Should Apple Fitness add time-based navigation to the top of the app to improve the user experience?

A few months back, I bought myself an Apple Watch SE to keep myself accountable for my fitness goals. I’m two years postpartum, and while it might seem like a long time, it’s gone by in a flash. But now, I’m starting to feel like myself again, so I’m back to my fitness routine. I do various activities throughout the week–hiking, running, strength training, and kickboxing (gotta close those rings!). And, I didn’t just buy the watch; I also signed up for Apple Fitness+. It’s been a blast! The playlists and energy of the coaches really get me going and help me put in the work.

But let’s get to the interesting part of why you’re here. I work as a UX writer and always have something to say about an app. So, let’s take a closer look at Apple Fitness+, shall we?

Apple Fitness+ has an extensive collection of workouts, comprehensive tracking features, and it syncs with all your Apple devices. But, like with anything, there’s always room for improvement. So, I want to talk about a UI upgrade that would take things to the next level: adding time-based navigation to the top of the navigation bar.

Earlier today, I had 15 minutes between work meetings and was like, “Let’s do a quick workout.” I wasn’t picky about the type of workout, whether it was dancing, strength training, HIIT, or whatever. I just wanted to move my body in the little time I had. I opened up the Apple Fitness+ app and checked the top menu. But for some reason, I couldn’t find an option to select a workout based on time. I know I’ve seen it somewhere in the app before, but I couldn’t remember where it was. So I had to scroll through different collections to find a 10-minute workout. It was overwhelming, to be honest, trying to go through all the options and find something that would get me moving and keep me interested. That’s when I realized I should contact an Apple product manager and tell them how much we need this feature… but I couldn’t figure out where to do that either (I digress).

Let’s talk about why time-based navigation is so freakin’ crucial.

Having worked as a certified personal trainer for two years, I know that time management is a crucial factor in developing an effective workout plan for individuals. Finding time to work out can be a real struggle in our fast-paced lives. Sometimes, we only have a tiny window of 10, 15, or 20 minutes to dedicate to physical activity. So, it is crucial to have a super easy and effective way to pick out workouts based on their length.

Right now, Apple Fitness+ presents its workout in collections. It’s visually appealing and showcases various categories like meditation, strength, HIIT, yoga, etc. While this organization is helpful for general browsing, it falls short when it comes to time-specific workout selection.

If you’re looking for a 10-minute workout, you have to scroll through all the different collections to find one that fits your timeframe. It can be a real pain and take up a lot of your time. It might even make you want to give up on the app altogether, which I did. Instead of working out between meetings, I decided to just do a longer workout after work.

By integrating time-based navigation into the top section of the Apple Fitness+ app, users like myself can customize their fitness routines to fit their specific time constraints. This little upgrade to the UI would empower individuals to make the most of their time. We could use a simple dropdown menu or an option to filter workouts by time without the need for endless scrolling.

Tell me your thoughts. Would time-specific navigation at the top of the app also be helpful to you?

Thanks for attending my Ted Talk. Please forward this to a PM at Apple 😉

Also, if you know where in the app you can filter by time, tell me; I cannot find it.