Watch to 5K Couch to 5km coach Reviews

It works and is there on your wrist. It shows you when to run and when to walk. Can’t fault that. Also it gives pulse and distance.

It tells you how far you went after the workout. Until you hit done. Then it forgets all record except that you have done it. There’s just no way to find a record for the run in the health app. I have to look in fitbod to see my record of the run.

Native watch apps are a cute idea but take a lot of work to be useful. This costs the same as an equivalent phone app that probably includes a watch app gratis. I recommend that.

Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach did everything I needed it to with only a couple things I was left wanting it to do.

1. You don’t need your phone to use this program.
2. It’s a weekly build up program for running.
3. It tracks and syncs to Apple Health.
4. Allows music to be played and coaching queues still work.
5. The phone version is great for a full view of the runs and progress.

Wants:
1. Quick pause button - I have to scroll (swipe sideways?) the page to get to pause.
2. Warm up/Cool down and music player - you can’t play omusic while in warm up or end it in cool down because you can’t scroll (swipe sideways) to the music page. You can bypass this by opening the music app on your watch and playing through there.

Nice job dev team - it works great.

As I go back to running on the treadmill at the gym again, I decided to go back to using Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach. Overall I really like it, easy to select the run I want, it makes separate workouts for the warmup and cool down as well.

Complaints: I have it setup to do inside runs, but when I review the workout there is always this ridiculous squiggle drawing of me running like a madman in all directions at the gym as if it were an outside run even though it is classified as an indoor run. I hope this can be fixed. Also in the workout data there is no breakdown by heart zone. I hope these are things that Apple gives third party developers access to fix.

I love quite a few things with Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach. And hope for tweaks in just a few areas. The fact it works seamlessly on watch only runs is tremendous. And the cues are great, easy to hear, and with great haptics. It also breaks the walk/runs into separate activities. Which I haven’t seen on other apps.

The only tweaks I would have would be to allow for the option to utilize miles over km. I understand the logic. But it just isn't something I am accustomed to seeing after a lifetime of running. And it would be great to see interval runs as well.

Great app though. Kudos! 👏

Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach is really well put together. I like that you can re-do runs and it still tracks your progress. It’s also simple on the Watch but you get good stats on the iPhone after.

My only criticism is that as most of the weeks are a mix of walks/runs, I can’t check to see what my current pace is during an interval. It only shows the total pace over the entire workout. I’m trying to hit a certain pace and after I hit a walk I no longer know if I’m running fast enough until I check the intervals on the phone afterward. So I can’t adjust to speed up or slow down during the workout.

Overall, though, Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach is great and I recommend it.

I love love love that there’s a native Apple Watch C25K app. I’ve used 5k trainer apps on my iPhone for years, but this is by far the best. I can *actually* leave my phone at home.

One thing I can’t quite figure out how to make the haptics when switching from running to walking (or vice versa) more prominent. The first workout session there were multiple taps before the timer started for the next interval, but my last two sessions have had just 1.5 taps to cue me to change my pace. Since I don’t use headphones when I run, I rely on the haptics heavily. I hate having to feel like I need to keep an eye on my watch so that I’m not missing an interval.

I don’t write reviews but I’m super happy with my purchase of Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach. It’s very easy to follow, buzzing your watch every time you switch from walk to run or vise versa and when you reach the halfway point and automatically connecting your stats to Apple health.

The only suggestion I have is to give the option of seeing your distance/pace in miles per minute instead of only km. Understand that we’re working up to a 5K, but I spent a lot of time at the start memorizing km to mi pace conversions to understand what speed I was running at.

Super satisfied with this program and def will be purchasing the 5-10k expansion!

Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach is delightfully straightforward; it really is as easy as turning it on and clicking the run you need. It has a 5-minute warm-up/cool down you can toggle, you can set the runs for indoor (and it works well!), and you can control currently playing music by swiping to the right during your run.

I don’t usually use headphones for indoor runs, and Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach allows you to toggle on the ‘coach voice’ to prompt you when to walk or run out the watch speakers. Super handy!

You do NOT need your phone at all for using the iwatch app, which is great if you want to pack light, but the iPhone app does provide a clean interface for reviewing your run stats.

So far, the only nitpick I have is that you have to manually switch in each screen to toggle from km to miles; it would be great if there were an overall setting to permanently change it to miles, but km makes the distance ran sound more impressive, so I’m not that broken up about it. 😂

My phone is an absolute brick and any sling or chest pack I bring on a run adds heat and weight that drives me crazy. I love that I can run with just my watch and listen to music without a phone. The program itself is great. I was training for a 5k before but was basically just throwing myself at it which meant long recovery and it was not very rewarding. I committed to myself that I would do my absolute best to push through each session and so far in week 7 I have. Some are harder than others but some of the milestones are very rewarding and I feel really good about myself afterwards. The data is just enough to help me understand my pace and how hard I exert myself.

Some enhancements I’d love to see:

1) AOD support
2) Additional interval callouts (like 15 seconds remaining)
3) Zone training options

There is the occasional glitch where my watch vibrates to conclude a run and no audio comes out but they are few and far between.

Overall I highly recommend this for anyone struggling to start running. For years I was bored by cardio and now I actually consider myself to be a “runner.”

This is an excellent watch app that was just what I needed to get back into running. No need to bring your phone along, just my watch and AirPods. I start my music, then start the Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach and go! Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach will lower the music volume temporarily while it’s giving you instructions on when to run, walk, or if you’ve hit the halfway point. A bit of advice I learned the hard way: when Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach tells you to slow down to a walk, be sure to walk fast, it will make the transition into full time running easier.

After searching through dozens of subscription based apps for this function including the big names who I think just got greedy, this is a refreshing gem. One time payment, flawless simple functionality, clean interface, no ads or up-sells, no subscriptions or ‘pro’ tier. Just a really solid app that gets out of your way and does the job. I understand it is called WATCH to 5K because it can function on just your watch without you having to drag your phone on your workout, slapping your leg and potentially getting caught in the rain, however, it does come with a companion phone app that is equally thoughtfully designed. There are rewards, you can see a map of your runs, option to automatically update to Apple health as a workout. I cannot recommend enough.

This is exactly what I wanted from my exercise and Apple Watch, an app that can take me from couch to 5k with no frills. I love the dialogue when wearing Bluetooth headphones.

It would be nice if Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach could beep or play a message over the speakers when I don’t have headphones, however. Sometimes I don't feel the prominent vibration while running, but its not a big deal since I think thats a limitation of the watch itself.

I highly recommend Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach. There are no hidden costs and the features are perfect for my running goals.

This is a super streamlined application of couch to 5k, perfect for the watch. It's an uncomplicated way to free you of the phone. All the analytics are available in the Apple Fitness app, so it's fine that it doesn't have all the bells and whistles.

If I could, I'd give it 4.5 stars because the volume on the voice prompts is too low. It doesn't dip the background music enough and it doesn't seem to match the volume setting. It also logs the warmup, run, and cooldown as separate workouts in the Fitness app. It's annoying not to be able to see the total distance and route in a single workout. And you can't see your route for the warm up and cool down because it logs it as a walk which doesn't record the route.

I’ve worked through the C25K program a few times over the years and with various apps. Ben’s option here is the beat for runners who want to carry minimal electronics on their runs. I only need my Apple Watch and my AirPods.

It is a very well-designed and developed app. It hasn’t crashed a single time or misreported or caused any other problems for me. Other running apps on the store often treat the Apple Watch as an afterthought which lead to frustrating user experiences and issues with recording the runs.

Keep up the great work, Ben!

Following up on my review from earlier this week, I found that when listening to music through the music app, the watch crashes when Watch to 5K enters the first run or exits the final run. This is also when the Watch to 5K music option begins and ends. Solved by listening to music through the Watch to 5K app only. Feature request: I would love to be able to listen to music during the warm-up and warm-down walks too.

**updated**user error on my part- all of the permissions were not turned on, therefore not tracking distance. Turned them all on and app works great :) Thank you!!

I just got Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach today and did my first run. However, my watch and the fitness app did not show the distance. ‘0’ is shown for distance, active calories, total calories, and average pace in the fitness app.

I do however love that I don’t need my phone and it shows a map of the run. Just need to figure out the distance data.

I had run for about 35 years, quit for 5 because of injury and needed something to get me back into running. Tried a couple of other apps but this was by far the best for me. I liked the longer walks in between the runs. Used it up to the 7th week and then went on my own. Ran a 5K at the end and felt strong. Minor complaint is that while running, pace is metric and I think miles for pace.

So far I’m not impressed with a lot of apps for the Apple Watch. I bought the Watch with cellular connectivity specifically so I could go exercise without my phone. Other exercise apps seem to really want you to either bring your phone with you when you run, or require all sorts of options and configuration. All I wanted was an app that told me when to run, told me when to walk, integrated with Apple Fitness, and worked reliably. Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach is it! It works great! I love that it logs the warmups, cool-downs, and runs as distinct workouts, so Apple Fitness knows to report something as a walk and not a run, etc. The display is intuitive and informative. The interface is dead simple. tl;dr: it just works, and it works well

I’ve tried a few different apps and this one is the best! One-time payment and everything just works. The prompts are clear and the tracking is great. I highly recommend Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach to anyone looking to start, or re-start running. It’s one of the few apps that don’t try and get a subscription and is truly work the price, without a doubt. Very great app.

Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach is everything I’ve been looking for. I’ve completed the program a few times (!) using different apps and none of them come close to this one (including the one from Active). This is a native Watch app, as opposed to an afterthought for a phone app, and it shows. No fluff, everything that you need and nothing that you don’t.
I hate running with my phone. With Watchto5KCouchto5kmcoach, I can just leave it in my car and go. No setup, no fiddling for 5 minutes. No endless confusing settings. It just starts, and it just works. The prompts are clear as day and to the point, the voice is not annoying (I do appreciate the GB accent!). Integration with the Music app and my bluetooth headset is flawless.
Lastly, the Watch screens are great. Easy to read, and again, to the point.
Integration with the Health app just works. I really like that it logs separate workouts for warmup/run/cooldown. But maybe that should be an option.

I’m in week 3 and haven’t found a bug yet.

The only improvement I’d ask for would be to be able to see the workout details before doing them.

Oh, and a Watch to 10k app :)

There’s nothing like putting on your running shoes and just going out with nothing but your car keys in your pocket.

Thank you. I would have gladly paid more.