watchOS 7.2 Developer Beta 2 Hints Apple Fitness+ Is Coming Very Soon

New evidence has appeared in the latest developer beta of watchOS 7.2 that the launch of Apple’s new Fitness+ service could very well be imminent, not only adding code to support the service behind the scenes but actually calling it out as a new feature in a post-update summary screen.

It’s actually the first time in our recollection that Apple has ever provided a “What’s New” screen on the Apple Watch following an update at all, and in this case, after installing the latest watchOS 7.2 beta, a new “Update Complete” screen appears highlighting the addition of the Cardio Fitness Levels feature that we already saw revealed in the first iOS 14.3 beta that was released last week, along with “Apple Fitness+” and “Braille keyboard support.”

To be fair, the presence of references to Apple’s new subscription fitness service shouldn’t be all that surprising at this point, since Apple already promised that it would be available before the end of 2020, and it’s unlikely that we’ll see an iOS 14.4 or watchOS 7.3 arriving before that time — as it stands, iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2, which are only in their respective second betas at this point, likely won’t launch until early December.

This new screen, however, suggests that Apple Fitness+ will likely launch simultaneously with the release of the new iOS and watchOS updates, rather than at a later date by itself.

A half-baked reference to Fitness+ also appeared in the first beta of iOS 14.3, according to MacRumors, in the form of a toggle in the Analytics & Improvements Privacy settings that allowed users to share data in order to “Improve Fitness+.” While the feature has since been removed entirely, the version of it that slipped into the first beta clearly had an incomplete description, which read “Help Apple improve Fitness+ by sharing your lorem ipsum.”

Apple Fitness+

Following a couple of leaks back in March that suggested Apple was working on bringing workout routines to the Apple TV, the company officially unveiled its new Apple Fitness+ service during its September “Time Flies” Apple Watch and iPad launch event, going well beyond the Apple TV into a service that would work across the iPhone and iPad as well while also creatively integrating Apple Watch metrics into workout routines.

Featuring videos from a wide array of professional trainers in different disciplines, Apple Fitness+ promises to bring your gym home to you, with many workouts requiring little to no actual fitness equipment, and users Apple Watch activity stats displayed right on the screen alongside the workout video. Integration with Apple Music will also allow for curated playlists geared to specific workouts and personal tastes.

Apple Fitness+ will launch with pricing at $9.99/month or $79/year, however it’s also included in Apple’s new $29.95 Apple One Premier Plan with pricing that basically has Apple giving it away to anybody subscribing to other Apple services like Apple Music+ and iCloud Storage.

In fact, since an Apple Music Family Plan ($14.95), Apple Arcade ($4.99), and 2TB of iCloud Storage ($9.99) add up to $29.93 by themselves, you’re basically getting Apple TV+ ($4.99), Apple News+ ($9.99) and Apple Fitness+ ($9.99) for only $0.02 more if you’d be subscribing to those other services anyway.