SmartGym for iOS 18 and watchOS 11

Matt Abras

7 min readAug 13, 2024

Launch Details

Release date: September 16th, 2024 (alongside iOS 18 and watchOS 11).
iTunes Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smartgym/id922744883?ls=1&mt=8
Website: www.smartgymapp.com

Recap

In November last year Apple awarded us as 2023 Apple Watch App of the Year, which was amazing and a dream come true.

In May we launched the all new SmartGym. It was a huge update, packed with lots of new features.

In June Apple announced SmartGym as one of the finalists for the Apple Design Award, in the Innovation category.

So, what’s next?

Well, turns out, a lot! :) We’ve been working on a huge update with lots of new features and improved experiences for iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and watchOS 11. As we always say, we never settle at SmartGym.

Apple Intelligence

Siri

SmartGym has been integrated with Siri since the beginning in 2016. Users love starting their workouts with Siri.

For iOS 18 we have completely rewritten all the Siri code we had to incorporate the most modern, fast, and up-to-date features and take full advantage of Apple Intelligence. When starting a workout session with their voice, users can also say the name of the routine, and Siri will correctly understand it.

There’s no need to add a shortcut or do any configuration since it uses the Workout domain. It's amazing!

App Intents + App Shortcuts

But we didn't stop with the Workout domain. We've added lots of amazing App Intents and App Shortcuts.

The beauty of App Shortcuts is that they require no setup — they’re ready to use immediately. So we've added some really powerful ones.

Week's Summary: With a press of a button users can get their week's summary for their workouts, average heart rate, calories and duration of their workouts.

View Specific Routine: Users can already start their workout and even specify the routines they want to do like we said before. But sometimes, they just want to open a specific routine to check something or edit an exercise. They can now do this as well.

Student's Routine: This is incredibly powerful for personal trainers. With a single shortcut, they can specify which student they want to view and select a routine from that student. Shortcuts will display the entire routine without even opening the app.

Translation

This is a feature I've been waiting for a long time. SmartGym has one of the largest exercise library in the world, with over 690 exercises. Each exercise includes a detailed instructions on how to perform it. Currently, these instructions are available in English and Portuguese. However, SmartGym is also available in Spanish, French, Italian, and German.

With iOS 18, users speaking these languages can access detailed instructions in their native language with just the press of a button. It’s great!

App Icon and Widgets Customization

One of the biggest iOS 18 features is the ability to customize your iPhone in more ways than ever. App icons and widgets appear even sleeker. Tint them all with any color, or just use the default ones.

Control Center

This year iOS 18 allows any third party to create custom controls to be included inside Control Center. And just like the Notes, Timer, Translate and many other apps, SmartGym will have amazing actions users can include in their Control Center.

Action Button + Smart Action

One of the features our Apple Watch Ultra users love most is Smart Action. It works with the Ultra’s Action Button in a truly unique way. Through intelligent background math, it predicts your next action, making this button entirely dynamic. Each time you tap it, you’re seamlessly guided to the next step, whether it’s starting a rest timer, logging a new set, moving to the next exercise, or even ending your workout.

We're now bringing this feature to iPhone 15 Pro with the Action Button. And it's amazing.

Lock Screen Button

Users will also be able to customize their Lock Screen buttons on iOS 18. They will be able to choose from a few different SmartGym options, such as starting an open workout session, or a specific routine.

watchOS

SmartGym is one of the most powerful apps for the Apple Watch. But this doesn't mean we'll stand still. This year we've made lots of changes to our Apple Watch app and we're adding amazing new features.

Live Activities

Live Activities on watchOS is a great feature and we will offer a custom UI for all our users. It looks great on the small screen.

Widget with Interaction

SmartGym has lots of widgets and complications. And having the possibility to add interaction to them is an amazing addition. Users will now be able to go through all their charts, right from the Widget.

But this gets even better. It also works as complication, which is insane! :)

Double Tap

We have received so many emails and requests to add this feature, especially from those that use our Smart Action feature. We're so glad we're finally able to deliver this.

Double Tap will now always seamlessly guide you to the next step, making it entirely dynamic. Whether it’s starting a rest timer, logging a new set, moving to the next exercise, or even ending your workout.

Total Calories + Active Calories

By default, Apple’s workout APIs treat active calories as total calories for third-party strength training apps. This has always bothered us because Apple’s own Workout app displays both values separately. After discussing this with many engineers at several WWDCs, this year they were finally able to provide us with a way to also offer this for our users.

Series 10

Yes, SmartGym will work perfectly with the all-new Apple Watch Series 10, taking advantage of its beautiful and larger screen. And it looks insane! :)

visionOS

SmartGym has an amazing compatible app for visionOS. We’ve made extensive modifications to optimize it for the platform. Many users love setting up their routines and analyzing their progress on the Apple Vision Pro. Afterward, they can head to the gym with their Apple Watch, which reflects all the changes made in visionOS.

With visionOS 2, they will now be able to access all their health data, providing detailed insights in those amazing charts.