You May Not Be Able to Access the Workout Buddy App Even If Your Apple Watch Is Brand New
Apple’s new Workout Buddy feature is intriguing: a voice from your Apple Watch encourages you and shows you stats as you work out . But when I installed the WatchOS public beta (after reading and ignoring all our warnings about it ), I discovered that my watch doesn’t support Workout Buddy, even though it’s a Series 10 , which should be supported.
And yes, I should have read the fine print more carefully, but this particular disclaimer wasn’t made clear to the reader: Workout Buddy may not actually be a feature of your watch, but a feature of your Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Unless you have at least an iPhone 15 Pro, Workout Buddy won’t be on your Apple Watch.
I found this out the most awkward way possible, so feel free to laugh: I accepted the assignment to test the public beta and write a report on Workout Buddy; I learned how to install the public beta; I made sure I was comfortable with the risks involved. I backed up my iPhone, then installed the beta on my phone, then installed the beta on my watch. Then I changed into my running clothes, drove to the park where I like to run, slathered myself in sunscreen, and, as I was about to go for my first run with my new Workout Buddy, discovered that there was no such option. I triple-checked everything. The beta was installed, I had the new workout screen look, I was looking in the right menu… but I had an iPhone 12 mini (Apple’s last phone that fits comfortably in my pocket, but that’s a story for another time). Which meant Workout Buddy was not going to happen for me.
Workout Buddy requires an iPhone 15 Pro or 16 to work, and it needs to be with you at all times.
If you’ve been paying close attention to Apple’s announcements about Apple Intelligence , you probably guessed which iPhones are being referred to when the sixth of six paragraphs dedicated to the feature states that “Workout Buddy will be available on Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones and will require an iPhone with Apple Intelligence support.”
I, for one, am just a dumb athlete, so it didn’t occur to me to check the list of Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhone versions . I just noticed that Workout Buddy was listed among the features of WatchOS, so I assumed it was a WatchOS feature. But to get that peppy coach’s voice, your watch needs to get it from your Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone. Plus, Apple Intelligence sometimes makes requests to the cloud , which means that an Internet connection may be required for your Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone to work.
So even if you have the right iPhone, you won’t be able to use Workout Buddy if you’re in the habit of leaving it at home (or in your gym locker) while you work out. Plus, the app may not work properly if you’re running or hiking in areas without cell service, which is often the case on my trail runs. That makes the app far less useful than you might think, even if you’re not an idiot like me who constantly forgets which phone you have with you.