see what’s new. “It was pretty straight forward to find and select classes based on category of workout,” another mentioned.

Fitbit to Apple Health Sync

While most of these devices offer similar capabilities, the design you choose—watch or ring—will depend on your own personal aesthetic. For the most accurate measurements, it’s best to consult with a fitness professional. The app automatically identifies the exercise at hand and starts tracking it so you know exactly how many reps you’ve done without needing to count in your head. You can also search for specific exercises or sports and assemble them into customized workouts. You can track your heart rate, rest and workout times, velocity, temperature, consistency, and more. Strava lets you start, complete, log, and save fitness sessions directly from your wrist, with the app showing travel distance, run length, average pace, and current heart rate.

Headspace describes itself as your all-in-one mental health app, helping you improve sleep, manage anxiety, and even connect with mental health coaches. You can easily incorporate Calm into your daily routine with your Apple Watch, making mental wellness as important as physical fitness. The convenience of wrist-based access means you’re more likely to maintain a consistent practice. You can easily start a run activity directly from your watch by opening the MapMyRun app and tapping the gear icon to adjust your activity type and other workout settings. One standout feature is AutoSleep’s detailed sleep quality assessment. It uses factors like heart rate, movement, and time in bed to give you a comprehensive sleep score each morning.

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Have https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/exercise-and-fitness you been working out with your Apple Watch and closing your rings? Apple Fitness Plus is a completely different beast from Apple Fitness. Apple Fitness Plus is a video streaming service that feeds workout videos to your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews.

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As the author, I bring experience as a certified nutritionist, hybrid athlete, and longtime health writer who has tested several fitness trackers over the years. Combined with our editorial review process and fact-checking, this ensures that our picks are both trustworthy and practical for a wide range of users. The Whoop 5.0 takes a different approach from traditional fitness trackers. Instead of step counts or on-screen notifications, it focuses entirely on measuring strain, recovery, and sleep to help you optimize performance.

Tempo: Home Workout & Fitness

We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that with guided workouts from a number of high-profile, fit and successful women – there’s a definite target market for Fitplan. Our feeling is that Freeletics will suit those who are used to taking on tough workouts – and are looking to translate that at home. The quality of the workouts and coaching was up there with Zova for us, with slightly more emphasis on muscle load and techniques – and less on cardio. It rivals Apple Fitness+ for slick, professional, studio shot videos with a host of trainers for varying abilities.

fitness app that works with apple watch

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Its sleek design and crisp display make it easy to wear from the gym to the office, while its easy integration with Android means quick access to Google Maps, Wallet, and Assistant without pulling out your phone. It’s an excellent option for those concerned with their heart health, as the Google Pixel Watch 4 goes beyond basic tracking with ECG capability and irregular rhythm alerts. We’ve been wearing and documenting fitness trackers as far back as 2015, when we reviewed the very first Apple Watch. We started cross comparing fitness trackers as early as 2017, when we broke down the best fitness trackers for activities like strength training, running, hiking, golf, and more. Now in 2025, we’re more dialed into the state of fitness trackers than ever before. The accuracy of a fitness tracker begins and ends with how precisely it tracks your heart rate (most other stats, with the exception of new hydration tracking features, are derived from this baseline data).

Garmin Instinct 3 AMOLED

There is no best size when it comes to fitness trackers, as it comes down to the types of activities you’re most likely to use yours for. For outdoor enthusiasts into running, hiking, and trail running, we suggest prioritizing durability over a minimalist design. If you’re looking for a fitness tracker for everyday wear, walking, strength training, or mostly indoor activities, you might appreciate a lightweight design.

The best fitness trackers and watches we’ve tested

N’Namdi Nelson, C.S.C.S., a senior exercise physiologist at the NYU Langone Sports Performance Center, agrees. While the free version has more than enough features for casual athletes, the paid premium version offers an exhaustive list of analysis options for serious data heads. The Apple Watch has redefined the meaning of ‘wearable technology,’ particularly in the health sector. As the days of an all-too-alluring sedentary lifestyle draw to a close, these apps push the human spirit toward new peaks. They’re not just about tracking progress but about celebrating the journey — a fitness armada on your wrist, waiting to chart the course of your personal odyssey.

Rings

“We sit down for our strength squad meeting each week and talk about the workouts we have planned in detail,” Apple Fitness+ Trainer Sam Sanchez explains. Another unique feature is the Time to Walk sessions, where guests like Robin Roberts, Jose Andres and Jason Segal walk along with you on a trail and share stories and their favorite songs. Then, you can filter for specific trainers, time ranges and music types. The classes range from 5 to 45 minutes, and are available for all levels of fitness. You can take the classes a la carte style or follow one of the Fitness+ financeyahoo madmuscles programs or collections that are designed for making progress. Fitness+ workouts can be initiated through the Fitness+ section in the Fitness app on the ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, and ‌Apple TV‌.