Several Apple Watch users are complaining about the Workout app

Various Apple Watch users have expressed their dissatisfaction online with the changes to the Workout app that Apple introduced with watchOS 26. Many find the redesigned user interface difficult and frustrating, as it makes starting workouts harder.

With the launch of watchOS 26 in September, Apple changed the Apple Watch Workout app from large, easily tappable workout tiles to a scrollable interface with corner buttons. Instead of tapping a workout once, users now select the workout type and then tap a smaller play button that appears after a short animation. Apple has also integrated the setup of Music and Podcasts directly into the Workout app, allowing users to automatically start audio playback as soon as they begin their workout.

However, many of these changes appear to have caused significant frustration in recent months, as evidenced by a Reddit thread on r/AppleWatch filled with numerous complaints. “The touch points are way too small,” one user wrote. “Often I have to tap the play button several times before the workout starts.”

Another user described the Apple Watch Workout app update as “absolutely terrible,” adding that it has become “impossible to start a swim workout once you’re in the pool.” Several swimmers shared this view. One noted that the new design makes it “impossible to reliably start or switch workouts once you’re wet or swimming straight laps.”

Apple Watch Workout app with new design, typos, and false starts

The redesigned layout also moves frequently used controls, such as goal settings, quick-start options, and commonly used workout programs, to different locations. Long-time users report that this disrupts habits ingrained over years. “What I used to do automatically in my sleep now requires my full concentration and always annoys me right before my workout,” one user remarked.

Some users also report reliability issues, such as tapping the start button and seeing the animation without the workout actually starting, or walking workouts not registering at all. False starts are another common problem. “I’ve accidentally started the wrong workout so many times,” one user wrote. “The play button loads late, so I think I’m scrolling, but I actually tap it the exact moment it appears.” Another user reported seeing the button animation when tapping it, “and then later realizing that the input wasn’t registered.”

The old workout interface in watchOS 11: “Scrolling is so bad now,” one user wrote, while others found the interface sluggish. Someone explained: “The delay between selection and start is so long that I constantly overshoot the target or select the wrong thing.”

Some Apple Watch users resort to Siri voice commands to bypass the new user interface entirely, while others use the action button on their Apple Watch Ultra to start their workout directly. A few report using automatic walking and cycling activity detection simply because it’s less cumbersome than navigating the interface.