Last week, Bloomberg reported that Apple is working on a screenless fitness tracker, akin to a WHOOP or Fitbit Air. As someone who’s used the WHOOP for the past 6 months, I do think its a great concept, though there are a few things I’d like to see Apple do better.
We don’t have many details on what Apple’s screenless fitness tracker will look like, as the product is relatively early in development. At the earliest, it would debut in 2028. Bloomberg describes it as a “thin fabric band with a sensor-equipped computing module.”
Earlier this year, WHOOP and Chase had a promo where you could get a discounted or free WHOOP if you had a Sapphire card, and I took advantage of that. Since then, I’ve been a WHOOP user – though I never went all in on it.
The reasoning for that was simple: automatic workout detection will never be perfect, and I found it annoying to have to pull out my phone to log a workout, whether that be beforehand or retroactively. With the Apple Watch, you can just start the workout on the screen, and the WHOOP will sync the times from Apple Health. This was the main reason I kept wearing my Apple Watch.
For gym workouts, pulling out your phone might be fine, but for casual biking for long walks I’d rather not have to fiddle with my phone.
So, for Apple’s screenless fitness tracker, I’d love to see some sort of button and indicator LED that you can use for starting and stopping a workout. You’d still need to go on your phone later to categorize the workout, but I’d much rather do that than have to deal with it in the moment. Apple could also develop a classification model based on certain factors.
If Apple managed to develop a screenless fitness tracker that didn’t feel like a pain to use without a phone, I think it’d be quite compelling. The form factor has many advantages, including comfort, battery life, and the ability to wear it alongside a traditional watch.
Personally, after evaluating the WHOOP, I do think I prefer just having a smartwatch, even with the battery life disadvantages. I do understand wanting something screenless so its distraction-free, but personally I just enable Do Not Disturb on my watch.
What do you think about Apple working on a screenless fitness tracker? What pricepoint would it need to be for you to buy one? Let us know in the comments.
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Michael is a 9to5Mac Reporter, leading all of our Apple news coverage on weekends and reviewing the newest Apple products and accessories. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer, and started the weekly Indie App Spotlight series, which has covered hundreds of blooming new apps since it launched. In his free time, he enjoys shooting street photography around New York City on his Sony A7RV.
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