Best fitness apps for Fitbit, Wear OS and Samsung smartwatches
Using smartwatches to keep fit are just one of the good reasons to strap one onto your wrist. And while they all have their own apps pre-installed, you can still add more functionality with third party apps.
We’ve tested a lot of fitness apps across the smartwatch platforms including our time with the Fitbit Versa 3, the barrage of Wear OS smartwatches and the latest Samsung Galaxy Watch models.
That’s why we decided to pick out the ones we think are worth adding whether you want to start running for the first time, get better at press-ups or actually get a sweat and need some home workout inspiration.
Here’s our top fitness app picks for the Samsung Galaxy Watch, Fitbit smartwatches, Wear OS watches and even Huawei smartwatches.
Best Samsung Galaxy fitness apps
Strava: Run, Walk, Cycle
There are currently eight activities you can track from the Strava app. These are:
- outdoor cycling
- running
- walking
- hiking
- nordic skiing
- iindoor cycling
- treadmill running
For activities like running, you’ll be able to see real-time metrics like pace, average pace and tap the top physical button on your Samsung Galaxy Watch to track individual laps. Nordic skiing will monitor speed and all outdoor activities make use of the onboard GPS to map routes.
While you can track heart rate data, you currently aren’t able to view it as a data field in real-time. After you’ve finished a workout, you’ll be able to see a summary of your heart rate showing it’ll make use of the heart rate sensor packed into your watch.
Read our full guide to using Strava on Samsung smartwatches.
Free, Download Strava
Swim.com Smart Swim Tracking
For those that prefer their fitness time in the water, Swim.com’s app takes full advantage of the Galaxy Watch’s ability to track your pool time to offer a more useful swim tracking experience.
Compatible with older watches like the Gear Sport and newer Galaxy Watches, it’ll dish out core swimming metrics in real time including stroke type and count. It’s also able to detect rest times between lengths and when you need to take a breather.
For the more advanced swimmers, there’s a Drill mode to track kick and drills and you can delve deeper into more detailed stats in the app if you need to hone in on areas to improve during that pool time.
Free, Download Swim.com Smart Swim Tracking
Run with Map My Run
If Samsung’s own run tracking app doesn’t cut it for you, it’s worth trying out the Under Armour-owned Map My Run app instead.
Taking advantage of your watch’s built-in GPS, it’ll dish out stats like duration, speed and will also push out real-time heart rate data too. It’ll also show off mapping on the watch to get a better sense of your running surroundings. In the latest version, there’s also been welcome support to rearrange workout screens to put the data you want in prime position.
You’ll need to download the Map My Run phone app to get it all set up. Once you’ve connected the two together, you’ll have one of the best running apps you can find on the Samsung Galaxy App Store.
Free, Download Run with Map My Run
Tabata Timer
If you’re not familiar with Tabata, it’s a method of breaking down workouts into small periods of intense exercise with short rest periods to keep your heart rate pumping from a short workout time.
This great little app will help you better configure a timer to break up your Tabata time, showing off heart rate, sets and cycles to help you keep track of how much of the workout you’ve completed.
It’s now added sound to make it easier to know when to kick into the next set and it’s well optimised for Samsung’s touchscreen display too. It’s simple, but a really nice way to make sure your spending that short, but tough workout time in the correct way.
Free, Download Tabata Timer
Best Fitbit fitness apps
Streak
Streak is all about creating good habits for a variety of things you do in your day. So that could be walking the dog, hitting a set number of sit-ups a day or drinking enough water.
The app lets you display up to 6 different activities at one time and you can delve deeper to see your weekly or monthly progress sticking to those habits. You can try it for free for 3 days until you need to decide whether to pay the $1.49 to unlock it fully.
Building those habits is a good way to introduce long-term changes and Streak is a really nice introduction to helping you do that.
3-day trial then $1.49, Download Streak
C25K Trainer
Couch to 5K is worldwide phenomenon getting people who’ve never run or run that far to complete the program in 8 weeks in a really motivating and rewarding way.
This is the official app for Fitbit smartwatches and will tap into the tracking sensors in the likes of the Versa and Sense to track runs giving you a breakdown of your program and telling you when it’s time to warm up and get moving.
You’ll get vibrating buzzes to help you gauge your progress on the move and it’s just overall a really well designed app for Fitbit smartwatches that’s best suited to using on its Versa smartwatches.
Free, Download C25K Trainer
100 Pushups
This app wants to help you do one thing, push you to being able to do 100 pushups. After assessing how many you can already do in a row, it’ll create you a routine designed to get you doing more in a row.
That routine can be adjusted if you think you can handle more or need to crank things down. It won’t track your actual push-ups but offer a really easy to follow interface to show you progress over time and what your latest workout is.
If you’re light on weights and want to focus more on bodyweight workouts and giving yourself a little challenge, then this is definitely one worth trying out. It’s worth noting that this is one best optimised for Ionic and Versa series watches.
Free, Download 100 Pushups
Best Wear OS fitness apps
7 Minutes Workout
Sure, you could head down to the local gym and risk being completely beasted by a personal trainer, but your self-esteem will thank you for ditching that idea and strapping a training regime to your wrist instead.
Following the popular seven-minute workout plan, this app offers wrist-based access to your training plan. Offering visual reminders of what exercise is next, it will also count down your remaining reps to ensure you’re not tempted to cheat your way through.
Once your quick-hit workout is complete, the app will relay your training results, with your average heart rate map helping show how your fitness levels are improving week to week. It’s as easy as that.
Free, Download 7 Minutes Workout
Strava
Whether you’re pounding the pavement or jumping on your bike, Strava is one of the most comprehensive fitness apps in the game, and it’s stepped away from your smartphone to play nice with wearable gadgets, too. Using GPS for accurate tracking, it brings all the usual heart rate, distance and calorie metrics to the fore.
The unique addition here is Route, a clever feature that allows you to save your current route for a later date or download a new one that another app user has already posted.
Adding a competitive element to your fitness sessions, Strava also lets you set records on your regular routes. If you cycle the same way to and from work every day, it will break down your route into a range of blocks. Now that half-mile section between two sets of traffic lights is your race track for a new PB.
If Google Fit Workout doesn’t cut it (it doesn’t for us), then Strava is worth replacing it with for your running.
Free, Download Strava
Lifesum
Fitness isn’t just about running, cycling or the occasional gym session – that’s only half the equation. What you put in your body is just as important to your overall fitness as what you do to burn off that fuel. That’s where Lifesum comes in. As well as providing you with your day’s calorie burn and active time, it’ll let you keep tabs on your food and drink intake, too.
As well as counting how many glasses of water you’ve drunk to ensure you’re staying hydrated, the app lets you manually add your food intake. By knowing what’s going in and what you’re working off, Lifesum can then relay your current energy status direct to your wrist, letting you know when you need to get off the couch or get on the snacks. Food tracking itself is a complicated and time-consuming beast, but the rewards are worth it if you can pull it off.
Free, Download Lifesum
Best fitness app for Huawei smartwatches
Fitify Workouts
Huawei has recently announced that it has opened up third party app support for its watches like the Huawei Watch GT 2 and GT 2 Pro and the first app to land is one that’s all about fitness.
Fitify Workouts is designed for exercise time at home serving up routines that vary in duration depending on how much time you have to spare. There’s workouts that are designed with or without additional equipment and has support to let you build your own custom workouts too.
You can make use of the voice coach to make sure you’re hitting the right sets and exercises and a workout blender is designed to keep your routines different if your starting to lack motivation to do the same HIIT workouts.
It’s free to download and works offline as well as a nice bonus and giving you no excuse not to put in some workout time.
