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Fitness Plus keeps pausing and disconnecting

I have now experienced Apple fitness plus disconnecting/pausing/stopping a workout in the middle. I am only about 4 feet from my Apple TV. What can I be doing wrong?

Posted on Dec 28, 2020 2:13 PM

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Posted on Jan 5, 2021 5:53 AM

I too have the above issue. I have noticed that it seems to happen less frequently when I'm not using my Airpod Pros (hearing the AppleTV over the whoosh of my Concept2 rower is a challenge). I *LOVE* Fitness Plus and it has started to become a staple in my workouts. HOWEVER, I will be moving on if these connectivity issues persist. One request, and it is a significant one... At least allow me to restart and fast forward a workout in-progress. To have a 20 minute workout disconnect at 12 minutes, without the ability to restart where it disconnected, is a CRIME!

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Jan 5, 2021 5:53 AM in response to christiaanv

I too have the above issue. I have noticed that it seems to happen less frequently when I'm not using my Airpod Pros (hearing the AppleTV over the whoosh of my Concept2 rower is a challenge). I *LOVE* Fitness Plus and it has started to become a staple in my workouts. HOWEVER, I will be moving on if these connectivity issues persist. One request, and it is a significant one... At least allow me to restart and fast forward a workout in-progress. To have a 20 minute workout disconnect at 12 minutes, without the ability to restart where it disconnected, is a CRIME!

Dec 30, 2020 5:36 PM in response to mario49

My video stops at the same time (15 min) mark. It’s pretty hard in a small condo to prevent the interference issues mentioned in the links. I don’t have issues with any other items I have on wifi. Or other videos I play. I have rebooted my iPad as per the instructions and got through one video, but the next time the same thing happened. Without a fast forward, when you try the workout again you have to start all over again. Is this going to be an ongoing issue with this app?

Dec 30, 2020 6:23 AM in response to christiaanv

Hello christiaanv,


After reviewing your post, it seems like the Apple Watch is disconnecting and pausing workouts. This may be caused by wireless interference. There are a couple things you can try that may be able to help. We would recommend you read these articles and use them to help troubleshoot the issue.


Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference


Items that can interfere with a Wi-Fi network


Please don't hesitate to let us know if the steps resolved your issue or if you need additional assistance.


Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Have a nice day.

May 4, 2021 4:15 AM in response to christiaanv

Hi, with the 14.5 issue and a full reset (unpaired, set up as a new watch, not from backup) of my Apple Watch, the issue is now gone for me. I set up my Apple Watch as a new watch and I deleted the old watch pairing from the Apple TV (https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/watch/apd619078d99/watchos). I’ve been able to complete a few workouts now using my AirPods without issue.


There was also an AirPods firmware update with the latest batch of updates, make sure you put them in your case, then plug in your case to a power cable and bring it close to your phone (https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/update-airpods).


Hope this helps.

Feb 12, 2021 2:00 PM in response to christiaanv

This happened to me today shortly after the 15 minute mark, in a 45 minute yoga workout, so annoying! Now I’m asking support if there’s an outage and they won’t confirm anything but their first response is to reset all settings on my iPhone!!! What!?! I tested my internet, it’s working fine. I disconnected from WiFi and tried again, still won’t load. I restarted my iPhone, still nothing working in Fitness+ app. Did Fitness+ go down? Seems like an outage. Now the fitness tab does not load anything at all - see screenshots.

Jan 5, 2021 5:02 PM in response to christiaanv

I’m having this issue just when I’m playing the videos over my iPhone. No Apple TV. No AirPods. No other Bluetooth connections. The time on the workout continues but the audio and video stop so the coaching and benefits of the workout are gone.

could not agree more that you need to be able to fast forward to your spot in the workout! Each time I’ve had this issue I had less than 10min left of a 30min workout.


Feb 12, 2021 6:28 AM in response to christiaanv

I just purchased an AppleTV to use with Fitness Plus so I didn't have to prop my iPad on the treadmill. I am using Bluetooth headphones as well and have experienced mileage not updating on the TV screen for a period of time and then all of a sudden catching up with the watch and have also had the workout abruptly abort. Very frustrating and not something I would expect from Apple. This stuff should work right out of the box. I did try something this morning as a workaround until Apple fixes the bug.


1 - Connected bluetooth headphones to AppleTV.

2 - Started the workout on my iPad and streamed it to the AppleTV (both the iPad and AppleTV must be connected to the same wifi network). I had the iPad sitting on a shelf near the treadmill.

3 - Got on the treadmill and started the workout from the Apple Watch.


This worked well and seems to address the issue of having headphones and the Apple Watch connected to the AppleTV at the same time.

Feb 13, 2021 7:21 AM in response to christiaanv

I had this same problem. I had the Air Pods connected to the Apple TV when it kept dropping the connection to my Apple Watch. I wonder if that's the contributing factor. I didn't notice it happening as much when I didn't use Air Pods. I wonder if the Apple TV has a hard time managing connections to both bluetooth devices at the same time.


Usually the only time I can get a chunk of time for a workout is when the baby is napping, so I need to be able to listen on the Air Pods and keep the sound off.

Feb 16, 2021 11:31 PM in response to christiaanv

I have the same problem. Only when using the fitness app on the ipad, no wifi, and on downloaded workouts.


Not sure if its issues with bluetooth connection (connection to my watch and airpods at the same time), but I am less than 3 feet away from the ipad.

watched the same workout again later (without actually doing the workout), and it played all the way through, so its an issue with the download.


would definitely be nice if you could skip back through each workout to a specific time as mentioned already here.

Feb 24, 2021 9:08 AM in response to christiaanv

Having the same problem. Really frustrating because when it works I think Fitness+ is brilliant.


this happens with no other services using WiFi and always seems to happen at around 15-20 mins into a workout. The inability to rewind and fast forward makes this even more annoying.


the only thing I can think could be causing it is that my daughter also uses an Apple Watch at the same time when we follow the workouts. Obviously only one of us is actually connected to the workout but could this be causing the problem?

Fitness Plus keeps pausing and disconnecting

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