Watch OS 26 Workout app. Still bad?

[mk313]

I remember when the new OS launched, there were a lot of complaints about the Workout app being poorly designed.

I've now upgraded all of my devices except my phone & watch to OS 26, and generally find it to be fine for my Mac & iPad. I'm thinking of upgrading my phone, but that will probably lead to the watch updating as well. Before I did that, wanted to see if the Workouts App has gotten any better than it was at launch?

Thanks in advance.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

What was wrong with it at launch? It's worked fine for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[mk313]

I don't remember all of the criticisms, but the two that concerned me the most (and the reason I held off on upgrading) were the buttons were significantly smaller & harder to hit after a run, and music was cutting out part way through a run/ workout.

 

[xDKP]

The redesign is the same - while not terrible, it didn't add anything great for me. Works fine though

 

[mk313]

The redesign is the same - while not terrible, it didn't add anything great for me. Works fine though

Thanks!

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I don't remember all of the criticisms, but the two that concerned me the most (and the reason I held off on upgrading) were the buttons were significantly smaller & harder to hit after a run, and music was cutting out part way through a run/ workout.

Buttons have not been a problem for me.

If that refers to music played from the watch - no idea, I keep my phone with me & all audio comes directly from it.

 

[mk313]

Buttons have not been a problem for me.

If that refers to music played from the watch - no idea, I keep my phone with me & all audio comes directly from it.

Thanks!

 

[NoBoMac]

Workouts in 26.4 will be more like it was before: one-touch start vs waiting for the start button and other graphical elements to display/visualize with no value-add.

watchOS 26.4 fixes a major Apple Watch Workout app complaint - 9to5Mac

Apple redesigned the Workout app in watchOS 26, but not everyone has loved the new Apple Watch exercise tracking experience....

9to5mac.com

 

[mk313]

Workouts in 26.4 will be more like it was before: one-touch start vs waiting for the start button and other graphical elements to display/visualize with no value-add.

watchOS 26.4 fixes a major Apple Watch Workout app complaint - 9to5Mac

Apple redesigned the Workout app in watchOS 26, but not everyone has loved the new Apple Watch exercise tracking experience....

9to5mac.com

Fantastic! Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep an eye out for when that launches.

 

[gwang73]

Fantastic! Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep an eye out for when that launches.

The one-touch (touch anywhere) is so much better than waiting for the small start button on the bottom.

 

[B4U]

I have 26.3 on my series 9 for sleeping only usually. The workout app had been bad since day 1 of 26. Buttons are tiny and the UI is simply not intuitive. So it has stayed on sleep watch duty only.

Just updated this to 26.4 to see how it goes before I do anything to my daily Ultra 2.
iOS 26.4 finally broke the Watch app with my Ultra 2 on 11.6.1 where I cannot do anything from the phone side unless I get WatchOS 26.