Apple Fitness+ adds Group Workouts so you can exercise with friends via SharePlay

Apple’s fitness subscription service will soon make it easier for you to take a virtual class with friends and family. The new feature, dubbed Group Workouts, will arrive on Apple Fitness+ later this fall and it will be powered by Apple’s SharePlay feature in iOS 15.

Apple announced SharePlay when it previewed iOS 15 a few months ago and it allows you to do things like watch a video with friends while on a call. Similarly, the feature will allow Apple Fitness+ users to take exercise classes with contacts, regardless of their location. During the class, you’ll see some of your friends’ fitness data on your screen as well as when they close their activity rings. And the feature will support up to 32 people at once, so you could have a yoga party with all of your extended family.

Apple’s bringing a handful of smaller updates to Fitness+ this fall as well. Pilates workouts will come to the service, as well as guided meditation routines that will also be available in audio-only format. Winter sports fans may want to check out Apple’s collection of workouts dubbed “getting ready for snow season,” which appear to prep the body for activities like skiing and snowboarding.

Most new features will be available when watchOS 8 and iOS 15 launch, although we may have to wait a bit longer for Group Workouts because it’s unclear if SharePlay will be fully available in the first version of iOS 15. Apple stated in August that SharePlay viewing would likely be delayed until later in the fall. Apple Fitness+ will also be available in 15 new countries this fall, including Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, Mexico and more, with workouts available in English with subtitles in six different languages.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.