Apple's Jay Blahnik on the next big thing for Apple Watch


Apple's Director of Fitness and Health Jay Blahnik did a lengthly interview with Outside Magazine. On what's the next big thing for the Apple Watch?:

The next step, and one of the things we're most excited about going into the fall, is having native third-party apps and giving them access to the sensors. We'll be keeping Activity as the centerpiece--workouts that happen in third-party apps will be aggregated and shown in the app--but we're not expecting the hardcore cyclists to use our Workout app instead of Strava. If you're really motivated by that app, the last thing we want to do is to tell you to leave. We feel strongly that if the activity rings can aggregate your day, we're happy to have you use the apps you want to record the workouts you're doing.

It's encouraging Apple is voicing commitment to integrating third-party data into the hub of the Apple Watch's activity monitor. I think it improves the user experience and makes the watch more valuable, but Apple sometimes can be weird about playing with others.

Blahnik also talked about the advantages of Activity keeping you moving during the day. Even if you have an intense workout routine, remaining sedentary most the day still isn't healthy. While pinging you keep moving isn't anything groundbreaking for wearables, that is one thing that's new for me with the Apple Watch.