Recently, Apple announced the debut of the Apple Watch, which will be joining the ranks of their tech repertoire in early 2015.

The smart watch, though not the first of its kind, is supposedly made to revolutionize its field, with customization that boasts both quality and style, in addition to function. 

One of the most anticipated features are the new health and fitness apps that will be standard within the new iOS update.

The company hinted to the features with their ad campaign “Strength” earlier this year, which displayed youthful athletes using the technology to work out as the anthem to JFK’s youth fitness program from the 60’s blared in the background. With the mantra, “You’re more powerful than you think,” the campaign inspires a company-wide interest in the current health craze.

The update includes two separate apps: an Activity App and a Workout App. The Activity App is designed to promote a more active lifestyle. The user’s goal each day is to complete each of the three circles: Move, Exercise, and Stand, which are set based on how easily goals are set the previous day.

Meanwhile, the Workout App tracks proficiently specific exercise, monitoring heart rate, pace, and calories burned, and also notifies the user of specific checkpoints during the workout. In addition, both apps award badges for achieving goals set pre-workout or reaching personal bests for different activities.

Although all of the new features give Apple’s fitness technology a total upgrade from their previous partnership with Nike, it’s pretty reminiscent of the Wii Fit workout program released by Nintendo a few years back. Both programs opt to make exercise a game of sorts, tracking progress on a graphic calendar and giving awards for achieving a goal previously not hit. They take a childlike approach to fitness, driving its users to progress in the program by offering these little incentives and celebrating the work that has already been achieved.

Apple will see more recognition for their product, however, because they have taken the concept and mobilized it. Sure, the company is tuning into the health craze that has struck modern society, but the accessibility that their technology establishes promotes healthy living as a simple task to be completed throughout the day, rather than something some people dread.

In addition, the Apple Watch changes the fitness watch game by adding style to practicality. The watch comes in varying styles, allowing customization in the type and color of the wristbands. Some mock the traditional sport watch look, while others imitate the quality of any designer watch on the market. It also will come in three types of cases: aluminum, stainless steel, and gold, which will up both the quality and the price bracket of the product.

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This unique aspect to its smart watches, along with the various ad campaigns to come promoting them, is a prime example of Apple doing what it does best —making the products and their features desirable. With the iPhone 5S release, the big selling point was the fingerprint scan to unlock. Is that feature vital or a total game-changer in phone security? Not really, but it’s cool, so people want it.

Similarly, the Apple Watch isn’t something people need to live a healthier lifestyle. Once seeing the features exist, though, they want to be that fit athlete who checks their smart watch to see how many miles they’ve walked that day.

For some people, it will result in using the health and fitness apps for maybe a week and then never touching it again. For others, though, they’ll begin to use those apps for the sake of saying they do and end up incorporating them into their routine.

At the end of the day, a smart watch and some cool software is not going to make Apple the next big name in fitness. However, the new software and the Apple Watch will be a positive push for incorporating technology practically and stylishly into a healthy lifestyle.

Reach Staff Reporter Alana Bracken here and follow her on Twitter here.