Relationships between Apple and Nike seemed to be at their peak when Nike + hit the bitten apple devices. More specifically, to the iPod. But this relationship does not seem to have a very hopeful future. The Activity and Fitness apps coming to Apple Watch They could be a sign of the divorce between the two companies.
For those of us who get on the train of taking care of ourselves a little through diets and sports, this will not mean any change, but this break may be, in the short term, a negative move for all those who started using Nike + in 2006 and they were saving all their activity on their website. All of these people will be faced with the dilemma that we all know as “Who do you love the most? Mom or dad? " and it seems clear that they will have to choose.
The beginning of a beautiful friendship
The first contact between Apple and Nike occurred with the launch of the Nike + iPod Sport Kit in 2006. Apple made a iPod with a sensor that continued our activity at the same time as Nike provided the shoes and a website to save our activity.
Nike + iPod was an iPod Classic with widgets and seamlessly integrated hardware and software. Every time we synchronized the iPod with iTunes, our activity data was uploaded and the Nike + website opened automatically.
When the honeymoon ended
The honeymoon ended abruptly when Nike launched its SportBand, which eliminated the need for an iPod or iPhone to track our activity. The strange thing was that they also presented an application called “Nike + GPS”That made the competition to the native application of the iPhone Nike +
But during that period of time, both parties remained faithful. Nike developed its apps exclusively for iOS and Apple continued to encourage customers to save their activity on Nike +.
An open relationship
Things got more complicated in 2012, with the launch of the first Nike app for Android. Where Nike + iPod had a totally united system, an application and a web, users now had to choose these three components separately.
GPS watches from companies like Garmin or TomTom started working with Nike + and on rival websites like Runkeeper or Strava. These websites also offered their own applications for smartphones and Smartwatches. This translates to more freedom or more mess, depending on your point of view.
Just good friends
Nike + used to enjoy a special status and an important part of what Apple offered in terms of fitness, but now everything Nike brought is also announced in all third-party applications on the Apple Watch website. Where is the relationship going? I don't think there was any kind of breakup. I don't think so because Tim Cook is still a Nike executive. The parties have simply moved away.
Apple's sensor was tucked in nike shoes, which became redundant with the arrival of GPS and without the sensor of the shoe there is nothing that ties the Nike + service with the shoe, something that no longer helped to increase their sales. This could have caused Nike's interest in digital to wane (although it is true that it has continued to invest in MapMyRun, Endomondo and MyFitnessPal).
On the other hand, wearables have gone from being fitness-only devices to a kind of ecosystem, forcing Apple to get into it. Nike territory with the Apple Watch. We may see more collaboration between Apple and Nike in the future, but right now it doesn't seem like their interests are going to mesh as they have in the past.
And what remains of all this?
Now that the Apple Watch is coming, as I said at the beginning, we will have to choose between “mom or dad”. You can continue using Nike +, which has added support for Apple Watch, but the smartwatch of the bitten apple arrives with two fitness apps that offer similar functions. The activity app looks a lot like NikeFuel, with insignia that we will obtain when we achieve the objectives of the day It is designed for people who want to live a healthier life by being more active, although there are goals like “staying planted longer” that are not very interesting. The Fitness application seems more promising, offering GPS tracking for our activity, but without websites to view maps, statistics or navigation, the only way to access our history is from our iPhone.
Apple usually takes care of its products and we are facing a version 1.0, everything must be said. In the future there is hope that they will add the same applications that we have on the iPhone to the iPad and the Mac. And why not dream of following our activity in FlyOver?
Always the same with the very exclusive apple but it is quite the opposite, it is a company with a very closed policy that is why I prefer android a thousand times, ios was the best but when android only appeared on a low-end smartphone.