After putting Fitness+ through its paces, I'm not planning to switch and abandon the other apps I pay for, but I see its value, especially if you're already using an Apple Watch but have yet to subscribe to a guided workout app.
The basic function of Apple Fitness+ is to guide you through workouts that you can complete at home, at the gym, or anywhere else. It's really not too different other fitness apps in that way. You can choose from workout types, like Pilates, yoga, HIIT, cycling, or walking. You can filter search results so you only see classes from a certain instructor, of a particular duration, or requiring (or not requiring) specific equipment. In short, if you've seen one fitness app, you've seen them all, but I will say that Apple's offering has sleek production, a wide variety of workout types, and a few extras that make it feel well-rounded.
You can follow programs on Apple Fitness+, like "Meditations for Beginners" or "3 Perfect Weeks of Strength." This is where the Apple Watch starts to come into play: "Perfect Weeks" is part of the Watch vocab. You have a "perfect week" when you close all of your rings for seven days in a row. So, if my goal is to exercise at least 30 minutes per day to close my Exercise ring and I close that ring seven times in a row, my Watch rewards me with a "Perfect Exercise Week" badge. With the "Perfect Week" program series, you're chasing perfection in different ways. The "3 Perfect Weeks of Strength: Express Edition" gives you eight 20-minute, full-body strength classes. The specific terms associated with Apple Health and the Apple Watch do tend to crop up a lot here, so there may be a learning curve if you're not already well-versed.
That said, you can complete all the workouts on this app without an Apple Watch, though I'm not sure why you'd want to. During my time testing it, it really seemed like the main goal of Fitness+ was to maximize the benefits of having the Apple-produced heart rate monitor strapped to your wrist. If you use another wearable or no wearable at all, you might as well opt for Nike Training Club, which is free, or Peloton, which has many more workouts.
The classes themselves are standard fare: A credentialed instructor guides you through the workout and, typically, two other people are in the studio with them, following along. I prefer that to the digital class types that don't feature other "students," because it's always useful to see someone else taking instruction. The instructors usually give an intro and outro, say encouraging things throughout the workout, give safety and posture cues, and offer up modifications. In that way, it's very straightforward, and mirrors what you find on the other apps. Right now, there are 12 workout categories and over 4,000 available classes, which is more classes than Les Mills+, but far fewer than Peloton.
Apple's brand also means access. For example, there's a guided walk series where celebrities like Naomi Campbell and Nick Jonas tell you stories as you stroll. There are guided runs that follow coaches through major cities like Minneapolis and Queenstown, and artist spotlights that can help you find classes featuring music from Prince, Taylor Swift, and more.
Finally, you can find educational videos, which are a favorite feature of mine on any fitness app. Some of them are a little click-baity, title-wise, which I find funny, like "Make exercise a habit with this simple hack." But there are also more straightforward classes like "Use friendly competition for extra motivation," and "Go easy on your knees during lateral lunges."
Like the informative content I love so much on Les Mills+, these videos are presented by credentialed pros who explain the safety and science behind their tips.
As noted, I'm a fiend for closing my rings every day. I've long relied on my Apple Watch to track my workouts, whether on my Peloton Bike, when I'm teaching an in-person spin class, or when I'm using a third-party app like Strong to track progress on my lifts. I always open the Workouts app on my Watch, select my workout type, and monitor my heart rate and energy expenditure using the wearable, which sends the data to my Apple Health app, which in turn syncs up with my smart scale, nutrition tracking app, and more. It all works together to help me keep track of every tiny data point, just by using my phone and my Watch.
What appealed to me me about Apple Fitness+ is that it likewise integrates seamlessly with Apple Health. I followed along with a cycling class this morning, for instance, and it displayed my heart rate and calorie burn in the top left, using data pulled from my Watch. It also showed my rings in the top right, filling them in as I went along. When I finished up the workout, it was added to the Summary tab of my daily progress, the way any workout tracked with my Watch would be. If you're already using your iPhone and Apple Watch to track your workouts, Fitness+ is the logical next step.
A few words of wisdom: To do that cycling workout, I rode my Peloton using the Just Ride feature, which catalogued a bike ride in my Apple Health, inadvertently double-entering the workout and double-counting my burned calories. I'm used to one app overriding the other to keep my totals accurate, so be careful if you have your Apple Watch synced to your Peloton. In most cases, like if you're riding a regular stationary bike or following a HIIT class, this won't be an issue, but it's something to keep in mind.
The other issue I identified was a little less straightforward. After I finished the cycling workout, I was surprised to see that Fitness+ said I only burned 28 calories. It had been a low- to moderate-intensity, 10-minute ride, and for something like that, I'm used to my devices saying I burned between 50 and 60. I checked the Peloton data and it said 47 calories burned. I don't know which one is right, but I know they're both pulling heart rate information from my Watch and Apple Health, which was updated with my current weight this morning. That's a big difference in calories and, because I know wearables and fitness tech are terrible at accurately estimating calorie burn, I'm not going to stress it -- but it's worth noting.