AppleInsider Staff
In preparation of this week's release of the Nike+ version of Apple Watch Series 3, Nike on Monday updated its Nike+ Run Club app with a new Audio Guided Runs feature, a social networking function called Cheers and other features highlighted during the device's unveiling last month.
Nike+ Run Club version 5.9 is the first to include Audio Guided Runs, a special feature that pairs workouts from Nike coaches, athletes and celebrities with curated streaming music playlists. Among those lending their voice to the special workout feature are distance runner Mo Farah and comedian Kevin Hart, the latter of whom starred in a series of Nike+ Apple Watch ads in January.
Audio Guided Runs will be available on both iPhone and Apple Watch, though the requirement for streaming music access suggests Apple Watch models prior to Series 3 will need to remain tethered to paired iPhone for the function to work.
A new social networking feature called Cheers is also included on both iPhone and the corresponding watchOS app. With Cheers, users can send out a notification when they go on a run and receive "cheers," or encouraging messages, from friends to keep motivated. The function can be accessed on Apple Watch by swiping left to Settings.
Other enhancements are specific to Apple Watch, including a new activity history detailing a user's last five runs. On Apple Watch Series 3, users can retrieve elevation data on runs performed without a paired iPhone. Previously, Nike+ Run Club required an iPhone to deliver barometer data for elevation calculations, but that functionality is now available to Apple Watch Series 3 owners thanks to the device's advanced sensor stack.
Finally, both iOS and watchOS apps benefit from unnamed bug fixes and performance improvements.
Nike+ Run Club is a free 198MB download from the App Store.
The new Apple Watch Nike+, an Apple Watch Series 3 with a custom band, watch faces and preloaded version of Nike+ Run Club, launches on Thursday, Oct. 5. GPS only versions of the device start at $329, while GPS + Cellular iterations come with a $70 premium.
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6 Comments
Hey Nike, how about the option to have
volume control via crown. I don’t need to change the stats layout while I’m running (but volume adjustments are critical)
I hope I can get the Series 3 Nike Watch I want in the store on Thursday.
Don't your headphones have that option?
That's nice.
But I would prefer that Apple's software Geeks actually talk to serious athletes to find out what they need.
Either that -- Or support third party vendors to create serious exercise tracking apps that run natively on the Apple Watch. It's been 3 years now and they remain few and far between. Most 3rd parties have great apps that run on the phone but few have ported them to run natively on the Watch.
I was hoping for some improvements in the Watch's Workout app as well as the phone's Health app (which remains mostly a black hole of information).
As a more explicit example: Running I switch between Apple's workout app or iCardio's workout app. I use Apple's app when I don't care about monitoring the run afterwards and am satisfied with looking at totals and averages -- and when I don't want to fuss with the delays & hastles associated with the iCardio app that runs on the phone and interfaces with the watch. But, I use the iCardio app when I want to analyze or share detailed information about my run.
It seems to me that it is totally stupid that I have to choose between them just because Apple's reporting of post-run information it has already recorded and saved sucks so badly.