KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Apple announced that Apple Fitness+ is available for iPhone users without needing an Apple Watch starting 24 October. The feature will be available for users in 21 countries, including Malaysia. According to Apple, its iOS 16.1 update will have Fitness+ fully integrated with the Fitness app.

"We built Fitness+ to be the most inclusive and welcoming fitness service in the world, and the response from our users has been overwhelmingly positive. We wanted the amazing impact of Fitness+ to reach iPhone users and make it easier than ever to get started on your health and fitness journey,” said Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of Fitness Technologies.

All you need to access the Fitness+ subscription service is an iPhone. Previously, users need to have an Apple Watch so they could synchronise their workouts with the service. You can watch what that looks like in my Apple TV review where i also review the Fitness+ app.

With the service, you’re able to access over 3,000 studio-style workouts and meditations led by a team of trainers. Without the Apple Watch, users will still get to see estimated calories burned to make progress on their Move ring instead of the more accurate Move ring an Apple Watch can provide.

To sign up, you can use your iPhone and choose a subscription plan of RM19.90 per month or RM119.90 per year. You can even get it with the Apple One Premier plan, which costs RM69.90 per month and can also give customers access to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and iCloud+ with 2TB of storage, and can be shared with up to five other family members.

With the subscription, users can experience Fitness+ on not just the iPhone, but on the iPad, and Apple TV too. Additionally, Fitness+ subscribers without Apple TV can use AirPlay to stream workouts or meditations on compatible third-party devices.

Apple also announced that Fitness+ will be introducing Taylor Swift’s newly released songs from her album Midnights for their Artist Spotlight series on 24 October as well. This means that new workouts featuring music by Taylor Swift will appear across workout types including Core, Cycling, Dance, HIIT, Pilates, Rowing, Strength, Treadmill, and Yoga.

Besides that, there will be three new Collections to "help users go after their goals or find inspiration”. This includes Totally ’80s Cycling — workouts with songs from the 1980s, Best Mindful Cooldowns for Athletes — a series of total-body stretches and short visualisations to help athletes recover, and 14-Day HIIT and Strength Challenge — featuring 30-minute Strength and HIIT workouts. You can read more about what else Apple Fitness+ can offer here. — SoyaCincau