These are the five apps we use to boost the Ultra and Ultra 2
The Apple Watch Ultra line is superb for those outdoor lovers who require extra smarts from their watch, but some key features are still missing.
Apple’s watchOS 11 update also provides key upgrades for Ultra users, including changes to Activity Rings, native turn-by-turn navigation in Apple Maps, and the Tides app.
However, to get the most out of the Ultra, you’ll still have to dig up third-party integrations on the App Stores. That’s where this guide comes in.
We’ve picked out five Apple Watch Ultra apps that can better equip the smartwatch for your land, water, or snow-based adventures – with some also playing nice with the Ultra’s Action button.
- Apple Watch Ultra vs. Ultra 2
- Apple Watch Ultra 2 review
- Everything we know about the Apple Watch Ultra 3
The best app for navigation: Footpath
Free (with in-app purchases) | Download Footpath app
Works with Action button: Yes
If you find the Ultra’s mapping and navigation skills lacking, the route-planning app Footpath is well worth downloading instead.
There’s a free version of the app, but you’ll need to pay for the Elite subscription ($4 a month or $24 a year) to get the most from the Apple Watch support, which extends to integrating support for the Ultra’s Action button.
You can send routes to the Watch and follow them offline using audio-based turn-by-turn navigation. Or, if you want manual control, you can swipe, pan, and zoom in on full topographic maps via the watch’s crown.
Footpath supports navigation alongside Apple’s Workout app, and you can listen to music and podcasts while still getting the benefit of turn-by-turn navigation support.
If you pay the subscription, Footpath will let you use the Action button to toggle the map or speak the next turn instruction when you don’t want to swipe on the display.
If you want an improvement on the native navigation, Footpath is about as good as it gets—the added integration with the Action button makes it feel very premium.
The best app for hiking: WorkOutDoors
$6.99/£6.99 | Download the WorkOutDoors app
Works with Action button: Yes
The Apple Watch Ultra has all the ingredients to be a decent smartwatch for single-day hikes – but there are still tons of missing features. Enter, WorkOutDoors.
It’s heavy on hiking-specific metrics and offers rich, vector-style topographic maps to give you a sense of the terrain you’re tackling with maps automatically rotating when you change direction.
For our money, the best feature is the ability to upload GPX routes and follow them from the Watch itself.
You can easily export and load up workouts and routes and there’s breadcrumb-style navigation support to help you get around the nicely designed maps on-screen.
It works as a standalone app, and you can store routes for offline use and keep those data screens as busy or as data-light as you want.
Since the Ultra arrived, WorkOutDoors has also added support for Apple’s Action button. You can hit that big button to end the workout, pause or resume, toggle full or faded map views, and more.
The best app for swimming: Swim.com Swim tracker
Free | Download Swim.com app
Works with Action button: No
We’ve spoken plenty in the past about our thoughts on Apple’s swim tracking skills, as the native Workout app offers some of the most reliable support for tracking that time in the water.
However, if you’re looking for something more comprehensive, the clunkily named ‘Swim.com: Swim Tracker’ is the standout third-party option.
There’s no shortage of data and swim-based metrics, and the app can help locate places to dip. It can also recognize stroke type, count the number of strokes, and show data on and off the Watch.
What’s more, Swim Tracker offers drill and pace modes for more focused training time.
The other side of the app is the workout support, giving you a sizeable library of workouts you can follow to add some variety to your swimming time. More competitive swimmers can even view leaderboards and track weekly swimming goals.
The developers have been making improvements specifically for the Apple Watch Ultra, and, while this app has been around for some time, few beat it for detail, training, and motivation.
The best app for heart rate training: Zones
Free (or $4.99/£4.99 one-off payment for Premium) | Download Zones app
Works with Action button: No
Apple has added features in recent watchOS updates to make its smartwatches better for monitoring effort levels or displaying heart rate zones, but, for some, it still may not be enough.
If you feel like Apple’s approach to heart rate during that workout time isn’t quite there, Zones is one of the standout apps to use instead.
This app puts your heart rate front and center, with dedicated running, walking, cycling, surfing, snowboarding, and skiing modes.
Pick your activity and your Watch screen will populate with your current heart rate, and vibrate to nudge you if you’ve breached another heart rate zone.
On the watch, you can view either BPM or exercise intensity, and the rest of the stats are viewable on the companion iPhone app.
Here, you’ll find a clear breakdown of time spent in heart rate zones, average heart rate, and heart rate ranges, and gain insights into your heart rate recovery.
Once you paid the one-off purchase for the premium version, you can adjust your 4 or 5 zones and zone colors. It makes training by heart rate feel more engaging on that big Ultra screen.
The best app for skiing: Slopes
Free (with in-app purchases) | Download Slopes app
Works with Action button: Yes
The Slopes app is built to track your skiing and snowboarding time, with multiple screens of metrics available right from your Ultra.
It dishes out real-time stats for speed, meters covered, and altitude – and detects when you’ve stopped to jump on a ski lift. It can also let you know if fellow Slope-using friends are nearby and have started tracking their sessions.
Real-time heart rate data can also be integrated into the app, which is ideal if you like measuring effort or skiing to help close your Activity Rings. Paying for the premium version will also unlock additional insights, providing a better sense of your performance over time.
It’s also one of the few apps to embrace the Action button, letting you use it to start a workout quickly and easily. That’s super handy when wearing gloves.
The Slopes app also harnesses the Ultra’s onboard dual-frequency GNSS to determine your location, ensuring accurate distance tracking.
