iOS 27 extends one of Apple Watch’s most useful fitness tools to iPhone and AirPods, letting you track gym workouts without wearing a watch at all. The update builds on GymKit, the feature Apple introduced in 2017 that connects an Apple Watch to compatible gym machines. Tap the watch to supported equipment and it shares your heart rate while the machine sends back metrics such as distance, incline, pace, and calories.
With iOS 27, that same experience now works through iPhone and AirPods Pro 3. Testing on a GymKit-compatible treadmill showed the process is straightforward. Tap the iPhone to the treadmill, choose Indoor Walk or Indoor Run, and start the workout from the machine. As with the Apple Watch version, workout data stays private on the iPhone and is removed from the equipment afterward.
Once the session begins, the treadmill pulls heart-rate data from the AirPods Pro 3, while the Fitness app on iPhone receives the treadmill’s distance, pace, incline, and calorie figures. Gym machines can measure details an iPhone and AirPods cannot capture on their own, particularly incline and precise belt distance.
How the Setup Works at the Gym
This approach removes two common gym annoyances. You no longer need to grip the treadmill’s metal heart-rate contacts while running, and there is no need to wear a Bluetooth heart-rate strap. Instead, the AirPods Pro 3 serve as the heart-rate source, and likely handle your music or podcast audio at the same time. The iPhone becomes the workout computer you monitor during exercise, while the treadmill supplies the machine metrics and the surface for walking or running.
AirPods Pro 3 are the first AirPods with built-in heart-rate tracking, following Apple’s earlier test of the idea in the Powerbeats Pro 2. That hardware is central to making GymKit work without a watch. Apple has spent years shifting more fitness features onto iPhone, starting with a more capable Fitness app and Apple Fitness+ using the iPhone as an entry point.
Accuracy and Testing Results
GymKit on iPhone is not designed to replace Apple Watch for daily wearers. It works best as a backup when a watch is dead, charging, or left at home, and it gives iPhone and AirPods owners a preview of the Apple Watch fitness experience. GymKit remains the most accurate method for capturing workout data, and Apple Watch gained improved treadmill tracking separately in watchOS 27.
In testing with iOS 27 beta 1, the Exercise ring did not update during a workout done without an Apple Watch. After putting the watch back on, the ring caught up and the workout appeared in Fitness with the correct data. A sample 16-minute treadmill walk recorded 0.66 miles, 65 active calories, 97 total calories, 32 feet of elevation gain, and a 115 BPM average heart rate.
The feature does require the right combination of hardware. Attempting to use GymKit on iPhone without AirPods caused the iPhone to disconnect at the start of the workout because it had no heart-rate source. Starting GymKit from
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Image: 9to5mac.com
