IOS 26 Finally Brings a Real Fitness App to the IPhone
With iOS 26, Apple has added a lot of new features to the Fitness app that it was missing. You can finally track workouts on your phone without an Apple Watch, and you can also connect a Bluetooth heart rate monitor to your phone to get heart rate data. While it may seem like a small change, Apple Watch users will love the ability to create and edit custom workouts right on their phone.
How to get new Fitness updates
The new Fitness app features are part of iOS 26, which launches today . (This is the version with the controversial “liquid glass” design, but you can disable it if you don’t like it .) To install it, go to Settings , General , then tap Software Update .
After that, you’ll notice that the Fitness app has a new tab at the bottom called Workout . That’s where all the fun stuff is.
How to Track a Workout with the Apple Fitness App (With or Without a Watch)
In the Workout tab, you will see different types of workouts that you can start by simply pressing the play button. Outdoor Run, Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, and Hiking are available to everyone. To access other types of workouts, such as Indoor Run, Outdoor Cycle, Yoga, HIIT, and Traditional Strength Training, you will need to connect a heart rate monitor.
(The idea, it seems, is that the app needs some data to track. If you’re running outdoors, GPS data tells the app how far and how fast you’re running. If you’re on a treadmill, the app has nothing to act on unless it has a device that tells it your heart rate.)
So what counts as a source of heart rate data? I have had success using:
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Apple Watch (of course)
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Powerbeats Pro 2 (with heart rate monitoring enabled – check your Powerbeats settings if you don’t see it)
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A third-party Bluetooth heart rate monitor (specifically my trusty Coospo )
Today, I went on four short runs: three that tested each of the above options, plus one that used just my phone, without a heart rate monitor. Each of the four runs tracked my speed and distance, mapped my movements, and (if I had a heart rate monitor) recorded my heart rate data. I could then view these workouts in the Sessions card on the Overview tab, where you’d normally find workouts that are only available on the Apple Watch.
In fact, the three workouts I did without my Apple Watch didn’t require it at all. I left it in my car and was able to track those workouts without any issues.
How to Stream Workouts from Apple Watch to Phone
The new mirror workouts work like a charm . You can start a workout from the Fitness app or from your phone, and either way, your phone’s lock screen will show you your activity in real time. Tap it, and the Fitness app will open a screen with the same data as your watch.
This can be especially handy for cardio machines—put your phone in front of you and look at it instead of taking your hand off the wheel and turning your wrist to see how many seconds are left in your interval.
If you don’t see the workout screen on your phone, swipe right on the workout screen on your watch and select View to turn it on.
How to Create Custom Workouts for Apple Watch on Your Phone
The Apple Watch already had a feature that let you create custom workouts or set goals for yourself (like running a certain amount of time or challenging your past self on a favorite route). Now, all of that is available in the Fitness app.
To find it, go to the Workout tab in the Fitness app. Instead of pressing the play triangle button on your phone to start a workout, tap the timer icon. This will open a screen with routes, goals, and custom workouts.
I’ve never bothered with custom workouts before because they’re so clunky to access on the watch, but today I created a short interval workout and ran it as part of my testing. (One thing to know: Before you can create a rep cycle, you need to create a work interval and a rest interval. Some apps do this in reverse, which was confusing to me.)
Overall, these new features make Apple’s Fitness app much more useful. You no longer need third-party apps to use the Bluetooth heart rate monitor or track a simple run around the block. It’s now a real workout app, not just an app you open to check how many times you’ve closed your rings.