Apple Fitness+ Update to Allow for Streaming to AirPlay 2-Enabled TVs

You won’t need a pricey Apple TV to stream Fitness+ classes to your television anymore.

Apple Fitness+ brings studio-style classes with excellent music and instruction to the comfort and safety of your living room, but right now it requires an Apple TV to stream workouts on your big screen.

Soon, that will change. Future watchOS and iOS software updates will let you use AirPlay to stream the audio and video from Fitness+ workouts directly to AirPlay 2-enabled TVs and devices, reads a new report from TechCrunch. Apple offered evidence of this new integration in Developer Seed 1 of watchOS 7.4 and iOS 14.5, released today.

There are a few drawbacks though, and those without an Apple TV will miss out on a few key features. Something that sets Fitness Plus apart from other services like Peloton is the ability to see data gathered by your Apple Watch directly on screen. This means you can check your vital stats, including heart rate and calories burned, without looking down at your wrist.

Anyone using AirPlay to stream their workouts to a TV will miss out on this feature, which takes away some of the appeal of Fitness Plus compared to its rivals.

Ultimately, this could work in Apple’s favor; if you’re already invested in the company’s hardware ecosystem through your iPhone and Apple Watch, it might be enough of a push for you to make your next TV an Apple one as well to get the best possible experience from your workout subscription.

This feature is available now in the iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4 beta releases. The final version of these updates is scheduled to roll out in the spring alongside Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature.

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