The Fitness app on iPad is a shell of what it could really be.

The iPad’s Fitness app is equal to the Fitness+ tab on the iPhone’s Fitness app. You don’t have tabs for Summary, Workout, or Sharing. This wasn’t a big deal until Apple added the ability to start workouts directly from the iPhone in iOS 26, whether you wear AirPods Pro 3 or Apple Watch. Now that AirPods Pro 3 can track your heart rate and works with countless workout types, it only makes sense for the Fitness app to be the same across all platforms and let you use an iPad to start a workout with metrics tracked on AirPods Pro 3. This would be perfect for people who like to watch videos on their iPad while running, allowing them to see their metrics in a dual-window setup, unlike this unoptimized dual-device setup.

Is Apple gatekeeping the iPad as a Fitness+ only device and limiting its functionality on purpose? Personally, I don’t think so. I’m expecting the app to be updated to be equal to the iPhone app and be more cohesive.