Apple Fitness+ Launching in 15 New Countries Later This Year

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that its subscription-based Fitness+ workout service will be launching in 15 additional countries later this year, including Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.

Apple Fitness+ is also getting several new features, such as the addition of a pilates workout type on September 27 and group workouts with SharePlay later this year.

"We are excited to be introducing new workouts that bring Fitness+ users more options to stay active and motivated, plus immersive guided Meditation experiences that are approachable for all and easy to fit into your day," said Jay Blahnik, Apple's senior director of Fitness Technologies, in a press release accompanying the announcement.

Apple Fitness+ first launched in December 2020 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. The service provides access to a library of workout videos updated on a weekly basis through the Fitness app on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The service is priced at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year in the United States, with pricing varying in other countries.

Article Link: Apple Fitness+ Launching in 15 New Countries Later This Year

 

[MLVC]

What a random collection of countries, and why not just in all of Europe at once? Just makes no sense at all.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Can't wait to get my next dose of sweaty, over-excited influencers instructors!

 

[mikeyteh]

Get ready for snowboarding workouts, Saudi Arabia!

 

[Hammerd]

Can’t wait to eat chips in front of these over smiling athletes.. worldwide!

 

[Doc_dee]

Pilates is a great addition. Looking forward to doing Pilates workouts after completing long bike rides. There is a good evidence base for the benefits of Pilates in chronic low back pain.
Cycling is great for non impact cardio fitness, but I find my back and glutes tighten up after long rides now I have something I can do to improve this at home

 

[LloydChiro]

I'd like to thank Peloton for showing Apple the way for a wide variety of workout classes. I actually think I prefer the Apple classes because I can see my heart rate on my 60" tv. I was pretty surprised the first time I saw that.

 

[zubikov]

I'm going to sound like I'm shilling, but more people should give Fitness+ a try. It's excellent if you have an Apple TV and a watch. Some trainers completely destroy you on the HIIT workouts, like Bakari. I like that you can select the duration of the workout. They keep updating workouts constantly.

Pilates is one of those low key intense workouts, where many people secretly can't even complete a 20 mins session. Should be a welcome addition. Snowboarding workouts target leg and back areas that are very tough to find routine exercises for. Let's see if they come through with some good ones.

Oh btw look up the bios of the trainers. They pretty much the most qualified people to lead those workouts that money can bring in. Someone's a co-founder of soulcycle, another person trained pros, while others just killed it in competitive endurance racing and training.

 

[Goldfinger]

What a random collection of countries, and why not just in all of Europe at once? Just makes no sense at all.

I wonder what it is that holds other countries back.

 

[twinlight]

I wonder what it is that holds other countries back.

It sure isn’t language problems. Everyone understands english in europe and I do not want a norwegian instructor the day they finally launch it in Norway.

Is it english in France, Germany or Italy? Or is it just subtitled?

 

[DinkThifferent]

I got "free" instruction videos with the app from my gym too. I tried an exercise once and the downstairs neighbor texted me to see if i was alright cause she thought I had fallen and was slamming my fist on the floor as a cry for help. ?

Yeah. Not doing that again.

 

[Mosam]

Get ready for snowboarding workouts, Saudi Arabia!

Hey, I'm from Saudi Arabia and I'm an avid skier, yes we don't have ski resorts in Saudi but always ski in Switzerland and France.

 

[ChrisMoBro]

Peloton does it better. Cost wise, Apple is pretty good (which is ironic for a company that sells £400 wheels) but the workouts are so staged and it’s like doing workouts with robots.

 

[rothmans]

The obvious problem with using subtitles is that it requires the user to WATCH their screen at all times. Not good at all. Try that when you are face down on the floor and your TV is 4 feet above you. Having audio tracks in different languages would be much better. It would also be more expensive/complicated for Apple.

 

[7149041]

It's not like English is an official language in Colombia, and they are adding it there. I always wondered, what the holdup was - maybe some local regulation?

I'm glad to see they are adding it to Malaysia and Colombia (where I live) and I will give it a shot. But I find it unlikely to replace my DownDog + running outside combo.

 

[sebban]

The obvious problem with using subtitles is that it requires the user to WATCH their screen at all times. Not good at all. Try that when you are face down on the floor and your TV is 4 feet above you. Having audio tracks in different languages would be much better. It would also be more expensive/complicated for Apple.

It's opinions like this that make services like this unavailable to millions of people around the world who took time and effort to learn the main language of the world. For me as Swede that can speak English almost as well as a Native language, it sucks to never get services like this within years from their original lanches in English markets, because Companies are afraid of opinions like the one you posted.

 

[tsukeyomi]

It sure isn’t language problems. Everyone understands english in europe and I do not want a norwegian instructor the day they finally launch it in Norway.

Is it english in France, Germany or Italy? Or is it just subtitled?

It's subtitled only, no dubs (luckily). I wonder if (and how) Fitness+ will get added in Apple One.

 

[tiagofal]

What a random collection of countries, and why not just in all of Europe at once? Just makes no sense at all.

Quite the contrary my friend. It takes some geography to understand the selection but it is very rational.

It seems Apple is picking the largest/most significant markets from each region and also capitalising on same-language countries:

Southeast Asia:
Indonesia: Own language with a population of 280M people (largest in the ASEAN space)
Malaysia: Own language. Highest GDP per capita excluding micro-states of Singapore and Brunei. 35M people

LATAM:
Brazil & Mexico: Largest countries in the region; highest GDP's per capita and in absolute
Colombia: Leverages on same language as Mexico, has the 4th highest GDP per capita (Argentina, the 3rd, is a currency mess again atm)

Europe:
Italy, Germany, Spain, France: part of EU top5 GDPs
Austria and Portugal: Small countries but same languages as Germany and Brazil, respectively (sort of)

MENA:
I'm not as knowledgeable as for the other regions but i would also guess its based on a "highest in the region" GDP/population KPI.

 

[Jeehut]

Can’t wait to eat chips in front of these over smiling athletes.. worldwide!

@DinkThifferent Reading this made me smile, then reading your genius name as a liker made me laugh hard! ? Just perfect.

 

[iSayuSay]

Most of those additional countries don’t have Apple News yet. So even if they have Fitness+, can they subscribe with Apple One Premiere? Sans the News?

 

[DinkThifferent]

@DinkThifferent Reading this made me smile, then reading your genius name as a liker made me laugh hard! ? Just perfect.

Thank you friend, but it wasn’t me who made the funny comment. That was @Hammerd

 

[Hammerd]

Thank you friend, but it wasn’t me who made the funny comment. That was @Hammerd

It was a teamwork making him have a good day