Apple Watch picks up the pace with walking workouts to gain on Fitbit

Apple Watch users are about to get the perfect update for lockdown, with a guided audio workout called Time to Walk, that gets wearers up and about, and outside.

Apple's current slew of workouts, found in its Apple Fitness+ service, are exclusively indoor affairs – unless you want to drag a device out with you to follow the on-screen instructors. So an audio walking workout is long overdue, and comes just in time for the UK lockdown which sees people relegated to limited outdoor activity; you can swot up on what is and isn't allowed with T3's guide to exercise rules in lockdown.

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9to5Mac delved into the feature, set to roll out in iOS 14.4, after Twitter user Khaos Tian posted a screenshot from the beta.

Time to Walk will be present on both the Apple Watch, as well as the Watch app on iPhone. The outlet reports that it's not functional yet, but speculates that it could work in similar way to Time to Stand reminders, encouraging users to get out and about, and get their steps in.

For most people, going for a stroll is a manageable form of exercise to get your daily steps in, and is an easier target to hit than a full-blown workout, and with limited access to the outdoors in countries that are seeing a resurgence of stringent lockdown measures, this is the ideal time to roll it out. 

The clue that suggests it's a guided audio workout comes from the fact that it looks like it needs to be downloaded, and then is automatically deleted afterwards, erasing the audio files to free up space after the workout is complete. 

There's no official rollout date for iOS 14.4 yet, but you can sign up to be a part of the beta on Apple's website.  In the meantime, if you'd like to up your fitness levels for the New Year, you can check out T3's reviews for the affordable Apple Watch Series 3, the brand new Apple Watch Series 6, or the still-impressive Apple Watch Series 5.

For more info on which wearable is best for you, head over to T3's best Apple Watch guide, to find the one that's right for you. If you're not tied into the Apple ecosystem, then give our best fitness tracker guide a once over.

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