Although Apple has made serious strides in the field of digital services in recent years, its Fitness+ service has lagged behind this development. Launched in 2020, this exercise-focused platform maintains its fixed price structure but has not been expanded in terms of content and features. For this reason, user loyalty remained low and revenue expectations could not be met. The company has now embarked on a comprehensive restructuring process to change this situation.
One of the main problems experienced on the Fitness+ platform is that users leave the service in a short time after subscribing to the service. This indicates that the service offers content that is not personalized enough. In addition to all this, the fact that rival platforms offer more interactive and advanced experiences puts Apple at a disadvantage in this field. Despite this, Apple prefers to reshape the platform rather than completely disabling Fitness +. This approach stems from both the desire to maintain its existing user base and the desire not to conflict with the company’s health-focused vision.
Apple transfers the Fitness+ service to more effective management
The new organizational change within Apple will directly affect Fitness+. Sumbul Desai, Vice President of the company’s Health Department, is now responsible for Fitness+. Additionally, all healthcare services will now report directly to Apple Services Senior Vice President Eddy Cue. The new structure formed after Jeff Williams’ retirement brings higher performance expectations on Fitness+. With this move, the company aims to ensure that the service is managed more efficiently and progresses in a result-oriented manner.
Apple’s determination to maintain Fitness+ is based not only on strategic but also practical reasons. Since the content is produced in-house, operational costs remain low. Moreover, thanks to this structure, Apple can completely control the content. In addition, Fitness+ has a small but loyal user base, which prevents the platform from being canceled completely. Still, it is obvious that the company could not achieve growth at the scale it targeted.
In order for Fitness+ to reach a wider audience, Apple has turned to new integrations on the hardware and software side. The ability for iPhone users to now train without Apple Watch is part of this process. In this way, the platform becomes more accessible. However, this change alone is not enough to ensure long-term loyalty of users. All these developments reveal the need for stronger content and interaction.
Heart rate sensors added to the new AirPods Pro 3 and Powerbeats Pro 2 models enrich the Fitness+ experience in terms of hardware. These devices can transfer training data directly to Fitness+ and provide more personalized analysis. The “Workout Buddy” feature launched on Apple Watch works with Apple Intelligence technology. This feature, which is compatible with the voice data of Fitness+ instructors to provide instant motivation to the user, has the potential to increase the dynamism of the platform. But it is still difficult to say that expectations are fully met.
It is clear that the platform needs to be renewed not only with device integration but also with content production. The variety and depth that users demand are not present enough in the content currently offered. Apple needs to reconsider its content strategy and develop programs that appeal to different sports branches. In this way, the user experience can be improved and the subscription period can be extended. Otherwise, high cancellation rates will continue.
Fitness+ is still included in the Apple One Premier package and thus has the potential to reach a large number of users. In addition, a striking detail is that a three-month free trial is offered to users who purchase new Apple devices. However, such promotions are not effective enough to keep the user permanent on the platform. At the end of the trial period, most users leave the service. This shows that structural problems continue.