Fitness Plus keeps pausing and disconnecting

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.

It has disconnected from my Apple TV Gen 3 twice this morning. I did have both my Apple Watch and AirPods Pro connected to Bluetooth which others have noticed have contributed to the disconnections so I tried connecting the Apple TV to another Bluetooth speaker, namely, a Google Nest wifi point located about 4 feet away from the Apple TV.

Got through a 30 minute spin class no issue!! Fingers crossed, but it does seem the AirPods Pro Bluetooth may be the issue.

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.

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.

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.

I’ve switched my audio output from my AirPod Pros to my SONOS 5 and it works mostly without an issue. Clearly something going on with the AirPod Pros.

Fitness+ works better with SONOS than Apple’s own product. 🥳

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.

Confirmed that Fitness+ does not currently work with AirPod Pros. The strangest things sneak past QA.

Remove AirPod Pros and the issue will resolve.

Canceling my Fitness+ subscription after the trial ends due to this unfortunate miss.

I’ve been able to recover from this a couple times, but it takes noticing that my heart rate isn’t registering on, in my case, the Apple TV. I then try pausing the workout from my watch (mine is a 6) and on the Apple TV, then getting my watch right next to the Apple TV. Then I resume - pause a few times until they get back together.

It does mean you have to remember to check the heart rate regularly, and is certainly disruptive, but a whole lot better than the dropped workout. Hopefully this works for you too!

Agree with you! My issues started when i tried to use my AirPod pros at the same time. Had a few workouts last few days before that without the pros and no issues. But at least if it happens let us fast forward! Man frustrating.

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?

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!

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.

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.