When Fitness + dropped in a few weeks ago, we were Very impressed with releaseBut the service is not perfect. One of our gripes was that you could only filter workouts by music, height, and coach – those of us who hope to browse by goal (for example, 5-kilometer jogging, work your way to the clouds, etc.) or intensity was out of luck. Which is why when I opened the Fitness + app today to see the new workouts that take place every Monday, I was pleasantly surprised.

a A video message from HIIT Coach Kim Ngo welcomed me to the top of the app, with a Describe it Read: „Goal Setting Exercises and New Limited Edition Award.“ My eyebrows flew into the stratosphere. Fitness + is clearly still under construction, but it had to be Record The speed for a fitness app that implements early user feedback. In the video, Kim – who despite her scandalous character is a heart-killing machine – refers to two exercises this week that are part of a „goal setting series“. Oh, there is a file New Limited Edition Challenge Apple Watch owners in the new year (cCheck all three loops for seven Days in a row sometime in January.)

I was fueled. I did the two unique exercises – 20-minute strength training and 10-minute HIIT workout. I sweat enough. What I didn’t realize was that what Apple meant by „setting goals“ wasn’t some kind of fitness program … as much as the coaches encouraged me to start hitting fitness goals for the new year. Because you heard? I amIt seems like a new year.

In the strength training exercise, trainer Greg mostly talked about how I should be doing Notice What are my strengths and weaknesses, and that I should focus on the areas that I want to strengthen in the next year. Well it’s true. But getting clear advice and enthusiastic conversations wasn’t exactly what I meant when I said Fitness + should include goal-oriented programs.

Often other fitness apps include some software that lets you work towards something. In running applications, they are often organized chapters Like Couch to 5K or improve your pace for a set distance over 8-32 weeks. In Aaptiv, there are themed programs „Getting more powerful,„ It is a collection of classes that range from goals such as „gaining muscle,„ Learn to use water bells, or master pushups. While Fitness + includes the Absolute Beginner program to help make it easy for beginners to get into different types of workouts, that’s it.

This doesn’t mean Fitness + is bad – it just highlights that this platform is built on the idea of ​​connecting you more to the Apple ecosystem. A stupid part of my lizard brain definitely went, “Oh! The limited edition badge does mean nothing at the end? Sign me up! What a great complement!” Do I feel more motivated to do Fitness + with every notification I get on my wrist, saying a friend Has just completed a Fitness + exercise? Unfortunately yes. I am fitness lemming. Walking around Apple Music, at some point since launch, there is now the Apple Fitness + Studio series – a collection of curated playlists for different genres and types of exercises. If you’ve been browsing through accessories in Apple’s online store, you will find it now Links to products Instructors use them for videos – including $ 120 Manduka Yoga Mat.

What Apple does with Fitness + is basically taking a page out of Marvel’s game rules and building a connected world Products, services and characters. It is not different from what Peloton has This is done, but the cost of entry is lower, so even if you buy an Apple Watch, iPad, and Apple TV, it can still be all for less than the price of a single Peloton bike. (But unlike Peloton, Fitness + requires at least some Devices – You can subscribe to the Peloton app without paying for a bike.)

Ironically, you can make a convincing case that Fitness + is Apple’s ad first and fitness app second. This is a little harsh, given the tThese are the things Fitness + does well. the service Really carefully designed and comprehensive. But a lot of that thinking is in how it relates to Apple devices and services. Just ask the dozens of people who complain on forums that Fitness + is Not compatible with AirPlay 2 To transfer the exercises to a larger screen. It’s not something that’s ever built to be single Or for It plays nice with other ecosystems. If so, I don’t think I’d be sitting here craving some of the missing features like more goal-oriented software, varied equipment options, focus on intensity and difficulty, and the ability to send an exercise from my phone to my apples.– Free TV.