Blog | Graham Bower

How to optimize your swimming stroke with Apple Watch [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Nov 12, 2020 | Fitness, Technology

Apple Watch is a great swimming companion, offering highly accurate length counts, pace measurements and stroke recognition. But the benefits to swimmers don’t stop there. You’ll find plenty more useful swim stats in the Fitness app on your iPhone. Strokes Per...

Meet the super-fit team behind Apple Fitness+ [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Oct 3, 2020 | Fitness, Technology

Over the past 12 months, Apple quietly assembled an elite team of fitness trainers from around the world. Bound to secrecy, they’ve been moving across the country to start new lives in Los Angeles, without even being able to tell their friends exactly what they’re up...

Survival of the fittest: Can Apple Fitness+ crush the competition? [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Sep 28, 2020 | Fitness, Technology

Apple Fitness+ will enter a crowded market when the service launches later this year. Established players like Peloton and Adidas already have a significant head start. But Apple is in great shape to give them a run for their money. Fitness+ is a logical next step for...

Discover the secrets of the Apple Watch Workout app [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Sep 12, 2020 | Fitness, Technology

At first glance, the Apple Watch Workout app seems pretty simple. You just tap the start button and get all sweaty. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. A lot more. You can customize its layout in hundreds of different ways, changing the text size, position,...

What do you add to the smartwatch that has everything? An Apple Watch Series 6 wish list. [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Aug 18, 2020 | Technology

Apple Watch is almost due for its annual hardware update, which comes like clockwork every September. First came the addition of GPS, then cellular, a thinner case with a bigger screen, a compass, and even an ECG heart monitor. With each new model, Cupertino’s...

10 reasons why I’ll miss Phil Schiller [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Aug 5, 2020 | Technology

For long-time Apple fans like myself, Tuesday marked the end of an era. Phil Schiller stepped down from his role as VP of worldwide marketing. Schiller was the last of the OG — a stalwart onstage companion to Steve Jobs, long before it was fashionable to watch Apple...

How to get back in shape after lockdown with Apple Watch [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Aug 3, 2020 | Fitness, Technology

If you’ve let your fitness slide during the lockdown, you’re not alone. The Activity app’s constant nagging to close your rings is not very helpful when all the gyms are closed and you’re stuck at home. Skipping workouts for a few months is understandable under the...

watchOS 7 adds new workouts, sleep tracking, shareable watch faces and handwashing [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Jun 23, 2020 | Technology

Cupertino revealed Monday what it has up its sleeve for Apple Watch when the next iteration of watchOS debuts this fall. Thanks to rumors and leaked betas over the past few months, we already expected many of the Apple Watch features showcased during the WWDC 2020...

HealthKit needs a health check at WWDC [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | Jun 12, 2020 | Fitness, Technology

As a fitness writer and app developer, there’s just one thing I’m hoping to see at WWDC next week: a major upgrade to HealthKit. Don’t get me wrong. I think Apple’s health-tracking framework is great, but there’s so much more it could do. Moving HealthKit to iCloud...

Why it’s taking so long for apps to add Dark Mode [Cult of Mac]

by Graham Bower | May 8, 2020 | Technology

This week, I finally got around to adding Dark Mode support to Reps & Sets, the iPhone bodybuilding app I develop as a side hustle. That’s almost a year after Apple first announced the feature at its Worldwide Developers Conference. What took me so long?...