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Apple Fitness+

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Re: Apple Fitness+

#41

Post by ilikehurdles »

slg wrote: post #2

I wouldn't want to be Peleton, Mirror, or one of those similar companies. Is it worth the extra $1000+ up front and $30+ monthly for the Peleton and Mirror trainers to mention your name?

The $1000+ up front and $30 monthly is for the trainer product. You can subscribe to Peloton's (or Aaptiv's or any number of brands') workouts and BYODevice and pay in the neighborhood of $13/mo for the workouts.

Fitness+ absolutely is encroaching on that subscription workout space, but a physical bike/treadmill and a watch are not competitors. If someone wants a stationary bike they're not going to be shopping for a smart watch.

Re: Apple Fitness+

#42

Post by read_if_gay_ »

netcraft wrote: post #11
slg wrote: post #2

I wouldn't want to be Peleton, Mirror, or one of those similar companies. Is it worth the extra $1000+ up front and $30+ monthly for the Peleton and Mirror trainers to mention your name?

I tend to agree, but its always amazing to me how much that seems to matter to viewers on twitch. The entire streamer business model centers around people paying to have someone say their name.

I doubt most donations are made just to get a callout. That seems like an overly simplified, pessimist view.

Re: Apple Fitness+

#43

Post by sleavey »

hk__2 wrote: post #26
sleavey wrote: post #4

What I dream of is a health monitor watch that's built from open hardware and gives me complete control over and ownership of my data. I don't trust any profit-driven company, even Apple, with such private information. EDIT: thanks to obenn, who pointed me towards [1]. Still in development, but looks promising. [1] https://www.pine64.org/pinetime/

Have you tried building it yourself?

I looked into it but watches, like phones, fall into the category of things that really do just need built by a company with tiny unsolderable-by-humans parts. When I checked maybe a year ago I found a fitness tracker that someone had found a way to upload new firmware to, but the hardware was no longer manufactured so you had to find second-hand parts on eBay, and there weren't many on sale in Europe. I gave up hoping the idea of an open hardware health watch would be the topic of a Kickstarter in the future.

Re: Apple Fitness+

#44

Post by nradov »

sleavey wrote: post #4

What I dream of is a health monitor watch that's built from open hardware and gives me complete control over and ownership of my data. I don't trust any profit-driven company, even Apple, with such private information. EDIT: thanks to obenn, who pointed me towards [1]. Still in development, but looks promising. [1] https://www.pine64.org/pinetime/

I don't see any possible way to fund the design and manufacturing of open hardware for a fitness tracker device that would meet consumer expectations for size, style, durability, and battery life. Apple, Garmin, Suunto, and Google (Fitbit) spend a fortune on product development and release new models every year. Any new market entrant would never be able to compete directly; they'd have to figure out some totally different physical form factor in order to have any chance.

Re: Apple Fitness+

#45

Post by tw04 »

slg wrote: post #2

I wouldn't want to be Peleton, Mirror, or one of those similar companies. Is it worth the extra $1000+ up front and $30+ monthly for the Peleton and Mirror trainers to mention your name?

Unless Apple is releasing a bike and treadmill I doubt Peloton has much to be concerned with. Half the draw is the fact the tread and bike are both extremely high quality and directly track what you're doing (distance, not just heart rate). I don't even think Apple currently has a compatible cadence sensor?

Mirror... I never really understood that one in the first place but I'll assume the folks who love it love it probably feel the same way.

Re: Apple Fitness+

#46

Post by newscracker »

I like the idea of Apple Fitness+. That it provides an integrated experience with the watch and another device (iPhone/iPad/Apple TV) is exactly what I’ve been waiting for all these years!

No need to create yet another online account on a service that may share (or sell or probably lose) my workout and health information. The workout recommendations are computed on-device, and the data stays on the devices (health data is encrypted before storing on iCloud or in iTunes/Finder backups on the Mac). This is how private I prefer it to be.

The casual fitness market (for lack of a better term) is really huge. With Apple Watch SE and the standalone yearly price (covering family members) which seems like a great deal, this is just the beginning of another growth area for Apple. If Apple combines fitness with fun, like Wii Fit or Ring Fit Adventure, that’ll be the biggest worldwide fitness service ever.

I can’t wait to try this out.

Re: Apple Fitness+

#47

Post by sleavey »

HumblyTossed wrote: post #30
sleavey wrote: post #4

What I dream of is a health monitor watch that's built from open hardware and gives me complete control over and ownership of my data. I don't trust any profit-driven company, even Apple, with such private information. EDIT: thanks to obenn, who pointed me towards [1]. Still in development, but looks promising. [1] https://www.pine64.org/pinetime/

I agree with you. But... Wow, people really dislike this. Is it just HN culture to not want something like this? I get it, I carry a phone and it tells the cloud all my secrets, blah blah. But fitness is health and I would just rather not send any of that to the cloud. Is that so hard to get?

Yeah, I don't get it either. I don't really want anything provided by the software on the watch, just the hardware, and I'll do the rest. I realise my use-case is in the 0.005%, but when companies can ship tens of millions of these I am surprised there isn't someone selling what I'm after.

Re: Apple Fitness+

#48

Post by EricE »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #27

RIP local fitness instructors. Already battered by the pandemic, a lot of them have been successfully transitioning to an online only business model. This will make it harder.

You make a great point. What if Apple did the equivalent of iBooks Author but instead of creating eBooks or iTunes University for creating online courseware it let individual instructors design workouts they could then sell?

Then again Apple still doesn't let third parties design their own Apple Watch faces. Seems like it would still be a pretty good and logical extension of iTunes U.

Re: Apple Fitness+

#49

Post by lacker »

lawrenceyan wrote: post #34
cliverani wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, Google owns Fitbit now, so it's two behemoths going at each other. Plus you now have Amazon coming into the market with their Halo Fitness bands.

Is that true? I thought the acquisition failed because of the EU.

The EU hasn't decided whether to permit it, yet.

https://siliconcanals.com/news/google-fitbit-merger-5-things...

Re: Apple Fitness+

#50

Post by EricE »

sleavey wrote: post #31
EricE wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since privacy is a key differentiator for them (huge financial incentives to actually deliver and not just pay lip service), and there are significant penalties waiting for them if they are lying about protecting privacy (as well as plenty of people who would love to call them out on it), Apple is probably the most trustworthy of any organization if you care about privacy. Also you can keep your data local with Apple…

Is it possible to download the data from the watch without an iDevice?

Probably not - I haven't heard about a jailbreak for Apple watches.

There have been rumors that Apple may release the Apple Watch for Android. I think it would be fascinating if they did so.

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