Hands-On With the New Apple Fitness+ 'Time to Walk' Feature

Apple today announced the launch of a new "Time to Walk" feature that's available to Apple Watch owners who are also Fitness+ subscribers, with the service offering up audio stories from celebrities.


We took a quick look at Time to Walk in our latest YouTube video to see what it's all about and whether it's a worthwhile addition to the Fitness+ service.

Time to Walk is technically a watchOS 7.3 feature and will be announced in the watchOS 7.3 release notes, but it is accessible now in watchOS 7.2 as Apple released it as an over-the-air server side update.

apple time to walk draymond green
Designed specifically for outdoor walks done while wearing an Apple Watch, Time to Walk features stories from musicians, actors, and athletes, with each story lasting from 25 to 40 minutes. Right now, there are four audio stories available from country music star Dolly Parton, NBA player Draymond Green, musician Shawn Mendes, and actress Uzo Aduba.

Each audio story is meant to focus on the guest's "personal, life-shaping moments," and Apple has designed these workouts to feel like you're walking alongside the celebrity that's speaking. The person telling the story is also on a walk, and will describe their surroundings before jumping into a personal discussion.

time to walk shawn mendes
Shawn Mendes, for example, describes his walk in Griffith Park in Los Angeles before he delves into a discussion on the anxiety he faced when he went viral as a 15 year old, and the mindfulness techniques that he uses to achieve a sense of calm. Each of the Time to Walk stories is accompanied by photos at key intervals in the story, with Apple designing the discussions to feel like an intimate one-on-one experience.

Apple Watch owners are meant to feel like they're walking right alongside the celebrity sharing their Time to Walk story, and stories are punctuated by the ambient sounds like birds, footsteps, breathing, and other people in the area. After a story has finished, each speaker provides three songs to listen to that are related.

Time to Walk workouts are available to all Apple Fitness+ subscribers and can be accessed in the Workout app as a unique workout type. Since the audio is coming from the Apple Watch, AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones are required to listen. Time to Walk episodes can also be found in the Fitness+ section on the iPhone.

Time to Walk episodes download automatically as long as you have the setting enabled on the ‌iPhone‌, and it's turned on by default. It can be found if you open the Apple Watch app, scroll down to Workout, and make sure "Add Newest Workouts to Watch" is enabled. Apple plans to release new Time to Walk episodes every Monday through April.

time to walk shawn mendes 2
Apple is hoping that Time to Walk might serve as a gateway to getting people more involved with Apple Fitness+, which has been designed to be welcoming to people of all skill levels. Apple launched Apple Fitness+ last month, and the service offers workouts across a wide range of categories from dance and yoga to cycling, running, and HIIT.

A Fitness+ subscription is required for Time to Walk, and Fitness+ is priced at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, though those who purchased a new Apple Watch this year can get a free three month trial.

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Top Rated Comments

iLoveDeveloping Avatar
56 months ago
Really don’t get this feature at all. It’s not a workout, it’s not a repeatable thing. Not like a Hiit workout or fitness plus workouts, once you have listened to it once, you aren’t going to listen to it again. It becomes redundant, pointless. I’m not sure what this feature even is, it’s a podcast that you can’t delete within the app with some walking metrics added. It’s a weird idea. If it launched with like 200 stories from different people then I could get on board a bit but 4? Seriously, I’d finish this in you guessed it 4 days and then can’t use it again. Don’t understand it at all.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PhillyGuy72 Avatar
56 months ago
Oh.



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Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Canyda Avatar
56 months ago
I don't understand the point of this - when I walk outside, I tend to do so with my wife and we talk. If I'm alone, I listen to my own music or one of my regular podcasts. I have zero desire to listen to a celebrity tell me stories.

However, to each their own. Apple must think there's a market for this.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drogba11 Avatar
56 months ago
I’ll stick to listening to my death metal when I walk thanks
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Canyda Avatar
56 months ago

You don't need to understand it much less put your stamp of approval on it. It is designed for those who do understand it, and in their own quiet way, will use It as they start a walking program possibly for the first time in their life.
Sure, which is why my posted ended with: "However, to each their own. Apple must think there's a market for this."

If you, or anyone else, finds this a useful add-on to Fitness+, then more power to you and I'm glad you enjoy it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
choreographics Avatar
56 months ago

Really don’t get this feature at all. It’s not a workout, it’s not a repeatable thing. Not like a Hiit workout or fitness plus workouts, once you have listened to it once, you aren’t going to listen to it again. It becomes redundant, pointless. I’m not sure what this feature even is, it’s a podcast that you can’t delete within the app with some walking metrics added. It’s a weird idea. If it launched with like 200 stories from different people then I could get on board a bit but 4? Seriously, I’d finish this in you guessed it 4 days and then can’t use it again. Don’t understand it at all.
Well, I don’t get the point of cycling on a bike without moving even an inch. But it’s okay. There‘s a workout for everyone, for younger and older, for fit and fitter. And I am sure some people need some motivation to at least have a walk outside (where possible) before starting their workout career.

I listened to Shawn today, it’s well-executed and somehow very comforting/calming. Does a podcast or your favorite playlist do the same job? Probably, but it doesn’t motivate you to start thinking about your health and well-being and make the first step. Literally.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)