AirPlay Support for Apple Fitness+ Begins Working in Second Beta of iOS 14.5

by

The second beta of iOS 14.5 seeded to developers and public beta testers this week enables users to stream Apple Fitness+ workouts to AirPlay 2-enabled TVs, allowing the videos to be watched on the big screen without an Apple TV.

apple fitness workout
Apple already announced that Apple Fitness+ was gaining AirPlay support in iOS 14.5, but the feature was not working in the first beta.

One caveat of using Apple Fitness+ with AirPlay is that Apple Watch metrics are not displayed on the screen, as they are when using the service with an Apple TV, iPhone, or iPad. Activity rings, calories burned, workout time remaining, and burn bars will not show up on the TV when streaming workouts with AirPlay 2, but users can still glance at their connected Apple Watch and iPhone or iPad to view that information.

AirPlay 2-enabled TVs are available from a variety of brands, including Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio. Roku TVs sold by brands like TCL, Sharp, and Hisense also support AirPlay 2, or users can connect a Roku streaming stick to their existing smart TV via the HDMI port as a cost-effective way of streaming Apple Fitness+ workouts via AirPlay 2.

iOS 14.5 should be released to all users by late March or early April, but anyone can sign up to be a public beta tester for free to access this feature early.

Apple Fitness+ launched in December, providing subscribers with access to a library of workout videos updated on a weekly basis. The service is currently available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, with pricing set at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year after a one-month trial.

Related Roundups: iOS 14, iPadOS 14
Tags: AirPlay 2, Apple Fitness Plus Guide
Related Forum: iOS 14

Top Rated Comments

1 iron Avatar
1 iron
23 weeks ago
Metrics for multiple Apple Watches at once please.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
QFace Avatar
QFace
23 weeks ago
Happy to see this update, but wonder what the technical limitations are that prevent metrics being displayed. Is the Peloton app able to display heart rate over Airplay? I'm hoping to see metrics over Airplay in the future.

Also, has anybody been disappointed with the number of new workouts released? I looked at the Peloton schedule and they release ~8 new cycle workouts per day. Apple Fitness releases a few cycle workouts per week.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
steevn Avatar
steevn
23 weeks ago
This will be enough for me to now subscribe, hopefully a new Apple TV will be released then I’ll decide how important the tracking features are to have on the screen.

Im just glad this didn’t take years to happen, they really messed up not having it work at Fitness+ initial release, so it made me wonder how long until the feature even became available.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phoenixcat Avatar
phoenixcat
23 weeks ago
Would appreciate an answer to this if anyone knows: but does this new beta also enable one to mirror Apple Fitness+ to a TV through a lightning digital AV adaptor? Sadly I bought my Samsung TV the year before they started supporting airplay and I’m holding back on purchasing an Apple TV as the updated model should be released soon...
Yes it does
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LouE37 Avatar
LouE37
23 weeks ago
Its takes no time for a quick glance at your watch so simply having the instructors on screen is fine for me. I also agree on the lack of new workouts but tbh this just came out in December. Look at what Apple Music became, i'm sure they have a good plan to keep piling onto this offering eventually. For now though i love it!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phoenixcat Avatar
phoenixcat
23 weeks ago
Just tested it out and it works with the hdmi lightning dongle, no metrics again though.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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