Apple Fitness+ disconnecting from device

I want to update my previous post with a bit of a breakthrough this morning. I have three Apple TVs; two are A1625 (32gb), and one is A1842 (64gb). I also one a regular Air Pod and an Air Pod Pro. My Apple Watch is a version 3. Up to this morning I have used both my A1625 Apple TVs to do the treadmill workouts with my Air Pods and every one has aborted at some point during the workout. This morning I used my A1842 Apple TV with my Air Pods and made it through a 30 minute treadmill workout with only a couple of pauses at the beginning. Tomorrow I'll try my Air Pod Pros and see it it continues to work.

This exact same issue happened to me 3 times when I connected my AirPods Pro to my Apple TV before doing an Apple Fitness plus workout. Disconnected from device and then abruptly ended my workout with no way to resume.

When I tried to start a workout from my iPhone and then airplay to the Apple TV, my AirPods got disconnected. Shortly after when I tried to take a picture with my iPhone while on my stationary bike during a spin class, the Apple Fitness app disconnected and ended my workout. This would not happen in other apps.

No issue when not using AirPods with Apple TV - just annoying that I cannot use AirPods for my morning workouts when family is sleeping upstairs.

clearly some bugs to be ironed out.

Have had the same problem and have only been able to resolve it by working out without connecting my Airpods Pro. This sucks because a big part of the sell from Apple is the music, and I can’t hear the tinny TV speakers over the sound of my bike trainer. This needs a number of potential fixes, all of which are good ideas in their own right: 1) fix whatever is causing the disconnection issue; 2) allow for fast-forwarding a workout; 3) a feature to “resume” a workout where you left off; 4) allow Airplay or at least mirroring of a workout from a phone or iPad (this does not work at all, even through a wired HDMI connection using iPad Pro mirroring). Allowing Airplay for Fitness+ would let users to rely on devices like phones and ipads that more consistently handle multiple Bluetooth connections.

Hopefully at least *some* of this is in tvos 14.4, but I haven’t had the opportunity to try yet. Just leaving the comment here because this is a huge flaw in Fitness+, and I suspect the use case is common. Hard to overstate the frustration to put aside all the time and effort to workout only to lose your progress halfway through a 30-minute workout.

If not for this flaw, I would be wholeheartedly recommending Fitness+, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Airpods Pro to everyone I know as an amazing home gym solution that costs less than, say, a Peloton.

Yes my Apple Watch is up to date, I saw a post that said to update the watch but mine is already updated and it’s still not working. I am starting to think it has to do with me pairing my Powerbeats pro headphones with my Apple TV. I tried a work out without having my headphones paired and I was able to complete a work out.

This is good to hear...phenomenal platform they are building...just need to work the bugs out.

I have found success by disabling Bluetooth on my phone as a temporary fix. Using Apple Fitness+ with Apple TV and Apple Watch (and disabled Bluetooth on phone) has worked. Still looking forward to the point that this step will not need to be done.

I’ve had some success in solving this by signing out of my Apple ID on my Apple TV and then signing in again by holding my iPhone close to the Apple TV. This also disconnected and reconnected my Apple TV from HomeKit. The first workout I tried using Apple TV and AirPods Pro did disconnect about halfway through, but the others I’ve done since have completed just fine. I think this may have solved the issue for me.

@rbardue nailed it. I just finished a 30 min workout with no disconnections after turning off iPhone Bluetooth. Let's assemble a show of force on the feedback from linked above and hopefully they get a patch out sooner than later. upsetting they don't test anything anymore. it's bug central with them these days.

Had some success today. All SW is at the latest. I turned Bluetooth off on my iphone. Did not use my airpods. Did workout off of Apple TV like normal and no issues. Next time will introduce the airpods and see how that goes. Can’t wait for them to roll out a fix!

If it acts up again, here's what's been working 100% for me (6 workouts). I don't bother turning bluetooth off on my phone. But AirPods are connected to the Apple TV. Start the workout on the phone and airplay to the Apple TV.

So just completed 3 workouts. First one had Bluetooth turned off on iphone, airpods pro connected to apple tv. Lost connection and stopped workout after about 12 minutes. Did two more workouts off the apple tv with no airpods pro connected…success! So now have completed 3 workouts off of apple tv without connecting airpods pro, just using TV volume. This seems to be a workaround for me. Can’t wait until this is fixed. Guess I won’t be connecting my airpods to apple tv for workouts until they release a software update.

I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.

The good news is I just completed a 10 minute core workout and a 20 minute run using my generation 2 AirPods connected to my Apple TV.

The bad news is this was on my brand new Apple TV 4K. Previously I was using the most current Apple TV HD snd like everyone here I basically was never able to complete a work out if my AirPods were also connected.

As far as I’m concerned this confirms it’s a hardware issue. Either this new Apple TV 4K has a better Bluetooth radio or the extra horsepower on this SoC helps Bluetooth devices stay connected or lets them reconnect rapidly without being noticed.

I feel like Apple should be able to push software updates to the older Apple TVs to compensate for weaker hardware, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I know it sucks and it seems unfair, but honestly with this new Apple TV 4K Apple Fitness+ is working exactly the way I had hoped it would. Even the animations for activity rings are silky smooth, which was never the case on my Apple TV HD.

So if you’re a big fan of Apple Fitness+ I recommend getting a new Apple TV 4K connected to whatever TV you work out in front of and forget about all these bluetooth issues.

P.S. If you work out hard and get sweaty I strongly advise against using AirPods. I have definitely destroyed the mics in the set I’ve been using at the gym. They are not made to get sweat on so thoroughly. I think a pair of Powerbeats might be in my future.

There are lots of good reasons to buy a new Apple TV 4K. But if you're considering buying one only to fix the AirPods and Apple Fitness+ issues try this first to see if it works for you. This has been working flawlessly for me on my older Apple TV HD (probably 15 workouts now):

1. I don't change any settings on my phone, bluetooth remains on.
2. Just before the workout I connect my AirPods to the AppleTV: Settings -> Remotes and Devices -> Bluetooth -> My AirPods -> Connect Device
3. Then, from the Fitness app on the phone, I select the workout, AirPlay it to the AppleTV, and go.

I've had zero issues with this approach. I hope it helps.

Here's what's working for me:

1. I don't change any settings on my phone, bluetooth remains on.
2. Just before the workout I connect my AirPods to the AppleTV: Settings -> Remotes and Devices -> Bluetooth -> My AirPods -> Connect Device
3. Then, from the Fitness app on the phone, I select the workout, AirPlay it to the AppleTV, and go.

I've had zero issues with this approach. I hope it helps.

Definitely an airpod pro issue. Completing workouts with no issues using a different pair of Bluetooth earbuds. Checked airpod pros firmware and it’s the latest. Guess i just won’t use Apple’s product with their fitness program🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

I have the same issue. My workaround is similar to others.

1) Connect Airpods to phone or iPad. Select the workout you want and pause it.

2) Connect watch to Apple TV and find the same workout.

Press play on tv and phone at the same time.

it is definitely an issue with having the AirPods and watch connected to AppleTV at the same time. Hope it gets fixed soon.