Yes. On iOS 26, iPhone workouts can run without an Apple Watch. You can also pair sensors directly to the iPhone—for example a Bluetooth heart-rate strap. Additionally, some AirPods models can provide heart-rate data, which can also be used by the iPhone.

That said, the Apple Watch is still a great companion for convenience and for certain motion-based metrics (see below).

For running and walking workouts, Apple Watch is the most reliable way to capture step/cadence-related motion data and to make the workout easy to monitor at a glance.

Heart rate does not have to come from the Watch: you can use a Bluetooth heart-rate sensor paired to the iPhone, and (on supported models) AirPods can provide heart-rate data as well.

Virtual Treadmill: Yes. Any treadmill can be used, even if it doesn’t support FTMS. The trade-off is that speed changes must be kept in sync manually in the app.

Virtual Cycling Trainer: No. It requires an FTMS-enabled bike/trainer to control resistance and to read trainer data reliably.

Yes—this is now supported. The Apple Watch apps can scan for and connect to FTMS trainers and treadmills directly from the Watch, so you can start and run a workout from your wrist without the iPhone app open.

A few things to know:

• Virtual Cycling Trainer on the Watch needs a connected trainer before you can start a workout.
• Virtual Treadmill on the Watch can control a connected treadmill, or run in Read-Only Mode if you prefer to set speed/incline on the treadmill itself.
• If you use iPhone and Watch together for the same workout, one device manages the trainer link (the Watch takes priority) while the other follows along, so they don’t send conflicting commands.

This is almost always a Bluetooth control issue rather than a problem with the workout itself. Some treadmills and trainers occasionally block or drop FTMS control requests, or the device’s own remote grabs the connection first, so the app never gets control for the session.

Things to try, in order:

• Check for a green control dot before starting—green means control is available; yellow means it isn’t.
• Tap the device in the list to disconnect and reconnect it.
• Power-cycle the treadmill/trainer with the app already open, so the app can request control before the device’s own remote does.
• Some walking pads (for example certain KingSmith/WalkingPad models) only accept speed changes in km/h—turning off “Treadmill expects mph” in the device settings can help.
• If a device simply won’t accept commands, switch on Read-Only Mode and set speed/incline on the machine itself; the app will still record the full workout.

Yes, but it depends on iPhone motion data quality. For cadence calculations the iPhone needs enough motion signal, so you generally need to carry/hold the iPhone in a stable way while moving.

Yes. If you connect a Bluetooth heart-rate sensor to the iPhone, the connected sensor will typically take priority when available. If needed, you can adjust this in preferences via Prefer Bluetooth heart rate sensors.

Recommendation: if you have an Apple Watch, it’s usually best to connect the heart-rate sensor to the Watch instead. watchOS will manage the sensor connection when the workout starts and can disable the Watch’s built-in heart-rate sensor—this improves accuracy and can save battery. When the sensor is connected inside the iPhone app, it can’t disable the Watch’s built-in sensor.

Yes—your workout is saved to Apple Health and contributes active energy toward your Move ring. Exercise-ring credit, though, is decided by Apple based on how intense the workout is (heart rate is a major signal), not by the app—so a very easy walk may not earn Exercise minutes for its full duration.

Wearing the Apple Watch snugly with Wrist Detection on, keeping your Health details up to date, and choosing the matching walk/run mode all help Apple award credit accurately.

Apple Health has no dedicated “elevation” metric for indoor workouts. Floors Climbed (1 floor ≈ 3 m / 10 ft) is the only standard measurement that fits a vertical climb, so that’s how the gain is recorded. Outdoor workouts show a separate elevation graph only because they carry a GPS route with altitude—an indoor treadmill workout doesn’t.

If you’d rather keep Floors Climbed for real stairs only, you can revoke the app’s Floors Climbed write permission in iOS Settings → Health → Data Access & Devices.

Every workout is saved to Apple Health, and most other platforms can import from there. Strava and similar services can pull workouts from Apple Health either directly or through a third-party bridge app that forwards Apple Health workouts to other services. There isn’t a built-in direct upload to third-party services yet.

No—the recorded workout is fine. Some treadmills report distance in coarse chunks rather than continuously. Each chunk is saved as an Apple Health distance sample, and when a chunk lands over a very short moment, an app that derives instantaneous speed from those samples can show a brief spike. It’s a data-granularity quirk of how the treadmill reports, not a real change in pace—our own average (total distance ÷ total time) stays correct.

This usually means the app can’t detect a usable Apple Watch setup. Common causes:

• No Apple Watch is paired (or a different Watch is paired than you expect). Check Apple’s Watch app on iPhone → My Watch.
• The companion app isn’t installed on the Watch. In the Watch app on iPhone, scroll to Installed on Apple Watch / Available Apps and confirm the app is installed.
• You’re not running the iPhone app. Watch integration is supported only when the iPhone app is present, because the iPhone side is the “host”.

Things that often help:

• Make sure iPhone and Watch app versions match (updates can land on one device first).
• Check basics: Bluetooth and Wi‑Fi enabled on iPhone, Watch is unlocked, and the Watch is connected.
• If connectivity gets weird (it happens), restart both the iPhone and the Watch.
• Install the latest iOS and watchOS updates (Watch app → General → Software Update; iPhone Settings → General → Software Update). OS mismatches can cause integration issues.

If it’s still disabled, the most reliable “nuclear option” is:

1. Delete the app from the iPhone.
2. Confirm it’s removed from the Watch as well (Watch app → installed apps).
3. Install it again on the iPhone and let it reinstall on the Watch.

One more useful test: can Apple’s Fitness/Workout app start a workout on the Watch normally? If that fails too, the issue is likely broader than just this app.

When you finish a workout, the app shows a summary screen with an Effort row—tap it to rate your effort (1–10) and it’s saved right away.

If you leave it unset, an estimated effort may be filled in later by iOS/watchOS—usually once Apple’s Fitness app has processed the workout. Apps can’t force the system to calculate that estimate immediately. You can also set or change your effort anytime from the workout’s detail screen.