14 DAY TRIAL // Apple Watch's GymKit feature that Apple designed as part of the latest watchOS 4 operating system, allowing users to connect their smartwatches to various gym equipment, is now rolling out to the first gym in the US.
Apple introduced GymKit earlier this summer when the company announced the watchOS 4 operating system for all Apple Watch devices, along with an enhanced Workout app. The groundbreaking technology platform promises to offer Apple Watch owners connected workouts with a wide range of fitness equipment.
According to CNET, the GymKit feature has been activated over at Life Time Athletic club at Sky in the United States, in Manhattan. GymKit lets Apple Watch owners connect their smartwatches to various gym equipment like treadmills, ellipticals, stair-climbers or stationary bikes to sync health, workout and activity data.
They thoroughly tested the GymKit feature with a treadmill and an Apple Watch smartwatch. The treadmill could be transformed into a "massive paired fitness device" with a single tap, and the sync would work even if you already started your workout but forgot to pair your Apple Watch from the beginning.
GymKit upgrade coming to more gyms in 2018
The report says that GymKit is coming next year to more gyms in the US and across the globe, and that it would be compatible with fitness machines from TechnoGym, Stairmaster, Life Fitness, Star Trac, Matrix, Cybex, and Schwinnn. Apple's plan is cover about 80 percent of the fitness equipment on the market.
While customers can start enjoying GymKit-compatible equipment at the first gym in the United States, the feature was already made available in Australia last month at the FitnessFirst gym, which features TechnoGym equipment. CNET's report says GymKit is also coming to some Equinox locations in US, as well as additional Life Time Athletic clubs in 2018.